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Production characteristics of local Zambian goats under semi-arid conditions
Small Ruminant Research 45 (2002) 179–183
Production characteristics of local Zambian goats under semi-arid conditions B. Ahmadu a,∗ , C.E.A. Lovelace b b
a Department of Disease Control, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, P.O. Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, P.O. Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia
Abstract A longitudinal survey was conducted to study the flock population dynamics and the pattern of some selected production parameters for goats managed under semi-arid conditions in the Luangwa valley of Zambia. A monthly questionnaire was administered to a group of 25 randomly selected farmers over a period of 12 months between August 1996 and July 1997. The parameters investigated were flock inventory, kidding rate (KR), prolificacy, mortality, slaughter and rates of sales and purchases. All the investigated parameters appeared to have been influenced by seasonal effects. The average annual flock composition was 526 animals, which consisted of 138 suckling animals, 179 rearing animals, 182 breeding females (BFs), 6 breeding males (BMs) and 21 castrates. The BM to BF ratio was 1:30. The KR was highest (31%) during the hot, dry part of the year, almost as high (30%) during the warm, rainy season, less (18%) in the cool, dry season and lowest (15%) in the hot, rainy season. The overall average KR was 94% while the prolificacy rate was 1.43. Mortality for all classes of animals was highest (43%) during the hot, rainy season and fairly high (28%) during the hot, dry season. The mortality reduced to about 20 % during the cool, dry season and was lowest (9%) during the warm, rainy part of the year. The seasonal selling pattern of the animals suggests that most farmers prefer selling the heaviest animals in the flock. About 35% of the animals sold during this survey were rearing males (RMs). This was followed closely by the rearing females (RFs; 24%), BFs (16%) and BMs (14%). Similarly, the adult mature animals comprised about 84% of the goats slaughtered for home consumption by the farmers with RMs being the most affected class (39%), followed by RFs (25%) and castrated males (CMs; 19%). The factors influencing the production parameters under semi-arid conditions are discussed. © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. Keywords: Zambia; Goats; Flock; Kidding; Prolificacy; Mortality; Slaughter; Sales; Purchases
1. Introduction Goats have been known to contribute to the sustenance of small and marginal farmers in tropical Africa by playing an important role in income generation, capital storage, employment generation as well as improving household nutrition (FAO, 1991). ∗ Corresponding author. Present address: Department of Animal Health and Production, P.O. Box 17, Jwaneng, Botswana. Tel.: +267-31836; fax: +267-381076. E-mail address: bgana [email protected] (B. Ahmadu).
Goats are the second most important ruminant livestock in Zambia after cattle. According to the livestock census of 1997, the country has about 700,000 goats, mainly located in the semi-arid region and kept under village level management for meat and income generation (DAPH, 1997). Until recently, cattle production has been the principal concern of government livestock policies in Zambia, mainly because of the greater individual value of cattle and their contribution to the national economy. The drought which occurred in Zambia between 1991 and 1992, was one of the worst in the living memory and an increase in
0921-4488/02/$ – see front matter © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. PII: S 0 9 2 1 - 4 4 8 8 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 9 8 - 6
180
B. Ahmadu, C.E.A. Lovelace / Small Ruminant Research 45 (2002) 179–183
health and nutritional problems of cattle was observed in the traditional sector, resulting in large cattle losses. During this period, goats demonstrated a remarkable ability to survive extended periods of drought and they acted as life savers, especially for the resource-poor rural farmers (Lungu, 1998). Despite the crucial role goats play in the rural economy, few attempts been made to assess the productive capacity of goat flocks under traditional management. This paper summarises the results of a productivity studies carried out in the traditional socio-economic environment in semi-arid areas of Zambia. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Study area The study area covers the drought and flood prone Luangwa district in the Zambezi valley, the southern province of Zambia. The valley lies between latitude 16–18◦ south and 26–29◦ east of the Equator. Luangwa lies at the confluence of the Zambezi and Luangwa rivers. The area is described as semi-arid and is characterised by a short growing season of 80–120 days and hot humid temperatures. The area usually experiences 30–50 days of drought during the growing season. 2.2. Selection of farmers A group of 25 farmers in the Luangwa district were randomly selected for this study following determination on first encounter as to whether or not they owned goats. This represents about 10% of the estimated 250 farms in the district. The assessment of flock inventory and productivity was carried out through a questionnaire survey conducted by monthly visits over a period of 12 months from August 1996 to July 1997. The data was entered into computers using the software program Panacea (Pan Livestock Services Ltd., UK) and analysed on Panacea and Microsoft Excel. Individual goats were physically identified by ear tags. Average flock size was 22 with a range of 3–61 goats. A total of 526 goats were included in the study.
