Small ruminant production

SMALL RUMINANTS & MANAGEMENT (AS 303)
BY PROF E.E. NDEMANISHO
DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SCIENCE & PRODUCTION
SOKOINE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE
P.O. BOX 3004, MOROGORO
TEL: 2604617, FAX: 2604562
MOB: 0762161056 OR 0715903903
EMAIL: ndema@suanet.ac.tz or ndemedith@gmail.com
Small ruminants (SR) include goats, sheep, llamas and alpacas. Sheep and goats form, next to
cattle, the most important group of ruminants in both temperate and tropical agriculture. They
serve a variety of functions, which vary in importance according to the area involved. Goats
and sheep have some virtues not possessed by cattle. One of the most important of these is
their ability to forage and survive in many areas, especially in the arid tropics, where cattle
would perform poorly. This is probably due to their superior water and nitrogen economy.
Cattle production, and goats and sheep production, should however, be regarded a
complementary rather than competitive. Whichever species makes the most efficient
utilization of grazing land and forage, and best meets the needs of the community is the best
species to use. The nature and availability of the grazing lands, the climate, type of
agriculture, demand for animal products and the relative economy or profitability will
determine which species is used.
Although closely related (belonging to the same tribe, Caprini) with several similar attributes,
goats and sheep are in many respects different animals. However goats belong to the genus
Capra and sheep the genus Ovis. They differ in importance and distribution (i.e. sheep can be
important than goats in some places and vice versa), type of production and production
potential, body shape and conformation, carcass composition and general behaviour. In view of
this, some sections of this compendium will treat them separately to avoid possible confusions.
Goats and sheep in the Tropics together account for approximately 34 per cent of the total
population of the world’s grazing ruminants. They have been associated with humans since the
dawn of history and this is reflected in their wide distribution in the Tropics.
Goats and sheep represent a valuable resource in the developing world. This resource however is
not being fully exploited. The development is constrained by lack of knowledge about the
animals and their potentials. Further research and the establishment of breeding programmes is
currently being encouraged worldwide to remedy this, especially amongst animal scientists. As
more knowledge becomes available, productivity is being increased and goats and sheep are
making greater contribution to the livestock industry in the tropics.
Africa has a population of 205 million sheep and 174 million goats representing approximately
17% and 31% of the world’s total, respectively (FAO, 1990). According to Mike Steel (1996),
of more than 689 million goats found in the world, nearly 80% are found in the developing

countries. Goats have often received a bad press (known historically as feral/stray goats, i.e. in
Australia) because they are sometimes associated with overgrazing, particularly in the more arid
regions of the world. However, this is a misleading of the situation because frequently the case
that the goats are surviving in areas that are already degraded and they are kept because they are
the only animals that will survive under those conditions (Mike Steel, 1996). Within Africa, the
distribution of these small ruminants varies widely, with a higher concentration found in dry
than in humid areas. These animals serve primarily as sources of meat, but also provide milk,
skins, manure, recreation and employment. Sheep and goats produce only about 16% of the
world’s meat, despite their high contribution to the total world livestock production.
African small ruminants produce only 14% of the world’s milk and 15% of the world’s skin.
The ownership of small ruminants is regarded as an investment. They are sold to meet
compelling family financial obligations or slaughtered for home consumption at home or at
festivals. The size of the animals makes them ideal for families. Little capital investment in
buildings or other materials is required for their upkeep and space and maintenance requirement
are low. They are suitable for family consumption in the absence of refrigeration for storage, or
adequate transportation and their reproductive efficiency is high. However, they are still given
little attention in most rural areas, being left as stray animals. Until recently, small ruminants
were not a priority in the research activities and development programmes of African
governments. This has changed with the establishment of international research institutes under
the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, particularly ILCA (International
Livestock Centre for Africa).
At least 10 countries depend on goats and sheep for
between 30 to 76% of total milk supply. Leading
among developed countries is Greece producing 178 kg
milk per person per year with 61% from sheep and
goats. Most developing countries need research,
extension service, and public support to improve
apparent productivity of goats and sheep. Domestic
supply from all milk sources is <100 kg/person per
year, and annual apparent yields average <100 kg of
milk/goat, <50 kg of milk/sheep, which makes supplies
of animal protein and calcium from domestic sources
very low. Statistical data on goat and sheep production
for United States are not available. The small
population of DHIA tested US dairy goats averaged in
recent years >700 kg of milk/goat per year, and some
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dairy sheep breeds may produce as much as 650 kg/yr.
The need for more milk availability appears to be
reflected in the dramatic increases of dairy goat
populations during the last 20 yr: 52% for the world,
56% for developing, 17% for developed countries,
while sheep populations decreased by 3% for the
world, by 6% in developed, but increased 14% in
developing countries. Research has been sparse on the
unique qualities of goat and sheep milk compared with
cow milk. Much development work by various agencies
has been devoted to reducing mortality and improving
feed supplies in harmony with the environment; this
work is mostly published in proceedings of scientific
meetings, often not in English. Results have shown in
many cases that dairy goats and dairy sheep can be
very profitable, even in developing countries with
difficult climate and topographical conditions (G. F.
W. Haenlein, Past, Present, and Future Perspectives of
Small Ruminant Dairy Research, Journal of Dairy
Science, 2000).
The broadening of the base of livestock research in National Agricultural Research Systems
has also boosted small research into cattle, pig and poultry production.
Why Research On Small Ruminants?
The new orientation of research can be attributed to a number of factors. These include:-
i) A new awareness of the potential of the small ruminant, the need for increased
meat production (will be discussed later)
ii) Pressure on land
iii) Urbanization
iv) Disease problems with traditional livestock species
v) Increasing feeding costs for non-ruminants
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vi) Used for research purposes and training
Processing of meat into more palatable and usable forms or providing meat at times of higher
purchaser demand will usually increase the price of the meat. Age, breed, and diet influence
tenderness, juiciness, and flavor, with higher fat in carcasses and cuts from goats fed
concentrate diets. The meat from kid and yearling goats of low conformation could be
distinguished by goat meat consumers from the meat of goats with medium and high
conformation. Ethnic groups that purchase goat meat have high levels of population growth
and are increasing their buying power. Higher income populations desire value-added food
products, which have been changed in form, function, or grouping to increase their economic
value and/or appeal; however, lower income groups have a supply of imported frozen goat
meat at a price lower than domestic sources. Food service operations purchase uniform cuts
and sizes of meat, which are provided through USDA Institutional Meat Purchase
Specification descriptions for goat meat. Goat meat also may be processed with unit
operations similar to those for other meat species. Tenderness of domestic goat meat was
improved with postmortem goat carcass aging, electrical stimulation of goat carcasses, and
blade tenderization of goat cuts. The addition of -tocopherol increased the oxidative stability
of goat meat patties, whereas the addition of oat trim or oat bran decreased fat and shear force.
Smoked and fermented goat meat sausages were acceptable to consumers, but they are more
expensive per unit weight than sausages from other species. Emulsification capacity of goat
meat proteins is high, and the palatability of frankfurters was increased with the use of
mechanically separated goat mince. Goat meat was distinguishable from other species in plain
and seasoned meat loaves, chili, curries, and patties. Specific organic acids are associated
with goat meat flavor, and oxidized flavors develop more rapidly in cooked goat meat than in
meat from other species. More convenient product forms and the availability of goat meat
would increase the value and penetration of goat meat in ethnic and nontraditional consumer
markets (K. W. McMillin3
and A. P. Brock, Production practices and processing for
value-added goat meat, J. Anim. Sci. 2005. 83:E57-E68)
The origin and history
Kalahari Red Goat Breed
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It is such a pleasure knowing the history of our breed! It is enriching to share the ups and downs of the history of our
attractive breed, the Kalahari Red with our fellow breeders, as narrated by the founders themselves.
compiled by: André Pienaar
About the first Kalahari Reds in the late Eighties
In the Seventies the farmers first started collecting these red goats, now known as Kalahari Reds, from the four corners of
South Africa and Namibia. Mr Ben Vorster, of Tshipese in the Limpopo Province, farmed north of the Soutpansberg. His lands
consisted mainly of Mopanie trees with many other indigenous trees and shrubs. He had a Boer goat stud of 200 ewes. One
ewe in his Boer goat stud gave birth to one red lamb and one Boer goat lamb every year. On their reaching maturity, he noticed
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the unique properties of the red lambs and he immediately started contacting other farmers and collecting all the red and red-
dappled lambs. This collection process took him as far afield as Namibia where he came across more red goats. He ended up
with thirty red goats that he started breeding with.
In 1994 an American who visited Tollie Jordaan, renowned Boer goat farmer of the farm Grootvlakte in the Somerset East
district, convinced him to farm with brown goats. After the American had left, Tollie bought 8 brown goats, but he was
unsatisfied with the goats’ heads and conformation. Yet he soon realised that there was nothing wrong with the fecundity,
mothering traits and adaptability of the brown goats. At that stage good rams were in short supply. His search also took him to
Namibia to get hold of genetic material. In later years Tollie excelled in his breeding and for the past six years he has been the
Breeder of Champions at the World Shows.
In 1991 Albie Horn of the farm Hartebeeshoek in De Aar spotted the remarkable properties of the brown goats and he built up
his flock from brown, as well as brown and white, indigenous goats from the former Bophuthatswana, the Eastern Cape, the
Karoo and Namibia. From the early years he took the lead with his excellent marketing techniques and set his sights on
promoting the brown goat and to have it registered as a breed. He greatly emphasised the mothering traits of the brown goat,
as well as it hardiness and adaptability to the Kalahari desert area where he farmed. At the same time he realised that the
brown goats could improve our indigenous goats and the indigenous goats of Australia and that the brown goat could provide
them with a uniform colouring. Albie was the first president of the Kalahari Red Breeders’ Association from 1999 to 2004.
During a visit to America, Louis van Rensburg, a recognised and experienced farmer of many small stock breeds, of the farm
Wonderpan in Prieska in the Northern Cape, saw many brown goats, or Solid Reds as the Americans called them. Like Tollie,
he too was convinced by the Americans to start farming with brown goats. On his return to South Africa he used a brown Boer
goat ram from his own Boer goat stud to service ten Boer goat ewes. Not one lamb was brown or even dappled. He decided to
put the lambs back with their sire. In that mating season all the lambs were brown or dappled. In a few years Louis had 120
brown lambs in his kraal. Louis contributed very much to performance testing in the Kalahari Reds and the registration of
Kalahari Red breeders with Studbook SA. He succeeded Albie Horn as president in 2004 and served in this office up to 2010.
Chris Strauss and Johnny Markram also collected brown lambs on their farms. Chris and Johnny who were both livestock
agents used the opportunity to purchase brown ewes from the farmers whose goats they marketed.
On 28 June 1996 Louw Pretorius of Landbouweekblad heard about Ben Vorster’s ewes and decided to write an article on them.
After this article had been published, farmers became aware of one another and began communicating.
In 1998 the goats were shown with the Savannas in Bloemfontein, under the name of Brown Savanna. The aspiration to have
an own breed was a great driving force. This required DNA tests being conducted to determine whether there was sufficient
genetic separation between the Boer goats, Savannahs and Kalahari Reds. Tail samples were taken from goats of Albie Horn,
Koenie Kotzé, Louis van Rensburg, Koert Loots, Ben Vorster and Christie van der Merwe and sent to the ARC for analysis.
The tests were conducted by Dr Marida Roets who also helped get international funding from the FOA for the tests.
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Breeders such as Louis van Rensburg and Ben Vorster were concerned about their breeding stemming from the Boer goats,
but the results of all the tests showed that the difference between the brown goats and the Boer goats was greater than
between the Boer goats and the Savannahs. On 5 July 1999 the Kalahari Red Club was founded in Kimberley.
The results of the DNA tests as published
Albie suggested at a Kalahari red club meeting that the name Kalahari Red be used. Kalahari was an internationally known
name and referred to South Africa. Red refers to the colour of the sand in the Kalahari where the goats were grazing.
He visited Australia where he met Wallace Kier. According to an article in Landline, Wallace turned his farming about and
implanted Kalahari Red embryos on his farm on 9 July 1999. He was well supported by the father of SA Boer goats in
Australia, Geoff Burnett Smith.
The Club was managed by its members until 19 October 2004, where, during an Annual General Meeting at Kuruman, it was
decided to engage with the SA Boer Goat Breeders’ Association. Louis van Rensburg, the president of the Kalahari Reds at
that stage, in collaboration with Tolle Jordaan and Albie Horn, were instrumental in the signing of the collaboration agreement.
On close examination, all the meat goats in the country stem from indigenous goats. However, selection and breeding resulted
in the various meat goat breeds in the country today.
In the collaboration agreement with the respective associations it was decided to emphasise the strong features of every breed
and not to concentrate on their differences.
Today, 13 years later in 2012, the Kalahari Reds have 79 registered stud breeders and many commercial breeders who form
the backbone of our industry. With the infrastructure established in the collaboration agreement, I believe that the Kalahari Red
breeders contribute annually ever more to the meat goat industry. With our participation in shows, sales and our involvement in
the activities of the seven clubs in the country, it has become possible to provide an extra pillar to this meat goat structure. The
Kalahari Reds have a study group in every club region of the SA Boer Goat Breeders’ Association with the exclusive purpose of
marketing and growing the breed, which would otherwise have been difficult to achieve. My wish is that the Kalahari Red
breeders will strive toward expanding the breed and its members, as the pioneers envisioned it, with the focus on fecundity,
mothering traits, adaptability and conformation.
I would like to conclude with the words of one of the pioneers,
“Keep it pure, keep it natural, keep it Kalahari
Red”
The case for promoting goat and sheep production
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Some of the major reasons for promoting goat and sheep production in tropical countries
include the following:-
1) Human populations are growing very rapidly creating a significant and increasing
demand for additional animal protein foods.
2) This demand can be met most easily by rapidly increasing the ruminant livestock
population. Thus roughage feeds and crop by-products unsuitable for human
consumption can be processed by the animals into desirable human foods.
3) It is easier to increase the population of small ruminants, such as goats and sheep than
large ruminants such as cattle and buffaloes. This is because the capital investment for
the farm is relatively low, average land holdings are usually small, the reproductive
turnover of goats and sheep is high and both species can be managed easily by family
labor.
4) In economic terms the opportunity costs are low for goat and sheep production at the
semi-subsistence level.
5) The genetic variability within and between tropical goats and sheep breeds is great
that selection for improved animal productivity is possible. If this is combined with
improved feeding and health, overall production could be considerable
6) Little attention has been paid to the feeding, management and health welfare of these
species in the past so that relatively low inputs to improve feeding and health could
produce relatively high gains in productivity
7) The opportunity exists for the introduction of improved management as research,
extension and educational facilities are improved in tropical countries
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Preferred environments
Goats
The wide distribution of goats in the Tropics and sub-tropics reflects their ability to adapt
to a variety of environments. However, the preferred environment is:-
i. On the lighter sandy soils in the drier Tropics, rather than in the wet humid
Tropics
ii. The inherent characteristics of goats such as resistance to dehydration, preference
for browse and wide-range feeding, habits,
iii. enable them to thrive in regions that receive less than 750mm rainfall
iv. In tropical Africa and the Americas, goats are found in the largest numbers in the
drier steppe and savanna regions.
v. In India, approximately 47% of all goats are found in the rather dry states of
Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madya of Pradesh.
vi. The dwarf goat, unlike other species, thrives throughout the humid Tropics and
must be specially adapted to humid environments
Sheep
The wild ancestors of domestic sheep lived in the mountains and upland steppes of
Western Asia where:-
i. moderate climate and short grass rangeland, relatively free of bush and trees,
provided an ideal habit.
ii. Sheep are extremely versatile and since domestication they have spread
throughout the world.
iii. Breeds have been developed to suit a variety of environmental conditions
including the peculiar requirements of humans.
iv. This proliferation (abundance, increase) of sheep has provided breeds or types
adapted to almost every climate and socioeconomic circumstance.
v. Paradoxically, sheep as individuals and breeds are more sensitive to
environmental change than other domestic animals, but as a species they thrive
everywhere
vi. Although types of sheep have been developed that are capable of breeding in any
climatic environment, from snow-covered hills to semi-desert, sheep are
essentially grazers and prefer to graze short plants.
vii. As a result they thrive best on rangelands with low-growing plant population that
usually occur in the drier, but not the driest, areas of the Tropics
viii. As in the case with goats, sheep that adapt to the humid environments of the
Tropics appear to be smaller in size on average than those adapted to the drier
climatic regions.
Advantages of Small Ruminants (SRs)
The qualities of small ruminants compared with large animals such as cattle or buffaloes place
them in an important position particularly in tropical agriculture. Some people even refer to a
goat as "a poor man's cow"! While they provide valuable products like milk, meat, fat, fibre,
skins, manure etc. small ruminants require relatively small capital investments and low running
costs. Such investments are easily affordable by small-scale farmers, who are the majority in the
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tropical regions. There are also a number of other advantages of small ruminants over other
livestock that make them most appropriate resources to small-scale farmers in the tropics. In
brief, the attributes to the advantages of small ruminants are as follows:
(i) Body size
Being small in size, SRs require less space (housing, feeding, drinking etc.) and can fit into
places where land and other resources are limiting e.g. in highly cultivated places, in urban areas
etc. They can also be easily grazed in mountainous areas. Are ideal for slaughter for few people
particularly where storage facilities are limiting and small supplies of meat are required. The
meat can be consumed or sold in one day. All these qualities make the production of these
animals easy to initiate as well as to run even by a resource poor farmer.
(ii) Reproductive rate
SRs reproduce very fast. Most of the tropical goats and sheep regularly produce twins and
sometimes triplets. They can therefore be fast multiplied at relatively cheap costs. Considering
that they are cheap to buy, flocks can be built up until they contain many animals thereby
spreading the risk inherent in livestock ownership. Imagine that you have Tshs 500,000, only
sufficient to buy one cow Zebu breed). If the price of a goat is Tshs 50,000 it means that you can
buy ten goats. Instead of putting all your savings into one cow it seems more sensible to buy 10
goats to spread the risk. If random death takes away your cow you lose all your TShs 500,000
but if two or even four goats die, you will still be left with something to fall your back on! It is
rather unlikely to have all your 10 goats dying before reproducing any offspring.
For a poor resource farmer intending to embark on large ruminant (cattle) production, it is
advisable to utilise the SRs’ high reproductive rate by starting with the latter. Starting with a
small flock of goats or sheep it is possible to accumulate capital assets within a short period of
time. Then a part of the expanded flock can be sold and the cash used to replace the part with the
intended large ruminant.
With the flock fast expanding, the farmer is assured of regular cash income from SRs or of help
in case of emergence e.g. sickness, bereavement, school fees payment, dowry etc.
It should also be noted that, with fast reproduction rates and large numbers of individuals
reaching slaughter weight within reasonably short intervals of time, selection for improved
production could be easily done. As we can see in a later section, this is also one of the reasons
for SRs importance in livestock research.
(iii) Goats' milk
Goats' milk has a number of special attributes compared to cows' milk.
- It is highly nutritious with similar nutritional profile to human milk (4.5% fat, 4% lactose and
3-4% protein). The variation in protein content is due to nutrition, breed and stage of lactation. It
is an excellent source of minerals such as calcium and phosphorus for growing children and can
supply vitamin A, which is normally deficient in infant diets.
- It has small fat globules, chiefly of short- or medium-chain fatty acids. It is thus easily digested
by infants and those adults with digestive problems e.g. ulcers and those who are allergic to
cows' milk.
, taurine (Tau) is the most abundant free amino acid in goat’s milk, whose importance in the
growth of newborns and young children has been well established. Children born from
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HIV/AIDS infected mothers can be rescued from transmission of the disease through breast-
feeding by consuming goats’ milk thus compensate for the low taurine amino acid from
cow’s milk (Pasqualone et al., 2000). The nutritional importance of taurine for infant feeding
cannot be over emphasized and probably should be further studied as to whether it raises the
immunity against HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, folic acid in goats’ milk is higher than in cows’
milk (Personal discussion with Nkya, 2004).Thus the need to encourage consumption of
goats’ milk in the villages where even cow’s milk is unaffordable to most people. A report by
a spore magazine showed that dairy goats’ milk could cure malaria in malaria endemic
countries (Spore magazine, CTA 2002) and personal discussion with farmers in Zanzibar,
2004). Other discoveries learned through raising of dairy goats in Mgeta (Personal
communication with farmers) is that even reproductive problems, such as impotence in man
has been overcome through goats’ milk consumption and yet others claim to have given birth
to twins with no such genetic background in their clans. Further research work to prove these
exciting results by farmers would be quite beneficial to consumers of dairy goat milk and its
by-products.
(iv) Versatility
Goats and sheep can be raised under a wide range of conditions from feedlots to marginal arid
tropics where cattle would perform very poorly. This is probably due to their superior water and
nitrogen economy compared to cattle. Small ruminants are more resistant to diseases than say,
cattle and can easily survive on poor quality foods, crop residues and homestead food leftovers.
It is for example known that goats are more resistant against East Coast Fever (ECF) than cattle.
This characteristic makes goats and sheep important to people living in marginal agricultural
areas. They literally forage and survive on everything except stones plastic and metal! Due to
their feeding habits (goats are chiefly browsers while sheep are mainly grazers) small ruminants
are good for best utilisation of rangelands. Even better when mixed with cattle.
(v) Labour requirements
Small ruminants are highly flexible in terms of labour requirements. Due to their small size
goats and sheep can even be easily looked after by children, thereby leaving adult members of
the family to carry on with other activities. In some areas small ruminants are credited for
providing employment for the otherwise idle children. In case of small flock sizes, it is also
possible to practice what is known as tethering in which they can stay for long periods of time
without attention. Of course under properly fenced paddocks large flocks can go without
attention but this is not commonly practised in the tropics. Although only more common in
temperate countries, flocks of sheep can also be partly handled by trained dogs.
(vi) Fibres of economic importance
It is important to note here that it is only small ruminants, which produce valuable fibre (wool,
mohair and pashmina). In this respect small ruminants have importance both in temperate and
tropical regions of the world. Fibre and skins produced by small ruminants can sustain cottage
industries. You can read more about important fibres in chapter 5 (Section 5.4)
(vii) Acceptability
There are almost no cultural barriers against small ruminants. With only a few exceptions, small
ruminants provide a very acceptable source of food for people of all ethnic types and religious
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persuasions. Here we are comparing small ruminants with animals like pigs (Moslems, Jews,
SDAs etc.) and cattle (Hindus).
Small ruminants have a place in various types of agriculture because they integrate well with
crops and other forms of animal production provided proper husbandry practices are adhered to.
They also provide for efficient land utilisation by utilising land, which is unsuitable for crop
production such as the mountainous areas.
(viii) Various social roles
There are a number of social values attached to small ruminants in many societies of the tropics.
Goat meat is renown for being a delicacy in many situations e.g. restaurants, bars and other
social gatherings. It is an important component in ceremonies (c.f. ndafu). Fat from sheep may
be used as cooking oil and in some tribes (e.g. Maasai) it is used for some medicinal purposes.
In many traditions, small ruminants are used as payments for dowry, fines, sacrificial animals
(religious rituals), gifts and loans. They are also used for pack purposes especially in the
Himalayan region of the Indian sub-continent and for sports such as ram fighting in Indonesia
(See Devendra and McLeroy, 1982). In communities where these practices are common it
becomes almost compulsory for every family to own at least a few goats, sheep or both.
(ix) Manure
Like other livestock, small ruminants play a very important role in a crop-livestock integration
through provisions of nitrogen-rich manure for maintaining soil fertility and improving crop
production. Small-scale farmers who are unable to keep other types of livestock can still acquire
farmyard manure for their gardens by just keeping a few goats or sheep.
(x) Research
Again due to their low requirements of space, feed and labour, small ruminants are often suitable
for various scientific studies, the findings of which may also be extrapolated for use in large
ruminants.
(xi) Nutrition
As SRs survive and often even thrive on low-quality food, they are found in marginal arid areas,
are used for weed control (sheep) and bush control (goats) in plantations and live on rubbish in
peri-urban areas. In Tanzania, stray goats have been reported often around milling machines
where they consume the industrial by products of various cereals such as maize bran, wheat
bran, rice polish and most probably oil cakes such as cotton and sunflower seed cakes from
farmers who bring such products for grinding for livestock consumption. Stray goats become
quite healthy (Kawogo, Unpublished material 2003). The governments barn such stray animals
from moving around municipalities, so the system of stray livestock is not sustainable (Own
observation)
- Sheep can thrive on very short grass
- SRs can survive periods of poor nutrition: animals lose weight and cut down
production when food is inadequate, but when it becomes plentiful again appetite is
very high and there is compensatory growth
- SRs can survive infrequent watering. Breeds adapted to arid environments can
tolerate watering every three days, although reduced water intake causes reduced
food intake
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- Sheep tolerate contamination of drinking water by sodium chloride (common salt)
and other soluble salts (Gatenby, 2002)
- Sheep thrive on a wide range of thermal can tolerate extremely cold dry and hot dry
climates environments. Wool sheep. Hair sheep can tolerate wet as well as dry
climates.
- SRs need only limited land – much less than cows – so can be kept by small peasant
farmers and landless farmers. Although both poor and rich own the SRs, it is usually
the better off who have cattle (Gatenby, 2002; TARP II, 2006 own observation)
- SRs can graze and browse on steep slopes unsuitable for cattle and other large
animals
- They can be integrated with plantation crops of rubber, oil palm and coconut.
Unlike cattle and goats, sheep cannot reach the leaves of rubber and oil palm
(accepting the fact that goats are browsers, they can easily jump and reach higher
levels unlike their counterparts the sheep)
- SRs are economical of labour because they can flock together while browsing and
grazing. One or two shepherds can look after about 200 sheep in an open including a
similar or less number of goats depending on whether these animals are fenced in or
prevented from straying (where there is no fence)
- In general SRs can easily be handled by women and children, thus more socially
acceptable in all societies unlike rearing of other animals
- SRs can be sold in small increments to provide money for family or farm
expenditures
- SRs produce meat and milk in small quantities. This is an advantage where facilities
for preservation are minimal. The milk from a doe or ewe can be consumed by the
family and meat from goat or sheep can be sold in one day by a village butcher or
even consumed by a family in one or two days where there is no refrigeration
- A flock of six or more SRs is much less likely to be completely lost as a result of
theft or disease than one cow. If for example, one farmer has ten goats or sheep and
another one cow, the farmer with the SRs has a good chance of retaining four of his
flock even if the area is affected by an epidemic that kills an average of 60% of all
animals. However, it is likely that the cow will die, leaving the second farmer with
no animals at all.
- SRs have high reproductive rate. In favourable conditions a doe/ewe can give birth
every eight months and generation interval (i.e. the time between a doe/ewe giving
birth to a kid/lamb respectively and that kid/lamb becoming a mother) is less than
two years. For cattle the calving interval is one to two years and the generation
interval about four years. A high reproductive rate is important when numbers of
animals are reduced by events such as drought. After the drought, when the
environment becomes favourable again, goat herds and sheep flocks build up quickly
(compensatory growth also plays its role to some individual/ all animals). Large
ruminants on the other hand, remain low in number for several years.
- Keeping SRs and eating/drinking their products, i.e. meat and milk are activities
virtually free from cultural barriers. This is untrue of pork, which is forbidden to
Muslims and Jews; and cattle which Hindus do not slaughter.
- Devendra and McLeroy (1984) report that goats produce relatively higher milk yield
per unit of Liveweight compared to cows and buffaloes; yet goats are more persistent
milkers than the other ruminants.
13

