Constraints and risk factors contributing to young stock mortalities in small ruminants in Jordan

Journal Pre-proof Constraints and risk factors contributing to young stock mortalities in small ruminants in Jordan Ja’far Al-Khaza’leh, Bekele Megersa, Belal Obeidat

PII:

S0921-4488(19)30242-1

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2019.106033

Reference:

RUMIN 106033

To appear in:

Small Ruminant Research

Received Date:

2 February 2019

Revised Date:

17 September 2019

Accepted Date:

2 December 2019

Please cite this article as: Al-Khaza’leh J, Megersa B, Obeidat B, Constraints and risk factors contributing to young stock mortalities in small ruminants in Jordan, Small Ruminant Research (2019), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2019.106033

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Constraints and risk factors contributing to young stock mortalities in small ruminants in Jordan Ja’far Al-Khaza’leha ,* , Bekele Megersab , Belal Obeidatc a

Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Al- Balqa' Applied University, P.O. Box 19117, Al- Salt, Jordan, e-mail:

[email protected] b

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hawassa University, PO Box 5, Hawassa, Ethiopia, e-mail: [email protected].

c

Faculty of Agriculture, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, 22110, Jordan, e-mail: [email protected]

* Corresponding author: E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Al-Khaza’leh)

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Highlights: Diseases and malnutrition are the major reasons of mortalities for young stocks The overall annual mortality rates were higher in kids than lambs The overall annual mortality rates of male kids and lambs were higher than females Deaths were found to peak during cold season and drop in warm months Ecology, production system, flock size affected death rates of newborns

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Abstract A single-visit survey was conducted from June to October, 2017 to estimate the kid and lamb mortalities, and identify major causes and risk factors in Karak governorate of Jordan. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to 120 small ruminant farmers in addition to focus group discussions. Results showed that diseases, feed shortage, poor mothering, predators and insufficient milk provision were perceived to be the most important causes of mortality in kids and lambs. Among diseases, diarrhea and pneumonia, were the top causes of young stock death losses. The overall mean annual mortality rates were 27.4 kids and 8.2 lambs per 100 live births a year. Mortality rates were higher in kids than lambs and found to decrease with age categories. The overall mean annual mortality rates of male kids and lambs within and between production systems were significantly higher than their female counterparts (P<0.05). Deaths were found to peak (57.3%) during cold season (December to February), and drop (3.5%) in warm months (June to August). Death rates were significantly higher in mountain region, with

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incidence rate ratio of 2.5 times greater in lambs and 2.1 times more in kids compared to those in semi-desert ecology. Lamb mortality was also higher in transhumant production system (1.6 times more) than sedentary system but no difference for kids. For a unit increase in flock size, the incidence rate ratio of lamb death rate was found to decrease by factor of 0.99. In general,

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young stock mortality is a challenge for small ruminant production in the study area and calls for improvements of health care and proper feeding during the last stage of pregnancy of females and increased care for newborns.

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Keywords: Mortality, Risk factors, Lambs, Kids, Production system, Ecological area, Jordan

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Introduction

In Jordan, small ruminant production is an integral part of farming systems. Goats and sheep are relevant to socio-economy, poverty reduction, food security and substantially contribute to a livelihoods of farmers and poor rural people (Al-Atiyat and Tabbaa, 2009; Qtaishat, 2012; Al-Atiyat, 2014). Goats and sheep are well adapted to the arid and semi-arid environments of the country representing the highest proportion of livestock biomass, numbering around 860,220 and 2,596,450 heads, respectively (Ministry of Agriculture, 2015). However, productivity of the small ruminant is often constrained by many challenges. The most important problems hampering small ruminant production in Jordan are shortage of feed and drinking water, occurrence of diseases, poor veterinary services, high feed prices and rangeland shrinkage and poor management practices (Al-Assaf, 2012; Al-Khaza’leh et al. 2015a). Under the harsh climatic conditions such as in different parts of Jordan,

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effects of these constraints had exacerbated and adversely affected the performance and health of the animals.

