Sheep Goat 1

PART- I SHEEP AND GOAT PRODUCTION

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SHEEP AND GOAT PRODUCTION

Bakht Baidar Khan Arshad Iqbal

Muhammad Iqbal Mustafa

Department of Livestock Management University of Agriculture Faisalabad

2003


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FOREWORD The past more than half a century is a witness to the fact that except a few, no serious attempts have been made to write books even on a few of the so many wide open aspects of the field of animal sciences. Among other factors that keep the animal science sector lagging behind, utter lack of relevant books of local origin is probably the most important. The dearth of documented information concerning various species of our farm animals adversely affects the learning potential of our students, who have been reported to complain about the non-availability of professional books written in Pakistan. I personally feel that as animal scientists we cannot exonerate ourselves of this responsibility. Of course, not all of us would have the aptitude to write books. However, those who opt to take up this tiresome and time-consuming job, their efforts must be appreciated. We must not forget that beginnings are always small. It is really encouraging to learn that sheep and goats being the victims of a long neglect, have attracted the attention of experienced animal scientists and teachers of long standing to write a book on them. A look into the contents of the book ‘Sheep and Goat Production’, makes me believe that it would adequately serve the purpose for which it has been produced. Its made-easy format would be rather more helpful to the students, field workers and progressive farmers. A collection of over 650 questions along with their answers should more than suffice to cover the discussion on important topics in relation to sheep and goat production.

Sajjad Zaheer Malik Director General (Ext.)

L & DD Dept., Punjab

PREFACE Innumerable publications on sheep and goat farming/production are there in the world market. More than 98% of them are of foreign origin and are thus either not available here or their prices are beyond the means of a common man. The book under discussion has not been produced to burden the market with another such publication rather it has been brought out employing a novice format to meet the requirements of beginners who venture to plan a small ruminant enterprise, but are found confronted with a series of questions. Answers to many of such questions are already embodied in this ‘easy to read and understand’ book. In addition, feasibilities in respect of keeping sheep and goats (pertaining to one breed of each spp.) have been outlined herein to facilitate the solution of their input: output dilemma. Another section of society most pertinent to books is professional students community. It often happens that even at the end of an academic session/semester, many students in a class, would not know what type of questions, relevant to a course, may be asked in the Exam. This book, for sure, would create an awareness in them as to the type of Exam. questions and as to the manner of answering them. Among other features of the book are: the discussion on behaviour and welfare of small ruminants and clues on the application of biotechnology in animals. A comprehensive review on terminology related to various aspects of small ruminants is also a part of this book. Most of the answers to the questions included in this book have been picked up as such from various sources of literature listed under references at the end. We feel highly obliged in sharing the fruit of hardwork of those so many authors/editors. Under the circumstances it does not seem possible for us to individually convey to them our grateful thanks, but indeed we remain indebted to all of them. No book will ever be complete and this one is no exception since knowledge about sheep and goats is increasing so rapidly that no book can be an absolute ultimate. We feel no hesitation to mention here that at places details of a few most sophisticated techniques used abroad in small ruminant production have been intentionally avoided simply because farmers/producers here have yet to go a long way to enable themselves to take full advantage of such costly tools and techniques. We would like to record our thanks to our colleagues, namely Drs. Muhammad Younas, Muhammad Abdullah, Muhammad Yaqoob, Syed Hassan Raza and Prof. William Hohenboken, a friend from USA; all of them provided us a lot of useful literature for this book. Special thanks are extended to Mr. Farooq Ahmed, Dr. Akhter Saeed and Dr. Asad Saeed for arranging recent literature for the purpose from abroad. Suggestions in black and white from any quarter to effect further improvement and to remove any omissions in the contents of this book will always be welcome. March, 2003 Bakht Baidar Khan Arshad Iqbal

Muhammad Iqbal Mustafa


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PART- I includes following contents of the book:

• Introduction • ORIGIN AND DOMESTICATION • BREEDS AND TYPES OF SHEEP AND GOATS • HINTS FOR BEGINNERS • FEEDING AND NUTRITION


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INTRODUCTION Q. What does the term small ruminants denote? The term small ruminants denotes sheep and/or goats. This term can be interchangeably used with sheep and goats. The buffalo, cattle and camel (a special ruminant) are considered as large ruminants, whereas sheep and goats, because of their smaller size, are called small ruminants. However, they all are polygastric animals. Q. Why small ruminant development is important for rural economy in

Pakistan? Sheep and goats, being small-sized ruminants, are capable of integrating themselves into dissimilar socio-economic situations prevailing in countries like ours. Despite indiscriminate slaughter of small ruminants, their total population stands at about 76 million in 2002. Sheep population in Pakistan had only marginal increase of 0.9 million between 1996 and 2001 but goat population has shown a perceptible increase. This is because of its prolificacy in producing more than one kid at a time and because of its unique ability of kidding twice in about 18 months and of producing six female kids in seven years, which most probably cannot be achieved either by a buffalo or cow in their normal life period. The importance of small ruminants in rural economy is evidenced by their economic traits particularly of goats. Their ability to get acclimatized under diversified agro-climatic conditions, high fertility and short generation interval make them popular among farming community. Economically they are ideally suited for poorer rural folk especially for marginal and landless labourers by their low cost maintenance, short-term return on capital with low risk capital investment. Mostly no involvement of hired labour, as such the entire rural family members, especially women folk and children are brought into the gamut of activity; thereby the health status is bound to improve with availability of cheap and quality protein through mutton and goat meat and milk. Small ruminants thrive and contribute to rural economy even in areas where it is difficult to raise buffaloes or cows. Small ruminants contribute nearly 33.3% of total meat production, 2.3% of total milk production, 39 million skins, 40 and 19 thousand tons of wool and hair respectively, and 50 million tons of excreta (faeces and urine) annually (2002). Coming again to goats they are energetic, inquisitive and versatile in the art of searching feed. They have a greater tendency than sheep to easily change their diet, with changing seasons. Goats spend over half of their total grazing time eating leaves and shoots of trees and bushes. The small size, large surface area relative to their body weight and limited subcutaneous fat cover, adapt them poorly to cold climates, but make them relatively better adapted to areas of high temperature. Goats have the ability to conserve water, travel well, graze selectively and to take willingly a wide variety of vegetation. Areas with sparse vegetation, bushes and shrubs cannot support buffalo or cattle but suit the browsing taste of goats even more than sheep. Mountainous areas with steep slopes cannot be used safely by cattle or sheep, but goats can have easy access there. Sheep by nature are gregarious animals and unlike goats they are generally uniparous. Sheep play an important role in the animal production and rural economy in arid and semi-arid regions and largely in marginal and sub-marginal holdings. The production potential of sheep in Pakistan in monetary terms is estimated to be around Rs. 14393 million. This is based on yearly (2002) production of about 40 thousand tons of wool,


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0.20 million tons of mutton, 10 million pieces of skins and 16 million tons of manure. Role of sheep rearing in improving the rural economy is well established. In the event of failure of seasonal rains, the rearing of sheep gives a helping hand to the farmers at the time of crisis arising from crop failure. Sheep farming by small and marginal farmers and landless agricultural labourers will provide employment opportunities for most of the unemployed or under-employed in the rural areas. Sheep raising can be recommended as a subsidiary occupation. When mixed farming is practised, sheep form an effective complementary component in improving the economy of the farm. Sheep can thrive well in all agro-climatic conditions except in rainfall areas. Sheep can subsist on low set and sparse vegetation because of their inherent capacity to graze very close to the roots of herbage. Sheep manure excels cattle manure and penning of sheep in harvested fields enhances the fertility of the soil by the richness of nutrients in their droppings. Sheep rearing under the extensive system does not warrant any large investment in buildings and equipments. Sheep have carved a niche in the agricultural economy of the country by effective utilization of the uncultivable wastelands and unwanted shrubs and weeds from the fields. In fact, what has been said concerning sheep or goats is equally applicable to both of these species except some points specific to either of the species. Q. Write down the factors that appear to be favourable to sheep and/or goat

production. The following natural advantages are in favour of sheep and/or goat production:

• They are able to convert weeds, bushes, grass and other plants on rangeland and pastureland to useful products, including meat, milk, fibre, leather and pharmaceuticals. They are excellent scavengers for gleaning fields.

