Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Volume 28 Number 4 1987 Article 2

1-1-1987

The Awassi fat tail sheep project

R J. Lightfoot

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Recommended Citation Lightfoot, R J. (1987) "The Awassi fat tail sheep project," Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4: Vol. 28 : No. 4 , Article 2. Available at: https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/journal_agriculture4/vol28/iss4/2

This article is brought to you for free and open access by Research Library. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4 by an authorized administrator of Research Library. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Awassi fiat tail sheep By John Lightfoot, Chief, Division of Animal Production Australia's first Awassi fat tail lambs arrived at Fat tail sheep bred in the Middle East attract Kununurra in January 1987, completing the first much higher prices than Merino wethers imported major step in an ambitious project to establish a from Australia. The question to be resolved fat tail sheep breeding industry in this country. through our product development and market research is what premiums will Middle Eastern The 40 lambs were born on Cocos Island to buyers pay for fat tail sheep bred in Australia and surrogate Dorset x Merino ewes implanted with exported to the region. Awassi embryos collected in Cyprus. They will The Department of Agriculture believes that there spend the next seven years in quarantine at is potential for Australian producers to enter these Kununurra, where they will be multiplied by new markets without detracting from the existing embryo transfer. Suitable animals will be selected Australian sheep breeding industries. to develop commercial breeding stock. Why the project was started The project is a joint venture between the Western Australian Minister for Agriculture, the Western Australia's live sheep export trade to the Australian Development Corporation and YYH Middle East began in the 1960s and grew Holdings, the latter established by Mr Yacoub Al- dramatically during the 1970s. Today some Homaizi, a Kuwait businessman. The joint seven million sheep (including nearly four venture partners are confident that this new million from Western Australia) valued at industry can be developed to supply premium about $200 million are exported live each year. quality breeding stock, slaughter stock and This is a most valuable trade for Australian • Young fat tail rams carcasses for the higher priced segments of the sheep producers as the live export market itself from Turkey for sale at a tends to underpin livestock values at saleyards sheep souk in Riyadh, Middle East sheep markets, not presently supplied Saudi Arabia. by Australia. generally.

Journal of Agriculture, Vol 28, No. 4, 1987 Despite the acceptance of the Australian Objectives of the project Merino wether in the Middle East, market Our objective is to establish a fat tail sheep surveys and reports indicate that Arab breeding industry in Australia geared to consumers prefer fresh meat from young lean supplying: rams, particularly of the indigenous fat tail breeds. However, turnoff of locally bred sheep • premium quality ram lambs for live export; is limited by low rainfall and over-grazing and • young breeding ewes for live export; numbers are supplemented by imported sheep from neighbouring countries, particularly • premium quality, fresh and chilled carcasses Turkey, eastern Europe, Somalia and the airfreighted to the Middle East; Sudan. • fat tail stock for a local sheep dairy industry; Young, locally bred, fat tail rams routinely sell and at prices ranging from $A150 to $A250 per head in the Gulf countries. Fat tail and fat rump • carpet wool for the local carpet sheep breeds imported from Turkey, North manufacturing industry. Africa, China and India are the next preferred We will achieve this by: breeds, with prices reduced accordingly. Older Merino wethers from Australia are least • the importation of Awassi fat tail sheep preferred, and represent an economy line with through Australia's maximum security local prices usually in the range of $A50 to quarantine station on Cocos Island; $A80 per head. • breeding and multiplication of these sheep Some 17 million live sheep are exported to the by embryo transfer during quarantine at Middle East region each year, of which Kununurra; Australia supplies about seven million, or almost 40 per cent. Although Australia is the • market research in the Middle East on fat tail largest sheep trader in the region, the trade in sheep and their crossbreds; and fat tail sheep between and within the Middle • commercial production and export marketing East countries is bigger than the total trade in by the joint venture partners after release of Merino wethers from Australia. these sheep from quarantine.