• Good nutrition for sheep and goats means provision of quality
adequate feed to these animals
• By quality we mean essential nutrient contents such as energy,
protein, minerals vitamins and water
• The quantity of food for individual animals will depend on the
animal's size (weight), its production as well as its physiological
status
• With good nutrition, the animals grow faster, produce high (e.g. milk of high quality
and quantity), fights against diseases and feel comfortable
• As SRs, they can derive their nutrients from various materials including: grass,
legumes, different tree and shrub leaves, and crop residues such as stover, straws and
crop by-products such as cereal brans and seed cakes
• Animals may be kept under 7 different categories or classes:
 (a) Young growing animals
 (b) Gestating (pregnant) females
 (c) Lactating females
 (d) Dry females
 (e) Breeding males
 (f) Males raised for slaughter
 (g) Working animal (unless a buck/ram is pulling a cart)
 Both sheep and goats have food intake capacity of 3-6% of body weight.
14

STUDY QUESTION
• Feed intake capacity of shoats is similar.
A lactating shoat is weighing 30kg and producing 2 litres of milk per day. Calculate how
much TOTAL FEED it will require. Give also portion of protein and the rest of the feeds
(Show your work; 20 marks)
CONCENTRATE CONTENTS COMPOSED
IN DAIRY GOAT FEED (30% of total feed)
MAIZE BRAN 65% (55-65%)
SUNFLOWER/COTTON SEED CAKE 25% (25-30)
MELIA/LEUCAENA/MORINGA 7%
SALT 0.5%
MINERALS 2.5%
TOTAL 100%
CALCULATION:-
• Roughage should be fed as basal ration and it is the gut fill of the ruminant that
determines what and how much of the roughage to eat.
• 3-6% Bwt, one could choose 5 % Bwt, so 5/100 * 30 = 1.5
• Total feed consumed by the goat or sheep is 1.5kg
• Take 30% to be concentrate,
• thus 30/100 * 1.5 = 0.45kg concentrate
• Thus part of protein content is 0.45*30/100= 0.135kg
• The rest of the feeds contained herein are 1.05kg (ROUGHAGE INCLUDED)
15

SECOND EXAMPLE:-
Q2. A growing (weaner, ¥) dairy goat 10 kg Liveweight is supposedly eating 4.0% its body
weight at Magadu. Protein consumed by the animal is 30% of the total given feed. According to
the practical way of feeding goats at Magadu experimentally (MSc), how many days/ weeks/
months/years would it need for this animal to reach maturity if it is now 4 months old? Also give
its correct weight at maturity. With your calculation, discuss critically how you reached to the
correct answers (20 marks).
(¥:- female), Daily body gain is between 50 – 100 ADG. According to the lecture in class by
Prof E. Ndemanisho, it is recommended that a scientist looks at both the age and weight of
a goat before mating it. Thus a female goat at Magadu at the age of 11 to 12 months could
be mated if weighing 18 – 20 kg. The animal is eating 0.4kg (400gm)per day (4% its body
weight) In the next 11 months the goat will gain 7 x 30 x 50 = 10500 gm. The female goat
will therefore weigh (10kg + 10.500) = 20.5 kg This is the ideal weight, but due to stress
factors on the way the animal will presumably weigh between 18 – 20 kg as a practically
recommended weight and age for breeding.
Feeding of goats
• Nutrient requirements of goats:
 Goats are energetic, inquisitive and versatile in the art of food gathering.
• Feeding a new born
 Colostrum (first milk) is the most important ingredient for a newborn kid's diet.
 Suggested feeding strategy for the kid (dairy goats)
• Feeding a pregnant dry doe
 At 3 months of pregnancy, stop milking the doe as the kid (s) inside will be
growing fast, requiring most of the nutrients. (A HEALTHY FETUS TODAY IS
A BETTER PERFORMER TOMORROW)
 Allow free access to good pasture and roughage plus some concentrates (12 -
14% CP) at a level of 0.2 - 0.7 kg per day. Don't overfeed since a fat doe will
have trouble at kidding.
Feeding a pregnant dry doe:-
 Remember that goats are browsers, not continuously grazers although they can
eat grass. A place with low bushes is ideal for the goats.
 Make sure that the doe gets necessary minerals (Ca, P) during these critical
times.
Feeding a lactating doe:-
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• Feed requirements of the lactating doe are much greater than that of a pregnant
doe
 Rations for lactating does should contain 14 - 16% CP
 It is recommended that, for each 1 - 1½ kg of milk produced, ½ kg of concentrate
be fed to the doe per day
 Normally supplement the does with concentrate at milking time as this has
influence on milk-let down (oxytocin).
• Remember that milk secretion requires balanced nutrients
 Ensure that the concentrate for supplementing lactating does will provide
adequate energy, protein, minerals, vitamins and ad-lib clean water
 It is therefore imperative to provide better quality feed during lactation as this
influences milk production
Feeding a breeding buck:
• Supplementation is not necessary during non-breeding season, but give plenty of
green forage and pasture to a breeding buck
 As the breeding season approaches, concentrates should be added to the buck's
diet
 ½ kg of concentrate per day. A buck needs only 12% protein in diet
 Plenty of water and exercise are important for a breeding buck. Where
impossible to get supplement, provide good pasture
 Never let a buck get fat or sluggish or this may cause him to be sterile
Feeding of sheep:
• Feeding the lambs
 The best way of raising the lambs is to let them suckle from their mothers
throughout their pre-weaning period
 To avoid supplement expenses under intensive production, good pasture or
preserved fodder (e.g. hay or silage) should be reserved for lactating ewes so that
they can supply sufficient milk for the lambs
 Under intensive conditions, where some ewes are milked or lambs are raised for
early slaughter, creep feeding of the lambs is advantageous
Feeding a pregnant ewe:
• The first month (EARLY PREGNANCY)
• The 2nd and 3rd months (MID-PREGNANCY)
• The 4th and 5th months (LATE PREGNANCY)
 About 70% of foetal growth takes place during the final 6 weeks of pregnancy
Drought management of SRs :
• i) Weaning of kids/lambs from their mothers
• ii) Reduction in herd numbers
• iii) Herd segregation to enable different treatment of various categories
• iv) Utilization of available paddock feed
• v) Attention to water supplies
• vi) Parasite control and stock health
• vii) Predator control
• viii) Deciding on a breeding policy
• ix) Supplementary feeding
17

STRATEGIES FOR OVERCOMING FEEDS & HEALTH CRISES
• Deliberate effort to conserve/preserve feeds, water and medications
• To mate SHOATS/cattle during months of plenty of feeds such as February to
May and December to April so that the KIDS/LAMBS/ calves are consequently
dropped or born during the months of plenty of pasture and concentrates
• To reduce the number of animals just before dry season, so that livestock
keepers benefit from the notion of “livestock banking”; whereby they bank their
money in any of the commercial banks they chose to join and during rainy
season they could purchase a few more replacement stocks. If they practice this
phenomenon they will avoid losing SHOATS in hundreds during droughts and
be able to salvage a few good quality MEAT SHOATS
• To improve livestock feeds/ forages/pasture by using SHOATS manure to apply
upon the fields even the crops which will in turn give better quality feeds as crop
residues. Other proteinous crop residues, such as bean, chick peas etc and
leguminous multipurpose trees should be preserved ready to feed during the dry
season.
How to feed sheep and goats
The digestive system
In order to understand how sheep and goats use grass we shall study their digestive system.
Digestive system of a sheep
The mouth
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Open the mouth of a sheep or goat. You see two jaws and a tongue.
Toward the back of the mouth you can see large teeth with which the animal chews grass.
These are called molars.
The upper jaw has no front teeth. The lower jaw has 8 front teeth. The older the animal is, the
more these teeth are worn.
You can tell the age of a sheep or goat by looking at its front teeth.
The first stomach
Let us watch a sheep or a goat feeding.
To feed, a sheep or a goat grips the grass between the upper jaw and the teeth of the lower
jaw. It jerks its head to pull off the grass. It does not chew the grass, but swallows it at once.
The grass goes into the first stomach (or rumen)
Sheep’s stomach
Sheep and goats ruminate.
When sheep and goats have filled the first stomach, they often lie down.
But they go on moving their jaws. They are ruminating.
The sheep and the goat bring up a little grass from the first stomach into the mouth.
They chew the grass for a long time with their molars.
When the grass is well chewed, they swallow it again; but this time the grass does not go into
the first stomach, but into the other parts of the stomach.
19

A ruminating sheep: the grass comes back to the mouth
A ruminating sheep: the grass goes back to the stomach to be digested
Sheep and goats can ruminate well when they are quiet and lying down.
Animals that ruminate are called ruminants.
Goats, sheep, cows, deer and camels are ruminants.
Feeding sheep and goats
They must be given enough food.
If an animal does not get enough food, it does not put on weight.
In the dry season there is often not enough food and animals lose weight.
They must be given rich food.
Ruminants eat grass.
In grass they get what is needed to build their bodies.
But they can be given as well certain very rich foods which are called feed supplements.
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A sheep or a goat raised for meat should grow quickly. Then it can be sold faster and you
earn money faster.
A ewe or a she- goat that is having young ones needs good food (see pregnancy requirements
in Booklet No. 8, page 21).
Then she can feed well the young in her womb which will later drink her milk.
If the mothers have plenty of milk, the young ones grow better and faster.
In order to give animals enough food all the year round, the flock is moved from place to
place. When there is no more water and grass in one region, the flock is taken to another
region where there is still water and grass.
In the dry season sheep and goats can feed more easily than cattle. They make better use of
the grass, because the sheep cut the grass closer to the ground, and the goats pull up the grass.
You can feed sheep on pasture where cattle have already fed, because sheep eat short grass.
But they leave nothing behind them.
You must not let these animals feed in very wet places, because they catch diseases of the
feet and body.
A good shepherd knows how to move the animals; he has a good dog to help him.
Then the flock is well fed, it does not catch diseases; the little ones grow up and do not often
die.
During the rainy season it is easy to feed animals well. Grass grows quickly, there is a lot of
it, it is young and nourishing.
During the dry season, animals are badly fed. The grass is hard and scarce, the stems are tall,
the leaves are dry. The animals won't eat this grass. They are short of food, they get thin and
sometimes die.
During the dry season it is necessary to give the animals a feed supplement.
Balanced rations for animals
Rations for lambs of 5 months and over, and for breeding males.
In the rainy season an animal eats about 2.5 kilogrammes of grass a day.
In the dry season, give:
First ration: 1 kg of hay and 500 grammes of silage.
21

Second ration: 1 kg of hay and 100 grammes of cooked cassava.
Third ration: 1 kg of silage and 200 grammes of rice bran.
Fourth ration: 1 kg of hay and 100 grammes of rice bran.
Fifth ration: 1.5 kg of silage and 150 grammes of cooked cassava.
If you want to fatten an animal for sale or for eating, add 350 grammes of oil cake cottonseed,
copra or oil palm kernel.
Oil cake is costly, but it makes animals put on weight and fatten quickly.
Do not give the same rations to females and their young ones: their needs are different.
Instead, give the following rations.
In the rainy season:
Pregnant ewe or she- goat weighing 30 kg:
2 kg of grass
100 g of rice bran
300 g of oil cake
Ewe or she- goat suckling young of 0 to 4 weeks:
2 kg of grass
400 g of cooked cassava
400 g of rice bran
600 g of oil cake
Ewe or she- goat suckling young of 5 to 10 weeks:
2 kg of grass
400 g of rice bran
600 g of oil cake
Ewe or she- goat suckling two young ones of 0 to 4 weeks:
2 kg of grass
500 g of rice bran
600 g of oil cake
Ewe or she-goat suckling two young ones of 5 to 10 weeks:
22

2 kg of grass
500 g of rice bran
600 g of oil cake
Supplementary note
Food Requirements of Sheep and Goats
Animal Feed units Digestible protein (Grammes)
Maintenance requirement
Sheep, goats
adults of 20 kg 0.3 10 g
adults of 30 kg 0.3 15 g
Maintenance and production requirements
Pregnant ewe end she- goats
of 20 kg 0 6 80 g
of 30 kg 0.6 90 g
Ewe of 30 kg suckling
1 lamb of 4 weeks 1.6 160 g
1 lamb of 10 weeks 1.4 160 g
2 lamb of 4 weeks 2 3 160 g
2 lambs of 10 weeks 2.1 160 g
She-goat having 1 litre of milk 0 7 75 g
She-goat having 2 litre of milk 0.9 140 g
Maintenance, growth and fattening requirements
Lamb of 2 months 0.6 60 g
23

Lamb of 3 months 0.9 80 g
After weaning, beginning of fattening 1.0 40 g
After weaning, cad of fattening 1 2 50 g
Giving a feed supplement and mineral salts
When food is short, when the grass is hard, animals must be given a feed supplement.
When animals are reproducing, when the females are pregnant, when they are giving milk,
they must be given a feed supplement.
You can, for instance, buy meal for sheep and goats. It is sold commercially, but it is dear.
You must also give mineral salts, such as a licking stone. One kilogramme contains: 400 g of
salt 150 g of calcium, 80 g of phosphorus as well as other mineral salts. Or you can give
native soda. Put the salt in the water, in hay and silage.
Mineral salts are needed to form the animals' bones.
Pregnancy Toxemia (Ketosis) in Ewes and Does
By S. LeValley1
(8/2010)
Quick Facts...
• Pregnancy toxemia in sheep and goats is also known as pregnancy disease, lambing
sickness and twin-lamb/kid disease.
• The principal cause of pregnancy toxemia is low blood sugar (glucose).
• Onset of the disease is often triggered by one of several types of stress including
nutritional or inclement weather.
• The disease is most prevalent in ewes and does carrying two or more lambs or kids.
The disease also affects ewes and does that are extremely fat or excessively thin.
• The best preventive measure is increased feeding of high energy concentrates and
grains during the last month of pregnancy.
24

