small ruminants

Performance data on the small ruminants in indonesia. The mature weights of both sheep and goat breeds were summarized by hardjosubroto and astuti (1979) and are presented in

Breeds sheep	Male (kg)	Female (kg)
Thin-tailed	40	30
Priangan	60	35
Fat-tailed	40	35

Source : hardjosubroto and astuti (1979)

The fleece on indonesian sheep is light, consisting of extremely irreguler, coarse, hair-type wool. It is used for making carpets of poor quality. The ewes are not milked; thus they serve to produce meat and carpet wool.

It is estimated that the average slaughter weight of thin-tailed sheep is only about 24 kg and the wither heights is about 57 cm. Priangan sheep are a bit heavier, with an estimated slaughter weight of about 38 kg in males and 20 to 30 kg in females. Fat-tailed sheep are about the same size as the javanese thin-tailed, having a slaughter weights of about 24 kg in females and a bit more in males.

Prolificacy is high in all sheep breeds; the ewes normally have one or two lambs at birth occasionally three. Mason(1978) reported that prolificacies (lambs born per 100 ewes lambing) vary from 145 to 213 % in the priangan, from 145 to 156 % in the fat-tailed, and from 104 to 160 % in the thin-tailed sheep. In allbreeds there are trplets and quadruplets. Hardjosubroto and astuti (1978) reported that the proportions of singles, twins, and triplets in sheep are about 63.7, 32.9, and 3.28, respectively. There is a usual 8-month lambing interval. Since there is no seasonality of estrus, twice-yearly breeding and two lamb crops are possible. However, this would require improved nutrition and management condutions. Males are first used for natural mating at an age of about 12 months. The age of first parturition is about 15 to 18 months. As there is no seasonality of estrus, births occur year-round. Prewening mortality in sheep in central java (hardjosubroto and astuti 1978) is 7.98, but in the postweaning sheep the mortality rate is 4.2%.

Daily gain of fat-tailed sheep is about 80 to 140 grams per day. Dressing per centege of sheep is about 51% 9hardjosubroto and astuti 1978).

There is no seasonality of estrus in goats, thus reproductive performance could be the same as in sheep. However, intervals between successive parturitions in the usual production systems is about 7 to 9 months. Also, mating in goats is by natural service. Twinning is common in all breeds of goats.

The mature weights of the three goat breeds are shown in table 16, and the dressing percentage in the ettawa and kacang is about 51%. Daily gains range from about 50-150 grans per day and are higher in the ettawa. Milk production in the ettawa goat ranges from 500 to 1200 ml per day, with a lactation period from 3 to 7 months.

The meat from goats and sheep in indonesia is in great demand for making sate (satay in malaysia). As mentioned earlier, the small ruminants represent a valuable resource for indonesia and for all of southest asia; about 77% of the goats and 96% of the sheep of southeast asia are fond in indonesia. High fertility rates in both sheep and goats make them valuable genetic resources. Even though all goats and sheep are small in size when compared to world standards, their small sizes and slow rates of growth could be the results of harsh environments rather than genes. Therefore, adaptability to such an environment is an important genetic resuorce.