• Compared to buffaloes or cattle, they produce more liberally in proportion to what they consume.

• Their returns come quickly. Their youngones, if properly fed, may be marketed when about a year old.

• They are unexcelled in the utilization of the more arid types of grazing. • The wool clip from sheep and hair/mohair from goats are easily stored and

shipped. • Their energy requirements (except dairy goats) are lower than those for other

livestock enterprises. Also, the energy requirements for fibre production by sheep are lower than those for synthetic fibres.

• Sheep and goats are highly adaptable and non competitive with humans for feed.

• Their low purchase price is conducive to their farming. • Goats reproduce at an early age and have more young than buffaloes or cows. • They reduce risks of losses to owners by being cheaper to replace. • Subsistence farmers keeping goats or sheep need very small amounts of

purchased animal feed because their stock can manage on very poor quality roughage if required.

• With a 20% death rate a farmer with five sheep or goats will still have four animals, whereas a farmer with one buffalo or cow is likely to be left with nothing.


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• Marginal farmers may or may not own buffaloes or cows but invariably they possess sheep or goats or both.

• Sheep and goats are a source of employment for landless farmers who may be hired to shepherd sheep/goat flocks for extensive grazing and then return them to the owners at evening.

Q. Discuss that goats are not really responsible for destroying

vegetation/plantations. Goats have often received a bad press because they are sometimes associated with destroying vegetation, overgrazing and hastening soil erosion, particularly in the more arid regions of the world. However, this is often a misreading of the situation because it is 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. This shows that the goats are merely blamed for being the finisher of all vegetation and inducer of soil erosion. Without any bias towards the goat when the above fact is analysed, it would be revealed that the goat should be blamed less for their grazing behaviour than the persistent overstocking of ranges/pastures by goatkeepers. Reduction in the number of goats according to the available feed and grazing area is equally important. By counteracting the dangers of overstocking goats and by mobilizing the multifold production potential of goat in a shorter time with low cost technology, goat keeping especially in rural parts of Pakistan will be a complementary animal husbandry system to crop production and will constitute a special function in the integrated rural development. Q. What are the various features that serve to differentiate the goat from the

sheep? Goats may be distinguished from sheep by the presence of a beard, strongly odouriferous tail-glands of the male, the absence of face glands and lachrymal pits in the skull, the absence of foot glands at least in the hind feet. Domestic goats generally carry their tails up, while these are hanging in sheep. The body covering differs between the two species, hair in case of goats and hair-wool or wool in sheep (Barbados Blackbelly sheep are hair sheep). Horn direction and spirals also exhibit variation in goat and sheep. Skeletal differences also exist. Q. What type of environments are preferred by goats and sheep? Worldwide distribution of goats reflects their ability to adapt to a variety of environments. However, the preferred environment is on the lighter sandy soils in the drier tropics, rather than in the wet humid tropics. They perform best and thrive in large numbers in the dry tropics. There are, however, reports about 5 to 8 times more goats than sheep in all the eastern states of India where the rainfall is high and plenty of grazing material is available. The inherent characteristics of goats such as resistance to dehydration, preference for browse and wide-ranging feeding habits, enable them to thrive in regions that receive less than 750 mm of rainfall. In Pakistan, approximately 60% of all goats are found in low rainfall areas. However, there are goat breeds that thrive in humid tropics such as dwarf goats and dairy goats in temperate zones. They must be specially adapted to such environments.


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Paradoxically, sheep as individuals and breeds are more sensitive to environmental changes than other domestic animals but as a species they thrive everywhere. Proliferation of sheep has provided breeds or types adapted to almost every climate, from snow-covered hills to semi-desert, but sheep are essentially graziers and prefer to graze short plants. As a result they thrive best on rangelands with a low-growing plant population that usually occur in the drier, but not the driest areas. As is the case with goats, sheep adapted to the humid environments, appear to be smaller in size on average than those adapted to the drier climatic regions. Q. Discuss very briefly the distribution of sheep and goats in the world. There are around 1790 million sheep and goats in the world in 2000. India and China possess the largest goat population, each of these having more than 120 million goats. The goat population of Pakistan stands next to these countries, the number being about 50 million (2001). The world population of sheep stands at 1071 million (FAO, 2000). China has the largest sheep (128 million: FAO, 2000) population, followed by Australia and New Zealand, having around 120 and 46 million ovines, respectively. Some time back USSR and Australia were at the top in respect of sheep population. There are around 24.5 million sheep (2002) in Pakistan. Population-wise Pakistan ranks 9th among the sheep producing countries of the world. A major part of the goat population of the world is distributed in the continents of Asia and Africa. Most of the goat owners in various countries of these continents are in the nomadic sector or landless farmers with flocks ranging from 1 to 15, being kept per family. Organized goat rearing in these countries is almost non-existent except on government farms. The continents of Europe and USA possess a much smaller population of goats than Asia and Africa. The production of dairy goats and Angora is becoming more popular in several European countries and parts of America. In the Oceania, goats are comparatively a recent introduction, which mostly comprise European milch breeds and Angora. Of course, feral goats still exist their and are mainly used for meat purposes. Pakistan possessed 8 million sheep in 1955, which gradually increased to 30 million in 1995. In contrast, the population of goats stood at 7.6 million in 1955, but it steadily rose to 45.6 million in 1995, showing an average increase of 0.95 million per year over a period of 40 years. The trend in annual growth rate (which was earlier in favour of sheep) reversed in favour of goats in late sixties, thus the population of goats increased by almost one million over that of sheep (14.5 vs 13.4) in 1970. This happened in spite of the Goat Restriction Order, imposed in the then West Pakistan, against keeping and movement of goats in several districts of the province. Later on this legislation became void because of being ineffective and unnecessary. Since late sixties, the rate of annual growth among ruminant animals in Pakistan has been the highest in goats. This partly seems to be due to the introduction of Teddy goat here and partly because of enhanced consumption of goat meat as well as more liking for large-sized male goats for sacrificial slaughter on the Muslim Festival of Eid-ul-Azha. The present ratio of sheep to goats in Pakistan is 1:2. Numerically, the goats are also more important than sheep in several other countries such as China, India, Bangladesh, Chad, Indonesia, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines and Sri Lanka. Devendra and McLeroy (1982) reported that sheep and goat populations between 1970 and 1979