Occurrence and Causes
Pregnancy toxemia in sheep and goats has also been called ketosis, lambing/kidding sickness,
pregnancy disease and twin-lamb/kid disease. It occurs in all parts of the world and is an
often fatal disease occurring only during the last month of pregnancy. Death occurs in two to
10 days in about 80 percent of the cases. It most often affects ewes/does pregnant with twins
or triplets and is characterized by low blood sugar (glucose). Economic losses because of the
disease have been considerable and it is the most commonly occurring metabolic disease of
sheep and goats.
It is generally accepted that the basic cause of pregnancy toxemia is a disturbance of
carbohydrate or sugar metabolism. In earlier phases of the disease, blood glucose
concentrations are less than 30 and may be as low as 10 mg/100 ml (normal 40-60). Blood
ketone bodies, on the other hand, are usually greater than 15 and occasionally may be as high
as 80 mg/100 ml (normal 1-4). The free fatty acid content of the blood plasma also is
increased, meaning that body fat is being broken down and used for energy.
Since glucose is essential for proper functioning of the brain, a deficiency of glucose will
result in nervous dysfunction and eventually coma and death. Glucose is also required for the
muscles during exercise, but one of its greatest uses is by the fetuses. The growing fetuses
continually remove large quantities of glucose and amino acids for their growth and energy
requirements. Furthermore, the problem of supplying glucose seems great in that sheep/goats
and other ruminants do not absorb much glucose from the diet and, instead, glucose has to be
manufactured in the liver from other compounds.
Contributing Factors
The factors affecting the onset and progress of this disturbed metabolism are varied but for
convenience they may be grouped into two general categories: 1) nutrition and management;
2) metabolism.
On a nutritional and management basis, pregnancy toxemia can be classified and sometimes
even experimentally induced by 1) a chronic under-nourishment or underfeeding during
pregnancy; 2) a short but nearly complete fast in well nourished sheep in association with
environmental or psychological stress. These two forms of the disease also have been referred
to as a 1) under nutrition (chronic) syndrome; 2) stress (acute) syndrome, respectively. The
second form occurs in association with climatic stresses, such as heavy snow or rain, with
25

psychological stresses, such as transport on foot or by truck, or with other stresses, such as an
outbreak of a minor disease.
In practice, an inadequate plane of nutrition is probably the most common factor in rendering
ewes susceptible, but stress or a short period of going without feed frequently is the trigger
for initiation of the disease.
Nutrition as Prevention
One major factor in the nutrition of the pregnant ewe/doe is that of the unborn lamb/kid. The
gestation period in sheep/goats is short as compared to many other animals and the fetal
demand for nutrients and glucose is at its greatest during the last two months of pregnancy. In
fact, about 80 percent of the growth of the fetus occurs during the last six weeks of
pregnancy; if twins are present, the increase in total weight is considerable.
Although much is yet to be learned about pregnancy toxemia, the incident of the disease can
be minimized by careful management and proper nutrition. The total metabolic rate increases
by at least 50 percent during late pregnancy. It has been shown that late-pregnant ewes/goats
require about 50 percent more feed if bearing a single lamb and about 75 percent if carrying
twins. The increased amount of feed, however, sometimes exceeds the sheep’s digestive
capacity unless grain is substituted for part of the hay. Multiple fetuses will tend to crowd the
animals digestive system therefore limiting intake, this is where concentrates can help.
One pound of corn or the equivalent of high energy concentrate should be fed daily during
the last six weeks of pregnancy.
Affected ewes stand apart from others in the flock, walk unsteadily, appear dull, and are
usually off feed. Vision may be impaired, and they show little fear of humans or dogs.
Blindness often results, and eventually there can be convulsions, grinding of the teeth,
labored respiration and usually a mucous discharge from the nose. The mortality rate is about
80 percent, with death usually occurring in from two to 10 days. A shock-like state eventually
occurs.
Pregnant ewes/goats should be in medium condition and not fat; body condition 3.5. During
the first half of pregnancy, excessive fat should be reduced and weight gains should be
allowed only during the six weeks before lambing/kidding. Overly fat ewes/does seem more
susceptible to the stress syndrome of pregnancy toxemia than are other ewes/does. Late-
pregnant ewes/does should be treated with considerable care at all times to minimize both
physical and psychological stresses. Feed should never be withheld and transportation
avoided if possible.
Treatment of pregnancy toxemia in ewes/does other than feeding concentrates might include;
oral propylene glycol or corn syrup are quick sources of energy and should be given at the
rate of 200 ml four-times daily along with 3 to 4 liters of an electrolyte solution designed for
dehydration in livestock.
26

Sheep and goats need water
Sheep and goats get thin during the dry season because they are not well fed, but also because
they do not drink enough. A sheep can drink 5 to 6 litres of water a day.
If ruminants do not drink enough, they cannot digest grass.
Animals can drink:
• in their shelter: from a hollowed- out tree trunk, from a barrel cut in half, from a concrete
trough. Their drinking places must be always very clean.
• at streams or rivers: Make sure that the water is clean and clear;. there must be no mud in it.
Sheep and goats easily catch diseases from water.
It is important:
• to give the flock every day enough water;
• to give water that is as clean as possible;
• to give this water in a clean place;
• not to let the sheep and goats go into the water. They can catch diseases from it.
Suggested question paper
FILL IN THE MISSING WORDS
The.......................................way of breeding does not take much but does
not.......................................
The female of the ram is called the......................... and their Young ones are
called...........................
The female goat is called the............................. The young ones of goats are
called.........................
In Africa there is only one breed of wool sheep, the....................................................
When sheep and goats swallow grass it goes into................ They bring back the grass to chew
it. They are.................
They must be given food end all the year especially in the................. season.
Sheep and goats are kept by a and a or in a...........................................
The animals are vaccinated before.........................
For fertilization the ewe is.........................by the ram......................... and the she goat by the
buck.
Young ones born at the same time are called a.................
The female suckles her young for about.........................months.
From the.........................week the lamb or kid can take other food.
Ewes can be fertilized from the age of.........................months.
The ram should be at least.........................months before serving.
27

Give a.........................to each animal - it is the animal's name.
Making a good choice of breeding animals is called...............
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS
Explain how ruminants use grass.
How can you tell if a sheep and a goat are fat?
Where are parasites found in an animal?
How can you see that a ewe is going to have Young?
Explain what took place when an ewe gave birth.
Disadvantages of Small Ruminants
In my opinion, there exist no disadvantages related to small ruminants. What is normally
considered as a disadvantage, if critically analysed you find that the blame is not for them but
their masters (man). I share these feelings with most lovers of small ruminants (See Devendra
and Burns, 1983; Peacock, 1996). However, if squeezed to list disadvantages of small ruminants
the following points can serve the purpose:
(i) Vulnerability to theft and predation
Due to their small size, small ruminants can easily be stolen than would be say, cattle. This
depends on the level of crime in the area. I have seen cattle tied with big chains while in their
shelter, the reason being fear for thieves! It is probably true that carnivorous wild animals find it
easier to prey on small animals than large ones. In this case small ruminants are likely to
succumb to predators more than cattle or pigs.
(ii) Environment destruction
Especially goats, small ruminants have for a long time been wrongly accused of destroying the
environment. They are often blamed for the destruction of vegetation, crops and causing land
erosion. You can see here the reason why I earlier mentioned that the blames supposed to be on
humans are pushed on to these animals. Destruction on crops can be avoided by a proper control
on grazing livestock. Destruction of natural vegetation and soil erosion can be controlled by
regulation of stocking rates, which includes all kinds of livestock. Defending the goats, Christie
Peacock wrote: "Goats are often blamed for the destruction of vegetation, when the real culprits
are people and the overuse they make of vegetation in fragile environments, through tree-felling
and over-grazing by all species of livestock. The goat is often found in degraded environments,
because it is the only species able to survive in such conditions. Found at the scene of the crime,
it is blamed for it, with little thought given to the preceding 20-30 years. The simplistic thinking
which blames the goat does little to solve the underlying problems of the environmental
mismanagement" (Peacock, 1996)
(iii) Relatively low production
Based on their small size one may regard small ruminants as low producers (meat, milk etc) per
individual animal compared to large animals. Resources not limiting and the objective being
production for commercial purposes large animals are likely to be more economical than small
ones. However, under good husbandry, small ruminants may compensate for size through their
28

high reproductive performances. However goats produce relatively higher milk yield per unit of
Liveweight compared to cows and buffaloes. For example, in France the average milk yields per
day per kilogram liveweight for cows and goats were 22.0 and 35.6 kg respectively (Devendra
and McLeroy, 1984). The relatively higher milk yield in the goat is due to the relatively larger
mammary gland and volume of secretory tissue comprising a greater proportion of total body
weight.
(iv) Less tolerance to heat
Particularly considering exotic breeds, small ruminants have been found to be less tolerant to
heat stress compared to cattle. One has to take necessary measures of reducing the stress
particularly where pure-bred exotics are introduced into a hot climate. You can read about
reducing heat stress in Chapter 3.
(v) Inability to provide farm power
Again due to their size, unlike cattle, small ruminants seldom serve as pack transporters and
provide draught power.
Limitations to Small Ruminant production
For many years general ignorance and prejudice against them have mainly slowed down SR
production. Politicians, policy makers, development administrators and researchers have always
paid little attention to these animals. However, over the past decade, the trend has been changing
favourably. There have been remarkable moves towards recognising the importance of these
animals. Various developmental as well as research projects involving SR are seen in many
parts of the tropics and subtropics. Regular international conferences on goats are clear evidence
showing that SRs are receiving the necessary attention globally. A goat network has been
established in Tanzania (Tanzania Goat Network - TAGONET) involving all persons dealing
with goat production and research in Tanzania. Under this network, zonal networks are
emerging, e.g. SEGODEN (South Eastern Goat Development Network). There is yet another
network, Eastern African Goat Development Network (EAGODEN) that unites the countries’
networks in the East African region. All these networks have been established to enable different
stake holders come together and share their experiences on goat production and development
with purposes of helping each other in solving common problems of the sector.
Problems limiting SR production may be discussed under four main headings namely; (a) those
related to climate, (b) those related to economic environment, (c) those related to the level of
technology and (d) those due to prevailing national policy.
Limitations to Small Ruminant production: Constraints
• Technical constraints
 Nutrition –water, feed
 Animal diseases and health
 Livestock genotype-production and adaptation traits
 Improper animal management
 Predators
29

• Socio-economic constraints
 Traditional objectives of the producer
 Land tenure and land use
 Management skills
 Consumer taste/preference
• Support service constraints
 Poor veterinary services
 Ineffective extension services
 Poor input delivery system
 Lack of effective credit facilities
 Poor market & transport services
 Low disposable income
• Ecological
 Overlaps with slide no 2 on land use
 Climate
It would be quite feasible with well-designed strategies to resolve all these constraints, which
will in turn have major impact on SR production. For – instance, the possibilities of using
dietary intervention to improve or increase goat milk yield have received extensive studies over
the years. Nevertheless, feed supply is the most persuasive constraint to livestock production. It
is directly dependent upon the production of plant biomass, natural pastures, improved
pastures/legumes and browses with emphasis on chemical composition, intake and digestibility.
Climate
Climatically changes influence livestock production (not only of small ruminants) by affecting
feed availability, disease prevalence and other environmental conditions. The wet season is
normally accompanied by plenty of forages, but may be a good season for some diseases and
parasites. De-worming is normally necessary at more frequent intervals to minimise infestations.
Prolonged dry seasons result in shortages of feed supply thereby exposing animals to weak
conditions and eventual mortalities. To minimise losses during drought outbreaks certain
measures need to be taken in small ruminant flocks. Some measures, such as feed preservation
could practised and this involves making hay/ and or silage. The detailed account on drought
management is given in Chapter 4. It should be noted that once animals are deprived of adequate
nutrition, their vulnerability to diseases and parasites increases. Therefore, feed shortages
coupled with other stresses of weather e.g. heat (or cold) controlled by climatic change limits the
productivity of small ruminants.
Economic environment
In order to achieve high production levels, efficient disease and parasite control, feed
supplementation, proper breeding and other management operations need to be put into practice.
Unfortunately, some of these practices require some input obtainable from outside the farmer's
holdings. A lack of sufficient money for purchasing such inputs inevitably forces the farmer to
30

