Body condition scoring (BCS) is a simple and easy technique, which allows subjective assessment of an animal’s body composition to help in adopting appropriate management strategy. Information on BCS is not available for indigenous Tswana goats. The aims of this study were to establish the relationships among body weight, body condition score and heart girth in indigenous Tswana goats raised under extensive and semi-intensive management during the dry and wet seasons in southeast Botswana. A total of 100 indigenous Tswana goats, owned by farmers and managed extensively, in wet and dry seasons, were used in Experiment 1; while 50 mature indigenous Tswana goats from the Botswana College of Agriculture were used in Experiment 2 in the dry season only under semi-intensive management. In both experiments, data were collected fortnightly on body weight, body condition score and heart girth for 12-20 weeks. Season significantly affected BCS, with lower scores (2.17±0.10 to 2.65±0.10) in the dry season than in the wet season (3.17±0.10 to 3.79±0.11), but has no effect on body weight or heart girth. Management did not significantly affect body condition score. There was no apparent relationship between body weight and condition score. Body weight was closely correlated with heart girth under extensive management in the wet season but not in the dry season. It is concluded that BCS is a more useful indicator of seasonal nutritional effects in goats than body weight or heart girth.

Limited access to quality feeds and reliable feed supply are amongst the priority constraints of smallholder pig production in Uganda. Among the feeds given to pigs, sweetpotato (SP), banana and other root tubers residues are common. However, information on farmers’ perceptions and practices on the proper use of these residues for pig feeding is limited. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing those aspects, as well as to identify opportunities for better use of these residues in the pig-SP systems. A qualitative survey was undertaken in Masaka and Kamuli, two districts of Uganda with high pig population and SP production. Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and Key Informant Interviews (KII) were undertaken with 80 small scale pig and SP producers and 24 key informants. Results from this study revealed that the majority of pig farmers in those districts use SP and other RTB crop residues as animal feed. During the rainy season, farmers scored high the utilization of SP crop residues, with the latter being the leading contributor to the pig diet especially in the rural area. SP crop residues are usually fed to pigs fresh without processing. Among the residues, fresh raw vines represent the largest part fed to pig (70%), as compared to roots and peels. The way these residues are offered vary, for example in peri-urban areas with easier access to commercial feeds, farmers feed the crop residues mixed with concentrates; whereas in rural areas with limited access to commercial feeds, crop residues tend to be given without supplementation. However, the full potential of SP and other RTB crop residues for pig feeding is not yet fully exploited as farmers accept that a large amount is wasted (37% in Masaka and 40% in Kamuli). In Masaka, the proportion of SP crop residues utilized at household level mostly for pig feeding was 40%, while in Kamuli was 52%. This study demonstrated that there is potential for better use of SP and other RTB crop residues as pig feed in the smallholder pig farming systems in Uganda, but the major constraint as pointed out by farmers is the poor access to technologies for preserving these resources. Therefore, there is a need for further exploration of strategies for conserving SP and other RTB crop residues during the harvesting period for use in pig feeding during times of feed scarcity.