Optimizing profits and benefits of small ruminant species for householdes depend largely on the efficiency of small ruminant production and surviving rate of animals to market age. A high reproduction rate in a flock and survivability of neonates to the

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market age are the critical components in small ruminant production. Achieving these aspects will ensure the success of livestock farming by enlarging the ratio (proportion) of the more value young stocks. High prenatal and postnatal mortality

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rates of kids and lambs were the major challenging and wastage issue that adversely affected goat and sheep economic production in Jordan. A previous study by Al-Khaza’leh, (2015b) reported that the prenatal and postnatal mortality accounted

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for 98.9% of the total losses of goats in the southern Jordan. The high mortalities in young animals can severely affect the farmers’ economic returns (Husein et al., 2005; Al-Assaf, 2012). Another study by Shomo et al. (2010) also showed that abortion and high lamb mortality in the dry areas in Syria were among the major factors influencing economic success of sheep

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production. High barren rate and high perinatal mortality rate were the major problems that affected goat economic production in southern Jordan (Al-Khaza’leh, 2015b). Diseases with multifactorial agents are major causes of mortality in Jordan. Besides

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diseases there are a number of other factors which may contribute to the mortality of kids or lambs in Jordan (Sharif et al., 2005; Aldomy and Abu zeid, 2007; Aldomy et al., 2009; Al-Assaf, 2012). Good management practices for securing better

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survival percentage is considered an important prerequisite for successful goat and sheep farming.

The high variation in abiotic factors and natural environmental factors such as altitude, rainfall and temperature account for variability in water, forage, and feed availability and disease occurrences between ecological zones, production systems and seasons which could have significant effects on the kid and lamb mortality rate. Moreover, differences in management factors such as health care, feeding and watering practices, and flock management would give vital importance in young animal growth, survival and performances. Similarly, animal factors related differences among species, sheep and goat breeds and sex

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may have also significant effects on the kid and lamb mortality rate. The survival rate of the kid and lamb contribute to economic and productive performance of goats and sheep as young animals are foundation of stock for replacement.

In spite of the above narratives on putative factors, studies focusing on the kid and lamb mortalities and major causes are quiet dearth in Jordan. The previous studies assessing kid and lamb mortalities in Jordan hardly considered issues of production system, ecological zone and at the most only gave a very limited insight without further details. Therefore, the aims of present study were to estimate the extent of kid and lamb mortalities and identify the major causes, and associated risk factors in small ruminants in southern Jordan.

Materials and methods

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Study area

The study area, Karak governorate southern Jordan, was purposively selected due to a previous report of higher crude mortality of kid and lamb compared to other regions in the country. According to a report from Department of Statistics, kid and lamb

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mortality in Karak governorate was the highest, constituting 16.7% of the total mortality (n=150,643) in the Kingdom (Department of Statistics, 2015). Moreover, the region was chosen to include different production systems and ecological

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zones that may influence the kid and lamb mortality. Sheep and goats are the predominant animal species kept by farmers in different production systems in the study area. In 2015, small ruminant population in Karak governorate constituted 11.9%

(Ministry of Agriculture, 2015).

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goats and 12% sheep of the total population of goats (n=860,220) and sheep (n=2,596,450) in the Kingdom, respectively

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The survey was conducted in the mountain and semi-desert regions of the Karak governorate where goat and sheep representing the major small ruminant production systems. Two major production systems were considered in this study: Transhumant production system (pastoral) which is the prevalent production system in the country and the sedentary

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production system (agro-pastoral), which is practiced in the villages and peri-urban parts of the country. Two administrative units were purposively selected from eastern Karak governorate (namely Al-Qatraneh, Al-Mazar Al-Janubiy), comprising

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semi-desert area, and two administrative units from western Karak governorate (namely Al-Qasr, Qasabat Al-Karak) to include mountain area.

The mean annual rainfall and temperature of the eastern part of study area were 100 mm and 18.4°C respectively, while in the western part of study area the mean annual rainfall and temperature were 290.9 mm and17.6 °C during the period from 2016 to 2017 (Department of Meteorology, 2017). The rainfall is more uncertain, erratic and deficient impacting feed production, water and vegetation availability that in turn adversely affects livestock and livelihoods of pastoralists.

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Study design, sample size and sampling procedure After selection of the administrative units, a list of all goat keepers in each administrative unit of the study area was obtained from local officials of the Ministry of Agriculture. The final sampling frame was composed from farmers keeping at least 10 adult animals in the flocks and were willing and able to give information related to the study. The sample size for respondents of house-to-house interview was determined using the formula (n = 0.25/(SE 2) given by Arsham (2002) at the standard error (SE) of 0.045 with 95 % confidence level. From the list of households that fulfilled criteria in each administrative unit, 120 farmers were selected using the systematic random sampling by selecting every third household for the interview by the assistance of informant. Accordingly, 60 farmers were assigned to each production system (transhumant and sedentary systems). A single-visit survey (cross-sectional study) was conducted from June to October, 2017 to estimate the kid and lamb

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mortalities retrospectively and identify their major causes and potential risk factors in goat and sheep flocks.

