Sheep rearing: A still ignored venture in Uganda

The rearing of sheep has, to a large extent, been on a subsistence scale. According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), there are only about one million sheep in Uganda and the number is likely to reduce further.

Increasing demand
Mr Hussein Kigozi, an Animal Husbandry Officer in Kayunga district, explains that the cultural and religious beliefs that some people have about sheep rearing and eating of its meat have also hindered sheep rearing.

“In some tribes in Uganda, it is a taboo to eat sheep meat which explains why most butchers don’t sell it,” Mr Kigozi says.
However, with the increased demand for mutton in local hotels, the Middle East and neighbouring Sudan, sheep rearing is slowly turning into a lucrative venture worth trying by a farmer on both small and large scale.

“When sheep rearing is carried out on a commercial scale, it is highly profitable like cattle or goat rearing,” Mr Kigozi says.
Sheep can be reared on free range basis in case one has no shortage of land. Since they are grazers like cattle, they seem easier to rear by any cattle keeper because they fit in better with cattle than goats do.

Advantages and disadvantages
There are a number of advantages of sheep rearing. These include the following.

Sheep are resistant to diseases and parasites which means a farmer spends less on their treatment and vaccination.

They are also fast-maturing and can be slaughtered at only six months of age.

Sheep can resist harsh conditions such as drought unlike cattle and goats.

With a gestation period of only five months, and their twinning ability, that is, they are capable of producing more than one lamb per delivery, sheep can multiply very fast compared to cattle or goats.

Unlike other domestic animals, Mr Kigozi says a sheep can produce twice a year.

He adds that sheep can feed on poor quality pasture which means a farmer doesn’t incur high expenses of buying feeds for his animals especially during long calamities like long droughts.

Unlike goats, sheep tend to fit in well in a system of joint herding with cattle which reduces the cost and time because one herdsman can look after both sheep and cattle at the same time.

The major disadvantage of sheep rearing in Uganda is that the demand for mutton is still low.

Diseases and treatment
Mr Kigozi says sheep are highly infested with worms that they get through the ingestion of eggs, which are normally found on grazing pasture.

He says that sheep infested with worms have chronic diarrhoea, body weakness, lose weight and have no apetite.

Mr William Ssebowa, another Animal Husbandry Officer, advises that regular deworming of sheep using anti-helmintics such as Albendazole and Nilzan can control worms in sheep.

Another sheep disease is heart water which is transmitted by ticks. Signs and symptoms of this disease include fever, and other signs such as uncordinated movements of the sheep followed by sudden death.

Mr Kigozi says that administering a oxytetracycline injection on the sheep infected with heart water disease can give good results especially if it is given early.

Foot rot is another disease in sheep characterised by lameness in the feet. This is caused by bacteria which enters the body through an injury in the hoof.

For treatment, Mr Kigozi advises farmers to trim the infected hoof first, then clean the wound with copper sulphate solution and then give a penicilin injection to the animal.

Numbers
MAAIF statistics indicate that there were about 1.6 million sheep in 1935. On the other hand, the number of goats and cattle in the country has been going up steadily. For example, there were about two million goats in 1935 but that number has risen to about 6.2 million todate.

Rev Stanley Ottawa, a sheep farmer in Nama sub county, Mukono District, says that he decided to take on sheep farming in 2005 after realising that their demand was on the increase.

“I initially bought nine sheep in 2007 but the herd has since expanded to over 60 because each one of them produced more than one lamb per delivery,” Rev Ottawa says.

He sells his sheep to hotels in Mukono and Kampala and local traders at between Shs40,000 and Shs60,000 each. He sells more sheep during the Idd Adhuha period, a religious feast when Muslims sacrifice animals.

“Many farmers have ignored sheep farming because they think it’s not profitable but I have realised that if carried out on a commercial scale, a farmer can get alot of money from it,” he observes.

Umar Ssentumbwe, a goat farmer in Ssembabule district, says the by-products from Ugandan sheep have little value compared to that from goats and cattle.

He states that other than mutton, the skins are usually of a poor quality, and adds that perhaps having the ability to rear wool-producing sheep would have been a better incentive.