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(392) Meidob

1. General breed information

Species:	Sheep
Breed Name/Strain :	Meidob
Breed Group Name:	Developed / composite breeds
Subgroup Information:	Long-legged sheep
Group Origin:
Commercial composites are breeds developed from a selected local breed combined with varying proportions of introduced (also exotic) blood. A total of 19 composite sheep breeds are recorded, twelve of these in southern Africa mainly for enhanced wool production by combining with the Merino. The rest are from West Africa and the Sudan (Rege et al., 1996).
Breed Origin :
(Zanghawa X Sudan Desert)
Main Location:
Inhabits the Jebel Meidob mountains in Darfur in western Sudan (Epstein, 1971).
Special Characteristic:
Distinguished by a heavy coat composed predominantly of hair, with a fine woolly undercoat; the relatively high elevation of the area and the associated low temperatures, especially at nights and in the winter months, have contributed to the development of the heavy coat; the colour of the fleece is commonly grey or reddish roan; the rams have a large spiral horns, while the ewes are polled; but this sexual dimorphism of the horns may be reversed (Epstein, 1971).