Data collections

The study utilized both structured questionnaire survey and focus group discussion including key informants. Prior to conduct

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the actual survey, two focus group discussions per region were carried out to complement the information obtained from questionnaire survey. Focus group discussions of key informants (at least 5 informants per group) of flock owners were used to

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identify and rank constraints of small ruminant production, list and prioritize causes of young stock morbidity and mortality by species. Key informants were adult men, indigenous residents of the study regions. A questionnaire format that consists of

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both, open and closed ended questions, was designed, tested and employed retrospectively (recall system) during June and October 2017 to collect one year data set (in the preceding year, from May, 2016 to June 2017). The questionnaire survey focused on birth and death events, causes of morbidity and mortality, prevailing diseases, factors associated with young stocks

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mortality, management practices, animal health care and reproductive performance of flock. Data collections include recordings of abortion and stillbirth events and age specific mortalities such as perinatal (< 48 hrs), neonatal (48 hrs - 1 month)

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and pre-weaning (from 1-3 months). In addition to the survey method and focus group discussion tool, secondary data pertaining to factors supposed to be associated with mortality among lambs and kids were obtained from the records of the

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Ministry of Agriculture. Records were used to determine causes associated with mortality from birth to market age. Climate data including amount of rainfall and temperature in different ecological zones within governorate and number of small ruminants and small ruminants keepers in study area were also acquired.

Data analysis Statistical analysis for descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations, percentages and frequencies), chi-square test and Z-test for two group comparisons were performed for the continuous and categorical variables using the procedure of SAS software version 9.3 (SAS Institute, 2012). The information generated from the focus group discussions was descriptively 5

presented. Age specific kid and lamb mortality rates estimated for the following age category: as perinatal (< 48 hrs), neonatal (48 hrs -1 month) and pre-weaning (from 1-3 months) during one year period. Overall crude mortality rate was calculated as the number of deaths of lambs or kids divided by average number of lambs or kids from birth to weaning age (3 months) during one year time period. i.e. half of death was subtracted from live births as no other losses, due to withdraw, slaughter or sale, were encountered before weaning. Crude mortality rate= death/(birth - (death/2) * time) Mortality rate between two groups, such as between regions, production systems and species, was analyzed using z-test for two proportion comparisons. Factors affecting young stock mortality were analyzed for each species using negative binomial regression (due to over-dispersion in the data) as death counts per flock and by fitting number of live birth as exposure

follow: Log(µj)= β0 + β1 X1j + β2 X2j + β3 X3j + β4 X 4ij + β5 X5ij + β6 X6ij+ β7 X7ij+ β8 X8ij

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variable. The systematic component and variables in the final model, after checking for multicollinearity, are equated as

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µj is the death rate of lambs or kids in the jth sheep or goat flock, β0 is the intercept, β1 to β8 are regression coefficients or incidence rate ratio (i.e. exponentiation of coefficient), X1 to X8 are vectors of the various predictor variables with X 1j is the

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family size, X2j is the flock size in term of tropical livestock unit (TLU), X3j is the age of the household head, X4ij is the colostrums or milk suckling frequency per day (X4ij=1 for above twice per day, 0 otherwise), X5ij is the production system

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(X5ij= 1 for transhumant, 0 for sedentary), X6ij is the region (X6ij= 1 for mountain, 0 for semi-desert), X7ij is navel disinfection (X7ij= 1 for yes, 0 otherwise), X8ij is literacy (X8ij= 1 for literate, 0 for illiterate).

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The mean mortality rates are expected to decrease with literacy and increasing age of the household head, with increase family size (e.g. through labor supply) and with decrease flock size (as poor care provides to large flock). The mortality was also assumed to decrease by increasing colostrum and milk feeding frequency and navel disinfection. The region and production

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Results

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systems were included in the model to account for any potential variation in climatic and management factors.

Socio-economic characteristics of households All of households in both systems were headed by males with a significantly higher mean age in the transhumant system (52 years) than in the sedentary system (48 years) (Table 1). The family size was significantly larger in the transhumant system (mean= 7 members) compared to sedentary system (mean= 6 members). The illiteracy level was higher in the transhumant system (25%), while the sedentary system had more educated household heads (95%). Fifty-seven percent of the households interviewed in the transhumant system and 53% in the sedentary system indicated use of hired permanent and seasonal labor. 6