rearing males (RMs), rearing females (RFs), breeding males (BMs), breeding females (BFs), and castrated males (CMs). The 1-year survey period was divided into the following climatic seasons for the purpose of this analysis: Season Season Season Season
1 2 3 4
August–October November–January February–April May–July
Hot and dry Hot and rainy Warm and rainy Cool and dry
Production parameters examined were kidding rate (KR), mortality, slaughter, sales and purchases. Each of the parameters was calculated according to a formula, as follows. • Mortality rate: total number of deaths in a class in a season per total number of animals in that class in that season. • Seasonal kidding rate: total number of kids born in a season per total number of parturitions in that season. • Prolificacy rate: total number of kids born per total number of parturitions (i.e. kids per litter). • Seasonal slaughter rate: total number of animals slaughtered in a class in a season per total number of animals in that class in that season. • Sales rate: total number of animals sold in a season per total number of animals in that class in that season. • Purchase rate: total number of animals purchased in a season per total number of animals in that class in that season. 3. Results 3.1. Flock structure The flock structure for all the farmers consisted of 526 animals (Table 1) with a BM to BF ratio of 1:30. Table 1 Average annual flock structure Classification
2.3. Data analysis The goats were classified on the basis of sex as follows: suckling males (SMs), suckling females (SFs),
Number Percent
Total
SF
RF
BF
SM
RM
BM
CM
81 15
140 27
182 35
57 11
39 7
6 1
21 4
526 100
B. Ahmadu, C.E.A. Lovelace / Small Ruminant Research 45 (2002) 179–183 Table 2 Seasonal kidding pattern BF Season Season Season Season
l 2 3 4
Average
Table 4 Seasonal sales pattern (percentage per season per class)
Kids Parturitions Prolificacy Kids/BF KR (%)
193 170 172 189
SF
67 39 85 41
59 25 52 34
1.14 1.56 1.63 1.21
0.35 0.23 0.49 0.22
31 15 30 18
Season Season Season Season
181 232
170
1.36
1.28
94
Overall (%)
About 35% of the flock were BFs while 27% were RFs. The SMs and SFs constituted about 11 and 15%, respectively. The RMs constituted 7% of flocks while the BMs and CMs represented the remaining 1 and 4%, respectively. 3.2. Kidding rate and prolificacy KRs and prolificacy data are shown in Table 2. The highest KR of 31% was recorded during season 1 (August–October). This is significantly different from the 15 and 18% for KR for seasons 2 and 4, respectively, but similar to the 30% KR in season 3. The average KR during the period was 94%. The overall prolificacy rate observed during this study was 1.43 kids per parturition. 3.3. Seasonal mortality The seasonal pattern of mortalities for the different classes of animals are presented in Table 3. The table illustrates the overall mortality pattern for suckling animals as being the highest (28%) for SF and 23% for SM. The figures also illustrates that season 2 has the highest (43%) deaths.