# 6* There are three types Souks and butcher shops <$ of local sheep markets Sheep meats are sold through both meat souks e throughout the Middle (meat markets) and small butcher shops. In the 6y East: live sheep markets major cities the meat souk consists of meat -ON (sheep souks), butcher shops and traders, each offering either fresh or frozen 0s- supermarkets. (imported) carcasses and their cuts. Wethers V from Australia are sold in carcass form after Sheep souks halal slaughter at the local Government abattoir. Almost all towns throughout the Middle East have a souk (or market) for live sheep which In most provincial centres, local butchers operates almost every day of the week trading from small shops traditionally slaughter (excluding Friday, the Moslem religious their own sheep and display the head of the holiday). The traditional sheep souk is usually animals above the door of their shops. Heads a crowded and seemingly congested affair, with of local breed types feature prominently. sometimes as many sheep traders as there are sheep for sale. All sheep are sold by the Supermarkets traditional bartering system, usually on an individual sheep basis. After purchasing a The number of supermarkets throughout the sheep the buyer may slaughter and dress the Arab world is growing and they are becoming animal himself, but the increasing trend, more sophisticated. Most sheep meat on particularly in the larger centres, is to have the display is from imported frozen carcasses; sheep slaughtered for a fee at the municipal however it is not popular and the trend is abattoir and for the buyer to receive the towards fresh and chilled produce. carcass, skin and all offals. The traditional sheep souks in which both imported and locally produced sheep are sold still comprise the largest marketing system for live sheep throughout the Middle East.

108 Journal of Agriculture, Vol 28, No. 4, 1987 • Fiona Sunderman, • Lyn Randall, of veterinary officer in Kununurra, with a year charge, Awassi old Awassi x Merino Quarantine Station, lamb. Note the long tail Kununurra, with some and fat sacks. Awassi rams.

n Awassi ewes from the Cyprus Ministry of Agriculture's flock at Orites. These are highly developed dairy sheep. Lambs are weaned at six weeks and the ewes are milked twice daily for three to four months.

Breed selection (1982-84) Unfortunately, the Department of Agriculture's Initially, three breeds of fat tail sheep—the negotiations for permission to collect Najdi Awassi, the Najdi and the Barbary—were embryos in Saudi Arabia and Barbary embryos selected as having high potential for in Libya were not successful. The Saudi commercial development in Australia. Arabians were concerned that Australian production could jeopardize local breeding These sheep are all large framed animals that initiatives, whereas the Libyan request to command premium prices in Australia's major exchange Merino ewes for Barbary stock could live sheep markets of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and not be met because of Australia's embargo on Libya. They thrive in the often harsh semi-arid the export of Merino ewes. climate of their homelands. Given adequate nutrition, they can achieve good levels of Negotiations for the Awassi fared much better. fertility. They are all noted for their milk We selected Cyprus as the best source of production (especially the Awassi) and high Awassi genetic material because of the genetic lamb growth rates. excellence of their breeding stock and a very high standard of veterinary disease control. The Cyprus Ministry of Agriculture was most efficient and co-operative.

109

Journal of Agriculture, Vol 28, No. 4, 1987 About the Awassi Embryo transfer, Cocos Island (1986) The Awassi is the most widespread of the The 311 Awassi embryos were stored in the world's fat tail sheep breeds, and much has maximum security quarantine station at Cocos been written about it in the scientific literature. until April 1986 when the programme for It is the dominant breed in Syria, Lebanon, embryo thawing and transfer had been Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait and much of the Saudi scheduled. Arabian peninsular, where it is highly valued Meanwhile, back in Western Australia, 100 for the production of meat, carpet wool, skins mature Dorset x Merino cross ewes were and dairy products. selected as "surrogates" for the Awassi A large framed, fat tail breed, the Awassi embryos. After strict health testing and produces a fleece of carpet wool quality, quarantine procedures at Wongan Hills usually 35 to 40 microns and highly Research Station the ewes, plus the necessary medullated. The sheep has a fawn-brown and, hormone-treated wethers (to act as teasers), less commonly, black head and neck. Small were flown by a special charter flight from coloured patches may occur on the belly and Perth to Cocos Island. legs, while fleece on the body is usually white. In what had to be a precisely timed schedule, Rams are generally horned, the head has a synchronization of oestrus in these ewes was "Roman" (Border Leicester style) muzzle while initiated at Wongan Hills Research Station, the ears are long and pendulous. The tail has with the final hormonal treatments being given large fat sacks on either side along much of its after the ewes were settled in quarantine at length while its tip is "s"-shaped. Cocos Island. Bedouins, and the more settled Arabs, prize the Working over a five-day period the Awassi as milk producers, and income from Department of Agriculture's team of Dr Chis milk and cheese makes a substantial Maxwell, Mr John Hunton and Mr Roy Casey, contribution to total sheep returns. Genetic together with the Commonwealth quarantine selection has produced ewes that yield 300 to officers on Cocos Island—officer in charge Mr 500 kg of milk over a three to four month Jack Haslam, and Mr Roy Baty—thawed, lactation. washed and implanted 300 suitable embryos into the 90 ewes that had shown the necessary Embryo collection, Cyprus (1985) oestrus and behavioural response. Working closely with the Ministry of Forty days later, Real Time Ultrasound Agriculture and Natural Resources in Cyprus, pregnancy diagnosis showed that 35 ewes were we collected 311 embryos from their highly pregnant, carrying about 50 foetuses. This selected nucleus Awassi flock. This flock had result was somewhat below expectations. It no "outside" sheep introductions for more than could have been caused either by the intensive 10 years, full pedigree control (single-sire matings by hand service and individual washing of the embryos before and after lambing records) and comprehensive thawing, or by an effect of the changing production documentation. daylight hours between Perth and Cocos Island on the ewes. The Australian team comprising Dr Chis The ewes lambed in late September/early Maxwell (reproductive physiologist), Mr John October. Fifty-one live purebred Awassi lambs Ryan (embryologist), Dr Roger Lewer were born. (geneticist), Mr Roy Casey (veterinarian), Mr Michael Cumpston (Commonwealth Forty surviving 100-day-old lambs were veterinarian), and with Dr John Lightfoot as released from Cocos Island, having been tested team manager, worked in Cyprus for about a and declared free of all exotic diseases with the month. exception of scrapie. This is a slow viral-like disease that may take several years for After essential quarantine and health testing symptoms to develop. The lambs were flown procedures were established, all ewes were on a special charter flight to Port Hedland and treated with hormones to provide the required immediately trucked non-stop under tight number of ewes each day for intrauterine quarantine to Kununurra. These were the first insemination and subsequently, embryo recovery. fat tail sheep to set foot on Australian soil since those imported in very early colonial days. Six days after insemination the embryos were flushed from the ewes, recovered and then washed in citric acid and trypsin solutions to remove virus particles possibly adhering to the outer coating of the embryos. They were then frozen in liquid nitrogen and flown to Cocos Island.

