Text and Photos by Henrylito D. Tacio
“The animals are generally held in low esteem,” Dr. Jose Rizal once wrote about the sheep. It may have been written more than a hundred years ago, but his observation holds true even today.
Statistics from the Department of Agriculture have shown that the Philippine sheep population in 1903 totaled 30,428. In 1935, it grew to 140,041 head, but it went down drastically to 26,000 head years later.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), sheep population in the country stagnated from 30,000 in 1992 to the same population in 2002. In comparison, Myanmar’s 284,200 heads in 2002 went up to 431,500 heads in 2002.
What’s the reason for the underdevelopment of the sheep industry in the Philippines despite the animal’s enormous economic potential?
“Sheep as a commodity had very low priority as far as research and development were concerned,” explained Dr. Patricio Faylon, when he was still the director of the Livestock Research Division of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), a line agency of the Department of Science and Technology.
One of the earliest animals to be domesticated for agricultural purposes, sheep – which are most likely descended from the wild mouflon of Europe and Asia – are raised for fleece, meat (lamb, hogget, or mutton) and milk. A sheep’s wool is the most widely used animal fiber, and is usually harvested by shearing. Ovine meat is called lamb when from younger animals and mutton when from older ones.
Sheep and goats are closely related as both are in the subfamily Caprinae. But they are separate species, so hybrids rarely occur, and are always infertile. A hybrid of a ewe and a buck (a male goat) is called a sheep-goat hybrid (only a single such animal has been confirmed).
Visual differences between sheep and goats include the beard and divided upper lip of goats. Sheep tails also hang down, even when short or docked, while the short tails of goats are held upwards. Sheep breeds are also often naturally polled (either in both sexes or just in the female), while naturally polled goats are rare (though many are polled artificially). Males of the two species differ in that buck goats acquire a unique and strong odor during the rut, whereas rams do not.
In the Philippines, sheep has a long history. It was introduced here during the Spanish era. In fact, the sheep we call “native” today is really the Spanish Merino brought to the country by the Spaniards during the Galleon Trade between Mexico and the Philippines.
Sheep raising became quite popular by the mid-1930s. But due to the breeders’ lack of knowledge on the scientific rearing of the sheep, the health of the country’s stock deteriorated and population dwindled steadily. Animal experts are urging Filipinos to raise more sheep. It’s a better animal to raise than goat, they claim.
Aside from the “native sheep,” other breeds of sheep raised in the country include the crosses of Shropsire, Southdowners, Poll Dorset, Rambouillet and Suffolk. In recent years, Barbados Black Belly sheep were introduced into the country by religious missions and international civic organizations. The latter has been observed to be adaptable to the Philippine conditions.
“Barbados Black Belly is to sheep what Anglo-Nubian is to goats,” said Harold Watson, when he was still the director of the Davao-based Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC). In 1985, he received a Ramon Magsaysay award for encouraging international utilization of sustainable farming systems in the region.
What are the advantages of raising sheep over other animals, particularly goats? “Sheep is one of the most productive and economical animals that Filipinos can raise,” admits Oscar Barzaga, an airline pilot who raises sheep in his farm in Dasmariñas, Cavite.
Singling out goats in comparison, Barzaga enumerates several advantages: “The goats were unruly, ate the bark of my trees, and did not multiply enough. On the other hand, the sheep are quiet, docile, and multiply rapidly.”
Unlike goats, which are browsing animals, sheep are grazers that like to feed on short grass. Sheep are extremely hard animals that can survive with little or no care. Newborn lambs, for instance, do not need any human intervention to survive. The only care practiced by some sheep farmers on the newborn is to apply tincture of iodine on their navel to prevent infection of the umbilical cord.
Sheep has been found to be more resistant to parasites, both internal and external, and respiratory diseases than goats. They can, in addition, better stand inclement weather, including typhoons. Sheep, even those with a low dressing percentage, can produce more meat than goats.
“Since mutton (the sheep of the meat) can replace beef, carabeef, or pork in the Filipino diet, sheep production on a granted scale at the backyard level by millions of small farmers could help meet the people’s increasing need for quality meat and meat products,” said Roy C. Alimoane, the current director of MBRLC.
Sheep raising is a sound alternative source of income, employment, and nutrition for small farmers, according to Alimoane, especially when farm size in the country is shrinking.