Table 3 Seasonal mortality (percentage per season per class)
Season Season Season Season
1 2 3 4
Overall (%)
181
SF
RF
BF
SM
RM
8 14 4 10
4 7 3 6
10 15 1 1
8 12 3 6
28
16
21
23
1 2 3 4
RF
BF
SM
RM
BM
CM
Overall (%)
0 0 0 0
2 0 3 1
2 0 1 0
2 0 0 0
4 15 13 6
30 14 33 0
5 9 0 0
27 35 27 11
0
24
16
3
35
14
8
Table 5 Seasonal percentage slaughter pattern (percentage per season per class) SF Season Season Season Season
1 2 3 4
Overall (%)
RF
0 1 0 0
6 1 2 6
1
25
BF 1.4 1.2 1 1 11
SM
RM
BM
CM
Overall (%)
1.4 2 0 0
15 10 23 28
9 0 0 0
10 35 26 0
30 21 20 29
3
39
1
19
3.4. Sales pattern The RMs were the most frequently sold class of animals in flocks as illustrated in Table 4. Purchases by the farmers for the whole 12 months were only eight RFs (6%) and seven BFs (4%) bought for increasing the size of the flock. 3.5. Seasonal slaughter The overall seasonal slaughter record during the period reveals that the highest number of goats slaughtered belonged to the RM class (39%) and castrates (19%). More animals were slaughtered in seasons 1 and 4, the dry seasons (Table 5).
4. Discussion
BM
CM
Overall (%)
6 5 0 2
0 2 0 0
1 0 0 0
28 43 9 20
10
2
0
Goat production in Zambia is mainly at the subsistence level, which involves the production of a few goats to meet household needs mainly for meat and for family cash income. Goat management is minimal with the animals being allowed to browse freely during daylight hours and confined within fences or huts at
182
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night. Tethering is common especially during the rainy season to prevent damage to crops (Lovelace et al., 1993). There are no special attempts to control breeding (Mwenya, 1978) and animals receive virtually no veterinary care. The ratio of BMs to BFs observed during this survey was 1:30 which is favourable under the extensive production system and is different from the figures of 1:12 for Swaziland (Lebbie and Manzini, 1989). The recommended male to female ratio for goats under traditional production system is 1:25 (Wilson and Durkin, 1988). The annual flock composition is dominated by female animals with breeding, rearing and SFs contributing 35, 27 and 15%, respectively. All classes of male animals constituted only about 20% of the flock. This is similar to the findings in Mali for goats kept under traditional management (Wilson and Light, 1986). Studies in Swaziland also reported similar flock composition of 70% females and 30% males (Lebbie and Manzini, 1989). Two peak KRs were recorded in this survey, one during the August–October season (31%) and the second in the February–April (30%) season. The peak in August–October could largely be due to improved conception rates as a consequence of better nutrition. This period coincides with the dry season when animals have unlimited access to crop residues from harvested fields. During the rainy season, farm crops are protected and goat grazing is limited sometimes by tethering. Kidding in the dry season is also advantageous because the level of some diseases, especially gastrointestinal nematodes, is lower (Nalubamba, 1996). The average litter size was 1.28 kids (Table 2). This is similar to reports for large African goats in Sudan (Wilson, 1976). There was a lot of variation in mortality with most deaths (43%) occurring during season 2 (November– January). This period coincides with the hot, wet season of the year in Zambia. About 28% of the mortalities were recorded during the August–October period. The young suckling animals were mostly affected as they suffered heavily both from disease and predators. The predators reported by farmers were in order of importance, crocodiles, dogs, hyenas and baboons. The variations in mortality could be attributed to seasonal effects and the extensive nature of the management under which the goats are kept.