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increased at the rate of 0.4 and 2.2% in tropics. These rates are well below the rate of increase of human population in the same area. The overall variations in sheep and goat populations reflect differences between regions, in the overall environment, farming systems and human preferences. Q. Write a note on the distribution of sheep and goats in Pakistan. Of the total sheep population, 42.4, 9.6, 19.4, 26.8 and 1.8% sheep are found in the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan and Northern Areas and FATA, respectively. The corresponding figures for goats are 39.5, 21.7, 13.5, 22.4 and 2.8%, respectively. In terms of type of holding, the distribution of sheep and goats shows that more than 29% producers are landless farmers, 20.0% have less than 2 hectares and nearly 23% possess 2 to 5 hectares of land. This shows that more than 70% sheep and goat producers are either landless farmers or those whose land holdings are very small. The picture arising from the distribution of sheep by size of flock is not very encouraging since over 80% flocks consist of 15 or less number of sheep. Over 90% goat flocks too fall in the same category. Q. Why do we need to promote goat and sheep production? Some of the major reasons are given below: i) Human population is growing very rapidly creating an increasing demand for

additional animal protein foods. ii) This demand can be met easily by increasing the small ruminant population. Thus

roughage feeds and crop by-products unsuitable for human consumption can be processed/converted by these animals into desirable human foods.

iii) It is easier to increase the population of small ruminants such as sheep and goats than large ruminants such as buffalo and cattle. This is because the capital investment for the farm is relatively low, average land holdings are usually small, the reproductive turnover of sheep and goats is high and both species can be managed easily by family labour. In economic terms the opportunity costs are low for sheep and goat production at the semi-subsistence level.

iv) The genetic variability within and between our sheep and goat breeds is so high that selection for improved animal productivity is possible and, if this is combined with improved feeding and health, overall production gains could be considerable.

v) Little attention has been paid to the feeding, management and health of these species in the past so that relatively a little more inputs to improve feeding and health could produce relatively high gains in productivity.

vi) Nearly half a million male sheep and goats are slaughtered every year on the occasion of Muslim Festival of Eid-ul-Azha, which further indicates the need for sheep and goat production.

vii) The opportunity exists for the introduction of modern management practices as educational and research facilities and extension activities are improved in countries like ours.

Q. Why sheep and goats are more important in rural areas? In societies where livestock raising is still a subsistence activity, both sheep and goats may be kept as a source of investment and as an insurance against disaster. They help to diversify the sources of farmer’s income. They are used in ceremonial feasting and for the payment of social dues. Sheep and goats have a special function as sacrificial animals


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amongst the Muslims. In this context the live animal has an intrinsic value far exceeding its value as a meat producer. Sheep and goat droppings are prized as natural fertilizer in western and in South East Asia including Indo-Pakistan. Indeed, in some areas this may be a primary reason for keeping sheep and goats. The fat from fat-tailed sheep is specially valued in some African and Asian countries for use as a cooking fat and is considered to impart flavour to other foods. This fat is also used for manufacturing washing soap for domestic use. In Himalayan region of the Indo-Pak subcontinent, local sheep and goats are also used for pack purposes. The rearing of sheep and goats provides a small yet significant supply of animal protein in the form of milk and meat. This is particularly useful for families of low-income farmers and landless labourers. It has been reported that in certain areas 20 to 40% of farmer’s cash income comes from sheep and goats. In more remote semi-arid areas, sheep/goat production is the only source of income for their producers. Q. Are sheep and goats important to the economy of Pakistan? Sheep and goats contribute in a large measure to the economy of Pakistan. This fact is substantiated simply by the sheep and goat population in Pakistan, the numerical figure being over 75 million (Economic Survey, 2002). The goat population is almost 100% higher than that of sheep. Together they account for over 0.66 million tons of meat which is 33.3 % of the total meat produced in the country. Over 39 million skins are produced annually which fetch more than Rs. 2000 million in foreign exchange through their export besides providing raw material for the expanding leather industry. Annual production of 39.5 thousand tons of wool results in production and export of hand-knotted carpets worth about Rs. 15 to 16 billion. The carpet industry provides jobs for over two hundred thousand of artisans. This is in addition to thousands of those who earn their livelihood through employment in tanneries, leather goods factories, meat shops etc. More than Rs. 120 million in foreign exchange are earned annually by exporting about 8000 tons of raw wool. Besides, goats produce nearly 9.5 thousand tons hair per annum. These are used in rough woolen cloth, numnahs, ropes and tents. The latter are used for shelter by nomads. Sheep and goats also produce about 450000 tons of milk per year which is almost 2.3% of the total milk produced in Pakistan. They are the major source of livelihood for over a million livestock farmers. This is especially true for arid regions where crop production and dairy farming are not possible. Also, they are an important component of a mixed farming system of irrigated agriculture practised by about four million farmers. However, in spite of their evident importance to Pakistan, sheep and goats, till recently, have received scant attention and poor support. Thus the primitive character of sheep and goat raising in Pakistan is still a common feature. Q. Sheep and goats have long been the subjects of traditional neglect. Discuss in

detail. Traditionally, sheep and goats have been the victims of neglect both by the general public as well as by the scientists. This is despite the fact that sheep and goats have served mankind for a longer period than other classes of livestock. They are a potential source of meat, some milk, skin, fibre and are valued as laboratory and as pet animals, especially goats being intelligent and graceful. Of course, both the species have docile nature.


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With the advent of civilization, these animals, often referred to as small ruminants, were partly relegated to the oblivion, being surpassed by buffalo and cattle in several important characteristics. But both the sheep and goats proliferated and survived in genetic isolation. The goats in Pakistan even survived a suppressive legislation namely Goat Restriction Ordinance promulgated in sixties to ban the production and movement of goats in several areas of the then western wing of Pakistan. Much talked about destructive habits of goats tend to detract many and more are detracted by the strong odour emanated by the male. But the advantages of goat far outweigh these disadvantages. The early domestication process along with certain definite physiological characteristics of sheep and goats are perhaps responsible for their better adaptability. Their flexible integration into dissimilar socio-economic situations is associated with their high economic viability. They thrive well on poor agricultural lands, where they graze incidental vegetation. In arid areas where vegetation is sparse and the land is too steep to cultivate, sheep and goats, especially the latter, roam more widely than other herbivores and meet their requirements from weeds neglected by others. They have a higher tolerance to feeds deficient in crude protein and certain minerals. The nutrient supply of goats is favoured by their mouth, which is undeterred by thorns, bristles etc., having some simulation to that of camel. They have relatively a high capacity to take up dry matter to make up the deficiency caused by poor quality roughages. Also, they have the ability to consume a surprisingly wide variety of plants, grasses, bushes, tree leaves and industrial wastes. Goats are also reputed to have bitter taste receptors, which may be the probable reason for higher intake of bitter forages like “Neem” leaves. The sheep and goats, because of their difference in feeding habits from large ruminants serve as complementary rather than competitive, in the utilization of forages. Sheep and goats, especially the latter, travel longer distances than buffalo and cattle in search of feed. They possess thin and mobile lips, which enable them to select discriminately favoured parts of plants. Split upper lip of sheep may partly account for their greater ability to graze close to the ground. Thus they can also be helpful in multiple grazing of the same area. Q. What may be the impact of raising small ruminants in rural areas on rural

health and nutrition? The greatest advantage of the contribution of milk and meat is towards the impact on rural health and nutrition. The value is especially significant to the peasants who live on the poverty line and to the vulnerable groups, the pregnant and nursing mothers and the young. The supply of animal protein in the form of milk and meat, although small, represents a consistent supply. Quite often, the supply makes the difference between adequate nutrition and malnutrition to many of these farmers, who cannot afford to buy these products, or alternatively, are unable to produce these by rearing buffaloes and/or cows.


