Two trials with Finn sheep were carried out in Iraq:
A) The first was that planned and executed by the FAO project (IRQ/ 71/542). Twenty-five ewes (10 mature ewes and 15 ewe-lambs) plus 5 rams were imported from Yugoslavia in 1975. It was thought that the animals would adapt better to Iraqi conditions than if imported directly from Finland (Karam, personal communication). The breeding plan was to cross the Finn rams to local Awassi (AW) ewes.
The purebred Finn was badly affected by the prevailing environmental and hygienic conditions. Finn rams had difficulty in mating with AW ewes. Artificial insemination was practised to overcome the problem. Also, AW ewe-lambs were docked early in their life to allow natural mating with the purebred Finn rams.
The trial was reported by Karam (personal communication) as not successful due to lack of proper health care and the non-adaptability of Finn sheep to the prevailing conditions.
B) Later in 1978, the Government of Iraq imported a flock of 175 ewe lambs plus 15 rams from Finland. The flock was raised pure near Mosul, but suffered from health problems and non-adaptability to the environmental conditions. Finn rams were also mated with local Hamadani ewes the reciprocal cross was also produced, but no reports are available on the performance of these crosses.