The animals suffer from insufficient feed, inadequate disease control and prevention measures and unsanitary conditions, which characterise the extensive production system. Insufficient nutrition due to restricted feeding increases disease susceptibility (Maiga, 1992). During the rainy season, which is the crop growing season, goats are usually allowed to feed for shorter periods of time and several forms of restricted feeding, such as confinement without supplementation are practised (Lovelace et al., 1993). This results in low growth rates or even deaths. Kids are the most vulnerable group of the flock and any attempt made to ensure their survival is bound to increase productivity and economic returns to the farmer. The highest proportion (35%) of the animals sold belonged to the RM class with high marketing activities being conducted during the November–January period. This period coincides with a number of festivities in Zambia and goats are often used for social occasions and are in high demand. The farmers report that they prefer to sell the biggest goats (Lovelace et al., 1998). The period also coincides with the rainy season, which is accompanied by shortages in the staple foods especially maize; many goat keepers, therefore, sell their animals in order to earn some income to purchase food. The month of January is also the time when children go back to school after vacation. The parents need cash to pay for their children’s school fees and buy school uniforms and goats are easily convertible into cash. The rainy season is a period of increase in disease (Mboera and Kitalyi, 1994), especially gastrointestinal worms (Muimo, 1989), so some farmers sell to avoid losses due to diseases. Most goat owners engaged in extensive production systems prefer to maintain a manageable flock size. The major management practice used to achieve this objective is the early culling of males not required for other production purposes. According to this survey, the rearing and BMs constitute the highest in terms of the total number of animals slaughtered in a season. This finding agrees with earlier reports by Wilson and Durkin (1988), who established that under rural production systems, more males of breeding and rearing age are sold off or slaughtered for home consumption. The male goats grow faster than the female goats (Carbes, 1985) and hence reach slaughter weight faster so that they are more frequently slaughtered. The female goats are mostly retained for breeding since
B. Ahmadu, C.E.A. Lovelace / Small Ruminant Research 45 (2002) 179–183
the greater the number of BF goats, the faster the growth of the flock due to increased number of parturitions (Wilson, 1989). However, the farmers reported slaughtering females after five to six kids, or females whose offspring are weak.
5. Conclusion Local Zambian goats have a high production potential, which is yet to be fully exploited by goat keepers in the country. The flock sizes remained unaffected by the harsh environmental conditions of the semi-arid areas especially in good years and more so in subsequent years. References Carbes, A.B., 1985. Factors affecting the growth of sheep and goats in Africa. In: Wilson, R.T., Bourzat, D. (Eds.), Small Ruminants in African Agriculture. ILCA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, pp. 34–44. DAPH, 1997. Annual Report. Department of Animal Production and Health, Lusaka, Zambia. FAO, 1991. Small ruminants production and the small ruminant genetic resource in tropical Africa. Animal Health Paper 88. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome Italy, 23l pp. Lebbie, S.H.B., Manzini, A., 1989. The productivity of indigenous goats under traditional management in Swaziland. In: Wilson, R.T., Melaku, A. (Eds.), African Small Ruminant Research and Development. ILCA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, pp. 39–50. Lovelace, C.E.A., Lungu, J.C.N., Masebe, P.O.C., Sakala, B., Nyirenda, I., Sikazwe, G., Mizinga, K.M., 1993. Reproductive performance of Zambian goats under drought conditions. Improving the Productivity of Indigenous African Livestock. IAEA-TECDOC 708, pp. 73–80.