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ORIGIN AND DOMESTICATION Q. Give a brief account of the origin and domestication of sheep and goats. Sheep: It is certain that domestic sheep came from the wild sheep of Asia and Europe. Domestic sheep are thought to descend mainly from two wild stocks: 1) the Moufflons (Ovis musimon and Ovis orientalis), and 2) the Asiatic urial (Ovis vignei). There are two wild stocks of the Moufflon, the Asiatic Moufflon (O. orientalis), a wild sheep still found in Asia Minor and the Caucasus, and the European Moufflon (O. musimon), which is native to Europe and still found in certain parts of Europe. These two relatives are closely allied, but the Asiatic Moufflon is redder and has a somewhat different twist to the horns. Both of the Moufflon stocks are considered as ancestors of domestic sheep. The Asiatic urial (O. vignei), which is a smaller race of sheep than the Moufflon, is native to the grassy open plains of central Asia. It lives in large flocks and is much less a mountain animal than the Moufflon. Most of our familiar breeds of sheep are thought to be descendents of this wild stock. Goats: The origin of goat breeds of Indo-Pak sub-continent is not clearly known. They are believed to have been derived from wild goats found in Asia Minor (the western most extension of the Asian land mass, forming the greater part of the modern Turkey, Iran and nearby countries. Asia Minor is one of the world’s oldest regions of settled habitation. Most of the today’s breeds of domestic goat are believed to have descended from the Bezoar or Pasan (Capra hircus aegagrus), one of the two living races of wild goats; the other race is the Sindh wild goat (Capra hircus blythi) of Pakistan. The Bezoar, having long horns (1.3 meters) is still found in the mountains of southwest Asia. The Kashmir and Cheghu goats are reported to have been derived from Markhor (Capra falconeri); the Angora goat from a cross between the Markhor (Capra falconeri) and the Bezoar (Capra aegagrus). Sheep and goats were first domesticated in the new stone age. Other records indicated that they were domesticated around 7th century B.C. much earlier than cattle, just when farming began in southwest Asia. On the basis of archeological evidence, it is believed that after dog, sheep and goats were probably the earliest ruminants to be domesticated by man. Sheep and goat raising was known as the earliest pastoral industry and reference is frequently made to it in several books of various religions. They may be considered as one of man’s first helpmates. Besides providing the wool (and some hair) for cloth, they gave primitive man skins for shelter and meat and milk for food. It can be hardly said that sheep and goats are indigenous to any one country; for they appear to have been cultivated by the earliest peoples in history and they have gradually spread over the entire face of the globe with the extension of civilization itself. Q. What do you know about the position of domesticated sheep/goats in the

zoological scheme? Discuss briefly. Sheep: The following is the outline that indicates the basic position of the sheep in the zoological scheme:


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Kingdom Animalia : The animal kingdom collectively. Phylum Chordata : One of approximately 21 phyla of the animal

kingdom, having either a backbone (vertebrates) or the rudiment of a backbone, the chorda.

Class Mammalia : Mammals are warm-blooded, hairy animals that produce their young alive and suckle them for a variable period on a secretion from the mammary glands.

Order Artiodactyla : Even-toed, hoofed mammals. Family Bovidae : Ruminants having polycotyledonary placenta;

hollow, nonde- ciduous, unbranched horns and nearly universal presence of a gall bladder.

Genus Ovis : The genus comprises the domestic sheep and the majority of wild sheep. The horns form a lateral spiral.

Species Ovis aries : Domesticated sheep. Goats: As for the position of domesticated goats in the zoological scheme is concerned, the steps of the scheme related to sheep from kingdom through family given above, are equally applicable to domesticated goats. However, from the level of genus, the scheme varies from that of sheep. Genus Capra : The genus comprises the domestic goats, which have

possibly been developed from the following wild species: Capra hircus including the bezoar (C.H. aegagrus) and blythi Capra ibex, Capra falconeri, the Markhor.

Species Capra hircus

: The true goat.

Horn form has been the primary criterion for use in distinguishing between the groups of

living wild ancestors. However, horn form by itself is unreliable as a basis for

classification of goats, being subject to genetic variation.

It is believed that Pakistan received domestic goats from the west through migrations of the nomadic pastoralists of western and central Asia who used the historical routes, namely the “Silk Road” and the Khyber Pass. This seems to be in addition to the domesticated descendents of the wild goat of Sindh (Capra hircus blythi). Q. Was goat the first animal to be domesticated? The goat was one of the first animals to be domesticated by man. Remains have been found in deposits that are 5 million years old. Signs of their domestication have been found in excavations of neolithic sites dating from 7000 years BC. As civilization


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developed, more evidence of the species appeared in poems and drawings preserved from more than 5000 years pay tribute to both wild and penned goats. Documented evidence indicates that several prophets of God remained associated with goat raising during early stages of their lives. It appears as if goat raising was probably a requirement of their multifold training before being bestowed upon with responsibilities as Prophets of God. Goat raising thus merits to be called as a blessed job and continuation of a noble work considered worthy of being carried out by Holy Messengers. Q. Give an estimate of the world goat population. The total world population of goats is about 720 million in year 2000. It is impossible to

obtain an accurate figure because those who own goats are often reluctant to admit the

size of their flock. Nearly 75% of the goats in the world are in the developing countries,

kept in small to medium-sized flocks as subsistence units for the production of milk,

meat, hair and skins.

Q. Are there any sizeable feral goat populations in the world? One of the largest populations of feral goats is to be found in Australia. Their number is estimated as between 0.5 and 1 million. New Zealand too has over 0.3 million such goats. In smaller numbers feral goats do exist in some of the African and Asian countries. Q. Defend that goats are not solely responsible for damaging the forests. Because of their ability to survive and reproduce in such remote areas, many of the feral goat populations grew rapidly. These uncontrolled populations of goats contributed to the reputation of the species for deforestation and desertification around the world. The true story, as always, is not simple. In all instances, man is the major culprit. The destruction of trees for construction, fuel and furniture has been the biggest influence on deforestation. Often goats were around to browse through what was left. Also, badly managed livestock, including goats, were allowed to destroy forests or the forest was cut down to provide grazing. In such situations the goats were always the last to remain there because of their unique ability to be able to find sustenance where other species often could not. Q. Discuss the differences and similarities, if any, between sheep and goats. The most telling difference, though not visible, is that sheep have 54 chromosomes and goats have 60. Visible anatomical differences between some breeds of sheep and goats may not be too convincing. Goats generally hold their tails up whilst the tails of sheep hang down. Most of the males and some female goats have beards, a feature only rarely seen in some primitive breeds of sheep. Male goats have a characteristic smell, which is quite different from the smell of a ram. The rams have a secretory gland on the hind feet which goats do not possess. Among the similarities the important features are: both are ruminants, ungulates, cloven-hooved, have similar dentition, both have horned and hornless breeds and both species have some dairy breeds. In addition, both sheep and goats have been domesticated for thousands of years.