Flock size and structure The flock size and livestock composition per system are shown in Table 1. Mixed livestock keeping was the major activity in transhumant production system. Sixty-two percent and 32% of the flock in the transhumant and sedentary systems respectively, were composed of sheep and goats. Sheep outnumbered goats by a ratio of 4 to 1, and comprised about 83% and 95% of the total flock size in the transhumant and sedentary systems, respectively. The major goat breeds prevailing in the study area were Mountain Black (50%) followed by crossbreds (~ 47%), and few farmers keep Dhaiwi (~3%). Local Awassi breed was the most abundant and dominant sheep breeds in the study area, and only few farmers keep improved Awassi breed. The percentage of the farmers who raised goats was higher in the transhumant than in the sedentary system and the average number of goats was significantly higher (P<0.05) in the transhumant than in the sedentary system (80 vs. 30 head), but no

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difference was observed for sheep flock size. Only 22% of the interviewed farmers in the transhumant systems owned donkeys, but none of the surveyed farms raised camels and cattle. Farmers kept similar flock size of sheep and goats, in terms of total Tropical Livestock Unit (TLU), in both production systems.

Table 1. General household characteristics and flock management practices in the two production systems

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The assessment of the farm management practices for kids and lambs

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The majority of respondents (99%) indicated that they feed offspring natural milk directly from dams instead of using milk replacer. A high proportion of farmers are well aware of importance of feeding colostrum and milk for offspring immediately

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after delivery without any limitations of suckling before 6 hours of age. Twice and three time a day of colostrum feeding was reported by 37.5% and 62.5% of the households, respectively. A large portion of farmers (92%) did not use a separate place for parturition. Veterinary treatments of offspring are practiced by 98% of the farmers. However, many of small ruminant keepers

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(82.5) did not practice navel disinfection. Regarding weaning age, 49 % of the sampled households in the study area weaned kids and lambs between 60 and 90 days and 51% of the respondents’ weaned animals after 90 days. About 76% of the

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respondents were from mountain and the remaining 24% were from semi-desert ecology.

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Estimation of kid and lamb mortality in the small ruminants The analysis of young stock mortality, stratified by sex and age groups, production system and ecology, is summarized in Table 2. The overall mean annual mortality rates were 27.4 kids and 8.2 lambs per 100 livebirths a year. A significantly higher mortality was recorded in goats, almost threefolds, than that in sheep. Overall proportion of death losses of kids in terms of abortion and stillbirth, perinatal, neonatal, and pre-weaning were 10.6, 5.0, 4.9 and 4.9, respectively. Mortality was inversely related to age groups and decreased with increasing age of the animals. High mortality was reported in the pre-parturient life of all sex categories in both systems then generally declined thereafter. The mean annual mortality of male kids within and 7

between production systems and ecology was significantly higher than that of females (P<0.05). Annual mortality rates of females were significantly higher in the mountain regions and transhumant system compared to other counterparts (P<0.05). Similarly, higher death rates for male kids were observed in mountain than semi-desert regions, and in the transhumant than sedentary systems. Table 2. Annual mortality of kids and lambs stratified by sex, age categories, production system and ecology

For sheep, the overall annual losses of lambs due to abortion and stillbirth, perinatal, neonatal, and pre-weaning mortalities were 2.0, 1.6, 2.2 and 2.1, respectively. Lamb mortality was generally constant with increasing age of animal. Similar to kid mortality, the overall mean annual mortality of male lambs within and between production systems was significantly higher than that of females (P<0.05). The overall mean annual mortalities of males and females was significantly higher in the

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mountain than semi-desert region, while less males and more female lambs were died in transhumant system compared to males and females in the sedentary system, respectively.

Causes of kid and lamb mortality in the small ruminants

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Fig. 1 shows that the major causes of young stock mortality of the small ruminants in the transhumant system were disease (87%) followed by feed shortage (45%) and insufficient milk intake (23%), while in the sedentary (n=60), 93% stated disease as the main

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causes of death loss followed by unknown causes (12%) and poor mothering (8%).

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Fig. 1. Major Causes of young stock mortality in the transhumant and sedentary production systems Disease conditions of young animals that were observed by farmers to be associated with death losses are presented in Table 3.

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Diarrhea was the most frequently reported (93%) syndrome in the transhumant system (n=60). Respiratory disorder was the second most common health problem (65%) followed by unidentified syndrome (18%). In contrast, in the sedentary system (n=60) large number of respondents (92%) reported diarrhea as main syndrome of disease responsible for mortality followed

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by unidentified causes (37%) and respiratory signs (27%).

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Table 3. Proportion of disease symptoms reported for young stock mortality in the transhumant and sedentary production systems Month-wise mortality of kids and lambs is portrayed in Fig. 2. The majority of respondents in both zones encountered variation in young stock mortality with changing temperature patterns. Higher proportions of young stock deaths (57.3%) were found to occur during cold season (December to February) followed by death occurrences (26.3%) during the Autumn season (September to November), and drop (3.5%) in warm months from June to August.