The objective was to perform an ex-ante economic evaluation of new, legume-based forage alternatives available to farmers in Latin American tropical lowlands. These alternatives included grasses of the Brachiaria genus and the legumes Stylosanthes guianensis, Cratylia argentea, and Arachis pintoi. Case studies, involving farmers participating in the CIAT-led Tropileche Consortia convened by ILRI, were conducted in the forest margins of Pucallpa (Peru) and in the hillsides of the dry tropics of Esparza (Costa Rica) and Esquipulas (Nicaragua). A linear programming farm model developed by CIAT to maximize income was used for this analysis. Animal management parameters were based on farm averages at each reference site evaluated so that they represented current management conditions. Similarly, the model incorporated the prices of inputs and products typical of each country. A constant herd size was assumed for all alternatives evaluated. Production costs per kilogram of milk were estimated as the maximum expression of competitiveness, using three cow productivity parameters: the current average production per lactation (800 kg in Peru, 1,000 kg in Nicaragua, and 1,350 kg in Costa Rica); and two postulated parameters: 1,500 kg/lactation and 2,000 kg/lactation. For all forage options, key factors analyzed were (1) milk production costs resulting from implementing each forage alternative; (2) the investment required to establish each option, assuming the same number of milking cows and herd fertility; (3) the feasibility of obtaining credit with a local bank to invest in a forage alternative; and (4) the percentage of pasture area on the farm freed for other uses as a result of establishing one of the forage alternatives. Results indicated that the forage alternatives evaluated significantly improved the competitiveness of dual purpose farms in the hillsides of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, reducing the cost of producing milk between 13% and 37% with increased stocking rates, releasing up to 36% of area allocated to pastures. However, under current commercial banking conditions (real interest rates of 13% in Costa Rica and 18% in Nicaragua with payback periods of 5 years), the implementation of the options evaluated were not financially viable except for the establishment of Cratyla with sugarcane for dry-season feeding and Stylosanthes for pre-weaned calves. For all options to be implemented with commercial credit, a longer payback period was needed (8-10 years) and lower real interest rates (5-10%). The case of the forest margins of Pucallpa, was different, as none of the forage options evaluated, except Stylosanthes for pre-weaned calves, improved the competitiveness of farms under current management and production conditions due to low milk yields per cow and low proportion of herd in milk, which increased depreciation cost/cow to levels which were not viable. In addition, Pucallpa has an excess supply of forage biomass from a reduced herd inventory during the 80s and a limited fresh milk market which makes adoption of improved forages low attractive by farmers.

The study was designed to evaluate the immune response of chickens among different poultry management following challenge to live La Sota vaccine and further more investigated the lower antibody response detected in traditionally managed chicken, by testing the hypothesis that veterinary intervention (treatment with anti-helminthic, antibiotics and vitamin supplements), prior to vaccination, would improve the antibody response to live NDV vaccination. Even if, a protective level of antibody (> 4 Log 2HAI) was detected in all chickens following vaccination, antibody titres were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the intensively managed chickens Geometric Mean Titre (GMT) 85.4 when compared with the traditionally managed chickens GMT 59.3. From multivariable analysis; following a single live ND virus vaccine at the age of 21 day, chickens rearing in intensive production system were 8.6 times more likely to have high titre (128 vs 32) compared to those rearing in backyard free ranging system. The lower ND-HI titre in extensively managed chickens recorded in our study had be explained by impaired immune-competence due to immune-suppressive of concurrent infection. The study investigated the effect of concurrent parasitic and viral diseases on the immune response; as well as differences in protection among indigenous ecotype and exotic breed of chicken. The hypothesis that parasitism contributes to a poorer response to vaccination was proven (p < 0.05). Chickens that received veterinary treatment (de-wormed chickens) prior to vaccination were approximately 14 (i.e. 14.3) times more likely to have a titre of 128 when compared to titre 32 showing evidence for veterinary intervention had detectable effect on humoral response of chicken to vaccination (p< 0.05). Moreover; it was evident that HI titer differed between individual chickens and was influenced by breed types. Multivariate analysis showed that indigenous chickens were about 7 times more likely to have high HI titre (128 vs 32) compared to exotic breeds (p< 0.05). Though breeds differ genetically in their immune responsiveness to the antigen, and being protected following challenge; difference in their susceptibility to the virulent challenge virus needs to be ruled out in order to facilitate the improvement of disease-resistant traits.

This study aims to investigate genetic and non-genetic factors affecting growth performance of Boer goats and their crosses with Central Highland goats (CHG) reared on-station at Ataye site of Debre-Birhan Agricultural Research Center in Ethiopia. A total of 512 kids of Boer (B), F1 (B X CHG) and F2(a) (F1 X F1) crossbreds and backcrosses F2(b) (B X F1) born from 381 kiddings recorded between 2012 and 2017 were used for the analysis of body weight at birth, at weaning, at six-month, at yearling and body weight gain to weaning, weaning to six-month and six-month to yearling. The overall least-squares means across genotypes for birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW), six-month weight (6MW), yearling weight (YW) were 3.05±0.06 kg, 10.9±0.36 kg, 12.5±0.51 kg and 18.3±0.88 kg, respectively for Boer and 2.62±0.04 kg, 8.80±0.22 kg, 11.2±0.31 kg and 16.7±0.48 kg, respectively for F1. Similarly, the BW and WW of the F2(a) and F2(b) were (2.50±0.13 kg and 8.37±0.74 kg) and (2.94±0.15 kg and 9.80±0.75 kg) respectively. The overall least-squares means across breed groups for daily weight gain to weaning, weaning to six-month and six-month to yearling were 83.9±3.76 g, 25.6±3.29 g and 27.6±2.69 g, respectively for Boer, and 67.0±2.26 g, 31.5±2.00 g and 28.4±1.46 g, respectively for F1. Similarly, daily weight gains to weaning was 67.7±7.66 g and 78.7±7.74 g for the F2(a) and F2(b) respectively. Sex, type of birth, year of birth and season of birth affected the studied traits, while, doe parity has no significant effect except at the later age weight gain. In conclusion, the overall growth performances of all the studied genotypes were below expectations which indicates their sub-optimal adaptability to the study area. In addition to the genotype, the non-genetic factors affect the growth performance, so improvement in growth performances is possible by minimizing environmental effects.