produce at very low levels. In most cases the animals grow at slow rates, attain small slaughter
weights at their slaughter age and the dairy ones produce low quantities of milk simply because
the farmers are unable to provide all the necessary inputs. Constantly poor farmers lose the few
animals they have due to failure to control diseases or inability to supplement them during feed
shortages.
Traditional objectives of the producer. The primary objective of the producers in the tropics is
to meet daily needs and social prestige. As a result of this, the producer finds himself with a
need to keep as many animals as possible with little regard for quality or productivity. This leads
to having animals of poor status and poor products, failing to fetch good markets.
- Poor marketing system. There are no systematic market arrangements for either small
ruminants or their products. Due to lack of organised markets (primary as well as secondary),
farmers somewhere may go without markets for their products while there is unsatisfied demand
for those products elsewhere. Farmers have to be advised to form their co-operatives and
associations for better marketing of their animals and animal products. Auctions for cattle
markets are not quite suitable for small ruminants. Prices obtained for small ruminants outside
organised markets are usually low and not competitive.
Level of technology
Little or low level of research has been done in small ruminants as compared to cattle in relation
to breeding, nutrition, disease and general management. As a result of this our goats and sheep
maintain low production efficiencies due to low genetic potential for meat and milk production
among the indigenous breeds, poor and inadequate nutrition particularly during the dry seasons
as well as poor disease and parasite control and management. There is need for more serious
research in these aspects in order to establish principles specific to sheep and goat management
for efficient and sustainable production from these species. Under technical constraints of small
ruminant production, the following points can be discussed:
(i) Poor and inadequate nutrition. Like other livestock, small ruminants often face
seasonal shortages of food, both in quality and quantity mainly due to lack of proper
strategies of feeding. These strategies include conservation of feed, earlier and higher
off-take of growing stock, supplementary feeding to lactating or heavily pregnant
females and use of crop residues supported by use of multipurpose tree leaves.
(ii) Animal diseases and health management in general. Taking Tanzania as an
example, diseases and parasites form an important constraint to SR production.
Helminthiasis, pneumonia and foot rot are main diseases of small ruminants in Tanzania
causing large losses every year. Studies on improved control measures against a number
of endemic and parasitic diseases of SRs are required in the tropics.
(iii) Unavailability of improved animals. Although indigenous SRs may be adapted to
the local environment, it is generally accepted that their production potential is low. It is
also acknowledged that their production could be improved by crossing selected animals
with exotic or improved breeds. Unfortunately, selection is seldom done and there is no
reliable means of obtaining improved animals for crossbreeding.
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(iv) Lack of management skills on the part of farmers. Some technologies may
already be established but are not being practised by farmers. This calls for mass
education through seminars whenever possible, mass media as well as personal
communications to educate farmers on best management practices for efficient
production.
Prevailing policies
- Little emphasis in government policies on sheep and goat development. These animals are
normally included as small items, swallowed by other species whenever livestock policies are
formulated. They are thus never given a first priority, be it in planning or be it in financing. It is
very unfortunate that extension also falls in ignoring small ruminants, putting more emphasis on
cattle.
- Land tenure and land use systems. The system prevailing in Tanzania and many other
tropical countries offers very little opportunity for expansion of livestock production. There is no
clear demarcation between cropland and grazing land and many farmers have little say over any
piece of land available for raising livestock. Communally grazed land often suffers problems of
overgrazing, leading to land degradation. Governments need to demarcate (after necessary
surveys) land for different uses and provide land rights to respective users.
- Lack or weak co-ordination of small ruminant research and developmental activities.
There is a poor linkage between research, extension and farming communities. This is what
delays adoption of the already established technologies about small ruminants. Such a linkage
should be streamlined and strengthened to ensure that the available technologies are imparted to
farmers. Farmers should also be involved at some stage in research for their development.
Research should always be geared towards solving farmer-based problems.
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FUNCTIONAL ROLES OF GOATS AND SHEEP
The economic importance of goats and sheep depends on the value of their produce or
services which include meat, milk, fibres, skins and manure amongst others.
.
MEAT
Tropical peoples consume virtually all offals, including goat and sheep skins in some
countries (mainly skins from young animals – common in the humid Tropics). Sheep
probably have somewhat higher average carcass weight than do goats and these accounts for
the higher production of mutton and lamb.
Preferences for specific type of meat are important. In the Indian sub-continent, some islands
in the Caribbean and some West African countries, goat meat (chevon, French terminology)
is preferred, whereas in most North African countries and Western Asia the preference is for
mutton. In East African countries goat meat is relished. Goat meat is usually leaner than
mutton and the distribution of fat on the carcass differs. In sheep, fat is distributed throughout
the carcass though there may be concentrations as, for example, in the rump or the tail of
some breeds. In goats fat is concentrated around the viscera.
MILK
Goats are the most important milk producers. Goat milk is produced everywhere, but sheep
milk only in certain regions. In Western Asia it is traditional to milk sheep and sell the milk
fresh or, in the mid – latitude regions, to use it for the production of yoghurt, butter and
cheese
African tropical sheep are estimated to account for approximately 40 per cent of all milk
produced in the continent. It is probable however, that the real importance of sheep milk in
tropical Africa is considerably greater than available data suggests, as most sheep milk is
consumed in pastoralist camps and remote villages and it goes un-recorded. Little sheep milk
in the Tropics reaches market channels.
Butter – fat, ghee, cheese and all other milk byproducts may be produced in insignificant
amounts. Considerable quantities of sour milk however, are consumed.
Goat’s milk is nutritionally similar to cow’s milk but the high proportion of small fat globules
facilitates easy digestion. Goat’s milk may also possess some anti-allergenic properties. The
composition of sheep milk differs in that it possesses a higher content of fat, crude protein
and non-fat solids.
SKINS
Goats skins are a valuable by-product from rearing goats, and in countries with high goat
populations such as Pakistan and India, these earn valuable foreign exchange (Devendra and
McLeroy, 1984). Skins can be most important product of certain breeds of goats, such as the
Red Sokoto from Nigeria and Niger, the Mubende from Uganda and the Black Bengal from
India; these goat skins are well known for their superior quality and command a premium in
world markets.
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Tropical sheep skins coming from haired or only lightly wooled animals are much thicker
than those from the temperate – type fine – wooled breeds. In particular, the skins of the
larger breeds of sheep raised by pastoralists in low-rainfall areas are sought after for use as
glove, leather, in the manufacture of handbags and for other specialized purposes.
Apart from monetary value in world commerce both goat and sheep skins have many local
uses as containers for water, milk and other liquids and for making bedding and locally
produced handcrafts.
Hair and Wool
The hair of most goats is used locally for the making of coarse bags and rope, but mohair and
cashmere (pashmina) are special fibres commanding a premium price on world markets.
Mohair is the fleece of the Angora breed of goat. Turkey and Texas in the USA produce
about 85 percent of the total world production of commercial mohair; very little is produced
within the Tropics.
Pashmina is the very fine undercoat of the Cashmere goat; it is produced outside the Tropics
in the arid, high – altitude areas of the Indian sub-continent. It is used to produce high –
quality clothing and when blended with wool produces felt. The Cashmere goat has managed
to penetrate into Tanzanian land since 2007 with the help of Professor Lars O. Eik from
Norway. It started in Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), under The Program for
Agricultural and Natural Resources Transformations for Improved Livelihoods (PANTIL),
project 020 headed by Professor George Kifaro of the Department of Animal Science:
Breeding and Management Systems for Healthy and Productive Goats of which one of the
exercises was to raise Cashmere goats experimentally and once they performed well, they
would be distributed to capable farmers. At the present moment these animals are doing well
in a station called Mulbadow Farm (BASUTOLAND belonging to Haydom Lutheran
Hospital) in Mbulu district and a few have been distributed to some farmers in Mgeta, a
temperate and mountainous area, around 40 km away from Morogoro town.
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4. SMALL RUMINANT PRODUCTION SYSTEMS IN THE TROPICS
4.1 Introduction
Traditional small ruminant production in the tropics has been mainly developed in response to
climatic and other environmental conditions. In semi-arid and arid areas extensive kind of
production is practiced, with the animals having to travel long distances in search of pasture and
water. Normally the flocks are large. In wet areas intensive production is practiced where small
flocks are kept hand in hand with crop production. Modern small ruminant production may
either be extensive (ranching) or intensive/semi intensive also depending on environment. Under
both systems, a variety of types of daily management practices are found.
4.2 Type of people managing small ruminants
There are five types of people in the tropics that keep goats and sheep
(1) Nomadic pastoralists
(2) Transhumant pastoralists
(3) Farmers with mixed farms and relatively large number of animals
(4) Crop farmers who own a few animals
(5) Landless agricultural labourers
4.3 Management systems
Goat husbandry systems
The husbandry systems of goats can be categorized into 3.
a) Extensive production:
In this system goats graze over large areas of unwanted or marginal lands which are
unsuited for alternative agricultural use. Extensive systems provide least protection from
the natural environment and involve a minimum of labour (mainly family labour e.g.
children). Fencing and housing are unnecessary under this system.
Housing may be only required at night or during the rains. It is generally accepted that
goats, although hardy in other ways, are intolerant of wet or damp conditions. Under
such conditions goats are reputed to be particularly susceptible to pneumonia and in the
case of dairy goats, mastitis.
Nomadism
This is a livestock keeping system found under mainly arid, semi-arid and steppe
conditions. The animals are extensively grazed and several strategies are employed.
- Herd diversification - Capitalizing on different grazing habits.
- Loaning animals and sharing herds - A network of social contracts. Harsh
conditions prevail in some area while other areas are fine.
- Movement of herds - Seasonal migrations, short or long distance.
Nomadic pastoralists do not own permanent homesteads. They keep on moving with
their livestock depending on the availability of pasture and water. They may stay for a
long period on one locality as long as there is feed and water for their livestock. Limited
cropping is practiced, intensive systems are completely absent and no pasture
improvement is done.
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Nomadism is found in East and South Mediterranean basin Sudano-Sahelian zone of
Africa and the Near and Muddle East. Nomads don’t have legal land tittles but may
claim the area used as tribal land. The balance of this system is endangered by
pressure of land changes of social order and increasing demands of quality of life. The
major problem with this system is overstocking of rangelands
Transhumance
This involves some shifting, rain-fed arable cultivation or sedentary cultivation system in
villages. The sedentary livestock owners cultivate some crops during the wet season, but
migrate away from their holdings during the dry season.
b) Intensive production
The goats are continuously housed or "zero-grazed" this provides maximum protection
from the adversities of difficult environments. The system is ideal for dairy goats and
perfect for small family herds. It makes no use of the independent feeding habits of the
goat (browsing), but cheap materials e.g. crop residues, industrial wastes and other
domestic refuse can be utilized. The system is suited to high-producing animals and
exotic breeds (and their crosses) are more likely to be successful on zero grazing than on
any other system. It is also very convenient for the control of feeding and mating.
c) Semi intensive system
This represents varying degrees of compromise between extensive and intensive
production and is largely dictated by the availability of land. It usually involves
controlled grazing of fenced pastures with supplementary concentrate feeding.
TETHERING commonly replaces fencing. In case of tethering, care must be taken that
there is no possibility of strangulation. Shade in case of sun, shelter in case of rain and
drinking water are important considerations in tethering.
It is essential to change the place of tethering everyday so that fresh herbage and a
variety of plants can be availed to the animal. The practice also minimizes disease
prevalence.
Sheep raising systems
In arid and semi-arid regions where feed isn’t sufficient for lamb production, the emphasis is
on maintenance of flocks for production of finer grades of wool. The other emphasis is on
meat. This type of production is apt to decrease in most countries.
The second type of sheep raising is found in semi-arid and semi-humid areas where intensive
agriculture isn’t possible. More emphasis is placed on lamb raising for wool. This type of
industry is found in better range areas where rainfall is deficient for farming or where the
topography is prohibits farming. These lands may comprise deserts, plains, foothills and
mountains that are used in different seasons of the year.
Humid farming areas emphasize on lamb production with wool. Sheep in these lands compete
with other grazing animals, i.e. beef and dairy cattle. Farm flocks range from 25 – 500. The
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smaller flocks, which are generally farm scavengers with respect to forages, are given the
task of keeping the farmsteads and harvested fields free from weeds.
Transhumance: This system is still widely practiced in some sheep keeping areas. In
Europe, it is found in mountainous areas where farming people, their flocks and herds
migrate annually in the spring from their wintering grounds in the villages to the high
mountain pastures, returning in the Autumn to the valleys for their shelter and winter food.
The system remains almost unchanged in Europe, Asia and North Africa and involves whole
groups of people moving, existing as isolated tribes of several families, sharing a distinct
culture and participating in the communal migration involving many flocks. Elements of this
method of farming developed over centuries as a balanced ecological system still makes
sound senses in terms of using land resources.
Nomadic system: Whilst transhumant system(s) involve two main territories usually
differing in altitude, nomadic systems in their extreme may involve much more movement
and the tribal groups involved may live in tents all year around. Nomadic systems are
associated with the semi arid areas of the world where the movement is dictated by rainfall
pattern rather than by altitude.
Mountain or Range sheep production (Lamb production)
In addition to the subsistence farming associated with transhumance, there is specialized
range farming of the type found in Northern Europe and North America. These flocks vary
considerably in size and are largely complementary to lowland systems supplying lambs to be
finished in feed lots as in central North America or on grass and arable crops as in Britain and
North Europe. The mountain farms are also an important source of breeding ewes for lowland
lamb producing flocks. Wool is usually an important product.
Lowland lamb production:
This system is found in temperate or coastal areas suited for the growth of grass as in New
Zealand, Northern Europe and North America. Generally the small-scale breeding flocks
involved are either self contained or based on cross-bred hill sheep. The main products are
young lambs slaughtered towards the end of the growing season.
General flock management under tropical environments
It is common practice in both nomadic and sedentary flocks to combine the animals owned
by a number of different people in order to reduce the required number of herders. In this
way, good control of the animals and proper distribution over the grazing area can be
achieved.
In some places small holder farmers who own few animals and practice mixed farming sheep
flocks may be mixed with cattle herds and graze within communal grazing groups.
Flock control
(a) Fencing: Fences are constructed around the pastures using wire or live plants. Once
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fenced, sheep do not require herders. The problem is that the fencing materials may be
expensive, theft and predation may be experienced and malicious people may destroy the
fences.
(b) Herding: Entire herding without fences applies throughout most of the tropics, except
perhaps in Australia and some parts of Africa. The advantage of herding is that animals
are more protected from theft and predatory animals.
(c) Tethering: This involves securing the animals with long ropes or light chains. It requires
some labour input but effective if carefully executed, allowing access to fresh sites
several times per day.
PRACTICAL WAYS OF INCREASING PRODUCTION THROUGH: -
OVERVIEW
Good reproductive performance is a prerequisite for any successful livestock production
programme. Undoubtedly, there is no milk if birth does not occur, no meat and fibres if
survival cannot be ensured. It is not surprising that above all, natural selection is directed
towards fitness or the ability of every creature to survive and to perpetuate its own kind.
Where farm resources are severely limited as it is often the case in SSA, reproduction failure
is the first sign of decreased productivity. It seems important, therefore, to determine the
actual level of reproductive performance and its variation between and within ecozones,
breeds and management systems before characteristics of losses which limit that performance
are highlighted.
In small ruminants, reproductive efficiency can be measured by fertility, prolificacy,
fecundity and survival. These four parameters together with age at first parturition and
parturition interval also measure the reproductive performance.
1) Reproductive Efficiency (Performance)
Short gestation intervals (150 days) and lactation periods (60 days when suckling only)
combined with the general lack of photoperiod anoestrous in tropical latitudes make
three parturitions in two years practically possible. These 8 to 9 months parturition
intervals often better fit the seasonal rainfall patterns in many regions than the 14 to 16
months (or greater) parturition intervals of cattle and buffalo. Thus, females may conceive
in one period of good feed and lactate in the next.
F M A M J JL A S O N D J F M A M J JL A S O N
Breeding period (F:- February; O:- October; J:- June)
Kidding/Lambing period (JL:- July; M:- March; N:- November)
Gestation period (Lactating or Empty, i.e. not pregnant)
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One can calculate the above in a formula:-
Gestation period:- 150 days Number of lambings/ kidding in 2 years
Days open 60 days 365 * 2 days/210 days = 3.4 approx 3
lambings/kiddings
Total 210 days
A number of highly prolific sheep breeds have been distributed in some recent
publications. These include regions:-
- Europe –Finnish Landrace, Ramanov, Chios;
- USSR --- Svanka; Oceania – Booroola Merino
Developing Regions: - Caribbean – Barbados Blackbelly, Virgin Island White; North
Africa—Middle East.D’Man, Oman; China—Huyang, Hunyang; Southeast Asia—
Priangan
Prolific breeds generally produce twins and triplets and quadruplets are not uncommon.
Prolific breeds of goats have not been highlighted; however, in general goats are more
prolific than most sheep.
The advantages of multiple births to increased meat off take however increased selection
potential are realized only if the neonates live and their mothers produce sufficient milk to
raise them to weaning. In other words, under limited conditions, multiple births can
actually be a disadvantage reducing periodicity by stressing the breeding female and
reducing her productive lifetime.
The reproductive efficiency of sheep and goats favorably depends on the ability to rapidly
build herd numbers in response to favorable prices or feed surpluses.
2. Reproductive Behavior
Goats
Planned breeding requires an understanding of characteristics in goats that are transmitted
from generation to generation. One objective of animal breeding is to increase the
frequencies of desirable genes so as to achieve the ideal genotype, which will give the
characteristics required in the population. There is tremendous genetic variability inherent in
individual breeds of goats. Most of the characteristics that are important to the animal are
influenced by other factors as well as by the genes and are, therefore (genototypically and
phenotypically) highly susceptible to environmental factors over which the breeder has no
control. Live weights at a given age or milk yield per lactation are two characters of
economic significance that can be manipulated by use of quantitative data. Qualitative traits
such as presence or absence of horns are also of some importance in animal breeding. In the
Saanen breed of goats for example, the gene for polled ness is associated with
hermaphroditism, and polled goats must be avoided in breeding programs – horned bucks
are used instead.
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Puberty
Puberty in goats as in other farm livestock is the period when the animal becomes
sexually mature. It precedes adult hood, and is reached at an age that varies considerably
with breed and also among individuals within a breed. In goats, sexual maturity is
reached quite early, but mating should be delayed to ensure that the dam is able to
accommodate the fetus without having to compete with available nutrients for her
growth. Due to this reason therefore, practically age is not a good criteria as live weight
by which to determine the right time for mating. It is therefore recommended that during
the flushing period both age and weight should be assessed. Crossbred Norwegian dairy
goats are normally bred at the age of one year with 18 kg weight (Personal research
work).
Fertility
Normal fertility is defined as the regular production of viable offspring. Shoats are
considered to be fertile if they produce normal spermatozoa or ova capable of
fertilization. Prolificacy on the other hand refers to the capacity of shoats to produce
many progeny. Fertility and Prolificacy are used simultaneously to describe the
reproductive capacity of individual breeds.
Expression of fertility
Fertility in shoats is most commonly expressed as:-
i. Services per Conception
ii. Litter size
iii. Kidding rate of percentage
iv. Kidding Interval
v. Service period
vi. Non-return rate
vii. Age at puberty
viii. Age at first kidding
ix. Regularity of Estrus Cycles
x. Interval between first service and conception
xi. Interval between kidding and first estrous (postpartum estrous)
xii. Percentage of does pregnant at first service
xiii. Average no of kids born per life-time and
xiv. Magnitude of reproductive problems in the flock.
Factors affecting fertility
Genetic factors
The genotype of individual breeds of goats is an important determinant of fertility.
Furthermore, various physiological aspects of reproduction such as conception, twinning
and kidding interval have an effect.
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Fertility and Prolificacy increase with age of the goat.
E.g. Malabor goats, the proportion of twins and triplet births increased from 19 percent in
the 1st
kidding to 79 percent the 2nd
and later kiddings. Kilis goats in Texas have reached
maximum fertility at 5 and 7 years of age respectively.
Environmental factors
Environmental factors as well as ambient temperatures and seasonal changes,
management factors including handling of bucks and does at mating, detection of heat,
time of service, nutrition, and disease and parasites are important. Insufficient dietary
energy and protein are often the main limiting factors of efficient goat production in
tropical environments. It is essential for the goat farmer to make sure that rations provide
an adequate supply of both energy and protein
3. Reproductive Behavior and Breeding Systems
Sheep in the tropics are low producing and they yield below their genetic potential
because of sub-standard management practices. It is evidenced that some sheep producers
are reluctant to change traditional practice because they are tied to minimum production
inputs. Similarly, the record of governments in conducting breeding programs for tropical
and semitropical sheep is extremely poor.
Despite such setbacks, sheep improvement has been carried out and has produced breeds
(over a long period of time) such as the:-
• Awassi,
• Lohi,
• Desert Sudanese
• Priangan
• Barbados Blackbelly
• Blackheaded Persian (found in East Africa)
• Dorper (found in East Africa)
However, the results of these few breeds indicate that the process of breed formation and
improvement can be speeded up through the application of modern breeding systems and
techniques.
Breeding improvement programs should be instituted only after careful consideration of the
breed and its production capacity. This is because the existing indigenous sheep (or goats)
have the genotype for environmental conditions in which they thrive.
4. Reproductive Behavior and Breeding Capacity
Breeding capacity
Temperate (zone) and Tropical zone sheep all gestate for about 5 months, 150±5 days
(similar to goats as well). The lambs are dropped in the late winter and spring months,
corresponding roughly with the beginning of warm weather and the season of new vegetative
growth. This is because they cycle according to day-light etc.
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This is not so with the tropical sheep, they do not exhibit this extreme periodicity. While their
breeding behavior is influenced somewhat by the length of day and ambient temperature, the
availability of forage and the incidence of disease have greater effects on the receptivity of
the ewes and the fertility of the rams.
Breeding however, is controlled by some pastoral flocks, e.g. by use of the kunan in
Sudanese Desert sheep or the ram’s apron in Masai flocks, so that lambs are dropped at about
the same time of the rainy season. On the other hand, lambing occurs all year round, but with
two or more peak periods. Most livestock centers in the Tropics concerned with sheep are
now researching with physiology of reproduction and breeding behavior.
Q1. With appropriate examples write brief examples on the following:-
a) Synchronization for improved reproductive performance in goats
Also known as oestrous synchronization is the process of targeting female goats (does) to
come to heat within a short time frame (36 to 96 hours). This is achieved through the use of
one or more hormones. GnRH and Prostaglandin F2 are two hormones used in the “Synch”
protocols during oestrus synchronization. The synchronization of the estrous cycle is often
used in the Diary and Beef industries (and elsewhere), goats and sheep in order to decrease
the costs for Artificial Insemination or feeding a bull/buck/ram by reducing the period in
which it takes for all cows/does/ewes to be in heat and fall pregnant.
Synchronization of estrus is a useful tool for improving and maintaining the production of
milk and meat, as well as reducing the labour force or cost, shortening the breeding season,
throughout the year in goat farms (Nur et al. 2013, Andrabi et al. 2015). Additionally, oestrus
synchronization in goats is practical for optimizing the function of reproduction (Ahmad et
al.2014). Therefore, estrus synchronization is extensively applied in the reproductive
management of goats.
Research has been conducted into different ways farmers can perform estrous
synchronization such as progesterone injections or a Progesterone Releasing Intra-vaginal
Device [PRID].[4]
The PRID is a sponge that is inserted into the vagina of a cow to stop the
natural estrous cycle (for it acts as a corpus luteum), because progesterone is the hormone
that signals the body to stop the cycle because fertilisation has occurred. When the sponge is
removed the cycle restarts. This apparatus is useful in manipulating the cycle so that multiple
cows can be ovulated around the same time. estrous synchronisation has major advantages in
making artificial insemination more practical. Increasing the productivity of embryo transfer
and artificial insemination is economically profitable as the costs associated with veterinarian
and semen services are reduced. The reduction of costs occur because vets are required for
less time to do the inseminating because the period of ovulation of the herd is decreased to 2-
5 days. There are many different injection methods that have been put into practise in order to
manipulate the estrous cycle. These involve injections into each cow with a measured amount
of progesterone or progestin and waiting 5-7 days, or until heat signals occur, before moving
onto different impregnating methods such as joining the cows or heifers with a bull.
• A shortened calving season provides producers a better opportunity to offer improved
management and observation of the cow herd, which should result in fewer losses at
calving.
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• Shortened calving periods also facilitates improvements in herd health and
management such as uniformity in timing of vaccinations and routine management
practices resulting in decreased labor requirements.
• Another benefit is that cow nutrition can be improved by grouping cows according to
stage of gestation and feeding each group accordingly.
• An additional benefit is that the calf crop will be more uniform in age and size which
can lead to an advantage in the market place.
b) Positive and Negative Consequences of inbreeding
Inbreeding is the mating together of closely related animals, for example mother/son,
father/daughter, sibling/sibling matings and half-sibling/half-sibling. It is the pairing
of animals which are more closely related than the average population. For breeders,
it is a useful way of fixing traits in a breed - the pedigrees of some animals that exist
for further research purposes
To produce animals which closely meet the breed standard, breeders commonly mate
together animals which are related and which share desirable characteristics. Over
time, sometimes only one or two generations, those characteristics will become
homozygous (genetically uniform) and all offspring of the inbred animal will inherit
the genes for those characteristics (breed true). Breeders can predict how the offspring
will look. "Line-breeding" is not a term used by geneticists, but comes from livestock
husbandry. It indicates milder forms of inbreeding. Line-breeding is still a form of
inbreeding i.e. breeding within a family line and includes cousin/cousin, aunt/nephew,
niece/uncle and grandparent/grandchild. The difference between line-breeding and
inbreeding may be defined differently for different species of animals and even for
different breeds within the same species. It is complicated by the fact that an animal’s
half-brother might also be her father!
However, inbreeding holds potential problems. The limited gene-pool caused by continued
inbreeding means that deleterious genes become widespread and the breed loses vigour.
Laboratory animal suppliers depend on this to create uniform strains of animal which are
immuno-depressed or breed true for a particular disorder e.g. epilepsy. Such animals are so
inbred as to be genetically identical (clones!), a situation normally only seen in identical
twins. Similarly, a controlled amount of inbreeding can be used to fix desirable traits in farm
livestock e.g. milk yield, lean/fat ratios, rate of growth etc.
5. Breeds
Breed: Group of population of animals (plants) linked to a common origin or by ancestry and
identifying traits (frequently color) which distinguish them as belonging to a certain group
and their primary identifying characteristics are generally passed from parent to offspring in a
uniform manner.
Or
An interbreeding population of more or less similar animals developed in a given
geographical area.
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Methods of classification
The domestic goat can be classified according to :-
- Origin
- Body size
- Ear shape and Length
- Function, or
- Height at withers
Origin
Goats can be grouped according to their European, Oriental, Asiatic or African origins. Not
only are these geographical territories vast, but there are difficulties in defining the
boundaries where goats ranged and considerable overlapping as goats moved between the
territories.
Function
Goats have been classified in terms of their major functions:-
Meat, milk, fibre, skins production, and manure. Although the method can apply to some
breeds, the majority are non-descript, all – purpose animals. Many, for example, yield both
meat and milk (dual purpose)
Body size
This is probably the most widely used of the four methods. The dwarf goats, which occur
mainly in Africa, can be classified separately on this basis. In order to make use of this
method liveweight data for individual breeds must be available.
Dwarf goats
A dwarf goat is one that stands less than 50 cm high at the withers. Two types of dwarf goats
are recognized:- The more common proportionate dwarfing (pituitary hypoplasia) where the
head, trunk and legs are all reduced in size and disproportionate dwarfing (achondroplasia)
where the legs are stunted and often bent in relation to the trunk. Both types of dwarfing
occur as a result of genetic factors affecting growth and metabolic rate. The dwarf goats of
Africa are well adapted to the humid zone in West Africa.:-
i. With the 50cm HW, it weighs 18 – 25kg and used mainly for meat production
ii. Small, 51 – 65cm HW, weighs 19 – 37kg and meat or milk producers
iii. Large breeds, over 65cm, weighs 20 – 63kg and is dual purpose (function)
It is estimated that there are altogether about 300 breeds and types of goats, the majority of
which are in the Tropics and sub-tropics.
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EAST AFRICA
Small East African
Characteristics
Throughout
(LET STUDENTS CARRY OUT PRESENTATIONS IN CLASS ON
ASSIGNED TOPICS TO BUILD CONFIDENCE AND THUS WIDEN
THEIR KNOWLEDGE FOR THEIR FUTURE)
REFERENCES
Gatenby M. Ruth (2002) SHEEP. The Tropical Agriculturalist (Series Editor, René Coste.
Publisher: CTA, MACMILLAN, pp 178
K. W. McMillin3
and A. P. Brock, Production practices and processing for value-added
goat meat, J. Anim. Sci. 2005. 83:E57-E68
Mike Steele (1996) GOATS. The Tropical Agriculturalist (Series Editor, René Coste and
General Editor, livestock volumes, Anthony J. Smith). Publisher: CTA, MACMILLAN, pp
152
Pasqualone, Antonella; Caponio, Francesco, Alloggio Vincenzo and Gomes, Tommaso
(2000). Content of taurine in Apulian Cacioricotta goat’s cheese. European Food Research
and Technology 211:158-160
Spore Magazine (2002) Media and Agriculture, Headline News. Agriculture is climbing back
on to the world’s major agenda, after a sad, bad absence. Some even ask, did it fall, or was it
pushed? This time, we are here to stay. Information for Agricultural Development in ACP
countries. Number 100, August 2002. CTA. Website: www.cta.nl, pp 9
45