Fig. 2. Monthly young stock mortality in comparison with mean monthly temperature distribution covering the years from 2016 to 2017 for Rabbah (mountain zone) and Qutraneh (semi-desert zone) stations 8

Factors affecting lamb and kid mortality rate in sheep and goat flocks Table 4 shows factors affecting death rates among lambs and kids, in sheep (98%) and goat (91%) flocks experienced mortality losses. Death rate was significantly higher in mountain region, i.e. with incidence rate ratio (IRR) of 2.5 times greater in lambs and 2.1 times more in kids compared to that in semi-desert region. Lamb mortality was also significantly higher in sheep flocks under transhumant production system (1.6 times more) than sedentary system but no difference for kids. For each unit increase in flock size, measured in TLU per household, the incidence rate ratio of lamb death rate was found to decrease by factor of 0.99. Increasing suckling frequency was unexpectedly increased the death rate in lambs by a factor of 1.4 times greater. Table 4. Factors affecting lamb or kid mortality (death counts per live birth) in sheep and goat flocks

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Discussion Goats and sheep are the highly valued livestock species kept by farmers in Jordan mainly for meat and milk production, as well as income generation from live animal sales. Small ruminants in Jordan are raised in different production systems and ecological zones (Abu-Zanat et al., 2005; Alrousan, 2009; Tabbaa and Al-Atiyat, 2009). The production of small ruminants in

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both production systems is the key component of the resilience and livelihood strategies of the farmers in the study area. This can be shown from a relatively high number of goats and sheep per farmer in the transhumant (79.7 vs. 275.5) and sedentary

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(30.5 vs. 252.0) systems, respectively. Diversity of farmers' strategies by keeping tolerant animals, mixed flocks of multiple species and breeds fulfilling different functions mainly to enhance complementary merits and alleviate climate variability

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impacts (Al-Khaza’leh et al., 2016). About one third of small ruminant farmers in the transhumant system owned a small number of donkeys, which are often used as pack animals with main function to transport water and shepherds.

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The present study revealed that mortality of kids and lambs is an important problem of small ruminant production in the transhumant and sedentary production systems. The overall annual mortality rates, 8.2 in lambs and 27.4 in kids, of this study is in the range of other studies. For instance, it is in agreement with the previous reports from the mixed crop-livestock and the

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pastoral production systems in Ethiopia, 21.7 - 39.0% for lambs and 23.3 - 35.5% for kids (Fentie, 2016), 9.6% for lambs and

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12.3 for kids in Ethiopia (Tifashe et al., 2017). Similarly, mortalities of 13.76% for kids and 8.76% for lambs in Pakistan (Khan et al., 1991) and 29% for kids in Bangladesh (Ershaduzzaman et al., 2007) were also reported. However, a higher mortality figure of 32.1%, ranging from 25.2% to 48.1%, was reported for kids in India (Chawla et al., 1982). Higher mortality in kids compared to lambs of the present study is consistent with the previous studies in Jordan (Aldomy, 1992; Aldomy et al., 2009). According to the participants in the group discussion, the kids were perceived to be more susceptible to diseases than lambs, which could be due to the effects of more twining in kids than in lambs. The abortion and stillbirth of kids in the present study are within the range of 9.2-12.3% and 8.6-10.7% recorded for Nigerian kids (Yakubu et al., 2014). Likewise, Fentie (2016) also found a comparable abortion and stillbirth figures of 7.5-8% in lambs, and 9.3-14.4% for kids in mixed crop9

livestock production systems, but reported higher prevalence of 25-41% for kids and lambs in the pastoral production system. The perinatal mortalities of kids and lambs in this study are lower than perinatal mortalities in the Jordan which were in range of 13% -24.8% in kids and 7.5-12.5% in lambs (Aldomy, 1992 cited by Aldomy et al., 2009; Aldomy et al., 2009). Sharif et al. (2005) reported that the perinatal mortality of kids and lambs within 48 hours was 2.01% and represented the highest percentage of total age group mortalities (62.1%). Lower neonatal mortalities of kids and lambs were observed in the present study compared to reports of 8.5-13.6% in kids and 4.5-6.7% in lambs (Aldomy, 1992 cited by Aldomy and Abu Zeid 2007, Aldomy et al., 2009). However, a relatively lower neonatal mortalities of kids and lambs was reported by another study (Sharif et al., 2005) within 4 weeks of age in northern Jordan which was 3.2%. The average pre-weaning survivability finding in the present study was higher (for lambs) and lower (for kids) than pre-weaning lamb survivability report of 81.5% by Belay and

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Haile (2011), in Ethiopia and 88.5% for kids in South African Angora goats (Snyman, 2010).