This paper presents an economic analysis of the use of drugs (isometamidium and diminazene) in controlling African Animal Trypanosomosis (AAT), a serious disease of cattle and small ruminants in villages that exhibit resistance to isometamidium in Burkina Faso and Mali in West Africa. The study applies a production function framework integrating a damage control function to assess the short term productivity effect of trypanocide use under different epidemiological conditions. We found that the marginal value products of isometamidium in all epidemiological conditions, and the marginal value product of diminazene in high-prevalence-high-resistance conditions are positive and greater than one revealing an underuse of trypanocidal drugs in those conditions. The economical optimum level of isometamidium is far larger than the current use level. In a strict economic interpretation, this implies that in the short term cattle farmers could increase the profitability if they increase trypanocide input beyond current levels. On the other hand, if the use of trypanocide increases, cattle farmers will also be more likely to experience future losses from trypanocide resistance. In this paper we demonstrated the feasibility of applying the damage control framework for measuring the productivity of veterinary therapeutic drugs at farm level in poor African countries.

The Ankole pastoral production system in South Western Uganda is based on grazing without supplementary feeding. A stochastic simulation model was developed to determine the dynamics of pastures grazed by Ankole cattle and their Holstein Friesian crosses and the carrying capacity (CC) of the livestock grazing system. The model used the concept of rain use efficiency which relates pasture production to rainfall. A cross sectional study was carried out on 16 selected farms and data on number of animals, sex, age group and size of available grazing land was collected. The similarity between the results of the simulation rainfall runs and field data are considered to be satisfactory. The overall annual forage production is 3905 ± 72kg/ha. The lowest CC (5.65 ± 0.75) occurs in long dry season (June to August) while the highest CC (1.41 ± 0.06 ha/TLU) occurs in short rain season (September to November). Annual carrying capacity ranges between 1.88 and 2.08 ha/TLU with an overall mean of 1.95 ± 0.04 ha/TLU. Sixty three (63%) percent of the surveyed farms have stocking rates that are higher than the CC throughout the year while the rest are overstocked in the dry seasons of the year. The results indicate that CC is dynamic and its variability is more pronounced within the year than between years. In response to seasonal CC, the major point of intervention in regard to reduction of actual stocking rates could be done in May shortly before the start of the long dry season. For Ankole pastoral system to be sustainable, the stocking rate should not go below 1.41 ha/TLU.

A crossbreeding experiment was carried out between two local strains of Mandarah (MN) and Matrouh (MA) chicken. Thirty-four sires and 400 dams from each strain were used to produce four genetic groups. Body weights of 3067 chicks at hatch (BW0), 4 (BW4), 8 (BW8), 12 (BW12) and 16 (BW16) weeks of age and their daily gains in weight during the age intervals from 0-4 (DG4), 4-8 (DG8), 8-12 (DG12) and 12-16 (DG16) weeks were evaluated. Multi-trait animal model (MTAM) was used to estimate direct additive genetic (GI) and maternal additive genetic (GM) and direct heterosis (HI) effects. Heritabilities were estimated and breeding values (PBV) were also predicted. Estimates of Heritabilities (h2) for growth traits ranged from 0.14 to 0.58. The percentages of GM were in favour of the MA dams and ranged from –1.47 to –6.70 % for body weights and from –1.40 to –7.73 % for gains in weight. Estimates of HI (P