Rif Dimashq-SANA
The Awassi rams breeding and improvement project at the camel station and sheep unit in Deir al-Hajar in Damascus countryside provides breeders with about 250 rams and ewes annually, helping them to increase herds and produce meat and milk.
The project was established in 2005 with the aim of improving Awassi sheep and distributing them to breeders to improve their low-productivity flocks in terms of milk quantity and the proportion of twins, according to the station's head, Mowaffaq Abdel Rahim.
With a simple comparison, Abdel Rahim mentioned in a statement to a SANA representative that the percentage of twins in the project is about 40 percent, while it does not exceed 10 percent for the breeders, and the amount of milk production in the project reaches about 270 kilograms per ewe per season, while it does not exceed 100 kilograms for the breeders.
The project annually sells about 100 rams and 150 sheep to breeders to supplement and improve their flocks, according to Abdel Rahim, who indicated that the station’s capacity is about 2,500 head, and currently there are about 1,050 head, with the possibility of increasing 400 head from the current birth season.
The station chief pointed out that there are 50 heads of Najdi sheep, which are subject to experiments and research to compare them with Awassi in terms of meat, milk, twins and daily weight gain.
The station also cultivates about 660 dunums of fodder to save on its high rental costs.
The project is conducting research and experiments on nutrition, education and physiology, such as artificial insemination and embryo transfer, in addition to research on milk and its components, revealing the installation of an “automatic milking machine” soon to facilitate milking work, increase milk hygiene and reduce inflammation in sheep.
From the project staff, the engineer, Haifa Hadid, indicated that they follow up the status of the newborns, periodically inventory the herds, and follow-up measurements of the density of the milk produced.
In turn, Head of the Livestock Division at the station, Dr. Shadi Alisha, pointed out that they provide treatment, daily follow-up, individual treatments and periodic vaccinations throughout the year for the flocks according to a specific program.
The sheep station, which includes the Awassi sheep improvement project, was established in 2005 and covers an area of about 1,650 dunums, with a production capacity of about 100 million pounds of milk and meat production and sale to breeders.
Mehran Mualla