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Lovelace, C.E.A., Vaz, Y., Mukuka, J., Simukoko H., Chitambo, H., 1998. The marketing chain for goats from farms in the Zambezi Valley in Zambia. In: Proceedings of the BSAS/KARJ International Conference on Food, Land and Livelihoods, Nairobi, Kenya. BSAS, Edinburgh, pp. 30–31. Lungu, J.C.N., 1998. Goat production, trends and prospects. In: Proceedings of the Consultative Workshop on Goat Production, Lusaka, Zambia, 29 December 1998. pp. 6–16. Maiga, S., 1992. Small ruminant morbidity and mortality in the Delta of Niger. Mali Small Rumin. Res. 9, 181–188. Mboera, L.E.G., Kitalyi, J.I., 1994. Diseases of small ruminants in Central Tanzania. In: Lebbie, S.H.B., Rey, B., Irungu, E.K. (Eds.), Proceedings of Second Biennial Conference of the African Small Ruminant Research Network on Small Ruminant Research and Development in Africa, Al CC, Arusha, Tanzania, 7–11 December 1992. pp. 17–102. Muimo, R., 1989. Strongyle infections of goats on commercial farms in Zambia. In: Wilson, R.T., Melaku, A. (Eds.), Proceedings of a Conference on African Small Ruminant Research and Development, Bamenda, Cameroon. ILCA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, pp. 393–402. Mwenya, W., 1978. Survey study on the reproductive pattern of small domestic animals in Zambia (goat). University of Zambia Research Report for 1978, No. 2. Nalubamba, K.S., 1996. The epidemiology of gastrointestinal nematodes in goats in the traditional grassland of Zambia. MSc Thesis, University of Zambia. Wilson, R.T., 1976. Studies on the livestock of southern Dafur, Sudan. IV. Production traits in goats. Trop. Anim. Health Prod. 8, 221–232. Wilson, R.T., 1989. Reproductive performance of indigenous small ruminants under various management system: a review. Anim. Reprod. Sci. 20, 265–286. Wilson, R.T., Durkin, J.W., 1988. Small ruminant production in central Mali: reproductive performance in traditionally managed goats and sheep. Livestock Prod. Sci. 19, 523–529. Wilson, R.T., Light, D., 1986. The livestock production in central Mali: economic characteristics and productivity indices for traditionally managed goats and sheep. J. Anim. Sci. 62, 567– 575.
Production characteristics of local Zambian goats under semi-arid conditions B. Ahmadu a,∗ , C.E.A. Lovelace b b
a Department of Disease Control, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, P.O. Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, P.O. Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia
Abstract A longitudinal survey was conducted to study the flock population dynamics and the pattern of some selected production parameters for goats managed under semi-arid conditions in the Luangwa valley of Zambia. A monthly questionnaire was administered to a group of 25 randomly selected farmers over a period of 12 months between August 1996 and July 1997. The parameters investigated were flock inventory, kidding rate (KR), prolificacy, mortality, slaughter and rates of sales and purchases. All the investigated parameters appeared to have been influenced by seasonal effects. The average annual flock composition was 526 animals, which consisted of 138 suckling animals, 179 rearing animals, 182 breeding females (BFs), 6 breeding males (BMs) and 21 castrates. The BM to BF ratio was 1:30. The KR was highest (31%) during the hot, dry part of the year, almost as high (30%) during the warm, rainy season, less (18%) in the cool, dry season and lowest (15%) in the hot, rainy season. The overall average KR was 94% while the prolificacy rate was 1.43. Mortality for all classes of animals was highest (43%) during the hot, rainy season and fairly high (28%) during the hot, dry season. The mortality reduced to about 20 % during the cool, dry season and was lowest (9%) during the warm, rainy part of the year. The seasonal selling pattern of the animals suggests that most farmers prefer selling the heaviest animals in the flock. About 35% of the animals sold during this survey were rearing males (RMs). This was followed closely by the rearing females (RFs; 24%), BFs (16%) and BMs (14%). Similarly, the adult mature animals comprised about 84% of the goats slaughtered for home consumption by the farmers with RMs being the most affected class (39%), followed by RFs (25%) and castrated males (CMs; 19%). The factors influencing the production parameters under semi-arid conditions are discussed. © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. Keywords: Zambia; Goats; Flock; Kidding; Prolificacy; Mortality; Slaughter; Sales; Purchases
1. Introduction Goats have been known to contribute to the sustenance of small and marginal farmers in tropical Africa by playing an important role in income generation, capital storage, employment generation as well as improving household nutrition (FAO, 1991). ∗ Corresponding author. Present address: Department of Animal Health and Production, P.O. Box 17, Jwaneng, Botswana. Tel.: +267-31836; fax: +267-381076. E-mail address: bgana [email protected] (B. Ahmadu).