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Q. Give below an account of behavioural differences between sheep and goats. The difference between the temperament of sheep and goats is very evident. Goats are restless, curious and adventurous. They are enterprising and somewhat destructive. Sheep are conformists, goats are unpredictable, flightly and capricious. If sheep hear a low flying plane, they become frightened and likely to run away, whereas mostly the goats will stand and watch. The goats are lively, ardent, robust, capable of enduring cold and less disturbed by severe heat. They are wild, irregular and erratic in movements. They are bold in their defence, putting themselves in an attitude of defiance when provoked by other animals. Sheep are coward and submissive. Goats respond well, affectionately to those they judge worthy of them. Towards others they might demonstrate a lighthearted disregard. Sheep, on the other hand, often behave in a way as if they have no interest in their surroundings. Goats are eminently sociable, attaching them to other animals, however, different from themselves. They are inquisitive, find their way into every place and examining whatever is new to them. Q. Write a note on world distribution of goats. Today the goat has penetrated to almost every country. The only regions where it is not found in significant numbers are the Arctic and Antarctic. The type, its main utility and population largely vary in different countries. In many countries it is the most important source of animal protein and the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people there depends on goat flocks and the products obtained therefrom. There is still some stigma attached to keeping goats even in those countries where goats exsit in millions. The goat is rarely seen as a status symbol in the way that a buffalo/cow is and yet more often than not they make a greater contribution to the welfare of those who own them. Goat farming is most developed in France where more than one million goats are kept for milk, which is almost exclusively used for cheese production. In some cases the cheese is made on the farm and in others milk is supplied to large cooperative dairies. Goats have also become popular in Britian where they are raised mainly for milk and the Angora for mohair. Dairy goats are also produced in USA but their population is not very large. Angoras are concentrated in a few states in USA for mohair production. Angoras are also found in large numbers in South Africa, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. Cashmere production is gaining popularity. Although there is no such thing as cashmere breed but in various parts of the world, goats have been selectively bred for cashmere production. Cashmere is the fine hair grown as insulation by some goats in cold environments. Goats producing the most cashmere are found in China and other countries bordering the Himalayas. In recent years feral goats in Australia and New Zealand have been used as the base breed for developing cashmere-producing goats. Some of these have been imported in the United Kingdom too. Q. Write a note on status of goat farming in Pakistan. The status of goat farming in Pakistan is not such that a country can boast of. Except at a few Govt. livestock stations, no where else in the country goats are raised in an organized manner and on scientific lines. Breed improvement programmes are mainly confined to papers. Diseases and parasitic infestations are rampant. Kid mortality is very high. The establishment of a goat research institute, once in the making, could not materialize and finally the scheme was dropped for want of funds. Goat farming, as a matter of act, does


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not carry a priority in public or private circles. Rather in 1960, a goat eradication ordinance was promulgated in the Punjab area by the then provincial government. Since it was an unnatural and not a well thought of step, therefore, it did not have much adverse effect on goat production. The basis to enforce such an ordinance was that goats are a source of destruction of forest plantations, which probably is not 100% correct. The goats/goat farmers, however, could easily sustain this unwise attempt to eradicate goats from the province. During sixties and early seventies goat population appeared somewhat suppressed, while thereafter the goat population in the country exceeded that of sheep. The introduction of Teddy goat certainly provided a spur to effect increase in overall goat population, which presently (2001) stands at 25.4 million more than that of sheep. The fact, however, remains that inspite of evident increase in numerical strength, the production of milk, meat and hair (from long-haired breeds) per animal is very low. Simply through selective breeding and upgrading process, productivity per head can be increased to a substantial level. The present low yields of goat milk, meat etc. are the result of poor feeding conditions in general, diseases and illiteracy and poverty of those involved in goat raising. Unless concrete steps are taken to improve these conditions, the returns from goat farming in turn would continue to be low, keeping thus the status of goat farming in Pakistan low as well. Q. What are the main bases on which various breeds of sheep/goats are named? There seem to be no hard and fast rules in this regard. Several of the breeds appear to have been named arbitrarily. However, the names of several other breeds appear to have some background for naming them so e.g. i) named after the area which forms partly/wholly their home tract such as Baltistani (Baltistan district), Salt Range (Salt Range area, and Tharki (Thar desert), ii) named after certain colour marks on the body such as black circles around the eyes of Kajli sheep, some physical/phenotypic characters such as small stature of Teddy goats, very small ears of Buchi sheep/goats or some social factors as in the case of Jattan breed of goats, which derives its name from camel-raising tribe of Jats in Sindh. Q. Give a list of thin-tailed breeds of sheep found in Pakistan. Kooka, Damani, Kajli, Lohi, Sipli, Baltistani, Kail, Kali, Poonchi, Kaghani, Buchi,

Cholistani, Thalli and Kachhi

Q. Name the important fat-tailed breeds of sheep found in Pakistan. Salt Range, Balkhi, Hashtnagri, Michni, Balochi, Bibrik, Gojal, Kohai Ghizar, Pahari, Tirahi, Waziri, Harnai, and Dumbi. Q. Describe any four exotic breeds of sheep. i) Columbia The Columbia is an American breed developed since 1912. It is the result of Lincoln ram and Rambouillet ewe cross with interbreeding of the resulting crossbred lambs and their descendents without backcrossing to either parent stock. The object of the cross was to produce more wool and more meat. Their large robust frame and herding instinct have made them excellent range sheep, but they are also admirably adaptable to lush grasses. Heavy wool clip, hardy and fast growing lambs, open faces and ease of handling are the important attributes. They have medium wool in 50s to 60s ranges. It has light shrinkage. It is an all-white breed, polled and open-faced.


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ii) Rambouillet The Rambouillet is the French version of the Merino, developed from Spanish Merinos. They have very large and strong bodies, with very little wrinkling in the modern Rambouillet, except a little across the brisket. The fleece is less oily than that of the Merino, thus has less shrinkage. They are hardy with a remarkable herding instinct. They graze during the day and at night they gather closely as if to sleep. They are good for open range and can adapt to a wide range of climate and feed conditions. The ewes can be bred early to lamb in November/December. The lambs give good yield in boneless trimmed meat cuts. They are a dual-purpose sheep, with a desirable carcass and good wool production. The rams have horns and both sexes have white feet and open faces. iii) Targhee The Targhee is a hardy American breed, developed by mating outstanding Rambouillet rams to ewes of Corriedale X Lincoln Rambouillet stock and ewes of only Lincoln-Rambouillet and following that by interbreeding the resulting lambs. This was done to meet the demand for a sheep breed that was thick in natural muscling, prolific, producing high quality apparel-type wool and adapted to both farm and range conditions. These are large-sized, dual purpose sheep with a good meat type and heavy fleece (4 to 7 kg) of good wool, 7.5 cm length or more. These have clean face and no skin folds with ewes weighing 55 to 85 kg and rams 85 to 135 kg. These sheep have been shown to possess inherited resistance to internal parasites and no hoof troubles. Targhees have long productive life. Targhee ewes have high percentage of twins or triplets and are known for ease of lambing. iv) Corriedale The corriedale is a Merino-Lincoln cross, developed in Australia and New Zealand. Its dense wool is medium fine, 56s grade, with good length, softness and light shrinkage, somewhat between medium and long wool, a favourite of hand spinners. Face clean below the eyes, hornless. Corriedales are bred as dual-purpose sheep. They have good wool and good meat and are noted for long productive life, meaning greater return on investment made. Marked herding instinct, thus a good range breed. Q. Describe briefly the characteristics of three important exotic breeds of dairy