110 Journal of Agriculture, Vol 28, No. 4, 1987 • Far left: Awassi embryos were washed in trypsin and citric acid solutions to remove any virus particles from the outer coating.

• Left: An Awassi embryo with sperm on the outer coating (zona pellucida).

• Woolly and shorn Awassi lambs at Cocos Quarantine Station.

Quarantine and breed development Kununurra (1987-1993) The imported Awassi stock are held in a specially built quarantine station at the Frank Wise Institute for Tropical Agricultural Research located on the banks of the Ord River near Kununurra. This will allow them to complete a "Scrapie Freedom Assurance Programme" which is essential for all sheep and goats imported into Australia, regardless of origin. Under the requirements developed by Commonwealth authorities for this programme, all imported sheep will have to produce a minimum of five lambs each and these must survive to five years of age and be tested free of scrapie on clinical examination before they are released from quarantine. Because the lambs imported from Cocos Island will not produce progeny until they are two years old (September 1988), it will be 1993 before their progeny are five years old and eligible for release from quarantine for commercial development. Meanwhile, Australian quarantine authorities are monitoring research in the U.S.A. which may rule out the possibility of scrapie transmission when stock are bred by embryo transfer, thereby dramatically reducing the requirement for long term quarantine in this programme. While the sheep are at Kununurra, our research • Dorset x Merino ewes will concentrate on breed multiplication and were flown to Cocos Island to act as surrogates selection to maximize genetic diversity and to for Awassi embryos. produce lines of sheep best suited to future production systems in Australia. We want to learn more of the special carcass and fleece attributes of the Awassi and their crosses with Australian breeds, and the significance of these attributes in future production and marketing systems. Ill Journal of Agriculture, Vol 28, No. 4, 1987 • Part of the Awassi Quarantine Station at Kununurra showing the offices (left), laboratories (right) and pens in the background. The pens lead to outdoor yards.