Goats are the second most important ruminant livestock in Zambia after cattle. According to the livestock census of 1997, the country has about 700,000 goats, mainly located in the semi-arid region and kept under village level management for meat and income generation (DAPH, 1997). Until recently, cattle production has been the principal concern of government livestock policies in Zambia, mainly because of the greater individual value of cattle and their contribution to the national economy. The drought which occurred in Zambia between 1991 and 1992, was one of the worst in the living memory and an increase in
0921-4488/02/$ – see front matter © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. PII: S 0 9 2 1 - 4 4 8 8 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 9 8 - 6
180
B. Ahmadu, C.E.A. Lovelace / Small Ruminant Research 45 (2002) 179–183
health and nutritional problems of cattle was observed in the traditional sector, resulting in large cattle losses. During this period, goats demonstrated a remarkable ability to survive extended periods of drought and they acted as life savers, especially for the resource-poor rural farmers (Lungu, 1998). Despite the crucial role goats play in the rural economy, few attempts been made to assess the productive capacity of goat flocks under traditional management. This paper summarises the results of a productivity studies carried out in the traditional socio-economic environment in semi-arid areas of Zambia. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Study area The study area covers the drought and flood prone Luangwa district in the Zambezi valley, the southern province of Zambia. The valley lies between latitude 16–18◦ south and 26–29◦ east of the Equator. Luangwa lies at the confluence of the Zambezi and Luangwa rivers. The area is described as semi-arid and is characterised by a short growing season of 80–120 days and hot humid temperatures. The area usually experiences 30–50 days of drought during the growing season. 2.2. Selection of farmers A group of 25 farmers in the Luangwa district were randomly selected for this study following determination on first encounter as to whether or not they owned goats. This represents about 10% of the estimated 250 farms in the district. The assessment of flock inventory and productivity was carried out through a questionnaire survey conducted by monthly visits over a period of 12 months from August 1996 to July 1997. The data was entered into computers using the software program Panacea (Pan Livestock Services Ltd., UK) and analysed on Panacea and Microsoft Excel. Individual goats were physically identified by ear tags. Average flock size was 22 with a range of 3–61 goats. A total of 526 goats were included in the study.
rearing males (RMs), rearing females (RFs), breeding males (BMs), breeding females (BFs), and castrated males (CMs). The 1-year survey period was divided into the following climatic seasons for the purpose of this analysis: Season Season Season Season
1 2 3 4
August–October November–January February–April May–July
Hot and dry Hot and rainy Warm and rainy Cool and dry
Production parameters examined were kidding rate (KR), mortality, slaughter, sales and purchases. Each of the parameters was calculated according to a formula, as follows. • Mortality rate: total number of deaths in a class in a season per total number of animals in that class in that season. • Seasonal kidding rate: total number of kids born in a season per total number of parturitions in that season. • Prolificacy rate: total number of kids born per total number of parturitions (i.e. kids per litter). • Seasonal slaughter rate: total number of animals slaughtered in a class in a season per total number of animals in that class in that season. • Sales rate: total number of animals sold in a season per total number of animals in that class in that season. • Purchase rate: total number of animals purchased in a season per total number of animals in that class in that season. 3. Results 3.1. Flock structure The flock structure for all the farmers consisted of 526 animals (Table 1) with a BM to BF ratio of 1:30. Table 1 Average annual flock structure Classification
2.3. Data analysis The goats were classified on the basis of sex as follows: suckling males (SMs), suckling females (SFs),
Number Percent
Total
SF
RF
BF
SM
RM
BM
CM
81 15
140 27
182 35
57 11
39 7
6 1
21 4
526 100
B. Ahmadu, C.E.A. Lovelace / Small Ruminant Research 45 (2002) 179–183 Table 2 Seasonal kidding pattern BF Season Season Season Season
l 2 3 4
Average
Table 4 Seasonal sales pattern (percentage per season per class)
Kids Parturitions Prolificacy Kids/BF KR (%)
193 170 172 189
SF
67 39 85 41
59 25 52 34
1.14 1.56 1.63 1.21
0.35 0.23 0.49 0.22
31 15 30 18
Season Season Season Season
181 232
170
1.36
1.28
94
Overall (%)
About 35% of the flock were BFs while 27% were RFs. The SMs and SFs constituted about 11 and 15%, respectively. The RMs constituted 7% of flocks while the BMs and CMs represented the remaining 1 and 4%, respectively. 3.2. Kidding rate and prolificacy KRs and prolificacy data are shown in Table 2. The highest KR of 31% was recorded during season 1 (August–October). This is significantly different from the 15 and 18% for KR for seasons 2 and 4, respectively, but similar to the 30% KR in season 3. The average KR during the period was 94%. The overall prolificacy rate observed during this study was 1.43 kids per parturition. 3.3. Seasonal mortality The seasonal pattern of mortalities for the different classes of animals are presented in Table 3. The table illustrates the overall mortality pattern for suckling animals as being the highest (28%) for SF and 23% for SM. The figures also illustrates that season 2 has the highest (43%) deaths.