Decreasing in mortality of kids and lambs with advancing age in this study is in agreement with previous reports conducted in Jordan and in other countries (Chawla et al., 1982; Khan et al., 1991; Aldomy and Abu Zeid, 2007; Ahmad et al., 2010; Debele et al., 2011; Dohare et al., 2013; Peteros et al., 2014; Bangar et al., 2016; Fentie, 2016). The higher mortality of the newborns

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at an early age in this study could be attributed to exposure to a poor hygienic condition, environmental stress, and higher

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susceptibility of the newborns at early age.

Similar sex-wise mortality findings of this study were reported by other researchers, Snyman (2010) reported higher mortality

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rate in male kids than that recorded for female kids. Bangar et al., (2016) found that male lambs were at higher hazards of mortality than female lambs. Khan et al. (1991) reported minor difference in mortality between male and females kids and apparent difference between sex, being higher in male lambs than females. In other studies, Dohare et al. (2013), Ahmad et al.

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(2010) stated that the pattern of mortality was similar between males and females of kids and lambs. A study by Debele et al. (2011) showed that the female kids were more susceptible to disease and had lower survival rate than male Arsi- Bale kids in

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mid rift valley of Ethiopia. The differences in sex-wise mortality in the present study could be ascribed to higher susceptibility of males to diseases, increased risk of dystocia owing to larger size of males at birth or to due to poor care provided to males

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than to females by farmers. The significantly higher overall mean annual mortality of female kids in the transhumant than that of females in the sedentary system might be due to the difference in management practice and care provided to female animals.

Annual crude mortality rates of kids and lambs were significantly higher in mountain than semi-desert ecology. The mortality variations among study regions could be explained by varaitions in climate conditions, farm management practices, availability of feed, and disease prevalence. For instance, observed difference in monthly temperature distributions between the two zones, much lower temperature in the mountain zone during lambing or kidding season might account for higher mortalities in the mountain region than the semi-desert area. Moreover, flock size measured in TLU significantly affected death rate in lambs. 10

This effect could be attributed to poor care provided to large flock size, possibility of population stress in large flocks and increased the spread of infectious diseases from different animals. Observed higher lamb mortality in sheep flocks under transhumant production system (1.6 times more) than sedentary system could be due to less management practices and poor feed resource condition in this production system. Observed significantly higher proportion of respiratory problems in transhumant system (65%) compared to sedentary (26%) could also explain the mortality difference. Additionally, factors such as higher illiteracy levels and relatively older age of the farmers, and larger flock sizes observed in transhumant production systems compared to the sedentary system might have contributed to increased mortalities in this system. Another study by Fentie (2016) also showed variations in annual mortality between crop livestock mixed and pastoral production systems in Ethiopia.

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Various causes of the young stock mortality were identified in the present study including diseases, nutritional, physiological, management and environmental factors. Diseases were the most important causes of kid and lamb mortality in both production systems. Next to disease, feed shortage of dams, little milk and predator make up the higher proportion for the occurrence of mortality in the transhumant production system. When combining the feed shortage of dams, little milk and poor mothering

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under malnutrition problem, 81% of pre-weaning mortalities will be due to malnutrition. This could be related to poor management in feeding young animals particularly in the transhumant production system. Insufficient milk intake problem is

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more pronounced in transhumant system than sedentary system, which may be ascribed to human milk competition with kids and lambs. The more pronounced effect of predators on young stock losses in the transhumant system than sedentary system

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might be due to existence of flocks in remote regions where exposure to predation risk is high and comparatively poor managemental conditions. In the sedentary system, considerable percentage (12%) of probable causes for deaths were

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unknown. Poor mothering and feed shortage ranked third and fourth major causes of deaths, respectively. If feed shortage of dams and poor mothering were considered as malnutrition problems, the percentage of pre-weaning mortalities due to malnutrition would have been higher. Sharif et al. (2005) pointed out that starvation due to mismothering factor was associated

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with the neonatal mortality in lambs and kids in Jordan. The effect of malnutrition in terms of feed or milk shortage compounded with disease effect might have exacerbated newborns susceptibility to death. During group discussions,

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discussants correspondingly highlighted that diseases were the highest priority problem percieved and major concern for the farmers followed by drought and feed shortage. Respondents also stated, the birth weight of improved Awassi lambs causes dystocia, which sometimes leads to death.