goats and one mohair producing breed. Saanen: It is a dairy breed, native to Switzerland, originating from the Saanen valley. It is a white goat with sometimes black pigmentation mostly visible as spots or blotches on the udder and ears. Mature females will weigh about 60 kg and males 85 kg. Females often have beards and tassels (or wattles), though not essential features of the breed. Horns may be present but rigorous selection going on for polled condition. Saanens are the best milk producers with yields approaching 2000 litres not being uncommon. British Saanen is generally larger, females weighing 70 kg and males 90-100 kg. It is unsurpassed in milk yield. An Australian Saanen produced 3,300 litres milk in first lactation and 3506 litres in her second. Such high yields are unlikely in a farm situation. Under farm conditions British Saanens generally average around 1000 litres per lactation. Saanens are real docile animals. In a contented closed flock, serious fighting, bullying, jumping out of pens are rarely noticed. Toggenburg: It also originates from Switzerland. The Toggenburgs are light brown with characteristic white stripes on the face, white lower legs and white around the tail. Sometimes its hair coat is quite long almost covering the upper parts of legs. Males and


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rarely females have beards and horns. Efforts are being made to breed out horned animals. These are somewhat smaller than Saanens. British Toggenburgs on average are heavier by 10 kg. They are derivatives of Swiss Toggenburgs. They are good milkers, yield more fat and total solids in their milk. This breed has the reputation of being excitable and getting out of most enclosures. Thus they do not make the first choice for large scale commercial units. Anglo-Nubian: The Anglo-Nubian is of Eastern origin. It is the product of crossing the indigenous English goat with the Zaraibi from Egypt and the Jamnapari from India, having a little of Swiss blood as well. Females usually average 70 kg and males over 100 kg. They have distinctive Roman nose and large pendulous ears. They can be of any colour or admixture of many colours. Milk yield is generally lower than those of Saanen and Toggenburg goats but has better quality in terms of both fat and protein, thus more favoured for cheese making because of greater yield of cheese. Their big body frame and muscular conformation suggest that they can be developed for meat production. Anglo-Nubians are an excitable breed, thus being neurotic are probably not much suitable for large intensive flocks. They have a long breeding season. They come into heat a month before the other breeds and may continue to cycle for a month or two after. They are more suited to semi-tropical environments where there is a good export demand for them. Angora: It has its origin from Turkey. It is a mohair producing breed. Their export from the country of its origin was not allowed till mid 1880s. Now Angoras are available in large numbers in South Africa, USA, UK, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. The Angora is smaller than most exotic dairy breeds averaging 45-50 kg and 60-65 kg in females and males respectively. Their most striking characteristic is their long coat of fine lustrous mohair, which grows at the rate of 2.5 cm a month. They are usually white and normally these would be selected against coloured goats. However, brown and black Angoras do exist. Males have large horns sometimes reaching a spread of over one meter. In general shape, Angoras look more like sheep.


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BREEDS AND TYPES OF SHEEP AND GOATS Q. Tabulate salient characteristics of important thin-tailed sheep breeds found in various parts of Pakistan.

Name of breed Type

Habitat Colour Size Average body weight (kg)

Average wool yield/annum

General description

Punjab

Buchi (Bahawalpuri)

Wool Cholistan tract & adjoining areas of Bahawalpur & Bahawalnagar districts

White body coat, tan to dark brown head, ears & neck

Medium 30-35 4 kg/head (fibre diameter 36 µ)

Ears small & stubby, hence its name ‘Buchi’, sometimes black or brown rings around base of the ears, tail comparatively long.

Cholistani (Khadali)

Wool/ mutton

Cholistan area & adjoining large sandy stretches of Rahimyar Khan, Bahawalpur & Bahawalnagar districts

White with head, ears & part of the neck black or brown

Medium 37-44 3 kg/head (fibre diameter 39 µ)

Ears leaflike, slightly Roman nose, long tail touching the hocks.

Kajli Mutton Sargodha district & parts of Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin districts

White, muffle & lower 1/3rd of ears often black; black circles around their eyes

Large 45-55 3 kg/head (fibre diameter 40 µ)

Typical Roman nose, long pendulous ears, well-developed body; long legs give them a high-set appearance with a short tail; the name of the breed ‘Kajli’ derived from black circles around the eyes of these sheep; males highly prized for Eid-ul-Azha sacrifice.

Lohi (Lamocher or Parkanni)

Mutton Central districts of Punjab White with dark-brown or tan head & ears

Large 50-65 3 kg/head (fibre diameter 39 µ)

Roman nose, long pendulous ears often with an appendage on external surface, locally called ‘Parkan’, hence the name ‘Parkanni’; broad loins, well-developed body, teats & udder; short, stumpy tail; mean daily milk yield 0.8 litre during a 120-day lactation.


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Sipli Wool Irrigated areas of Bahawalnagar district & adjoining parts of Bahawalpur district

White body with white or light brown head, face & ears

Medium 34-40 5.6 kg (fibre diameter 40.6 µ)

Head medium, nose flat, ears 15 cm long, back straight, tail long.

Thalli Mutton Orignal home tract Thal desert; now also found in Mianwali, Muzaffargarh and parts of Multan, Jhang & Sargodha districts

White body with black or brown head; legs below knees/hocks may be black spotted

Small to medium

27-32 1.5 kg (fibre diameter 37 µ)

Two strains of Thalli sheep: one with a small head & long ears, the other with a large head & short ears; those with short ears have somewhat large bodies, while those with long ears have smaller but stout legs. Mean daily milk yield 0.7 litre during 100-day lactation.

Sindh

Kachhi Mutton Tharparkar, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas districts & adjoining areas of Rann of Kachh

White body with tan or black face; neck & legs also tan or black

Medium 32-42 2 kg (fibre diamter 41 µ)

Ears small/tubular, an adventitious ear at the upper edge of the normal ear not uncommon; prominent Roman nose; both males & females polled; fleshy appendages seen hanging udder the throat; short tail; udder & teats well-developed, mean daily milk yield 1 litre during 140 days lactation.

Kooka Mutton Nawabshah, Naushero Feroz,

Dadu & parts of Larkana, Sukkur & Khairpur

White body, head and face usually also white

Small to medium

27-32 2 kg (fibre diameter 44 µ)

Ears long & drooping; Roman nose; male & female both polled; udder fairly developed; short tail; mean daily milk yield 0.75 litre in a 100-day lactation.

NWFP

Damani Mutton/milk

D.I. Khan & part of Bannu district

White body with head fawn, brown or black; legs often white, sometimes camel-coloured

Small to medium


Ears small & stubby; sometimes a bottlelike appendage hanging below the neck, locally called ‘Larki’; somewhat pendulous belly; short tail; udder & teats well-developed, milk yield 1.2 litres daily in nearly 100 days.


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Kaghani Wool/ mutton

Abbottabad, Mansehra & parts of Mardan & Peshwar districts

Complete white or head & ears red, tan, grey or black

Small to medium


This breed named after Kaghan valley; Kaghani sheep winter in plains, moving east as far as Jhelum district in Punjab, but in spring they go back up to the alpine ranges of Kaghan valley; head small; nose slightly convex; ears medium with pointed tip; neck short, belly tucked up; legs often covered with wool, males horned; wool dense and curly. Several Kaghani sheep have some degree of Rambouillet blood, resulting in better quality wool.

