The Effect of Nutrition and Season of Breeding on Reproductive Performance of Naeemi Ewes

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Latest Kuwait government statistics showed that the self-sufficiency of lamb and mutton in Kuwait was 10% indicating low productivity of this subsector. Local Naeemi sheep breed has excellent tolerance to Kuwait’s environmental and nutritional stresses. There is a high demand of Naeemi sheep in the market. However, reproductive efficiency of Naeemi ewes is lower than other exotic breeds. Imbalance nutritional regimes and seasons of breeding are the major constraints to the reproductive efficiency of Naeemi ewes. The adverse impacts of above factors are reflected on litter size embryo survival and overall lambing rate resulting in a large economic loss to the producers. Reproductive performance of Naeemi sheep will be addressed in this project. This study will cover enhancement of the fertility and lambing rate of Naeemi ewes through dietary manipulation. The aim of this proposed study is to examine the effect of pre-mating dietary composition on reproduction of Naeemi ewes. High quality roughage in Kuwait is too expensive relative to concentrates. So, it is essential to reduce the cost of the diet offered to the ewes for maintaining the optimum body condition, reproduction and reduction in feed wastage. The objectives will be achieved by undertaking eight tasks. Economic analysis for the project will be carried out, based on the production data of the ewes and lambs. The study will provide opportunity for the training of national staff in various aspects of sheep production data collection and analysis. The findings of this study will be utilized in the future for production efficiency of Naeemi sheep in Kuwait. The sheep producers will obtain more lambs per ewe per year, thus they will be benefited economically