3. MANAGEMENT OF SMALL RUMINANTS
3.1 Introduction
Management is a key element in any successful livestock enterprise. It covers both the animals
and the environment under which they are being raised. The main aspects of livestock
management almost involved in all farm livestock, include; good housing, proper and adequate
feeding, regular disease control practices, appropriate breeding programmes and various farm
operations such as animal identification, dehorning and hoof trimming, castration, milking,
shearing etc. Specific considerations over specific aspects of management are made for each
individual species of farm livestock. In goats and sheep most of the principles of management
are similar.
3.2 Housing
In livestock production, the term "housing" can be used to refer to a number of things, viz. an
enclosure (e.g. a 'kraal'); a pen or cubicle in a large building set aside for livestock or just an
animal house, specially constructed for livestock. When an enclosure is extended over a large
area, "fencing" replaces housing. There are various reasons why goats and sheep should be
housed.
Advantages of small ruminant housing
♦ Housing makes a higher degree of management control possible. Since the animals are
collectively confined together, it is easy to monitor individual animals as well as providing
collective attention to them than when they are left to graze extensively. This refers to
continuous stall-feeding type of housing.
♦ It makes it easier to achieve higher stocking rates. With animals confined and cut-and-carry
system practiced, it is possible to raise more animals on a given plot of land since the forages
are utilized more efficiently than when free-grazed.
♦ It improves individual performance of the animals (higher output per animal). The animals
spend less energy on walking, are spared of possible weather stresses and receive adequate
attention from their masters. Hence their breeding performance as well as their production
performances are improved.
♦ Since animals are protected against bad elements of weather and predators, their mortalities
are reduced by housing.
♦ Housing provides for good working conditions and efficient use of labour. When kept
indoors, the animals can be monitored and attended more conveniently and for longer
periods than when they are grazing outside, particularly when the weather is not conducive.
Moreover, under stall conditions one person is able to manage many animals more
46

successfully compared with outdoor management.
The disadvantage of livestock housing is that the capital cost for construction may be high.
Farmers have to be advised to use cheap locally obtainable materials that can sufficiently do the
job. It is also thought that groups of housed animals stand more risks of disease transmission
among them. This thought calls for a good design of the house, which will minimize chances of
disease outbreaks as well as spread of diseases.
Qualities of a good house or enclosure for sheep and
goats
Just as for any livestock building, houses for sheep and goats need to satisfy the following:
♦ Ventilation. Good ventilation cuts down respiratory problems. Where ventilation is bad,
there is also a rapid build-up of bacteria and viruses in the atmosphere, and levels of carbon
dioxide increases thus lowering the animal's resistance to diseases. The house should provide
adequate ventilation without creating conditions for too much draught. It should be well
sited for natural ventilation allowing frequent air changes.
♦ Dry conditions. Dry well-drained houses minimize foot problems and viable conditions for
various diseases. Wet conditions also reduce the animals’ comfort. Should be avoided. It is a
common practice in the tropics to ensure dry conditions by constructing raised slatted-floors
(stilted). If well constructed, raised slatted-floors should let urine, dung and spilled water to
pass through. These can then be regularly removed from underneath the floors. However, the
slats should not be too wide to allow feet penetration as this may cause constant injuries to
the animals.
♦ Light. Light is one of the important components in animal houses or enclosures. First of all,
from the welfare point of view, the animals have to be able to see each another, see where
there is feed and water as well as their environment in general. This necessitates presence of
some kind of light for a certain period of the day. Some periods of natural light are important
for vitamin D metabolism. The stockman taking care of the animals also needs light. He
needs to see through the house so that he may take note of any irregularity requiring his
attention and needs light for easy undertaking of his routine operations. Whenever artificial
light is provided in the animal house, very bright light is not desirable since it disturbs the
eyes. Any experienced stockman will be able to adjust the amount of light to provide for just
sufficient light for a particular kind of livestock house.
♦ Roof. A good livestock building should be rainproof so that dry conditions are guaranteed.
Roofs also help to keep the animals and their environment from direct sunrays, which may
not be desirable at some times. Note that enclosures are normally un-roofed hence should be
of limited use. While animals can sometimes be left to any weather conditions when grazing
in the field, they need to be well sheltered when resting at home.
♦ Space. Resting, feeding and drinking spaces should be adequate for the number of animals
kept in the house. Under congestion the animals not only live uncomfortably, but it also
47

becomes conducive for disease transmission and creates room for weak animals to be bullied
by strong ones. Other vices such as fighting may as well be induced by congestion in the
animal house. All these problems related with inadequate space in the animal houses have a
negative consequence on the economy of the enterprise, since the animals' reproductive and
production performances are inevitably affected. Space requirements per individual animal
or groups of animals will depend on the size of the animal(s), their physiological state (e.g. if
pregnant or not) and physical characteristics (e.g. presence of horns, wool or hair). Size of
the pen or house will be determined by the number of animals intended for it, production
purposes and form of operations taking place in the house.
♦ Design. The animal house should be well designed to accommodate easy operations such as
cleaning, feeding and watering. As pointed out earlier, it is advisable to construct raised
slatted floors for goats and sheep in the tropics. This facilitates easy removal of faeces and
urine from the house while leaving the animals under dry clean conditions. It should also be
constructed taking into account possibilities for predators and thieves, particularly where the
animals are to be permanently housed (including night times). However, it is not always
easy to keep away thieves by just well constructing the house. There has to be additional
security measures along with well construction of the house. A good design of the animal
house will be that covers all-important aspects discussed above (ventilation, space, etc.)
♦ Site. In constructing the building for goats, sheep or both it is very important to consider its
position in relation to other buildings, other infrastructure, and the inclination of the area as
well as wind direction. Whenever possible the site should be free draining, have access to
natural sunlight, close to other facilities e.g. water and wind should be moving away from
people's buildings. For security reasons, the site should not be selected too far away from
people's dwellings.
Types of housing in sheep and goats
Important considerations in the type of the house to be constructed include, LIGHT provision,
VENTILATION, DRAINAGE and EASY CLEANING.
There are two types of floors:
1. Ground level - Common in areas where rainfall is not excessive. Ground level floors are
usually made of rammed clay or earth but concrete is also common.
Ground level houses can be in the form of lean-to, common in small-scale farms or they can be
single buildings with SLOPING EAVES. Lean-to type can be 2-3 m high in the front, slopping
to 1-1.5 m at the back. They are usually attached to existing buildings including the farmer’s
own house. The flock size determines the size of the goat/sheep house. In Central America, a
typical goat housing known as corrals, accommodate large flocks of up to 500-2,000 head
reared under extensive conditions.
2. Stilted housing - The floor is raised to about 1.5 m above the ground to facilitate easy
cleaning and collection of dung. Timber or bamboo is common flooring materials in these types
of houses.
48

Floor space requirements:
This depends on the size of the animal. Tropical goats are generally smaller than temperate
goats. They require less floor space. Wool sheep require more space than meat type of sheep.
Floor-space requirements for goats are as shown in Table 10
49

Table 10 Suggested space requirements for different classes of goats
Category Requirement per animal (m2
)
Kid
Doe (dry and empty)
Doe (pregnant)
Buck
0.3
1.5
1.9
2.8
Adapted from Devendra and McLeroy, 1982
Roofs: Roofing materials are variable: Leaves (e.g. bamboo, palm), coconut fronds, corrugated
iron sheets or tiles
In high rainfall areas, it is essential to have long slopping eaves standing out by about 0.5 m. In
modern houses; double-cone roofing is used to increase ventilation.
3.3 Nutrition and feeding
Good nutrition for sheep and goats means provision of quality adequate food to these animals.
By quality we mean essential nutrient contents such as energy, protein, minerals and vitamins.
Water can be provided as a sole item. The quantity of food for individual animals will depend on
the animal's size (weight), its production as well as its physiological status. With good nutrition,
the animals grow faster, produce high (e.g. milk of high quality and quantity), fights against
diseases and feel comfortable.
Sheep and goats are ruminants. They can derive their nutrients from various materials including;
grass, legumes, different tree and shrub leaves, and crop residues such as stover, straws and crop
by-products such as cereal brans and seed cakes. These feedstuffs differ in their nutrient
contents. Depending on the animals' requirements, consideration should always be given on the
type of feedstuffs fed to a particular animal or class of animals. The idea is to provide adequate
nutrients.
For convenience, animals may be kept under 5 different categories or classes:
(a) Young growing animals
(b) Gestating (pregnant) females
(c) Lactating females
(d) Dry females
(e) Breeding males
(f) Males raised for slaughter
Once under these groups, sheep or goats can be differently treated in terms of feeding since the
groups have different requirements.
Both sheep and goats have food intake capacity of 3-6% of body weight.
50

A sample ration for dairy goats
In formulating a ration for dairy goats it is important to note the best way to feed goats
and that the rations will be presented to the animals in the stalls. There are advantages of stall
feeding because:-
• You do not need a large amount of land or grazing pastures
• You can use many farm products, banana leaves, maize, maize thinnings, bean husks,
etc.
• It saves time and labor, you do not have to take goats out of the shamba for grazing or
spend time looking for them
• There are less death amongst the kids and all goats because they can be easily looked
after throughout the day
• It is easier to plan and manage breeding
• It keeps goats from eating crops and damaging the shamba
• It makes collecting manure very easy
• It helps in controlling pests and diseases.
Common dairy goat feeds
Pasture & Fodder
• Napier grass - ¼ acre per goat per year
• desmodium – interplanted with Napier grass or pure stand
• Calliandra – Feed green or hay, 20 trees per goat
• Leucaenia spp
• Sweet potato vines
• Sesbania spp
• Pigeon peas plant
• Natural grass
Crops residues
• Maize stover
• Rice bran
• Sorghum stover
• Bean straws
• Ground nut straws
Concentrates
• Dairy meal
• Jassey sugar
• Cakes e.g. sunflower cake
•
Minerals
51

Maclick super
Unga high phosphorous (powder 20g per day)
Water
At least 8 liters of clean water
A sample ration
Dairy goats rations are formulated from roughages mainly sourced from forages, water,
minerals and concentrates. Dairy goats should be fed according to body weight and
physiological requirements. Dry matter amount is critical in feeding dairy goats. The dry
matter requirement is 6% of the body weight.
A goat weighing 30Kg will require 1.8Kg of dry matter (DM). Here is an example of an ideal
daily ration for dairy goat
• 5Kg of Napier
• 0.5Kg sweet potato vines
• 0.7 kg of Calliandra
• 0.5kg of Desmodium
• 40g of very high phosphorous
• 8 liters of clean water
In the foregoing sections, feeding strategies for sheep and goats are discussed under 3
subheadings for easy understanding.
(a) Feeding the goats
(b) Feeding sheep
(c) Drought management of small ruminants
3.3.1 Feeding of goats
Nutrient requirements of goats:
Goats are energetic, inquisitive and versatile in the art of food gathering. They can graze on
grass and legume but mainly consume large quantities of browse (tree leaves, shrubs, twigs,
etc.). Their mobile upper lips enable them to discriminately select favoured parts of plants. They
are said to digest their food better than cattle. As earlier pointed out goats’ requirements depend
on age, physiological condition, productive stages or functions. See appendices for some
requirement tables.
52

Feeding for reproduction
The level of feeding will determine the state of animal at maturity, lifetime production, age at
maturity and fertility of the animal. Before animals are mated flushing is done. About 0.5 Kg
dairy meal is given daily for 2 weeks before mating to improve the body condition. After
successful mating adequate feed should be given to avoid embryonic wastage such as
abortion.
There are three phases in pregnancy
During the first phase (1 month) the fetus or kid inside does grow undisturbed. There are no
much changes in fetus size but feeding is important to keep the fetus in condition. Loss of
about 4% body condition can cause problems. Avoid over fattening. Just feed slightly above
maintenance.
The second phase (2 – 3 months) is also called mid pregnancy. The fetus changes slightly. At
40 days the fetus is about 6 g. At 90 days fetus is about 15% of its birth weight. At this time
the animal can survive under nutrition i.e. the animal can lose up to 5% body weight without
any problem. If protein in feed is low, feed intake will be low resulting in protein deficiency.
Protein requirements are not high but deficiency can be detrimental to the fetus.
Third Phase (3 – 5 months) or late pregnancy is the most critical stage of the fetus
development. At this stage the fetus is developing organs and also increasing in size, gaining
70% of its birth weight about 6 – 8 weeks before birth. Rapid increase impinges on the size of
the rumen. Good quality feeding is needed so that though feed intake is low it meets the
requirements of the animal. Under nutrition will result in low birth weight, low production of
colostrums and reduction in milk production.
Steaming up is done during the last 60 days of pregnancy. This is important for building
stores for use in early lactation. Feed up to 400 – 500 g per day of concentrates.
Feeding for Lactation
Protein is required at around 56.1g DCP per day for milk synthesis. Energy is the most
sensitive nutrient and is required at 1.25 MCal / Kg of Fat Corrected Milk (FCM).
Minerals especially calcium and phosphorous must be in the ration in large amounts than
other minerals. Most diets have enough of vitamins A and D.
Feeding Bucks
Increase feed by 15 – 20% during mating. Start introducing concentrates 6 – 7 weeks before
mating at a rate of 200 – 300g per day. The diet should continue up to 6 – 7 weeks post
mating.
53

Feeding Kids
The initial growth rate of kids will be determined by birth weight, level of feed intake of does
before parturition and litter size. Any weight below 2.5 Kg or above 5.5 Kg is not good
because viability of the kids decreases and deaths increases.
The new born must suck colostrum within 24 hours and should be with the doe and allowed
as much as they need. Colostrum feeding should be continued for the next 3 days. Cow
colostrums can be used at a 50 ml per BW in fostering. There is no need to continue
colostrums feeding after the 5th day.
After 4 – 5 days kids can be raised on milk replacers which should not be more than 18% of
total feeds. At one week, kids should be provided with small quantities of fresh clean soft
feed.
0-2 weeks – Free suckling by the kids should be allowed for the first two weeks then
restricted as follows:.
• 2-6 weeks suckling twice a day.
• 12 – 13 weeks - suckling evening only
• 13 -14 weeks – suckling in the evening, every other day when weaned
Weaning
This stage is characterized by slowing of growth due to shock. Feed kids at 45 – 60 grams
milk DM per body weight (BW) and reduce while introducing other solid feeds gradually
with time. If adequate feeding is done early the effect of shock is minimized.
Weaning is based on weight (at 2.5 MBW) and not on age and can be attained in 35 days.
This is done between 5 and 6 weeks if the growth requirements of the kids have been met. In
poor quality forage weaning may be delayed. Put animals on good quality forages.
Raising kids
For female goats the aim is to attain the earliest age at first mating. 7 to 9 months is ideal. At
this time the females should be 60% of their mature weight. This will enable milk production
by the age of one year.
Provide concentrates at 300 – 400g per day when they are 3 to 4 months old. At 6 – 7 months
of age when mating time is approaching feed at about 100 – 200g per day to trim down over
fattening during mating.
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3.3.1.1 Feeding a new born
Colostrum (first milk) is the most important ingredient for a newborn kid's diet. Colostrum is
usually very thick and may be pale yellow in color. It is rich in antibodies which protect the
young against disease (induce immunity). It is also laxative in nature. The kid should get
colostrum within the first hour of birth and continue for up to two days.
Suggested feeding strategy for the kid (dairy goats)
Week 1 - Leave the kid with its dam -Let it suckle naturally and as frequent as it
wishes.
Week 2 - Separate the kid from the dam.
- Feed artificially (bottle or pan)
- Give 0.5 litres of milk three times a day
- Provide protein supplements, hay and clean water near the kid. This will enable
the kid to learn to eat and drink.
Week 3-4 - Give 2 litres of milk divided into 3 feedings, along with protein supplement
hay and water.
Week 5-6- Continue to feed 2-2½ litres of milk divided into 3 feedings, plus protein
supplement and hay.
Week 7-9- Give 2-2½ litres of milk but divided by 2 feedings per day plus prot. supplement,
hay and water.
Week 9-12- Decrease milk feeding slowly until it is once per day followed by weaning.
Wean the kid when it is weighing 10 - 15 kg.
In case the doe dies or unable to produce enough milk, milk replacers can be used. Colostrum
will be necessary even if from another doe.
Note that the quantity of milk fed to the kid per day is breed dependent. The aim should be to
feed at least a litre per 10-kg live weight. Once the kid is weaned, it should be provided with
plenty of good pasture throughout until it is slaughtered or put to breeding.
3.3.1.2 Feeding a pregnant dry doe
- At 3 months of pregnancy, stop milking the doe as the kid(s) inside will be growing fast,
requiring most of the nutrients.
- Allow free access to good pasture and roughage plus some concentrates (12 - 14% CP)
at a level of 0.2 - 0.7 kg per day. Don't overfeed since a fat doe will have trouble at
kidding.
- Make sure that the doe gets necessary minerals (Ca, P) during these critical times.
- Remember that goats are browsers, not grazers although they can eat grass. A place with
low bushes is ideal for the goats.
55

3.3.1.3 Feeding a lactating doe
Feed requirements of the lactating doe are much greater than that of a pregnant doe. It is
therefore essential to provide better quality feed during lactation as this influences milk
production.
Rations for lactating does should contain 14 - 16% CP. It is recommended that, for each 1 - 1½
kg of milk produced, ½ kg of concentrate be fed to the doe per day. Normally supplement the
does with concentrate at milking time as this has influence on milk-let down.
Remember that milk secretion requires balanced nutrients. Ensure that the concentrate for
supplementing lactating does will provide adequate energy, protein, minerals and vitamins.
3.3.1.4 Feeding a breeding buck
When the buck is not in use, it will be OK with plenty of green forage and pasture.
Supplementation is not necessary.
As the breeding season approaches, concentrates should be added to the buck's diet. Feed the
buck ½ kg of concentrate per day in addition to pastures. A buck needs only 12% protein in diet.
In case concentrate is unavailable let the buck browse extensively.
Plenty of water and exercise are important for the breeding buck. Never let a buck get fat or
sluggish or this may cause him to be sterile.
After the breeding season, you discontinue concentrate feeding.
3.3.2 Feeding of sheep
It should be noted that apart from feeding for various productions (e.g. for milk, wool etc.) the
strategies for feeding goats are similar to those of feeding sheep. However, the difference in
feeding behavior of the two species often makes it necessary to consider their nutrition
separately.
3.3.2.1 Feeding the lambs
The best way of raising the lambs is to let them suckle from their mothers throughout their pre-
weaning period. Since cereals and most concentrates are usually too expensive for appreciable
use in sheep feeding, except under intensive production, good pasture or preserved fodder (e.g.
hay or silage) should be reserved for lactating ewes so that they can supply sufficient milk for
the lambs.
Under intensive conditions, where some ewes are milked or lambs are raised for early slaughter,
creep feeding of the lambs is advantageous. In this case the concentrate for lambs are placed in
the creep where the ewes can not have access to it.
As artificial feeding of milk is seldom used in lambs the weaning procedure will involve a
gradual separation of the lambs from ewes until total weaning is completed. Age and weight
should be balanced in deciding on the lamb's weaning. Normally lambs are weaned at 2 - 5
months of age in the tropics. It depends on the intensity of the production system and the extent
to which milking is practiced.
56

3.3.2.2 Feeding a pregnant ewe
A consideration of the nutrition of the pregnant ewe must be concerned not only with the
definition of nutrient requirements, but also with an assessment of the effects on production of
levels of feeding which are lower than these full requirements.
Since the patterns of growth or of increase in weight of the components of pregnancy (foetus,
uterus and membranes) are distinct, it is convenient from a nutritional standpoint to consider a
pregnant ewe in three parts:
(a) The first month (EARLY PREGNANCY)
It should be remembered that high plane of nutrition prior to mating increases ovulation rate.
However, it is not certain whether high feeding in early days of conception has influence on
embryo and foetal survival. It is generally understood that the condition at mating determines
both, shedding of ova and survival of the embryos. Therefore, in the first month of pregnancy,
the ewes can be all right with enough forage or pasture just as it is for a dry ewe.
(b)The 2nd
and 3rd
months (MID-REGNANCY)
There is need to take account of the age and body condition of the ewe at mating in making any
recommendation about nutrition during mid-pregnancy. Adult ewes mated with good body
condition are likely to withstand a moderate degree of undernourishment during the mid-
pregnancy period without unduly affecting their subsequent performance; Indeed under-
nourishment in this period would appear not only acceptable but also desirable for adult ewes.
In attempting to excess the appropriate level of nutrition in terms of live-weight change, it must
be remembered that by the end of the 3rd
month of pregnancy the uterus and its contents weigh
between 3 and 5 kg. This depends on the size of the ewe and the number of foetuses, i.e. an ewe
carrying twin lambs and which apparently maintained body weight during the first 3 months of
pregnancy, will in fact have drawn on her own body tissue to the extent of more than 4 kg. An
acceptable apparent body-weight loss during mid-pregnancy in an adult ewe, which was in good
condition at mating, is about 5% of mating weight and should not be more than 8%.
(c)The 4th
and 5th
months (LATE PREGNANCY)
About 70% of foetal growth takes place during the final 6 weeks of pregnancy. The growth and
development of the highly specialized tissues of the foetus are expensive processes in terms of
nutrients, and require considerably more food per unit of weight gain than is the case in the adult
animal. Estimates of the efficiency of utilisation of metabolizable energy for foetal growth
range from about 5 to 22%, compared with values of 40 to 60% in the growing or fattening
animal.
This low efficiency of conversion of nutrients to foetal tissues, and the very rapid increase in
foetal weight in late pregnancy, results in a considerable increase in the ewes requirements for
nutrients, and particularly for energy. The animal also requires nutrients for satisfactory
development of mammary tissues, and of course to meet its own maintenance requirements.
57

In practice, it is neither necessary nor economic to attempt to meet in full the very high energy
requirements of the ewe during late pregnancy, but at the same time it is essential to avoid
excessively severe levels of under-nourishment which will seriously affect production. The
objective of a practical feeding system in late pregnancy can thus be regarded as the
achievement and maintenance of a moderate degree of under-nourishment. The ewe is thus
using body tissues to a limited controlled extent to meet the deficit between intake and
requirements. It will result in only a small and quite acceptable penalty. As a general rule, ewes
carrying single foetuses should increase in body weight by about 10% during the last 8 weeks of
pregnancy. The level of feeding during the final 8 weeks should be such as to give an apparent
18% increase in body weight in ewes carrying twins.
3.3.2.3 Feeding a lactating ewe
In most systems of sheep production the quantity of milk produced by the ewe is of major
importance either because of its effect on lamb growth or because the ewe is milked to provide
milk for the manufacture of dairy products.
In the 1st
six weeks of life the growth of the lamb is largely determined by the amount of milk it
obtains from its mother.
The ewe suckling two lambs generally produces 40% more milk than a ewe at the same level of
nutrition but suckling a single lamb. The milk yield of ewes suckling twin lambs is generally 50
- 70% greater in the first week of lactation than that of ewes suckling a single lamb. The yield
then increases rapidly to a maximum in the second or third week of lactation. For ewes suckling
single lambs yield reaches maximum in the 3rd
or 4th
week of lactation. The rate of decline in
yield is greater in ewes suckling twins and by the sixteenth week of lactation there is a generally
little difference in yield between single lamb and twin lamb suckling ewes.
Energy requirements for lactating ewes have been calculated from estimates of the energy costs
of maintenance, lactation and weight change.
Table 11 compares different milk constituents in ewe, cow and goat milk. The concentration of
all constituents is much greater in ewes' milk than cows' milk resulting in the energy content
being approx. 70% greater in ewe’s milk.
58

