PHENOTYPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF SENEGALESE PEUL-PEUL SHEEP

Peul-peul sheep population is numerically the most important among sheep raised in Senegal. It is well adapted to the extensive farming system in the arid zone and plays an important socio-economic role in rural and urban livelihood. Despite to this importance, few studies have been done on this breed. In order to contribute to better knowledge of this breed, the objective of this study was carried out phenotypical characterization of Peul-peul sheep. In four eco-geographical zones of Ferlo, nine (9) phenotypic traits were measured on one hundred and ninety-seven (197) unrelated sheep aged at least 3 years old. All results were expressed as an average with the corresponding standard error. Student t and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to analyze differences between sex and zone sources of variation respectively for parametric and non-parametric variables. The main results show that Peul-peul sheep has 70.2 ? 3.8 cm for height at withers, 63.6 ? 3.9 and 80.6 ? 5.3 cm respectively for body length and chest girth. Sexual dimorphism is marked between males and females with significant differences. Considering, eco-geographical zones, potential ecotypes reported could be due to difference in animal husbandry practices and / or introgression of genes from other sheep breeds.