Reproductive Management of Transhumant Farming System in Greece

Abstract

Transhumance is a traditional farming system present in Greece for many centuries including the seasonal migration of people and their livestock that follows predetermined area-specific practices. Purpose of this paper was to record the practices performed during movement to uplands and of the strategies applied during reproduction in order to reveal differences among the studied areas as well as to record the degree the system has evolved. Non-parametric statistical methods in a sample of 551 herders were applied to depict management practices while the regions were separated into four groups according to climate and geographical features. The results revealed differences among the studied areas revealing separation of males and females, uncontrolled mating for the majority of the herds, early weaning and adoption of strategies such as oestrus synchronization, reflecting the effort of the producers to correspond to the seasonal needs of the market for lambs/kids as well as to improve the performance of their animals.

Keywords

• management
• reproduction
• sheep
• transhumance