Table 11 Milk composition (g/100g) of ewes', cows' and does' milk
Ewe Cow Doe
Average Range Average Average
Total solids 18.4 16.3-21.8 12.1 13.2
Solids-not-fat 10.9 10.8-13.0 8.6 8.7
Fat 7.5 5.1-10.0 3.5 4.5
Protein 5.6 4.6-6.8 3.25 3.3
Lactose 4.4 4.1-4.8 4.6 4.4
Ash 0.87 0.83-0.97 0.75 0.80
Calcium 0.19 0.10-0.21 0.12 0.14
Phosphorus 0.15 0.14-0.17 0.10 0.17
Chlorine 0.14 0.17-0.126 0.11 0.15
Energy conc. (MJ/kg) 4.4 2.6 3.0
There are wide variations in the estimates of both the energy requirements for maintenance in
the sheep and the efficiency of conversion of metabolizable energy (ME) to milk energy. The
requirements must therefore be considered as only broad guide.
Table 12 Requirements of ME (MJ/day) for ewes in lactation (Note that the estimates
were done using large breeds of sheep)
Live weight Number of lambs
suckled
1st
and 2nd
months 3rd
month
50 1 20.5 15.0
50 2 23.6 20.5
60 1 22.6 16.6
60 2 25.5 22.6
70 1 24.6 18.4
70 2 27.5 24.6
80 1 25.5 19.3
80 2 29.5 25.5
For any energy supplementation there should be a corresponding protein supplementation for
proper body weight maintenance and milk production. The minimum ratio of CP to ME
increases with increasing milk yield.
59

Note that poor nutrition in late pregnancy in addition to reducing weight and vigour of lambs at
birth can affect the onset of lactation. A short period of severe under nourishment, which is not
reflected in lamb birth weights, may reduce potential yield.
Early lactation is the period of highest nutrient requirement in the ewe's production cycle. The
lactating ewe must therefore be allowed adequate grazing time soon it enters lactation. On
grazing, sheep will select a diet much higher in digestibility and nutrient concentration than the
mean sward composition unless the quantity of available herbage is very low. The availability of
herbage will also affect the dry matter (DM) intake by sheep. If the availability and growth of
herbage are both low in early lactation it will be essential to offer concentrates to raise the total
nutrient intake.
3.4 Drought management of small ruminants
When drought occurs it is vital that early decisions are taken on possible relief operations and
their relative priority. The success of a drought control programme depends upon the standard
property and herd management both before and during the drought. The following measures
may be important.
i) Weaning of kids/lambs from their mothers
ii) Reduction in herd numbers
iii) Herd segregation to enable different treatment of various categories
iv) Utilisation of available paddock feed
v) Attention to water supplies
vi) Parasite control and stock health
vii) Predator control
viii) Deciding on a breeding policy
ix) Supplementary feeding
Early weaning:
 This is done in order to increase the chance of survival of dams. Demand for nutrients is
reduced.
 Requires specialized supplementation of young kids/lambs. The kids can start nibbling creep
feed at 2 - 3 weeks of age. At 2½ months kids are capable of digesting any suitable solid
food.
 In desperate circumstances, newborn kids/lambs are sometimes slaughtered in order to keep
the dams alive. In case of availability of milk replacers, which is not commonly stocked in
the tropics, they can supplement the dams' milk.
Reduction of stock numbers:
- Estimate the number of animals that can be carried throughout drought without loss. The
rest should be moved to elsewhere or sold for slaughter. The longer all animals are kept
the more serious the feed and water supply situation becomes. The following categories
of goats/sheep are in decreasing order of susceptibility to drought conditions.
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i) Early weaned animals
ii) Advanced pregnant or newly kidded/lambed does/ewes
iii) Normally weaned animals
iv) Non-lactating during early pregnancy
v) Bucks/Rams
vi) Yearlings
vii) Non-pregnant animals
viii) Castrates.
The breeding herd often represents a major source of potential earning power in subsequent
years. Replacement could also become very expensive compared with the low disposal prices
usually offered during drought.
Young pregnant breeders are usually the best proposition for retention with their breeding life
ahead of them. Feeding these may be justified. Weaners might well be fed to a condition when
they become saleable depending upon the cost of keeping them relative to their ultimate value.
Herd segregation:
Any long-term property management should aim at providing sufficient sub-divisional fencing
to allow for group segregation. It is especially useful during drought. Once segregated into
different groups as shown above, they can receive different treatments depending on preference
and vulnerability. Competition for little available resources is well minimized by segregation.
Utilisation of paddock feed and water supplies:
Watering points are most important in determining how much available feed can be grazed.
Water carting may be necessary where natural water points dry up in order to utilize the
available pastures. Underground salt content increases to unacceptable levels. Salt water may be
diluted in tanks or troughs with additional surface water to get the salt level down to an
acceptable dilution. Reduce salt levels to less than 700mg/litre of total soluble solids in which
the chlorides and sulphates of calcium and magnesium do not exceed 1400 mg/litre. Inspect
water supplies more regularly as animals may perish within short periods of no water.
Predator control:
The animals are weak during drought periods while wild animals are hungry. Well-planned
baiting programmes would keep predators at reduced levels.
Breeding policy:
With controlled mating, it is possible to postpone mating commencement. Since total mating
cancellation would mean a reduction in the total annual crop, late mating coupled with extended
period of joining could be a better breeding policy in drought management.
Supplementary feeding:
This is often the first aspect considered in drought management. In fact it should not be a high
priority owing to its potential high cost and lack of economics.
Drought can be classified as follows:
i) Protein drought - In case of low quality feeds.
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Where adequate roughage is available, a urea-molasses supplement can be fed to reduce
body weight losses in animals. This not only provides low cost supplement but also
increases appetite.
ii) Protein and partial energy drought - Roughages are limited and feed supplements used
require a protein and energy component.
iii) Total drought - This is a situation when there is little or no feed available. One has either
to allow animals to die, sell stock, shift animals or adopt full hand feeding. If there is
some poor feed or edible shrubs available, a common practice is to supply a non-protein
nitrogen (NPN) supplements e.g. urea - molasses.
Owing to the high costs involved in full hand feeding, survival feeding of the most
vulnerable classes only is recommended.
- Feeding of susceptible groups should start before they become listless and weak.
- Feeds involved in supplementary feeding include:
a) Non-protein nitrogen - In case of adequate supply of dry standing feed. Urea can
be fed, with molasses and water. Urea should be given in limited amounts due to
its toxicity.
b) Grain - In a protein and partial energy drought there is some poor quality feed
however additional protein and energy is needed. In this situation an NPN
supplement can be used to supply protein while grain can be conveniently fed as
an energy source.
c) Scrub feeding - Scrub is often high in crude protein but low in phosphorus.
Owing to the high fibre content, a urea-molasses supplement may be worthwhile
to increase appetite and to prevent gut complication in animals fed with scrub.
Phosphate supplements e.g. salt with bone meal can be useful where phosphate
deficiency exist.
d) Other feeds:
Conserved roughages - hay and silage.
3.5 Breeding
Under this heading we will look at breeding in two ways:
(i) As principles involved in improving genetic potential of small ruminants e.g. through
selection and crossbreeding. (ii) As a management item, considering mating control for breed
maintenance and avoiding or allowing inbreeding for example, choosing breeding time ensuring
feed availability at kidding/lambing etc. (management of reproduction).
3.5.1 Selection and crossbreeding
For any farm animals it is desirable to see gradual improvements in productivity of the
enterprise. Management (feeding, disease control etc.) improvements often increase productivity
62

but only to some extent. Once the animals reach their maximum genetic potential, improvement
in productivity can not be achieved by improving management. Something needs to be done on
the part of genotype.
Selection
By selecting animals with certain characteristics and mating them, it is possible to gradually
improve the performance of that line, generation by generation. Characters with high heritability
are readily passed on and those with low heritability are not readily passed on. Examples of
traits and their respective heritabilities (h2
) for goats are given in Table 13
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Table 13 Degree of heritability of some important traits for goat production
Trait Heritability (h2
)
Angora goat traits
Total yield
Fibre length
Greasy fleece weight
Clean fleece weight
Fibre diameter
Face cover
Kemp score
Body weight
Weaning weight
0.48
0.22
0.15-0.40
0.20
0.12
0.31-0.59
0.20-0.43
0.30-0.50
0.20-0.55
Dairy goats
Annual milk yield
Butterfat (%)
Protein (%)
Lactose (%)
Milking time
Litter size
Birth weight
0.36-0.64
0.32-0.62
0.59
0.38
0.67
0.07-0.24
0.01
Source: Mowlem, 1988
If traits are of low heritability, the genetic gain achieved by selection is less than for traits of
high heritability.
In selection, animals that reach a particular level of performance for particular traits are given
chance to breed. Gradually and consistently, the herd improves.
Some characteristics are known to be linked to each other. Selecting for one desirable good trait
may also be selecting for another, which is undesirable. For example in goats, polledness
(hornlessness) is linked with infertility. A homozygous polled female will normally be inter-sex,
may have some parts of the male and female reproductive tract and characteristics as well as
being infertile (Note that this is not hermaphroditism = having both male and female sexual
organs).
Crossbreeding
Once selection has been successfully done, obtaining suitable breeding animals, what follows is
how the selected animals are bred for improved performance. The animals can either be mated
within breed (pure-breeding) or different breeds can be mated (crossbreeding). Crossbreeding is
known for quick performance improvement. Where indigenous breeds are mated to exotic ones
to improve some traits of importance, improvement is obtained quite quickly while the
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advantages of the indigenous breed such as disease resistance and heat tolerance are retained.
However, crossbreeding approach needs to be systematic and require a continual source of
parental stock, i.e. males, females, or both. Due to this, it is often difficult to achieve sustainable
systems based predominantly on crossbreeds.
Note that in order to enjoy the improvement brought about by crossbreeding, there has to be a
certain level of improvement in management. Poor management may mask the improved
genetic potential. When two pure breeds are crossbred characteristics of the first progeny (F1)
may show the following:
(i) Outstanding individual merit
(ii) Intermediate expressions between the parent types
(iii) Resemblance to one or other of the parent type (simple inheritance)
The genetic gains or loss from crossbreeding are a result of:
 A combination of the superior adaptation of the indigenous breed with a better productivity
of the exotic breed. This effect is purely ‘additive’, adding some of the characteristics of one
breed to the other.
 Heterosis. This is a phenomenon whereby F1 progeny performs superior or inferior to the
average of the parents. When heterosis is positive, i.e. the progeny performing better than the
average of parents, the phenomenon is known as hybrid vigour, which is often the
breeders’ objective in crossbreeding. Unfortunately, this characteristic can not be fully
maintained by mating F1s to produce F2s. In order to exploit hybrid vigour, systematic
crossbreeding schemes of different types may be initiated;
 The continuous production of F1s called terminal crossing. This is a very expensive
and inefficient way of improving production. The poor small-scale farmer can not adopt
this kind of crossbreeding since he often relies on the already acquired animals for
expansion rather than trying to bring in new animals into the system all the time.
 Criss-cross mating. This is where an indigenous breed is alternately mated with the
exotic breed where the former is first mated with the latter and then mated with its own
breed. In this case two types of purebred bucks are required or 3 types used in rotation.
At the equilibrium, two thirds of the heterosis of the F1 is maintained.
Upgrading
Upgrading or grading up is probably the most popular and widely used method of crossbreeding
in the tropics. It is a gradual improvement of the breed through repeated matings of females of
the indigenous breed with the improved or exotic sire. It places less emphasis on maintaining
levels of heterosis but bases improvements on the additive effects of one breed on another.
Females of F1 with ½ blood of each breed are mated with a pure male of exotic blood resulting
to animals with ¾ blood of exotic breed. Females of these are then mated to a male exotic breed
to produce animals with 7/8 exotic blood proportion etc. Since continued upgrading of animals
up to about 100% pure breed may result into disadvantages of losing qualities of an indigenous
breed, it is usually considered desirable to up grade to only a certain level.
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An example of a simple continuous crossbreeding plan:
Breed A x Breed B
50% A
a1
F1 50% B x Breed A B1
75% A
F2 25% B x Breed B
Rotational crossbreeding
37.15% A
F3 62.50% B x Breed A
68.75% A
F4 31.25% B x Breed B
Continue using alternate breed
a1
Criss-crossing ; B1
Back-crossing
 Production of a synthetic breed. Synthetic breeds are made by reciprocal crossing of
several breeds and rigorous selection of offspring. It requires good management over
a long period of time. The dual-purpose goat in Western Kenya known as Kenya
Dual Purpose Goat (KDGP) took over14 years to produce. To use this as an example
of synthesis, consider the breeds involved as Toggenburg (T) and Anglonubian (N)
as exotic; East African (E) and Galla (G) as indigenous. Initially each of the exotic
breed is crossed with each of the indigenous breed to produce the first generation.
T x E º TE; T x G º TG; N x E º NE; and N x G º NG. Then the F1 offspring are
strategically mated to one another so as to produce 4-way progenies in F2 having
25% of their genes from each of the four breeds. TE x NG º TNEG and TG x NE º
TNEG. These are then carefully mated to one another to multiply the synthetic
breed.
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Inbreeding
This is the mating of closely related animals. It happens when animals are left to run together
(males, females) throughout. Daughters get to sexual maturity when their sires are still in the
flock or sons mature and start mating (if not castrated) their dams or sibs and half sibs mature
together etc. It does not happen where systematic breeding programmes are adhered.
Inbreeding is undesirable in a flock due to the so-called inbreeding depression, which lead to
reduced size, fertility and possibly survival of succeeding generations. More over, inbreeding
may sometimes cause some physical deformities in offspring such as undershot jaw in goats.
The next section discusses different breeding management.
3.5.2 Breeding management
Breeding management simply refers to planning of mating or breeding control in sheep and
goats.
The age at which females should be exposed to first mating varies depending on breed and
management e.g. feeding. Too early first mating is not recommended since the animal will be
stunted and very likely abort. When mated too young, even if the animal succeeds to give birth,
she may be unable to produce enough milk for its young. This will then cause malnourishment
to the born animal perhaps causing leading it to death. It is recommended that female
sheep/goats be exposed to first mating when they are 1 to 1½ years of age in the tropics.
However, under intensive systems where animals are particularly well nourished, age at first
mating may be lower.
Males should also be over one year of age before being used for the first time
In the Northern Hemisphere, sheep and goats are mostly seasonal breeders normally breeding in
August-March. Some animals may cycle at other times e.g. if a male is introduced or artificial
lighting is used. In such circumstances, breeding planning is not critical. In the tropical regions,
animals cycle throughout the year. Breeding planning is essential in these areas to avoid
haphazard kiddings or lambings. Although many traditional systems practice uncontrolled
breeding with reasonable success, it is recommended that does and ewes should be bred in such
a way that kidding/lambing takes place at the beginning of the dry season (end of wet season).
Why?
(a) There is normally plenty of feed for both mothers and offsprings
(b) There is also less burden of worm infestations.
Question: What do you think are good months for breeding small ruminants in your area?
It should be noted that seasonal breeding is best where seasons are reliable.
Once the breeding season has been established, one need to watch for the signs of heat (oestrus)
for individual female during that season so that mating can be allowed at the right time for
successful conception. It is a common practice to keep a breeding male with a given number of
breeding females throughout the planned breeding season for natural detection of heat (since
67