Middle East (1987-1989) The future The AUSTRADE "Innovative Agricultural In the years ahead, the availability of Awassi Marketing Programme" has provided funds for sheep in Australia will provide the opportunity us to assess the acceptability of fat tail for farmers to diversify and specialize in crossbreds, compared with purebred fat tails alternative fat tail sheep production systems. and Australian breeds in Saudi Arabia and We expect the major trade will be in live fat tail Kuwait. The research will also assess the ram lambs, initially as crossbreds with exisiting potential of Australian crossbred ewes as Australian breeds. Over time, however, and foundation stock for the development of with continued emphasis on backcrossing intensive sheep breeding operations in the programmes, the production of three-quarter Middle East. These studies will help us bred and "purebred" stock will increase. The determine likely price premiums to be paid for industry will probably move towards purebred such stock, and the procedures Australian production systems to capitalize on the higher farmers should adopt to maximize returns from prices that should be available through future Australian fat tail sheep breeding marketing pure Awassi stock rather than enterprises. crossbreds. A vaulable additional trade should also be Industry development (1993 onwards) established in the export of young crossbred Under the terms of the agreement the joint and purebred ewes, as there is extremely high venture partners will establish a marketing demand for such animals as foundation company to co-ordinate the development of the breeding stock for Middle East sheep fat tail sheep industry in Australia and development programmes. overseas. The marketing company will control the distribution of genetic material and provide Future market development and changing appropriate training and technical back-up to consumer patterns in the Middle East in the ensure rapid industry development in the early years ahead could result in fat tail lambs being years after stock are released. Concurrently, the "halal" slaughtered within Australia and company will develop the necessary shipping, airfreighted as premium chilled or fresh overseas distribution and marketing systems to carcasses to target markets, where they may ensure maximum returns from the sale of receive substantial price premiums over slaughter and breeding stock. conventional imported products. Carpet wool produced by Awassi sheep and their crossbreds could well be used within the Australian carpet manufacturing industry. Australia imports about 18 million kilograms of carpet wool each year, valued at $90 million. Most of this wool comes from New Zealand, but about three million kilograms is imported each year from Pakistan. Wool produced by Awassi sheep is similar to that imported from Pakistan.

112 Journal of Agriculture, Vol 28, No. 4, 1987 Awassi breeding stock are prized throughout crossbreds destined for export to attract the Middle East and Mediterranean regions as maximum price premiums. We will study the milking sheep. Their presence in Australia will susceptibility of such sheep to breech strike boost the establishment of a substantial sheep and, if proven, test a number of control dairying and cheese-making industry. Australia measures such as jetting. Awassi ewes and imports some $10 million of specialty sheep rams retained for breeding in Australia could, if cheese such as Pecorino, Feta, Roquefort and necessary, be tailed at marking as per local Halumi. Production within this country could convention. replace some of these imports, and with further • No contamination of the Australian Merino expansion supply large export markets in the wool clip with coloured fibres. The genes Middle East and the U.S.A. controlling coloured fibres in the Merino are recessive. Thus, while only a small proportion Concerns about the project of Merino sheep actually exhibit pigmented Some sectors of the wool industry, in fibre, many more carry this gene but produce particular, have been concerned about the white wool. This recessive gene makes it development of a fat tail sheep industry within difficult for Merino breeders to control colour Australia.The Department of Agriculture in their flocks and they are naturally believes that, with the planning now in place, apprehensive at the prospect of more coloured these concerns will prove to be groundless. sheep. • No importation of exotic animal diseases. In contrast to the Merino, however, the gene Strict quarantine and health testing procedures for coloured fibres in the Awassi sheep is not required by Commonwealth authorities will recessive. As a result, most sheep carrying the ensure there is no risk of bringing disease into gene for pigmented fibre will also carry the country. coloured wool. In addition, the Awassi's • No competition with existing live sheep distinctive head, long pendulous ears and fat export trade. Australia does not supply any deposits around the tail make both purebred and crossbred sheep easy to distinguish in a stock for the fat tail sheep market in the Middle • Tailed Awassi ewes at East. Fat tails and their crosses are regarded as mixed flock. Crossbred sheep with this gene Bahrain. One-week-old premium stock, commanding higher prices can easily be indentified and, if necessary, lambs were tailed by than Merino wethers. Fat tail sheep bred in breeding programmes controlled to separate fat using rings. Australia would compete with stock imported tail and Merino breeding enterprises. from Turkey, North Africa and some eastern Despite the ease of separation, farmers European countries rather than Australian breeding both fat tail and Merino sheep must wethers. • Below left: First cross sustain normal shed cleanliness during Awassi x Merino lambs • Possibly more susceptible to fly strike. It is shearing, and ensure tht Awassi sheep are with their Merino mothers possible (though not certain because of their shorn last and that fleece lines are kept and Lyn Randall at Kununurra. coarse open fleece) that a fat tail sheep (with separate from those of other breeds. This is tail intact) will be more susceptible to fly strike already established practice for existing • Below: An Awassi ram in the breech area than Australian sheep with coloured breeds such as the Suffolk and at Kununurra, weighing tails docked. Tails must be left long on fat tail Shropshire. 107 kg at 12 months old.

Journal of Agriculture, Vol 28, No. 4, 1987