The Arabi sheep is a breed of domestic sheep which is found mainly in southern Iraq, southwestern Iran and northeastern Arabia.
Is a Near Easter Fat-Tailed type and raised mainly for meat production.
The breed was probably descended from very ancient importations from Arabia across the narrow Bal-el-Mandeb Straits at the mouth of the Red Sea.
Total population of these animals increased from 1.4 to 1.5 million from 1990 to 2000. Read some more information about this sheep breed below.
Arabi Sheep Characteristics
The Arabi sheep are medium sized animals. They are mainly white in coloration, but brown, black and black-and-brown colored animals can also occur.
Their head is generally white, but can also be black. The rams are generally horned, but the ewes are polled.
Average body height of the mature ewes is around 28 inches at the withers, and around 32 inches for the rams.
Average live body weight of the mature Arabi rams is around 53.5 kg. And the mature ewes on average weight around 38.2 kg. Photo and info from ansi.okstate.edu and Wikipedia.
Uses
The Arabi sheep is a meat sheep breed. It is raised mainly for meat production.
Special Notes
The Arabi sheep are very strong and hardy animals. They are well adapted to extreme temperatures and conditions.
Within the foothills of Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, summer temperatures rise to 41 °C and winter temperatures down to -26 °C with less than 400 mm rain.
Today the breed is raised mainly for meat production. But they also produce wool, and their wool is of carpet quality. Their wool has an average diameter of 26.2 micrometers.
The ewes are good mothers, and on average they produce slightly more than one lamb per litter.
The Arabi sheep is also the foundation breed of the Wooled Persian sheep of South Africa. However, review full breed profile of the Arabi sheep in the following chart.
| Breed Name | Arabi |
| Other Names | None |
| Breed Purpose | Mainly meat |
| Special Notes | Strong animals, well adapted and do well in their native climate, adapted to extreme temperatures and weather conditions, raised mainly for meat production but are also good for producing carpet quality wool, average diameter of the wool is around 26.2 micrometers, the ewes are good mothers, and they generally on average produce slightly more than one lamb per litter, it is the foundation breed of the wooled sheep of South Africa |
| Breed Size | Medium |
| Weight | Mature rams average live body weight is around 53.5 kg, and the mature ram’s average live body weight is around 38.2 kg. |
| Horns | Rams are horned, while the ewes are generally polled |
| Climate Tolerance | Native climates |
| Color | Mainly white, but black, brown, black-and-brown colored animals can also occur |
| Rarity | Common |
| Country/Place of Origin | Iran, Iraq |