females in oestrus release some odours or pheromones which stimulate males’ sexual
excitement). However, with good experience, oestrus signs can be easily detected by the stock
owner and timing done in joining the female and male. This is particularly essential where one
breeding male is centralised to cater for a number of farmers.
Signs of oestrus:
• Swelling and redness of the vulva
• Mucous discharge from the vulva
• Flagging of the tail (wagging it rhythmically from side to side)
• Nervousness and bleating (esp. goats)
• Mounting and accepting mounting by others
• Frequent urination
• Loss of appetite
• In case of a lactating goat, there may be a drop in milk production.
Oestrus lasts for 12-48 hours and ovulation occurs 24-36 hours after the onset of oestrus. It is
best to bring the male and female together in the last half of oestrus (See the following
illustration)
Fig. 1 Timing guide for dairy goats (Adopted from Rosalee S, 1992)
Contraception
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In controlling breeding, the commonest practice is to keep males away from females during
the time mating is impermissible. Sometimes this may be difficult or there could be worries
for ‘illegal joining’! To ensure that mating outside pre-planned seasons, some contraceptive
measures may be employed. One of such measures is use of leather (or any other material)
aprons around the males belly to prevent it from mating. Sometimes the male’s penis may be
tied with the scrotum using a prepuce.
Important considerations
Flushing
In case of planned breeding, the breeding female may flushed (i.e. provided with extra feeds
such as concentrates, a few weeks before breeding) to increase the number of ovulations. The
animal needs to be gaining weight when bred but should not be fat.
Breeding male (buck or tup)
The breeding male is one-half of the herd. It should be better (genetically and physically) than
the best female! It should also be in excellent health. Using inferior males to produce offsprings
implies an inferior future herd and an unhealthy male implies a gradual death of the herd.
Inter-sex
Never breed two polled (naturally hornless) animals. In goats, and possibly in sheep, the
dominant gene for polled ness is linked to the gene for inter-sex. If both male and female are
polled, mating results in high chances of inter-sexed offsprings (pseudo - hermaphrodite =
genetically females but phenotypically having a mixture of male and female sexual organs with
variable expression of either). Inter-sexes are all infertile.
Artificial insemination
Abbreviated as AI, artificial insemination is a process of collecting viable semen from males and
use it to artificially inseminate the females. Although fresh semen may be used, usually it is
frozen and kept for long periods in liquid nitrogen. AI has the following advantages:
• Reduced cost of breeding since you don’t need to keep large numbers of males
• Semen of high genetic quality can be made available thereby extending the value of superior
sires.
• Minimizes the spread of venereal diseases
• Increases the speed of the genetic progress.
Embryo transfer
Abbreviated as ET, embryo transfer is a method of surgically, introducing a fertilized embryo
from superior parents to a female of poorer genotype. In this way, many ova may be fertilized in
a superior female by a superior male, the fertilized embryos transferred to several recipients
(stand-in or ‘surrogate’ mothers). The embryos then develop in these mothers which eventually
give birth to fully developed fetuses in normal manner. Less skilled personnel or ordinary
farmers can not practice ET
Stimulation and synchronization of estrus
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For purposes of having many females being mated or artificially inseminated at the same time,
estrus may be induced to a group of females. Inserting into vaginas, small sponges that have
been impregnated with a synthetic progesterone hormone, can do this. The sponges are later
removed (16-18 days). The females then show estrus signs 2-3 days after removal of sponges.
Natural induction of estrus can be achieved by introducing a male (buck or tup) into a group of
females that have been kept without sight or smell of males for a long time.
Random mating
This is a system whereby one or more males are left permanently with the females. Mating and
births take place all year round. The system is suited to situations where the animals are not
seasonal breeders.
Advantages:
• High annual conception rates of flocks
• Higher female: male ratios (c.f. controlled natural mating not AI)
• Sales of live animals distributed over the whole year.
Disadvantages:
• Difficult to organize selective breeding
• Possible too short gestation intervals
• Possible too early first mating of females
• May lead to inbreeding if bucks or tups are not rotated timely.
3.5.3 Important breeding coefficients in small ruminants
Breeding coefficients are used mainly to express fertility. Normal fertility is defined as a regular
production of viable offsprings. The capacity of animals to produce many progeny is referred to
as prolificacy. Breeding coefficients of importance in small ruminants are as outlined below.
Goats
In goats the following coefficients are used:
• Services per conception
• Litter size
• Kidding rate or percentage
• Kidding interval
• Service period
• Non-return rate
• Age at puberty
• Age at first kidding
• Regularity of estrus cycle
• Interval between kidding and first estrus
• Percentage of does pregnant at first service
• Average number of kids born per life time
• Magnitude of reproductive problem in the flock
Services per conception
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This is defined as the average number of services required per conception or per birth carried
full term in the flock. The services per conception recorded for goats are 1.1 to 2.3.
Litter size
This is expressed as the number of kids born per doe, per 100 does per year or per litter. This
varies from 1.11 to 2.50. Expressed this way, litter size does not serve as a very good indicator
of fertility since estrus, hence the number of births are determined by both breed and a number
of environmental factors. Things could be improved by expressing litter size per doe per kidding
interval or lifetime. Litter size per birth can be a useful method of expressing fertility particularly
for the tropical breeds, which cycle all the year round.
Kidding rate or percentage
This coefficient relates the number of kids born to the number of does mated. It is calculated in
one of the following ways.
(1) The number of kids born compared to the number of does exposed to bucks. For
example if 100 breeding does were exposed to bucks and 140 kids were born
alive, the kidding percentage is calculated as
(140)/100 x 100 = 140%
This measures flock fertility and is more common. Usually there are bound to be
some females that are dry and have failed to conceive or have aborted after
exposure to males. This can be estimated to be 5%. In the above example the
number of does effectively exposed to bucks becomes 95, hence the kidding
percentage of (140)/95 x 100 = 147.4
(2) The number of kids weaned in relation to the number of does mated. This is
more influenced by management. It is more of a reproductive efficiency
measure.
At weaning, mortality rates for does and kids are estimated at 5% and 10%
respectively. Considering the above example, we get the number of kids as 126
and that of does as 90 in the equation. That is 140 less 14, which is 10% of 140
for kids and 95 less 5, the 5% of 95 does. Then the kidding rate becomes 126/90
x 100 = 150%.
Kidding interval
This is a period between two successive kiddings. The interval is comprised of the service
period (period between kidding and conception) and the gestation period. Gestation period for
tropical goats ranges from 143 to 153 days. The kidding interval ranges from 151 to 484 days,
with the factors being those related to service and gestation period. Breed and management
influence service period. It is important to detect estrus after kidding so that does can be exposed
to bucks at the earliest time to ensure early conception. Indigenous breeds breed all the year
round, twice a year or three times in two years while European breeds are seasonally poly-
estrous and usually breed only once a year. Gestation period can be affected by ambient
temperature and time of the year, breed, goat size, kid sex, litter size and order of birth.
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Service periods
See kidding interval.
Non-return rate
Commonly applied to goats with controlled breeding especially where AI is practiced. Does are
divided into "return to service and non-return to service groups". Thus a doe that requires AI
within a 60-90 day period from service is a return to animal, while a doe that becomes pregnant
during this time is a non-return-to animal. The non-return-to's expressed as a percentage of the
return-to's during the 60-90 day period gives the non-return rate.
Non-return Rate = (Non-return to’s/ Return-to’s) x100.
Age at puberty
The age at which an animal attains its sexual maturity. Normally attained earlier than it can be
suitable for breeding. In some cases age at puberty may be too long, too much delaying first
mating.
Age at first kidding
The earlier a doe starts to kid the longer her production life span will be. Early mating based
only on physiological maturity is undesirable because of the competition for nutrients between
the mother and the foetus for growth. It is desirable to base on both age and weight in deciding
on first service. On the average, tropical breeds of goats first kid between 15 and 26 months of
age. Mating may therefore be at 10 - 20 months of age although under good management the
average of 12 months is usual.
Sheep
Note that the above coefficients for goats may be modified to apply to sheep e.g. kidding
rate/percentage to lambing rate/percentage while others e.g. Non-return rate can be also defined
in ewes.
Breeding efficiency or capacity
This is a number of young born and raised to a marketable or salvageable age, i.e. 3-5 months,
roughly corresponding to weaning age. It is expressed as a percentage of the number of breeding
ewes in the flock during the breeding season or seasons for one year. Some ewes may lamb
more than once in a 12-month period, some will have multiple births and some ewe lambs may
conceive and deliver before reaching the standard flock breeding age thus increasing breeding
efficiency and the lambing rate. The number of ova shed by the ewe during estrus limits the
number of young born. Age and breed influence breeding efficiency.
Another important factor in breeding efficiency is the length of reproductive life. This influences
the number of female replacements that need to be kept. A long reproductive life allows a larger
annual flock off-take. Average productive life in tropical ewes is estimated at 5 years.
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Prolificacy
This is an average litter size, which compares the number of lambs born with that of their
mothers.
Prolificacy = (No. of lambs born alive)/(No. of ewes lambing). Normally expressed as
percentage.
Weaning rate (WR)
This relates the number of lambs that reach weaning age with that of breeding females.
WR = (No. of lambs weaned)/(No. of ewes available for mating). Also expressed as
percentage
Reproductive rate (RR)
This is one of the most important coefficients of the sheep flock. It affects productivity and
economic success of the flock. It is determined by prolificacy and weaning rate.
RR = {prolificacy or average litter size x (1 - mortality rate)}/lambing interval
3.6 Health
Although, some diseases of sheep and goats will be described in details owing to their economic
importance, we shall very much dwell on important day to day disease management practices,
parasite control and overall health principles.
A healthy animal eats well, has a shiny coat, is free from diseases, has strong legs and feet,
chews its cud, is sociable and alert and has bright and clear eyes. Suspicion for illness will
follow the following observations. The animal not eating, standing off from group, showing
signs of dehydration, fever, pale mucosa around eyes and mouth, diarrhea, heavy mucus in nose
and mouth with frequent coughing, not chewing cud, limping or unwilling to stand, runny eyes
or blindness, swellings, rough hair or hair falling out, circling movements, clots or blood in milk
and off flavor milk (lactating animal).
3.6.1 Goat diseases, parasites and other health problems
Most of the diseases that affect goats also affect cattle and sheep but their severity differ among
these species. Some diseases are only found in goats and sheep but not in cattle while others
affect more sheep and cattle than goats. In this section, goat ailments are summarized without
considering whether the problem affects both sheep and goats or not.
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GOAT DISEASES IN THE TROPICS
Disease Cause Symptoms Ways of spread Prevention & control Notes
A: INFECTIOUS
DISEASES
1. Paramixo-viruses
[Peste des petes ruminants (PPR)]
Viruses High fever, oral necrosis,
catarrh, nasal discharge &
diarrhoea can be followed
by secondary pneumonia
Primarily respiratory
through nasal excretion
Vaccination.
Slaughter the victims and
restrict animal
movements.
Secondary bacterial
pneumonia treated by
chemotherapeutic agents
Also called
pseudorinderpest since
clinical symptoms and post-
mortem lesions resemble
those of rinderpest in cattle.
4-5 day incubation
followed by 6-8 day
pyrexia. Attacks kids more
than adults.
2. Contagious
Caprine pleuro-pneumonia
(CCPP)
Mycoplasma
mycoides
Var. capri.
Respiratory problems.
Sometimes difficult to
diagnose on account of
presence of similar
microorganism
Mycoplasma agalactiae.
Droplet infection from
nasal discharges.
- Arsenicals and
antibiotics.
- Vaccination
For confined goats
mortality can be as high as
100%
3. Pneumonia pasteurellosis (PP)
(shipping fever)
Pasteurella haemolytica
and P.multocida (II)
Similar to CCPP Droplet infection Sulphonamides and
antibiotics.
- Vaccines are only of
limited value
- Recovery confers some
immunity.
- Avoid stress in mgt and
handling of the animals
Also occurs in cattle and
sheep. Sporadic. Seem to
be triggered off by some
form of stress.
4. Haemorrhagic septicaemia Pasteurella multocida (I) Spread from carrier
animals by droplet
infection
Sulphonamides and/or
antibiotics.
Several types of vaccines.
Adjuvant vaccine can
It is a disease of all
ruminant domestic
livestock. Animals under
stress appear to be
74

provide immunity for up
to 2 yrs.
Vaccinate 1 to 2 months
before the stress season
(e.g. before rainy season).
especially susceptible.
5. Foot-and-mouth disease Viruses Salivation and foaming at
the mouth.
Formation of vesicles in
the mouth, feet and liver.
Goats soon become lame.
Direct contact or material
contaminated with
discharge lesions.
Slaughter of infected
animals and restriction of
movements in case of
small groups or pockets
of infection.
Lesions may be treated by
antibiotics.
3 - 8 days incubation
6. Coccidiosis Protozoa Foul-smelling diarrhoea
but no blood in faeces.
Rise in temperature.
Loss of appetite
Ingestion of contaminated
material
Segregation. Sulphur
drugs e.g..
Sulphamezathine.
Sanitation - thorough
cleaning and disinfecting.
Occurs sporadically
throughout the tropics -
primarily in intensive units
where adults and kids are
housed together.
7. Anthrax Bacteria
(Bacillus anthracis)
Very high fever or sudden
death
Contaminated food and
water (blood and
excretions)
Wound infection
Primarily by annual
vaccinations
1-3 days incubation period.
Affects all ruminants and
pigs. Can be transmitted to
humans.
8. Brucellosis Brucella
bacteria (B. melitensis)
Contagious abortion may
occur, followed by
quiescent periods
Contaminated food and
water.
Human infected through
raw infectious milk
Vaccination. Good herd
hygiene
Not very common in goats.
Can be transmitted to
humans (Malta fever or
undulant fever).
Aborted animals will not
breed.
9. Contagious ecthyma Viruses? Sores in and around the
lip
Through contact between
animals
Vaccination treated
continuously with gentian
violet.
Common in goats
throughout the tropics,
particularly in the humid
zones. Usually not fatal or
serious.
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10. Meliodosis Not usually apparent Contact Positive testing animals
should be isolated and
slaughtered. Restrict
animal movements and
contacts
Only important in some
tropical countries.
Communicable to man and
can be fatal.
11. Mastitis Several pathogenic
bacteria.
Staphylococcus and
Streptococcus agalactiae
common
Swollen udders impaired
milk producion.
Wound infection. Teats
contact to infected stuff.
Cleanliness and good
hygiene. Regular teat
infusion with
streptomycin, aureomycin
or terramycin creams.
Common in lactating goats.
Predisposing causes include
bad hygiene and poor
milking mgt. Both acute
and chronic forms may be
encountered.
B: NON-INFECTIOUS
DISEASES
In general, non-infectious disorders are not a serious problem with goats in the tropics. Some examples include hypomagnecaemia,
hypocalcaemia, pregnancy toxaemia, acidosis, metritis, chronic indigestion, lameness and joint conditions
1. Metabolic disorders These are the most
important non-infectious
problems
a) Enterotaxaemia Clostridium
Welchii (perfringens)
- Immunisation of animals
with Clostridium
perfringens type O
toxoid.
It is very rapid - Animals
that are normal in the
morning may be dead
before night.
b) Bloat and acute indigestion Digestive tract disorders - Avoid rapid introduction
of grain feeds and large
quantities of legumes
Bloat result from inability
of animals to eructate
during periods of rapid gas
formation. Inability to
eructate can result from
mechanical causes such as
blockage of the oesophagus
by pieces of food materials.
c) Ketosis (Pregnancy toxaemia) - Adequate nutrition during
the last 3-4 weeks of
pregnancy is essential.
It is often a problem with
high producing does that
have been carrying multiple
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Glycerol (glycerine) or
propylene glycol
drenches. Intravenous
glucose, oral glycerol and
intramuscular insulin.
foetuses.
d. Milk fever Low blood levels of
minerals especially
calcium.
Loss of appetite.
Restlessness Excitement
& muscle trembling.
Later symptoms are
incoordination & comma. -
Intravenous injection of a
mixture of minerals and
glucose
May appear soon after
kidding.
2. Lameness and joint infections Lame Early treatment with
penicillin’s. In case of
arthritis, treat with
salicylates
Tropical goats occasionally
suffer from lameness and
infection of the joints, e.g.
arthritis.
3. Foot rot Many organisms
Trisiformis nodusus
important
Difficulty walking.
In extreme cases, the
animal completely fails to
move.
Continuous grazing on
wet soils and areas of
stagnant water.
Hoof trimming (Regular)
Use of footbaths (10%
formalin or 30% copper II
sulphate solution).
Infected animals should
be isolated and treated by
thorough washing, cutting
off infected tissues and
applying 10% formalin or
5% chloramycetin in
gentian violet.
Not a fatal disease but
causes serious economic
management problem in
wet areas.
Mineral and vitamin deficiencies:
- Influence production and disease resistance hence resulting in
secondary infections e.g. of PPR or CCPP (A 1-2 above).
Poisonous plants:
These are usually of no significance, especially under an extensive
- Mineral deficiencies can be corrected by injections, oral
supplementation or by correcting the imbalance in the soils.
2. External parasites
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system of management, since goats are usually selective of what they
relish and will usually avoid these toxic plants.
If goats are confined or stall-fed, poisonous plants such as bracken fern,
rhododendrons and bitter varieties of cassava may result in death of the
goats.
Other poisonous plants include Solanum incanum (Ndulele), Ricinus
communis, Datura stramonium etc.
PARASITES
1. Internal parasites
a) Helminths: Nematodes – Haemonchus contortus,
Trichostrongylus colubriformis, Trichuris ovis, Trichuris
Not generally important in goats. Fleas and lice occasionally infest
goats. Ticks also attack extensively reared goats. Outbreaks of
sarcoptic mange occur from time to time.
Prevention and control: Some form of spraying or dusting is usually
done.
General Management aspects
1. Always acquire goats from reliable sources where no disease
incidences have been known to occur.
2. Pay attention to factors that minimize stress, by good housing,
handling and feeding.
3. Aim for disease and parasite prevention. Plan control
programmes.
4. Keep records of all events of the flock e.g. Dates of kidding,
number of kids per doe, deaths and their causes etc.
5. In case of any problem persistence contact the vet. *
*A vet in case of disease problems.
A nutritionist in case of nutritional challenges. etc.
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3.6.2 Sheep diseases, parasites and other health problems
3.6.2.1 Diseases
Disease Causative agent Symptoms Ways of spread Prevention &
control
Remarks
Anaplasmosis Bacterial –
Anaplasmosis spp
Anaemia, poor productivity Ticks and biting flies Fight ticks and
flies. Broad
spectrum
antibiotics
Mild in sheep
Anthrax Bacterial –
Bacillus anthracis
Acute fever, sudden death, bloody
discharge from body openings
after death
Contagious – soil,
pasture, water etc.
Vaccination Affects all ruminants and
man.
Blackquarter Bacterial-
Clostridium
chauvoei
Swelling of infested area. High
fever, cessation of rumination and
depression.
Through body wounds Vaccination Also known as blackleg.
Blue-tongue Viral Fever, depression, annorexia,
inflammation of mucous
membranes, swollen bluish
tongue.
Biting insects Vaccination Also known as catarrhal fever.
Widespread in humid Africa
& Middle East. Also in cattle
Brucellosis Bacterial-
Brucella
melitensis
Lameness and mastitis. Abortions
followed by uterine infection
Via milk Vaccination Can be transmitted to man
causing malta or undulant
fever.
Caseous
lymphadinites
Bacterial –
Corynebacterium
pseudotuberculosi
s, C. ovis
Swollen lymph nodes. Pus in
nodes and other affected organs
e.g. lungs and liver.
Contaminated feed,
dust. Also via open
wounds
Sanitation,
vaccination
The vaccine recently
developed. One of major
causes of meat condemnations
at abattoirs
Caseous lymph-
Brucellosis
Bacterial-
Brucella
melitensis
Abortion and uterus infections Via milk Good hygiene
and vaccination
Enterotoxa-emia Bacterial – Rapid death Vaccinations Affect digestive tract – pulpy