Northern Areas & Azad Kashmir

Baltistani Mutton/milk

Baltistan district of Northern Areas

Mostly white bodies and brown legs

Small to medium

25-30 1.5 kg Medium-sized head; small erect ears; small legs; short tail; mean daily milk yield 0.8 litre during 100-day lactation.

Kail Mutton/wool

Neelam & Leepa Valleys in Azad Kashmir

Mostly white called ‘Pachhi’, some have black or brown heads with black or brown circles around eyes & ears & are called ‘Surmiali’

Medium 32-41 2.25 kg (fibre diameter 31 µ)

Medium ears; Roman nose; males horned; tail 15-20 cm.

Kali Mutton Mikkyal area of Kotli district in Azad Kashmir

Black Medium 30-35 1.5 kg Ears 10-15 cm long; males generally horned; straight back; legs medium & stout; tail thin, about 15-20 cm long.

Poonchi Mutton Poonch district & surrounding areas in Azad Kashmir

Mostly complete white, some have black or brown patches on body with black or brown head & legs

Medium 30-37 2 kg (fibre diameter 36 µ)

Head & ears medium-sized; males horned; tail 15-20 cm.

Q. Tabulate salient characteristics of important fat-tailed sheep breeds found in

various parts of Pakistan.

Name of breed

Type Habitat Colour Size Average body weight (kg)

Average wool yield/annum

General description

Punjab

Salt Range (Latti)

Mutton Salt range area in districts of Attock, Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Mianwali & Sargodha

White body with tan, brown or spotted head


Small head, relatively broad forehead & tapering muzzle; small ears; short thin legs; a small hanging fat tail, wool fibre density low.

Sindh


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Dumbi Mutton Mountainous area of southwestern Sindh comprising Dadu, Thatta & part of Karachi as well as parts of Larkana, Jacobabad & Sibi districts

White body black face, occasionally rings around eyes and black spots on ears


Small to medium ears; males mostly horned; medium-sized fat tail.

NWFP

Balkhi Mutton Peshawar, Kohat, D.I.Khan & Bannu districts & adjoining areas of NWFP

Black, grey, tan or a mixture of these colours

Large 55-70 1.5 fibre diameter 45 µ)

Comparatively large head, Roman nose, conical muzzle, medium ears, males often have large curved horns; quarters well-developed; fat tail well-developed and set high on the rump; males very popular as sacrificial animals.

Hashtnag

ri

Mutton Peshawar, Mardan & Haripur districts, also parts of Kohat & Bannu districts

White body with black or tan head & face; shanks black in some cases


Head small to medium, ears medium; legs short; hanging fat tail, may even touch the ground in well-fed animals.

Michni Mutton Michni area &

surrounding parts of Peshawar valley, parts of districts of Peshawar & Kohat

White body with black or brown ears; black spots on hocks in some cases

Medium 27-36 1.5 kg fibre diameter 37 µ)

Head & ears small; neck long & thin; elongated body; pendulous fat tail reaching far below the hocks.

Tirahi Mutton Parts of Bannu, Kohat

& Peshawar districts Brown or black Small to

medium 24-28 1.3 kg (fibre

diameter 35 µ) Small head, medium ears, Roman nose; short thin legs; medium hanging fat tail proportionate to body size; udder & teats fairly well-developed, mean daily milk yield 0.6 litre in 100 days lactation.

Waziri Mutton North Waziristan &

parts of Bannu, Kohat & Peshawar districts

White body, but some black, brown or spotted animals also seen; head & ears black, brown or spotted


Head small to medium, ears medium, some males horned; low-set animals; hanging fat tail of medium size.

Balochistan

Balochi Mutton/wool

Kalat division and parts of Quetta district

White body with black, brown or spotted muzzle & legs


Low-set animals; males horned having slightly Roman nose; medium fat tail hangs above the hocks; mean daily milk yield 0.6 litre in 100 days lactation.

Bibrik Mutton Sibi, Quetta, & parts of Loralai & Zhob districts

White body with head black, brown or spotted


Head medium, ears small to medium, males have curved horns; fat tail short & wide.

Harani (Dumari)

Wool/ mutton

Sibi, Quetta, Loralai & Zhob districts

White body with black, tan or brown spotted head; black or brown spots occasionally seen on knees/hocks & pasterns

Medium 31-38 2 kg (fibre diameter 31 µ)

Head small to medium, ears medium; belly somewhat pendulous; medium fat tail.

Rakhshani Mutton Kharan, Mekran, Chaghi & Kalat area; a

Body often white but occasionally black or brown


Head & ears small to medium; belly


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part of this tract is the Rakhshan valley, hence the name

spots seen on the body & legs, head black or brown spotted

somewhat pendulous; medium hanging fat tail; mean daily milk yield 0.7 litre during 100 days lactation.


Gojal Mutton Hunza valley & adjoining Northern Areas

Body white with tan or black patches; head, muzzle & ears mostly brown or tan & a brown ring around the eyes, legs dark brown

Small to medium

27-32 Negligible Ears small and erect, males mostly horned; legs short; very small fat tail.

Kohai Ghizar

Mutton Mountainous area along the Kohai Ghizar, extending from Gilgit to Chatorkhand

White body with a brown head & brown or black legs

Medium 31-35 1 kg Ears small and erect, no horns; legs short; very small fat tail.

Pahari Mutton Mirpur and Muzaffarabad districts in Azad Kashmir

White body with occasional patches of tan, brown or black; head tan, brown or black

Medium 29-34 1.5 kg Medium head with no horns; a small fat tail hangs above the hocks.


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Q. Tabulate salient characteristics of important goat breeds found in various parts of Pakistan. Name of breed

Type Habitat Colour Size Average body weight (kg)

Average hair yield/annum

General description

Punjab

Beetal Milch Almost all districts of

central Punjab, extending to Multan

Golden-brown or red-spotted with white or black patches

Large 37-46 Smooth-coated, generally not Clipped

Massive head, Roman nose, long, broad & pendulous ears, spiralled horns, longer in males; long stout legs; short tail; udder well developed & long teats, milk yield 190 litres during 150 days lactation; more than 50 % twin or triplet births; Beetal males raised especially for sacrifice on Eid-ul-Azha, body weight being 70-80 kg.

Dera Din Panah

Milch Muzaffargarh & Multan districts

Black Large 40-45 1.2 kg/head Large head with Roman nose, hair on the chin, long broad ears; cartilaginous appendages on sides of neck, long and thick spiralled horns; hairy body; tail medium covered with rough hair; udder and teats well-developed, milk yield 160 litres in a 150-day lactation; twin births common.

Hairy Goat Milch D.G.Khan White Small to medium

25-30 3 kg/head Hairy body; milk yield 180 litres in a 140-day lactation.

Kajli (Pahari)

Meat D.G. Khan in Punjab & Loralai district in Balochistan

Black but some white, brown or grey animals also exist

Small to medium

25-30 0.8 kg/head Head small, ears erect, horns thin, white or brown hair streaks run from base of horns to muzzle; udder medium, 120 litres milk in 120 days; twins rare.