Aside from meat, sheep can also provide skins and hides for the country’s leather industry, which currently imports a substantial portion of its raw material requirements. “Raising sheep has excellent potential in the Philippines,” Alimoane said and cited a study of sheep raising conducted by the University of the Philippines at Los Baños. The study, he said, shows that the indifference of Filipinos to sheep raising is due mainly to lack of a marketing system and appropriate technology.
Sheep can be raised under plantation crops like coconut, coffee, and orchard among others. The plantation crops must be at least three years old before sheep are brought into the farm. Experts are not recommending using sheep as weeders in black pepper farms since the animals have been found to relish the crop.
Sheep can also be raised together with cattle. There’s one problem though: both livestock will compete for the same forage. Raising goats and sheep together is not advisable since both animals can pass on to each other parasite, which are common to both animals. Among the common parasites are coccidian, stomach fluke, tapeworms, nematodes, and lice and ticks.
Sheep are ruminants, that is, they have a multiple-compartment stomach containing microbes that are able to digest forages (grasses, legumes, or shrubs). Sheep can survive solely on forage without grain supplementation, provided there is forage of sufficient quality and quantity.
Generally, sheep get most of their nutritional needs from the following: silage, grains, and pasture.
Silage is a succulent variety of fodder for sheep. It is composed mainly of plant material from corn, oats and others and kept in a silo covered by plastic. Its moisture content is high and a good source nutrient for your sheep. The lactic acid that builds up during its production serves as a preservative for your stock supply.
Grains are used for supplemental nutrition in the whole diet plan of your sheep herd. Corn, soybean as well as oat, sorghum and wheat are used extensively for grain feeding. As a meal replacement each type of grain has its nutritional value at the top of the chain are corns and soybean. To help you choose which grain is best for you try to figure in the costs of each grain choice and from there you can make an assessment.
Pasture is the main and staple source of food for your sheep. Having a good supply of pasture in fact is enough to meet the needs of your sheep with respect to their nutritional requirements. The ideal pasture would be composed of leafy vegetation no more than six inches tall.
All these available food sources should be supplemented with minerals and salts so that your sheep flock will have better performance in late pregnancy.
Fencing may be one of the most important components of a successful sheep operation. A properly designed and constructed fence will keep the sheep in and predators out. Traditionally, woven wire has been used as sheep fence. However, the expense of woven wire is quite high and it is difficult to justify fencing large areas in woven wire fence. The perimeter fence around the entire area where the sheep are going to be contained must be of high quality material. If woven wire is used, posts must be put close enough together so that animals (the sheep and predators) cannot get through.
Building internal cross fences – which divide the pasture within the perimeter – do not need to be as secure or permanent as the perimeter fence. There are several types of portable, temporary fencing material available that are easily moved and can be utilized to cross fence pastures as forage growth changes or as number of animals changes. These types of fences can be easily moved by one person and are very useful in keeping sheep where you want to keep them.
Marketing these products is probably where most sheep owners fail in their total operation. Much time and effort is required to develop your own market, but the payoffs can be very high.
Nilo Casas is an avid goat raiser who is very much convinced that there is money in raising sheep. He maintains two sheep and goat farms. One is an 18 hectare farm in Masbate and the other, a smaller 5-hectare farm in Kawit, Cavite where all his ruminants roam freely to pasture in verdant grasslands.
According to him, the demand peaks for sheep is during Christmas and Muslim holidays and when the Arab communities in the Philippines have their own celebrations. For Arabs, Casas said they buy only live sheep from him and they want it complete with ears and tail.
Another market is the growing number of overseas-based Filipino engineers who have already acquired the habit of cooking and eating mutton which they have acquired during the years they have stayed in various Arab countries.
In an article circulated by Philippine News Agency, Casas admitted he was able to earn more than a million pesos for selling 275 heads of sheep alone.
“Imagine this,” Casas was quoted as saying, “just say you have 50 heads of sheep. If you could sell that at P4,000 each—that’s already P200,000. How much does a Filipino domestic helper in other countries earn – P35,000 a month? They could just come back here and raise sheep!”
Through the years, he has raised imported breeds, whose prices range between P25,000 and P35,000 per head. They are raised primarily for their meat, unlike in other countries, where some sheep are also raised for their good quality wool. In just a span of three to five months after birth, the sheep are sold live at prices ranging between P3,000 and P4,000. He sells his ewes for P5,000.
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