Digestive disorders causing diarrhea followed by respiratory infections causing pneumonia in both production systems accounted for the highest proportion of kid and lamb deaths. They have been also previously reported as the most important causes of kid and lamb mortality in Jordan and worldwide (Chawla et al., 1982; Donkin and Boyazoglu, 2004; Sharif et al., 2005; Ershaduzzaman et al., 2007; Al-Assaf, 2012; Dohare et al., 2013; Fentie, 2016). Diarrhea and pneumonia diseases are 11

mainly caused by infectious agents such as viruses and bacteria. Season of birth has significant effect on the health problems and survivability of lambs and kids.The highest incidence of losses was experienced during cold winter season and the lowest during summer season similar to (Chawla et al., 1982; Ershaduzzaman et al., 2007; Ahmad et al., 2010; Belay and Haile, 2011; Debele et al., 2011; Dohare et al., 2013; Bangar et al., 2016). During cold winter season, low winter temperature stress, feed shortage, congested area of pens with poor ventilation and absence of regular cleaning and high humidity might facilitate the spread of infectious disease and so increase the incidence mortalities among vulnerable newborns.

Awareness on the importance of colostrum and milk consumption was stated by the majority of flock keepers in both production systems. On the one hand, good management practice in kids and lambs was identified in the present study in both production systems including method, time and frequency of colostrum and milk feeding. On the other hand, malpractices in

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management were also found including poor care, poor health management, using non- separated maternity pens before parturition and lack of naval disinfection. Using a separated maternity could help in creating a hygienic environment, providing more control and observation, thus minimizing the spread of disease. Bartels et al. (2017) reported that the livestock health services as provided by paravets substantially reduced mortality in young stock of sheep and goats. In the transhumant and

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sedentary production systems, kids and lambs were allowed to suckle from birth mainly a twice and three times a day until weaning age which is usually after two or three months of age. Sharif et al. ( 2005) reported that not separating the newborns

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from other animals and not vaccinating dams against infectious diseases were found to be associated with the neonatal

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mortality in lambs and kids in Jordan.

Conclusions

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In conclusion, the study findings showed that young stock losses through abortion and stillbirth, and pre-weaning mortality are important problems of goat and sheep production in two major production systems of Jordan. Across the species, sex, production systems, and the ecology the losses of kids and lambs were relatively high in the pre-parturient and decreased with

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the advancing age of the animals. The high mortality of this study confirms previous reports in other countries and it is partly due to the conditions of the production systems, and their low level of control and management practices. In both production

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systems, health problems and undernutrition are the major challenges associated with mortalities of kids and lambs in the study area. Among health problems, diarrhea and respiratory syndromes were reported to be important causes of deaths. In spite of the awareness level of small ruminant keepers regarding mortality problem, they did not apply integrated preventive measures such as application of a suitable vaccination programme for does and ewes during pregnancy and treatment of kids and lambs when symptoms of diseases observed. Implementation of improved management practices particularly during the coldest season and animal health care in addition to timely colostrum feeding of newborns as well as proper feeding practices during the third trimester of pregnancy and first part of lactation would be useful to decrease the problem. 12

.Funding The authors wish to acknowledge the Deanship of Scientific Research at Al-Balqa Applied University for funding the research (107039/2017).

Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank all farmers for their cooperation and participation in data collection process. References

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Husbandry 30, 79-88.

15

93

87

80 60

13

12

7

5

7

2

3

0

Accedent

20

Predator

23

20

Water shortage

40

Other reason

45

Accedent

Respondents (%)

100

8

3

12

Transhumant System

Other reason

Little milk

Poor mothering

Feed shortage

Disease

Water shortage

Poor mothering

Predator

Little milk

Feed shortage

Disease

0

Sedentery system

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Production system

Mountain-Temp.

Semi-desert-Temp.

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Semi-desert

50

30 20 10 0 Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

30 25 20

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40

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Respondents (%)

60

Mountain

15 10 5 0

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

0ct

Nov

Monthly avverage temp.(ºC)

Fig. 1. Major Causes of young stock mortality in the transhumant and sedentary production systems

Dec

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Fig. 2. Monthly young stock mortality in comparison with mean monthly temperature distribution covering the years from 2016 to 2017 for Rabbah (mountain zone) and Qutraneh (semi-desert zone) stations

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Table 1. General household characteristics and flock management practices in two production systems Transhumant (n=60) Sedentary (n=60) Variables

No

Mean

Age of household head (years)

60

52.2

a--

Male household head (%)

60

(100)

60

7.0

a--

raarlilli

15

arlilli Labor(%)

11.9

No --

Mean b--

SD

P-value

10.9

0.029

2.4

0.045

60

47.6

60

(100)

60

6.1b--

(25)

3

(5)

0.002

45

(75)

57

(95)

0.002

yliraf

26

(43)

28

(47)

0.659

driih

34

(57)

