Out of a total of 2,103 holdings, 1,552 holdings had 14,861 sheep and 5,374 goats, the National Statistics Office reported yesterday.

There were also 401 holdings which had no sheep and goats on the census date of December 1, 2003, and 150 holdings did not reply to the postal survey.

Of the 1,341 holdings that rear sheep, 24 per cent had one or two sheep, 70.5 per cent had fewer than 10 sheep and just four per cent had 50 sheep and over.

The holdings which had over 50 heads of sheep had, between them, a total of 3,851 sheep (25.9 per cent).

A total of 5,374 goats were declared by 722 holdings on December 1.

There were 830 holdings engaged solely in sheep activity while a total of 211 holdings were engaged solely in goat rearing.

There were 511 holdings engaged in the rearing of both sheep and goats and these holdings had a total of 11,629 heads or 57.5 per cent of the total sheep and goat population.