Sheep breed best for Fiji

The Ministry of Agriculture has plans to make Fiji self-sufficient in meat production and believes that the Fiji Fantastic breed of sheep could help solve our meat import problems.

Ranadi Plantation, which is located in Deuba, is home to more than 200 sheep which are of the Fiji Fantastic breed.

The Fiji Fantastic breed of sheep was derived by the Ministry of Primary Industries which successfully quarantined the exotic Barbados Blackbelly (BBB) tropical hair sheep to exclude Scrapie (the prion of which is said to have been the source of Mad Cow Disease) from Fiji.

A prion is a disease-causing agent that is neither bacterial nor fungal nor viral and contains no genetic material.

Ranadi Plantation Manager Maurice Carter-Bing said sheep farming on the estate started in the early 90's and it has flourished since then.

Mr Carter-Bing said they started with eight male sheep, which were distributed to selected farms by the MPI.

"The sheep are of the Fiji Fantastic breed which were tested on Makogai and given to us to see how they would survive," he said.

Mr Carter-Bing said sh-eep farming was a profitable business but there were some challenges they faced. Navua receives a lot of rainfall throughout the year and the wet condition is not good for the sheep.

Mr Carter-Bing said the dampness of the ground could cause Foot rot in the sheep. Foot rot is an infection that is commonly found in sheep, goat, and cattle and it rots away the foot of the animal, more specifically the area between the two toes of the affected animal.

It is extremely painful and contagious and it can be treated with a series of medications but if not treated the whole herd can become infected.

Mr Carter-Bing said Fly strike was another disease which mainly affected sheep but Fiji has been lucky enough not to have many cases of the disease.

"Fly strike is when flies lay eggs on animal's tails or fur and the eggs hatch and then the maggots feed on the animal," he said.

He said Fiji has been lucky but there were some cases whereby they lost sheep to the disease.

He said the Fiji Fantastic breed of sheep had not been affected by the Fly strike disease because they tend to lose their fur as they grow older.

"For the sheep in Fiji we do not have to shear their wool because it will fall off eventually," he said.

At the plantation the sheep are left to graze in the fields and herded back to their sheds in the afternoon.

Mr Carter-Bing said the sheep shed at the plantation was known as the Music Shed because of the sounds of the sheep.

"The shed floor is made in a way that their droppings fall through the gaps in the floor and they are then used as manure for the orchards," he said.

Mr Carter-Bing said their one other problem was the high cost of fencing for the fields.

"We used to be subsidised by the Government but now it's not that much but we would like for the Government to help us out with medicine for the sheep," he said.

He said sheep also get infected by worms and they have to be drenched constantly to keep infection away.

"Sheep pick up parasites because they graze and they have to be drenched so that their system is kept clean," he said.

Mr Carter-Bing said they have to make sure to keep changing the drench they used to ensure that sheep do not get resistant to them.

"We would like to get some help from government on these issues so that our sheep industry is able to flourish," he said.

He said the sheep reared at the plantation were not sold to the abattoir at the Fiji Meat Industry Board but bought by individuals.

"People come and buy and we sell them at $7-$8 kg live in weight" he said.