Table 3 Seasonal mortality (percentage per season per class)
Season Season Season Season
1 2 3 4
Overall (%)
181
SF
RF
BF
SM
RM
8 14 4 10
4 7 3 6
10 15 1 1
8 12 3 6
28
16
21
23
1 2 3 4
RF
BF
SM
RM
BM
CM
Overall (%)
0 0 0 0
2 0 3 1
2 0 1 0
2 0 0 0
4 15 13 6
30 14 33 0
5 9 0 0
27 35 27 11
0
24
16
3
35
14
8
Table 5 Seasonal percentage slaughter pattern (percentage per season per class) SF Season Season Season Season
1 2 3 4
Overall (%)
RF
0 1 0 0
6 1 2 6
1
25
BF 1.4 1.2 1 1 11
SM
RM
BM
CM
Overall (%)
1.4 2 0 0
15 10 23 28
9 0 0 0
10 35 26 0
30 21 20 29
3
39
1
19
3.4. Sales pattern The RMs were the most frequently sold class of animals in flocks as illustrated in Table 4. Purchases by the farmers for the whole 12 months were only eight RFs (6%) and seven BFs (4%) bought for increasing the size of the flock. 3.5. Seasonal slaughter The overall seasonal slaughter record during the period reveals that the highest number of goats slaughtered belonged to the RM class (39%) and castrates (19%). More animals were slaughtered in seasons 1 and 4, the dry seasons (Table 5).
4. Discussion
BM
CM
Overall (%)
6 5 0 2
0 2 0 0
1 0 0 0
28 43 9 20
10
2
0
Goat production in Zambia is mainly at the subsistence level, which involves the production of a few goats to meet household needs mainly for meat and for family cash income. Goat management is minimal with the animals being allowed to browse freely during daylight hours and confined within fences or huts at
182
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night. Tethering is common especially during the rainy season to prevent damage to crops (Lovelace et al., 1993). There are no special attempts to control breeding (Mwenya, 1978) and animals receive virtually no veterinary care. The ratio of BMs to BFs observed during this survey was 1:30 which is favourable under the extensive production system and is different from the figures of 1:12 for Swaziland (Lebbie and Manzini, 1989). The recommended male to female ratio for goats under traditional production system is 1:25 (Wilson and Durkin, 1988). The annual flock composition is dominated by female animals with breeding, rearing and SFs contributing 35, 27 and 15%, respectively. All classes of male animals constituted only about 20% of the flock. This is similar to the findings in Mali for goats kept under traditional management (Wilson and Light, 1986). Studies in Swaziland also reported similar flock composition of 70% females and 30% males (Lebbie and Manzini, 1989). Two peak KRs were recorded in this survey, one during the August–October season (31%) and the second in the February–April (30%) season. The peak in August–October could largely be due to improved conception rates as a consequence of better nutrition. This period coincides with the dry season when animals have unlimited access to crop residues from harvested fields. During the rainy season, farm crops are protected and goat grazing is limited sometimes by tethering. Kidding in the dry season is also advantageous because the level of some diseases, especially gastrointestinal nematodes, is lower (Nalubamba, 1996). The average litter size was 1.28 kids (Table 2). This is similar to reports for large African goats in Sudan (Wilson, 1976). There was a lot of variation in mortality with most deaths (43%) occurring during season 2 (November– January). This period coincides with the hot, wet season of the year in Zambia. About 28% of the mortalities were recorded during the August–October period. The young suckling animals were mostly affected as they suffered heavily both from disease and predators. The predators reported by farmers were in order of importance, crocodiles, dogs, hyenas and baboons. The variations in mortality could be attributed to seasonal effects and the extensive nature of the management under which the goats are kept.
