The Awassi (also known as the Ivesti, Arab Sheep, Baladi, Deiri, Shami, Gezirieh, Syrian Sheep) is a nomadic sheep breed created through centuries of natural and selective breeding to become the highest milk producing breed in the Middle East. The breed is of the Near Eastern Fat-tailed type. The average ewe has single lactations over 300 litres per 210 day lactation and it is not uncommon for outstanding females to have 210 day lactations above 750 litres. The breed is calm around people, easy to work with and easily milked. When machine milked, they can be milked in 4-6 minutes. The breed also has the advantage of natural hardiness and grazing ability. The breed is well suited to a grazing production system as well as a confinement operation. The Awassi has a brown face and legs with the fleece varying in colour from brown to white. Individuals can also be found with black, white, grey or spotted faces. The males are horned and the females are usually polled. The fleece is mostly carpet type with a varying degree of hair. Research Awassi
The Booroola Merino is a breed of sheep which was originally developed on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, and is the subject of a continuing development program initiated by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO). Booroolas differ from the normal Merino in two important ways. First, their fertility is as high as any breed in the world. The number of lambs born per ewe lambing averages 2.4 with a range from one to six. In crosses with other Merinos this difference is naturally reduced but half-Booroola ewes on average wean about 20 percent more lambs than comparable Merinos under the same conditions. Second, they have the ability to breed at most times of the year, thus extending the breeding season. Research Booroola Merino
The Elliottdale is a carpet-wool breed of sheep which was developed at the Elliott Research Station in Tasmania. Development of the breed commenced in 1963 when the CSIRO made available a ram which was the progeny of a New Zealand Drysdale ram and a Merino/Border Leicester cross ewe. It was later discovered that this ram did not possess the gene for carpet-wool characteristics and work continued based on locating sheep with the carpet- wool gene in the TasmanianRomney flocks. This was achieved in 1968. Development of the breed continued using a base flock of pure Romneyewes, many showing some carpet-wool characteristics. By 1972 it was considered that top selected rams were breed true and that the breed had become fixed in type. The Elliottdale is similar to the Romney, with cleaner points and a carpet-wool fleece of 38-40 microndiameter. Rams may be horned or polled but ewes are always polled. The breed also has many prime lamb features, producing quick growing lambs of excellent quality. Research Elliottdale
The Jacob is a British breed of sheep. Slight of build, with the narrow, lean carcass typical of some of the ancient British breeds, they are immediately noticeable due to their black and white fleeces and prominent horns. Both males and females are horned, sporting two, four and occasionally six horns. Most striking to many people are four-horned rams with two vertical centre horns as much as two feet long, and two side horns curling down along the side of the head. Two-horned rams develop the more familiar classic double curl. Horns on the ewe are always shorter and more delicate than the rams' horns.
The Jacob fleece, which is properly described as white with black spots, is prized by hand spinners and weavers. The white and the black wool, which may fade at the tips to dark brown, may be blended to various shades of greys. The wool is of medium grade, and interestingly, the black wool, which grows out of black skin, frequently is shorter than the white wool, which grows from white skin. Ideally, the animal should be 40% black and 60% white, with certain characteristic patterns. The legs should be predominantly white, with black hooves and black knees and hocks desirable. The desired Jacob face is frequently referred to as 'badger faced' , with black cheeks and muzzle, but a white blaze down the front of the face. The nose should be black as well as the horns and ears.
The Urial or Oorial (Ovis Vignei) is a wild sheep of Asia. It occurs from the Punjab through Afghanistan to eastern Iraq. The rams have a characteristic ruff of long hair on the throat and the horns curve round in a circle being about 68 cm long, while the horns of the ewe are very short and nearly straight. The Urial is greyish brown on the upper parts, with whitish under parts. *Urochordata
Urochordata is a class of sub-Phylum Acrania. They are the sea squirts. They are ciliary-feeding marine animals. Research Urial
In Roman-Jewish mythology, Agna was a virgin incarnation of the Ewe goddess. She was adopted by Christians as Saint Agnes, and heavily embellished with untrue tales of her persecution and worship at a time when actually it was Agna, a goddess of divine prostitutes who was worshipped. Research Agna
The Republic of Ghana (formerly known as the Gold Coast) is a country in west Africa. It has a total area of 238,540 km2 The climate is tropical; warm and comparatively dry along the south-east coast; and hot and humid in the south-west; hot and dry in the north. The terrain is comprised mostly of low plains with dissected plateau in the south-central area. Natural resources are gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, fish, rubber. The religion is 38% indigenous beliefs, 30% Muslim, 24% Christian, 8% other. The official language is English with African languages also spoken including Akan, Moshi-Dagomba, Ewe, and Ga. The area was originally made up of several powerful native kingdoms including the Fanti on the coast and the Ashantees inland (the kingdom of Ashantee or Ashanti). The arrival of Europeans in the 15th century led to the establishment of trading posts from 1600 onwards. The first settlements on this coast were made by the Portuguese, who built the fort of Elmina, seized by the Dutch in 1637. Subsequently a number of Dutch and English settlements were established, but the former were transferred to Britain in 1872 and in 1874 the British with the assistance of the Fanti having finally ousted the other Europeans established the colony of the Gold Coast (so named because its chief export was gold). Ashantee was finally completely annexed in 1901, after having given much trouble. The Gold Coast became independent in 1957, changing its name to the republic of Ghana. Research Ghana
Abbreviations
Research Awassi
