Being a popular animal in Middle Eastern countries, fat tailed sheep which are also known as Dumba in Bangladesh, are gaining popularity in Bangladesh. As a sheep lookalike animal, fat tailed sheep meat has a unique taste with a large amount of fat count. Recently, farmers in Bangladesh are gaining interest at rearing fat tailed sheep due to the low cost-high profit ratio.
Sohel Hawladar, a cattle farm owner in Ishwardi Upazila of Pabna has successfully built a sheep farm where he now rears 34 fat tailed sheep. Being a resident of Kacharipara area in Ishwardi, his sheep have grabbed a lot of attention on June 5 at the livestock fair in the district. Sohel Hawladar also received a prize from the livestock fair committee due to his achievement.
Talking to the correspondent, Sohel said that after taking a break from his academic carrier, he visited Rajasthan of India. After seeing fat tailed sheep being successfully reared there, Sohel decided to raise this species in Ishwardi. After building a farm, he bought 5 fat tailed sheep from Dhaka in 2016. After 5 years, the number increased from 5 to 34. He also rears 80 other goats of many variants in his farm.
He said, fat tailed sheep can give birth after every five months. Fat tailed sheep can give birth up to 2 cubs at the same time.
Fat tailed sheep are domesticated and a calm animal. As this species requires less maintenance, a lot of profit can be achieved in short time. A full grown fat tailed sheep can be sold at 1 to 1.5 lakh tk where a six months old sheep can be sold from 80,000 tk to 1 lakh tk. More than 15 lakh tk is produced from the farm each year, he added.
When asked about his future plan, Sohel said he wants Dumba farming to be spread across the country as it can be a good and healthy source of protein.
Ishwardi Upazila Livestock Officer Dr Rafiqul Islam said that rearing of fat tailed sheep is a profitable business. Though it is a native animal to Middle Eastern countries, this species does not face any sort of environmental obstacle while being reared in the country. Char areas can be a perfect place for Dumba farming, he said.