The animals suffer from insufficient feed, inadequate disease control and prevention measures and unsanitary conditions, which characterise the extensive production system. Insufficient nutrition due to restricted feeding increases disease susceptibility (Maiga, 1992). During the rainy season, which is the crop growing season, goats are usually allowed to feed for shorter periods of time and several forms of restricted feeding, such as confinement without supplementation are practised (Lovelace et al., 1993). This results in low growth rates or even deaths. Kids are the most vulnerable group of the flock and any attempt made to ensure their survival is bound to increase productivity and economic returns to the farmer. The highest proportion (35%) of the animals sold belonged to the RM class with high marketing activities being conducted during the November–January period. This period coincides with a number of festivities in Zambia and goats are often used for social occasions and are in high demand. The farmers report that they prefer to sell the biggest goats (Lovelace et al., 1998). The period also coincides with the rainy season, which is accompanied by shortages in the staple foods especially maize; many goat keepers, therefore, sell their animals in order to earn some income to purchase food. The month of January is also the time when children go back to school after vacation. The parents need cash to pay for their children’s school fees and buy school uniforms and goats are easily convertible into cash. The rainy season is a period of increase in disease (Mboera and Kitalyi, 1994), especially gastrointestinal worms (Muimo, 1989), so some farmers sell to avoid losses due to diseases. Most goat owners engaged in extensive production systems prefer to maintain a manageable flock size. The major management practice used to achieve this objective is the early culling of males not required for other production purposes. According to this survey, the rearing and BMs constitute the highest in terms of the total number of animals slaughtered in a season. This finding agrees with earlier reports by Wilson and Durkin (1988), who established that under rural production systems, more males of breeding and rearing age are sold off or slaughtered for home consumption. The male goats grow faster than the female goats (Carbes, 1985) and hence reach slaughter weight faster so that they are more frequently slaughtered. The female goats are mostly retained for breeding since
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the greater the number of BF goats, the faster the growth of the flock due to increased number of parturitions (Wilson, 1989). However, the farmers reported slaughtering females after five to six kids, or females whose offspring are weak.
5. Conclusion Local Zambian goats have a high production potential, which is yet to be fully exploited by goat keepers in the country. The flock sizes remained unaffected by the harsh environmental conditions of the semi-arid areas especially in good years and more so in subsequent years. References Carbes, A.B., 1985. Factors affecting the growth of sheep and goats in Africa. In: Wilson, R.T., Bourzat, D. (Eds.), Small Ruminants in African Agriculture. ILCA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, pp. 34–44. DAPH, 1997. Annual Report. Department of Animal Production and Health, Lusaka, Zambia. FAO, 1991. Small ruminants production and the small ruminant genetic resource in tropical Africa. Animal Health Paper 88. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome Italy, 23l pp. Lebbie, S.H.B., Manzini, A., 1989. The productivity of indigenous goats under traditional management in Swaziland. In: Wilson, R.T., Melaku, A. (Eds.), African Small Ruminant Research and Development. ILCA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, pp. 39–50. Lovelace, C.E.A., Lungu, J.C.N., Masebe, P.O.C., Sakala, B., Nyirenda, I., Sikazwe, G., Mizinga, K.M., 1993. Reproductive performance of Zambian goats under drought conditions. Improving the Productivity of Indigenous African Livestock. IAEA-TECDOC 708, pp. 73–80.
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