This activity consists in fattening animals for two to three months for feast celebrations such as the Tabaski. This is an interesting activity for poor people, particularly women, because fattening does not require a major investment and the market is assured. The animals to be fattened are selected in the herd or are purchased in the market. Traditionally, the sheep are tethered and fed with available fodder such as millet bran, groundnut or cowpea haulm or millet straw. The animals eat everything that is made available to them. The sheep that are selected for fattening weigh about 25 kg at the beginning and they are sold when their weight reaches about 35 kg. Without supplementary feeding, the animals lose weight during the dry season. If the Tabaski intervenes in the period between July and October, there is no need for supplementary feeding. 

The International Livestock and Research Institute in Niger has developed a low cost method of increasing the profitability of fattening (Ayantunde 2006). The method consists in giving a ration of 400 g of millet bran and 300 to 600 g of cowpea haulms to each sheep per day. The advantage of this ration is that the animals do not eat more than they need and wastage is reduced. By practicing this method, the livestock farmer may earn FCFA 6000 per animal if the fodder is purchased, while the profit would be FCFA 10,000 per animal if the cowpea and millet bran come from his own production. This method of practicing animal fattening has become popular in Niger.     

Urea treated straw can also be used as fodder for fattening.

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