32

(53)

0.659

41

79.7a-

24

30.5b-

Household size (no. of members) Education(%)

SD

2.7

--

Number of livestock by species Goats

275.5

a--

60

31.2

a

1 - 2/day

33

> 2/day

Sheep

56

Navel disinfection Weaning age Ecology

a--

252.0

a

28.5

0.001

247.5

0.606

24.6

0.114

60

24.3

)55(

12

)30(

27

)45(

48

)70(

0.006

eialilli

8

(13.3)

2

)3.3(

0.047

noiioc

52

(86.7)

58

)96.7(

0.047

fie

10

)16.7(

11

)18.3(

0.729

co

50

)83.3(

49

)81.7(

0.729

≤ 3 month

30

)50(

29

)48.3(

0.852

> 3 month

30

)50(

31

)51.7(

0.852

ioacllrc

51

)85(

40

)66.7(

0.019

eiirhieiil

9

)15(

20

)33.3(

0.019

0.006

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Parturition pen

23.2

55

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Suckling frequency

229.2

--

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Total TLU

1

63.2--

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SD: standard deviation, Means in the same row with different superscript letters differ significantly at P<0.05, 1TLU: Tropical Livestock Unit: 0.1 TLU = 1 head of goat or sheep; 0.5 TLU = 1 head of donkey.

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Table 2. Annual mortality of kids and lambs stratified by sex, age categories, production system and ecology Species salbairaV Ecology Production system Goats

Mountain

Semi-desert

Total

Sedentary

Transhumant

Total

Abortion and stillbirth

12.02

3.47

10.56

13.65

9.89

10.56

Perinatal (< 48 hrs)

5.34

3.25

4.99

4.56

5.08

4.99

Neonatal (48 hrs - 1 month)

5.20

3.47

4.91

3.40

5.25

4.91

Pre-weaning (1-3 months)

5.02

Age categories

Overall annual mortality*

29.98

4.16 a

4.88

5.74

4.69

4.88

b

27.39

27.45

27.37

27.39

31.47 b

46.30

58.06 a

43.77b

46.30

d

10.42

15.17

xiS* elai

49.39 a

eiilai

0.89

d

10.42

0.86

c

12.56

Age categories Abortion and stillbirth

2.48

1.29

2.03

1.64

2.41

2.03

Perinatal (< 48 hrs)

1.94

1.14

1.64

1.35

1.92

1.64

Neonatal (48 hrs – 1 month) Pre-weaning (1-3 months)

2.89 2.44

1.09 1.55

2.21 2.11

2.84 1.93

1.62 2.28

2.21 2.11

10.11 a

5.17b

8.24

7.98 a

8.49b

8.24

18.20a

9.10b

14.69

16.29 a

13.21b

14.69

Overall annual mortality* xiS* elai eiilai

2.84

c

1.38

d

2.30

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peaaS

12.47

c

0.62

c

3.97

d

2.30

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*variables with different suprscripts within and between a factor in row or in column (for sex) denotes significant differences (P<0.05).

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Table 3. Proportion of disease symptoms reported for young stock mortality in the transhumant (n=60) and sedentary (n=60) production systems Disease symptoms Transhumant (%) Sedentary (%) P-values Diarrhea Respiratory Enterotoxaemia Bloat Non-specific syndrome

93.3 65.0 6.6 6.6 18.3

91.6 26.6 11.6 6.6 36.6

0.724 0.000 0.328 1.000 0.027

Table 4. Factors affecting lamb or kid mortality (death counts per live birth) in sheep and goat flocks Lamb mortality Kid mortality IRR

SE

P-value

IRR

SE

P-value

Region: (mountain)

2.51

0.48

0.000

2.06

0.51

0.004

Production system: (transhumant)

1.61

0.29

0.009

1.14

0.27

0.588

Age (years)

1.00

0.01

0.617

1.02

0.01

0.062

Family size (no)

0.95

0.03

0.121

0.96

0.04

0.324

Education (literate)

0.97

0.24

0.890

1.40

0.37

0.204

Suckling frequency (>2/day)

1.41

0.24

0.047

0.84

0.18

0.415

Navel disinfection (yes)

0.98

0.20

0.833

0.85

0.21

0.504

Flock size (TLU)

0.99

0.00

0.000

1.00

0.00

0.695

Exposure variable /lnalpha

lamb birth -0.65 0.15

alpha

0.52

kid birth -0.81 0.20

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0.08

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Predictor variables

0.45

0.09

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IRR: incidence rate ratio, SE: standard error, alpha is significantly greater than zero for both tests, indicating negative binomial regression is better than Poisson regression.

19