Clostridium
perfrigens
kidney, struck and lamb
dysentry.
Epididymitis Bacterial-
Brucella ovis
Swellings in the scrotum Vaccination in
ram lambs
Causes infertility in rams
Foot-and-mouth
(FMD)
Viral Fever, lesions on the mouth and
feet, annorexia, abortion and
sometimes death
Contact with sick
animal, eat/drink
contaminated feed/water
Vaccination Not a big problem in
indigenous sheep
Foot rot Bacterial –
Bacteroides
nodosus,
Spirochaeta
pernotha
Lameness, distinct smell of
hooves
Contaminated wet
environment
Hoof trimming,
antibiotic
treatment. Foot
bath with
formalin,
zinc/copper
sulpahate
Common where sheep are
kept on wet environment –
muddy grounds.
Heart water Rikettsia bacteria
– Cowdria
ruminantium
Fever, diarrhoea, difficult
breathing, walking in circles,
convulsions and finally death
Ticks Antibiotics (in
early stages)
Widespread in Africa and
central Asia. Characterised by
water within the pericardium
Joint-ill Bacterial Swollen leg joints Through navel or
wound
Antiseptic navel
treatment at birth
Also known as navel-ill, is a
disease of young lambs
Mastitis Bacterial –
Staphylococcus,
Pasteurella,
Streptococcus
Swollen tender udder. Fever and
annorexia in acute cases. –Thick
yellowish milk secretion
Bruises on teats/udder
-Unsanitary conditions
Antibiotics A condition found in lactating
ewes
Orf (Contagious
ecthyma)
Viral Scabby lesions on mouth and legs
of lambs and on udders of ewes
Vaccinations
Photosensitizatio
n (Light
sensitization)
Some plant and
mould substances
Reddening and swelling of the
un-pigmented skin of the muzzle
or under skin cover
Stop sheep from
eating causal
plant/mould
Occurs when the sheep has
eaten a particular plant e.g.
Lantana camara, Tribulus
terrestris, Fagopyrum
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esculentum
Pneumonia
(Inflammation of
the lungs)
Bacterial/viral/pro
-tozoal
Difficult breathing Vaccination Enzootic pneumonia
(Pasteurellosis) caused by
Pasteurella haemolytica attack
when resistance is weakened
by stress
Peste des petits
ruminants, kata
Viral Fever, nasal discharge, diarrhoea Vaccination Only in sheep and goats –
Similar to rinderpest in cattle.
Serious in West Africa.
Pregnancy
toxaemia (twin
lamb disease,
ketosis)
Annorexia, abortion, death Prevented by
optimum feeding
in late pregnancy
Occurs in late pregnancy due
to insufficient feeding
Sheep pox Viral Fever, discharge from nose and
eyes. Irritating blisters on mouth,
nose, udder and between hind
legs
Contact Vaccination Only serious in exotic breeds.
Found in Africa, north of
equator and tropical Asia.
Streptothricosis
(dermatophilus)
Bacterial Skin lesions – mostly along the
spine
The lesions can result in
lumpy wool disease or
blowfly attack, seriously
affecting the skin value.
Serious in West Africa.
Tetanus (lockjaw) Bacterial –
Clostridium tetani
Immobilization of the jaw.
Stretching of the legs
Wounds Vaccination,
hygiene
management
Affect most animals including
man. The bacterium infects
wound and produces a toxin
which affects muscles.
3.6.2.2 Parasites
3.6.2.2.1 Internal parasites
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Name of parasite Symptoms and main effects Control measures Notes
1. Helminths
• Round worms e.g.
Haemonchus contortus
Poor productivity and mortality Antihelmintics Roundworms that are a serious
problem in sheep do not affect
cattle.
• Lung worms e.g. Dictyocaulus
filaria
Distinctive cough Antihelmintics These are roundworms that live in
lungs
• Liver flukes e.g. Fasciola
gigantica
Mortality, poor body condition and
low productivity in chronic cases.
Drainage to avoid snail
multiplication. Antihelmintics
A problem in wetter parts of the
tropics
• Schistomes Blood stained faeces or urine.
Affects the GIT and urinary tract
Drainage
- Antihelmintics
These are flukes, which cause
bilharzia in many animals incl.
man.
• Tapeworms Nervous diseases known as
coenurosis, sturdy or gid.
Avoid dogs eating sheep carcasses The bladderworms, cysticercus
ovis, (the larval stage) live in
muscles, liver, lungs, brain etc
interfering with functioning of the
affected part.
2. Coccidia Together with other internal
parasites cause diarrhoea in lambs
– coccidiosis.
Sulpha drugs, antibiotics.
- Lambs should not be allowed to
eat food contaminated with dung
Coccidia are protozoa which live in
intestines.
3. Trypanosomes Trypanosomisis – No specific
clinical symptoms. The animal
may drop blood stained faeces.
Blood may run from the nose and
may shed hair.
Tse-tse control.
Typanocidal drugs
Also protozoa. Trypanosomiasis in
man is called sleeping sickness
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3.6.2.2.2 External parasites
1. Ticks Irritation and loss of blood. Disease
transmission
Insecticides
- Acaricides
Routine dipping or spraying of all
grazing livestock keeps down the
burden
2. Lice Irritation and loss of blood Insecticide dust, dipping or
spraying
Sheep with lice will be seen
rubbing themselves against solid
objects
3. Mites A condition known as mange
- Affects the skin
- Insecticide dust
- Ivermectin treatment
- Dipping or spraying
4. Flies Bites the skin, feed on mucous
membranes and wounds. Some
transmit diseases. Some lay eggs
which develop into larvae which in
turn feed on sheep causing much
damage
Variable control measures
depending on species
Blowflies lay their eggs in wounds,
nasal flies lay their eggs in the nose
and ocular flies lay their eggs in the
eyes.
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3.6.2.3 Other health problems
Bloat
This is a problem said to occur when the sheep’s rumen fills with gas or
frothy material. The rumen expands, breathing becomes difficult, and the
sheep may die. It often occurs when the sheep has eaten large quantities
of unfamiliar high-energy food. Once the animal gets bloat treatment
may either be to drench it with vegetable oil or in extreme cases may be
stabbed on the left-hand side behind the ribs using a sharp knife or trocar
and cannula. This is to reduce the pressure from the rumen.
Mineral deficiencies
Grazing sheep seldom suffer mineral deficiencies. It is only when
intensive systems of sheep production are used when mineral
deficiencies become a problem.
Chronic symptoms of mineral deficiencies include the following:
• Low growth rate
• Poor fertility
• Low appetite
• Loss of hair
• Diarrhoea
However, these symptoms are caused by other problems such as
inadequate energy intake, low protein intake, parasites and diseases. The
only way to ascertain that the symptom is mineral deficiency related is to
analyze the animal’s blood.
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3.7 Other management operations in small ruminants
This section covers operations like, identification, castration, dehorning, glooming, hoof
trimming, docking, record keeping etc.
Identification
For proper record keeping, each animal need to be identified or marked. Once identified,
animals can be distinguished from one another even by somebody foreign in the flock. Note
that in case of small numbers of animals in the farm, identification may only be by colours,
horn size and shape, age etc. In large flocks of animals identification by such means is
impossible. It is necessary in such cases to use formal identification methods. Identification
marks or numbers are normally put on ears. Different methods may be employed for the
purpose:
(a) Tattooing: The tattoo marks are pierced on the inner side of one of the ears and
rubbed with Indian ink. The imprints last for a long time. The problem is that
the mark cannot be read without restraining the animal.
(b) Ear tagging: Ear tags can be clipped on the ears of kids soon after birth. The tags
may be made of metal or plastic. They are normally marked with serial numbers
but sometimes the name of the farm may also be included in abbreviated form.
The disadvantage of this method is that the tags sometimes fall off especially for
grazing animals. It is advised that animals be checked all the time to have the
tags replaced before too many animals lose their tags as it may be difficult to
distinguish which is which animal.
(c) Painting: This is marking the animal by smearing paint or ink on the side or
along the back line. It is not a permanent identification and it is possible to
damage the skin. Only useful where temporary identification is required e.g. in
short term experiments where animals of different treatments have to mix at
some times. Paint makes easy separation of animals as different colours can be
easily distinguished without having to catch the animal.
(d) String or cord: With a tag, the string can be placed round the neck of the animal.
Also used where temporary identification is sufficient as the tags fall off easily,
particularly when weak strings are used.
(e) Ear notching: This involves cutting v-shaped notches out of the side of the ear in
a sequence so that the notches can be decoded into a given number. The position
of the notch indicates a number e.g. 1 on the top of the ear, 3 on the bottom and
5 at the tip in sheep. The left side ear is used for units and right one used for the
tens. Hundreds can be denoted by a hole in one of ears. For example, if a sheep
has 92 as its identification number it will have 2 notches at the top of its left ear,
and on its right side ear it will have one notch on the top, one at the bottom and
one at the tip. If the sheep’s ID number is 24 it will have 2 notches on the top of
its right side ear, and its left side ear it will have a notch on the top and another
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on the bottom. The method is not suitable for flocks of large numbers of animals.
Castration
This is a removal of the sex glands of a male animal leaving it infertile. It is a destruction of
the reproductive ability of a male animal.
It is recommended that all dairy kids in goats, except those selected for breeding be castrated
so that they do not become a nuisance in future. If un-castrated, these kids can
indiscriminately mount the dairy kids. Apart from controlling breeding by castration,
castrated animals produce meat of slightly higher carcass quality than un-castrated ones.
Castration is said to eliminate odours in the meat. However, under same management
conditions, un-castrated males grow faster and have a greater efficiency of food conversion
than castrated males. If done within the first month of life, castration does not result in
growth setback. Castration also makes rams/bucks calmer (quieter) and easy to handle.
Methods of castration
(a) Open method - This is done by making two incisions in the bottom of the scrotum,
drawing out the testicles and glandular appendages. Instead of pulling out testicles, the ball-
shaped protrusions at end of each testicle may be cut off. This is known as vasectomy.
Disinfectants should be used to seal the wound in either case.
Advantages: It is a 100% certain of success, i.e. no chances of failure.
Disadvantages: Can result in infection - hence care is needed. - Excessive bleeding
may be
caused by improper operation leading to problems e.g. death.
(b) Mechanical method e.g. use of burdizzo.
In this method, the spermatic cords are crushed rendering the testis atrophy.
Advantages: Lower risks of infection. No risk of bleeding
Disadvantages: There are chances of failure (if the cords ate not properly
crushed)
(c) Elastrator method
This involves the use of a rubber ring, which is placed over the scrotum of the young male
animal. The pressure of the rubber ring in association with growth of the kid or lamb
restricts the blood supply, eventually causing the testicles to wither away.
Advantages: As burdizzo method
Disadvantages: High chances of failure.
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De-horning
Also called disbudding when done early in the animal’s life.
Chief reasons for de-horning include:
1) Reduction of space requirement
- Floor space in general
- Feeding/drinking space
2) Minimising injury
3) Easy handling - quieter and less dangerous animals
Disadvantages
1) Setback in growth if not done early
2) Increased labour and equipment requirement
3) Chances of death from excessive bleeding if not properly done
4) In case of unclean conditions, diseases may be transmitted from one animal to another.
Disbudding is best done 4-10 days after birth. The earlier it is done the quicker the animal
recovers.
Methods of de-horning
1) Chemical method
-Caustic soda (NaOH) sticks
-Potash (KOH) or de-horning powders
The chemical may be applied on horn buttons of a young calf. If using a sharp knife, horns
can be cut and then the chemical applied to the cut end.
Disadvantages:
(a) There is always a danger of using too much caustic soda, which may
result in excessive burning.
(b) The draining chemical may damage eyes. Smear of vaseline can prevent this.
Smear of vaseline can prevent this.
2) Mechanical methods
- SAWS AND CLIPPERS - used frequently in range areas. Saws mainly used to trim off
already grown horns.
- HOT IRON
• Specifically designed hot iron used in burning off the horn buttons (buds). This
is the most frequently used method.
• May use an electric cauterizer
• It is a bloodless method
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Limitations: Can not be used on kids of >3 months of age.
Grooming
By definition to groom is to clean and care for an animal. To make the animals neat,
attractive or acceptable - Polish. Live animals are usually groomed for shows. In countries
where agricultural shows are run on competitive basis, fitting and grooming the animals for
the show may be important in determining the winner.
Factors considered are:
1. The animals' production records e.g. milk yield, number of lactations, number of progeny
and/or their performance.
2. The animals' physical fitness: shape, e.g. beef characteristics, dairy characteristics.
3. The animals' physical appearance: i.e. cleanliness, attractiveness etc.
The last aspect may determine the winner when competition on other productive aspects is
close. Grooming of show animals e.g. cattle will involve the following:
a) Washing the animals' skins with soap regularly to keep the skins shiny and free from
dirty.
b) Brushing the animals daily. This is done to remove dead hair that is being shed and
will stimulate the skin to produce a coat that fairly shines from good health.
c) Proper feeding of the animal: This will ensure that the animal looks healthy and well
nourished. Animals may be given special rations to make sure that they will be in
optimum conditions for the show.
Other activities done in grooming are:
i) Foot trimming: This is done to remove dead hoof tissue - when feet become too long they
crack or break off and may cause the animal to be lame. A cow or bull with uncared for,
unbalanced hocks will not walk evenly. Proper trimming will help greatly in straightening
the hind legs.
ii) Clipping: This is done to remove excess hair where it is not required. Clipping off excess
hair will give a neater, more attractive, refined appearance.
Areas that may need clipping are
- The top line
- The tail
- The udder and underline
- The neck
Hoof trimming
Goats and sheep frequently suffer from overgrown feet, a condition, which causes much
unnecessary discomfort and even deformity and arthritis in old age. These conditions can be
prevented by trimming the hooves as they become overgrown. Trimming can be done by
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using special hoof trimming knives or scissors. If the animals constantly walk long distances
over hard rough surfaces the hooves tend to wear out and trimming becomes unnecessary.
Docking
This is removal of tail of long-tailed or fat-tailed lambs. Fat tailed breeds of sheep store fat
in the tail rather than in the carcass. Docking in these increases growth rates and the amount
of fat in the carcass. Docked ewes mate with more ease than undocked ones. Rubber rings
such as those used in bloodless castration can be used to facilitate docking. It can also be
achieved by using sharp knives followed by rubbing the wound with antiseptic.
Record keeping
Record keeping in goat and sheep flocks is important for a number of reasons. Some reasons
for keeping records:
(a) It is possible to tell whether the enterprise is operating profitably or not (financial
records). Necessary decisions may thus be made in case the farm is noted to be
operating at a loss.
(b) The animals’ health can be monitored in order to treat at the right time with the right
treatment.
(c) Individual performance can be followed for purposes of selection, culling or preferential
treatments e.g. feeding according to production potential.
(d) Breeding methods for improvement as well as breeding control in a flock are made
possible.
(e) Various coefficients such as mortality rate, breeding efficiency etc. can be computed
based on records and necessary measures undertaken in case of undesirable levels.
(f) With proper record keeping it is possible to be prepared for some important events e.g.
knowing when kidding or lambing is expected so that necessary preparations may be
done timely.
(g) It is also possible to follow some specified patterns of management e.g. changing the
amount of feed with stage of pregnancy etc.
Some records are necessary for every farm while others are optional depending on the
farmer’s objectives. In any case, records should only be kept if they are to be used at some
stage. They shouldn’t be kept such for the sake of it. Records are either individual
(individual records, kept for each animal) flock or both.
General important types of records include:
1. Breeding records: Each animal needs to be known in terms of its parentage, pedigree
and breed. These are recorded at its birth. In case of a male, decision is made by the
farmer whether to keep it for breeding or castrate for raising as meat animal (be it dairy
or meat type). If it is a hair or wool type, castration does not prevent it from producing
those products. Once kept for breeding, other records of a male animal will include all
its breeding events throughout its breeding life. In case of a females most are used for
breeding unless if an animal is found unfit for it. In additional to breeding information
obtained at birth, records for a breeding female include, mating dates, breeds and
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identification of mating males, expected dates of birth, actual dates of birth,
identification of offspring, litter sizes etc.
2. Health records: For individual animals, record are kept on all disease incidences,
treatments, regular control measures such as date of drenching against worms, type of
drug and dosages used etc. Flock health records covers things like disease outbreaks,
number of animals affected, measures taken etc. Deaths and post-mortem findings are
also included in health records.
3. Financial records: These show expenditure and income of the farm. They are used as
meter of the farm’s performance, i.e. whether it is economical to keep the farm and
what should be done if not.
Other records include:
(1) Milk yield records,
(2) Body weight measurements at certain intervals for growth assessments,
(3) Feeding records,
(4) Animal movement records, etc.
Examples of goat and sheep farm records
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A: DAIRY GOAT RECORD CARD/SHEET
Name of the farm…………………………………………………….
Name of goat………………………………..Reg. No………………..Date of
birth……………
Breed……………………ID No……………………Born at this farm/Bought
from……………
Sire’s ID No…………………………Sire’s breed…………………….Dam’s
breed…………..
Kiddings
Date mated Date due Date kidded Litter size Breeding Sire ID No. Comments
Health
Date Condition Treatment Date Condition Treatment
B: BUCK RECORD SHEET
Name of the farm……………………………………………………
Name of buck……………………………….Reg. No……………….Date of
birth………………
Breed………………………………ID No…………………..Born at this farm/Bought
from…….
Sire ID No………………………………Sire breed……………………………………….
Dam ID No ………………………………Dam breed…………………………………….
Breedings
Date Doe (s) Date (s) Doe (s)
Health
Date Condition Treatment Date Condition Treatment
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C: INDIVIDUAL DAILY MILK RECORD
Name of goat…………………………. ……….. Year………………………………….
Goat ID No…………………………………….
Date January February Year’s Total
am pm am pm am pm
1st
am + pm
2nd
|
|
Totals
D: DAILY HERD MILK YIELD RECORD (cf. Byre sheets)
Goat’s Name
and/or ID No
Mon 22
Sep
Tue 23
Sep
Friday 26 Sep Total
am pm am pm am pm am pm
Total
E: INDIVIDUAL EWE RECORD SHEET
Ewe’s ID No………………………………. Remarks…………………………….
Date of birth……………………. Litter size at birth……………Disposal
date……………….
Pedigree
Grand sire……………………………….
Sire……………………………..
Grand dam………………………………
Grand sire……………………………….
Dam……………………………
Grand dam………………………………
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Lamb production record
Lambing
date
Lamb
No
Litte
r size
Sex Sire
No
Birth
wt
Weaning
wt
Wt
gain
Weaning
age
Daily
wt
gain
Disposal
date
F: FINANCIAL RECORDS
Date
CREDIT DEBIT
Remarks
Particulars Amount Particulars Amount
Total income: Total Expenditure:
Balance:
Culling
This is a removal of an animal from the breeding flock either due to its being old,
unproductive, deformed or its lack of desirable breed characteristics. Main reasons for
discarding unwanted goats or sheep are old age, disease or being poor in reproduction. In
breeding programmes such as selection, animals are culled in order to improve the level of
production in the flock.
Goats: The principal reasons for culling goats are:
1. Poor teeth – not being able to eat properly
2. Poor udders – not being able to rear the kids adequately
3. Diseased or injured goats
4. Poor fertility or non-breeders
5. Excess animals e.g. too many males or de-stocking in case of limiting resources
6. Old age
7. Animals with breeding faults e.g. hermaphrodites
Sheep: Ewes’ main reasons for culling in commercial flocks include
1. The ewe is barren (not able to reproduce)
2. Loss of teeth, which leads to poor feed intake, hence poor performance
3. Udder problems e.g. due to chronic mastitis
4. Other physical defects
5. Chronic illness resulting into constant poor body condition
6. Old age. Normally 4-5 lambings are considered best, after which culling may be effected
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Note that culling should be done at the time when there is good market for the culls. If the
animals are culled due to illness, it might be considered appropriate to destroy them rather
than looking for a market for them.
Management of does/ewes from pregnancy to kidding/lambing
Pregnancy diagnosis
If a mated goat or sheep does not show signs of estrus within two to three weeks, it is most
likely that it is pregnant. Mating can be observed in case of confined animals or, especially
in large unconfined flocks, it can be detected by using some markers. The marker is placed
beneath the chest of a breeding male so that all mated females can have their backs marked.
Once mating is has been observed or detected, the date should be noted so that the expected
date of kidding/lambing can be always be recalled. Goats’ gestation period is 145 days
(range = 140 – 140 days) similar to sheep (150 days, range = 147 – 153 days)
Pregnancy can be confirmed by the following diagnostic ways:
(1) Palpation – In late pregnancy, the abdomen of the doe/ewe expands. It is possible to
feel the feet of the kid/lamb by gently pressing the doe’s/ewe’s side. The method does
not enable one to detect whether the animal is carrying single or twin fetuses.
(2) Ultrasound machines – The number of fetuses and their stage of growth can be
checked using ultrasonic scanners. These are devices which were originally developed
for use in human medicine but modified for use in animal science. They work by
bouncing sound waves from a pad placed on the side of the abdomen. As the sound
comes back to the pad, it is translated into a TV picture which shows a section across the
uterus where fetuses can be identified.
(3) Analysis of progesterone – The level of progesterone hormone is analyzed in the blood
or milk. In non-pregnant females, the progesterone levels vary between low and high
depending on the stage of estrus cycle. The level is always high in pregnant females.
Thus by taking samples of blood or milk at various intervals, it can be detected whether
the animal is pregnant or not.
False pregnancy
Some goats may show all signs of pregnancy while they are actually not pregnant. Such
goats only produce large quantities of fluid at the time of kidding. The phenomenon is
known as “false or phantom pregnancy”. In case this happens more than two consecutive
times it is advisable to cull the animal.
Kidding and lambing
With good record keeping under controlled breeding, the date of kidding or lambing is
always known in advance with plus or minus a few days. This knowledge is useful in
enabling one to prepare for good kidding /lambing environment as well as providing help or
assistance to the dam and its offspring(s) at the time of kidding or lambing.
Signs of kidding in goats may include the following:
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Within 14 days pre-kidding:
a) The udder and teats swell as they are gradually filled by milk (colostrum0
b) The vulva becomes slack (flabby)
Just before kidding (within about 2 hours of kidding)
a) The doe isolates itself from the herd looking for a suitable place for kidding.
b) Becomes restless and uneasy
c) Paws and scrapes (rubs) the ground
d) Keeps on sitting and standing
e) Stretches and strains with her neck skywards
f) The water bag appears or may be ruptured by this time, indicated by oozing fluid from
the vagina.
g) The doe licks the fluid , wanders about but returns to the selected spot (if not in special
kidding pen)
Within 30 – 45 minutes pre-kidding
a) As the water bag ruptures the doe starts straining 1 –2 hours of rupture) to push out the
kid
b) The doe will normally lay down to start kidding
c) Once the kid is ejected out, the doe will lick off the membrane covering the kid, the
action which uncovers the mouth and nose, stimulating breathing.
Caring at kidding or lambing:
• Prepare the kidding or lambing pen 2 weeks before kidding/lambing. The pen should be
cleaned, dried, checked for ventilation and bedded.
• Prepare a bottle of iodine and a soft towel for use at birth time
• A few days before birth, put the expecting dam in the prepared pen, provide it with hay,
concentrate and water. Note that the water bucket should not be left in the kidding pen
as the doe may drop the kid in the water to drawn! It is better to bring the water to the
expecting doe several times a day.
• Once the last signs of kidding have been observed it is advisable to stay with the doe.
• At birth,
1. Try to let the cord break naturally so that all the blood in it flows into the kid.
Help breaking the sac it is not broken.
2. Dip the cord in a 7% iodine solution to prevent deadly germs from moving up
inside the kid’s body. – Cover the navel with a small container containing
iodine, turn the opening against the kid’s body and hold for one minute.
3. Clean the mucous membrane (in case the mother does not lick it effectively) out
of nose, throat and mouth. – A straw up the nose provokes sneezing which helps
clear the airways.
4. If the kid appears lifeless, swing it by its hind legs fast and hard. Give it short
hits with your fingers in the middle of the heart. Try artificial respiration.
5. Give the kid colostrum within 15 minutes after birth and continue for at least 24
hours at intervals of four hours (See 3.3.1.1).
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Prolapse
Due to stress, over-fatness, large kids or large litters, the doe’s vagina may be inverted and
pushed out of the body some days before kidding. If only a part of vagina prolapses, it
should be carefully pushed back after washing off dirt with clean water. This is done with
the doe lying on her back with legs held upwards. A qualified vet may be consulted for help
if available within walking distance.
Sometimes, after difficult delivery, the doe’s uterus may also prolapse. This is known as
prolapse of the uterus. There also exist prolapse of the rectum. In either of these prolapses, if
the situation doesn’t get successfully arrested, it is advised to slaughter the animal.
Dystocia
Dystocia is a general term used to describe any difficulties of lambing or kidding. Difficult
kidding may be a result of:
i) the kid(s) not being in normal position (malpresentation),
ii) the doe being too young to reproduce, having a small pelvis,
iii) the kid being very large due to the doe’s breed being smaller than that of the sire or due
to over-feeding in late pregnancy,
iv) the kid dying before birth etc.
Kidding does or lambing ewes need to be assisted in case they are seen to have been
straining heavily for over 45 minutes or so. They should also be assisted in case of
malpresentated kids/lambs. Two people may be necessary such that one holds the animal
while the other does the assistance on delivery. With a clean nail-trimmed lubricated hand,
investigate the inside of the birth canal. In case of small cervix and uterus a child or woman
with a small hand may be needed to assist a difficult delivery. If the investigation detects a
very large kid that can not pass through the cervix, a qualified vet must be called or the
animal taken to him for a caesarian operation. In case of malpresentation, care should be
taken to help position the kid/lamb help pulling it out. When pulling a kid out, pressure
should be applied as the doe strains. When pushing a leg or head back into the vagina for
right positioning it must be between strains.
Kidding positions – malpresentations:
1. Normal position of single kid at birth – Here the kid has its forelegs forward with the
nose diving between them (Fig.2 a). The kid should be right side up, face down. If the
kid is found in this position on examination the doe should be left for half an hour or so,
and if there is no progress the kid should be drawn out. This has to be done firmly but
gently by pulling both legs at the same while ensuring that the head follows. Always
check for possible multiple births.
2. One leg back – Head and one foreleg presented (Fig. 2 b): In this case the leg which is
not straight must be hooked forward using the index finger behind the knee and cupping
the hoof in the palm of the hand while working it towards the front. The presented leg
and head may need to be slightly pushed back in order to reach the leg left back. Once
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the lagging leg is positioned, a few minutes may be allowed for the animal’s own
delivery but if no progress seem to be in place, gentle pulling should follow.
3. Head only presented: In this case both forelegs are held behind with the head forward
(Fig 2 c). The legs must be drawn forward one at a time. Similar to one leg back
malpresentation, the head may have to be pushed back each time the leg is reached for
forward drawing.
4. Forelegs only: The head is held backwards while the forelegs are in normal position
(Fig. 2 d). In case two legs are noted on examination, check if the two are both from the
same kid, are both forelegs or rear legs. Tracing both legs back to the kid’s body can do
this. If found to belong to different kids, push back into the uterus, any leg belonging to
another kid and treat each kid separately. The process should involve pushing back the
legs, pulling the head into position and repositioning the legs for easy delivery.
5. Hind legs first: Known as breech birth, two hind legs are presented (Fig. 2 e). The kid
comes out backwards. In this case delivery should be completed as soon as possible so
that the head gets access to the air as quickly as possible. It should be checked that the
two legs belong to the same kid. Tracing the legs back to the kid’s body, a tail will be
felt between the legs to confirm that they belong to the same kid.
Note that the above mentioned malpresentations occur both in single births as well as in
multiple births (See Figure 3). Where two or more births are mixed up inside the uterus push
them back and handle each at a time starting with the one most close to the vulva and facing
forward.
(ASSIGN STUDENTS TO SURF ON INTERNET FOR THE BELOW PICTURES)
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Fig. 2 Birth presentations
(a) (b)
Fig. 3 Normal (a) and malpresentation (b) of twins
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