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Nachi Meat/ milk

Bahawalpur, Multan, Muzaffargarh & Layyah districts

Black but black and white-spotted too

Medium 28-33 0.6 kg/head Medium head, Roman nose, small & thin horns, medium ears; udder well-developed, 150 litres milk in 100-day lactation; twin births common; because of dancing gait, these goats called ‘Nachi’.

Pothowari Meat Pothowar area of Punjab & adjoining parts of Kotli & Mirpur districts in Azad Kashmir

Black, grey or white Small 22-28 0.6 kg Head & ears of medium size, hairy growth on chin, horns spiralled in males but smooth in females; udder not well-developed, 110 litres milk in 150 days; only 10 % twin births.

Teddy Meat Sargodha, Gujrat,

Jhelum & Rawalpindi districts in Punjab & adjoining areas of Azad Kashmir

Creamy-white, brown, black or patched with these colours

Small 23-27 Generally not Clipped

Compact body; small droopy ears, slightly prominent nose, horns may have spirals; both horned & polled specimens found; bucks often have beards; udder moderately developed, short conical teats, 65 litres milk in 130 days; twins & triplets occur at about 50 & 15%; early maturity & high prolificacy important features of this breed.


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Sindh

Bari Meat Parts of Hyderabad, Dadu, Larkana, Jacobabad, Khairpur & Nawabshah

White, brown or spotted Small 20-23 - Compact body, small head, small, straight & erect ears like that of a deer (hence named ‘Bari’), small pointed horns, polled animals also seen; 100 litres milk in 110 days; since they look like a deer, therefore also raised as a fancy breed.

Bugri (Bagitoori)

Meat Parts of Hyderabad, Badin & Mirpurkhas

White Small 25-30 0.6 kg Hairy animals; medium head with spirally twisted horns rising in an upright position, drooping medium ears; during walking neck and face held upward.

Chappar

(Kohistani

or

Jabli)

Meat South western mountainous ranges comprising parts of Karachi, Thatta, Dadu & Larkana districts in Sindh and Lasbela in Balochistan

All black or white or spotted with black & white

Small 22-26 0.6 kg Since originates from mountainous region hence the breed named ‘Chappar’, ‘Kohistani’, or ‘Jabli’, one of the most common breeds in Sindh; head small with a forelock, ears small to medium, horns having blunt ends present in males & females; tail nearly 18 cm; 90 litres milk in 120 days.

Desi Meat/ milk

Dadu, Nawabshah, Sukhur & part of Larkana

Black body but white, grey & spotted animals also seen, head & part of neck black

Medium to large

39-48 0.4 kg These goats result from a cross between Kamori & Chappar; compact body; medium head, ears 15-27 cm; tail about 15 cm; udder and teats moderately developed, 140 litres milk in 95 days; twin births common.

Jattan

(Dhattan)

Milch Irrigated areas of Mirpurkhas bordering Thar desert

Fawn, red or black; ears are white splashed with fawn, red or black; black ring around base of neck in males

Large 42-50 Generally not Clipped

This breed named after camel-raising tribe of Jats in Sindh; medium drooping ears, males/females horned; long legs; udder well-developed, 225 litres milk in 130 days.

Kamori Milch Found all over Sindh but good specimens available in Hala, Saeedabad & parts of Nawabshah

Dark-brown with light-brown or black patches

Large 44-50 Generally not Clipped

A breed of irrigated tract; large, compact, high-set; head large, Roman nose, ears long, wide & drooping; males/females horned; tail small; udder & teats well-developed, 210 litres milk in 115 days; twin births common; exported to other countries.

Pateri Milch/ meat

Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Khairpur & Sanghar districts

Body white, face, neck, ears & part of legs reddish brown

Large 42-52 - Ears long, drooping & wide at the ends, horned; udder well-developed, milk yield 170 litres in 120 days; twin births common; fattened males in great


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demand for sacrifice on Eid-ul-Azha

Tapri Meat Sanghar, Mirpurkhas & parts of Hyderabad & Khairpur districts

Camel-coloured or reddish brown; occasionally white body also seen

Small 18-22 - Head & ears small, long spiralled horns in male; neck short; udder & teats small; twin births common; early maturing and prolific.


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Tharki Meat Thar desert, hence the name ‘Tharki’

Body colour black, but red animals also seen

Medium - 0.7 kg Tharki are hairy goats; medium head & ears; udder adequately developed, 110 litres milk in 120-day lactation; twin births 20% ; Tharki goats somewhat resemble Chappar goats, but the latter are comparatively smaller, their udder less developed & the horns have blunt ends.

NWFP

Damani Meat/ milk

Bannu, D.I. Khan & parts of Peshawar district

Black body & tan or camel-coloured head & lower half of legs

Small 26-31 0.7 kg Head & ears medium, horns curved & pointed; tail small; udder & teats fairly developed, 110 litres milk in 100 days; twin births common.

Gaddi Meat Kaghan valley Generally black, but white & grey animals also seen

Large 42-50 1.4 kg Hairy animals; massive head with long ears and horns; 125 litres milk in 150 days; mostly single births.

Kaghani Meat Kaghan valley, including Abbottabad, Mansehra, Swat, & Muzaffarabad district of Azad Kashmir

Black body, but white, grey or brown animals also seen

Medium 35-42 2 kg Body covered with dense & long hair; large head, medium ears, thick horns extending upwards & backwards; twin births common.

Balochistan

Khurassani Meat/ milk

Chaghi, Loralai, Quetta & Zhob districts

Body colour black, but white or grey animals also seen

Small 25-30 1 kg Head & ears medium, large spiralled horns in males, beard present in some animals; tail 18-20 cm; udder well-developed, 180 litres milk in 150 days; mostly single births; they have long and shiny hair.

Lehri Meat Lehri town in Sibi district, hence named ‘Lehri’

Black, but white or grey animals also seen

Medium 30-35 0.8 kg Head medium, ears pliable, long, broad & pendulous, males/females horned; tail about 20cm; udder & teats small; body covered with long hair; twin births common.


Baltistani Meat/ milk

Baltistan district in Northern Areas

Body black with white patches, head black

Small 25-29 - Head small, short horns in males/females; 100 litres milk per lactation.

Jarakheil Meat/ milk

Chilas valley in Diamir district in Northern Areas & adjoining parts of Hazara district & Azad Kashmir

Black with white patches, but brown with white patches also seen

Large 45-52 1.2 kg Well-developed body with long hair; large drooping ears with white patches, large horns; udder & teats remain hidden in their long hair, 135 litres milk in 100-day lactation.

Kohai Meat Found in area along Kohai Ghizar, extending from

Generally black with white patches on belly

Medium 30-35 - Head small, ears drooping, males horned


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Ghizar Gilgit to Yasin & Imit in Northern Areas

and brown rings around eyes; blue-eyed animals also seen

while most females polled; tail & teats very small, 70 litres milk in 100 days

Piamiri Meat Upper Hunza valley near Khunjarab territory in Northern Areas

Generally all black, but brown or grey-white patches occasionally seen

Medium 30-36 - Small to medium erect ears, arc like horns in males while females mostly polled; legs short & hairy; teats small, 80 litres milk in 100 days.

Buchi Meat Parts of Kotli, Poonch & Muzaffarabad districts in Azad Kashmir

Black or grey Small 22-30 0.8 kg Massive head, slightly Roman nose, very small ears, hence named ‘Buchi’, males/females horned; udder medium, 90 litres milk in 150 days; 12-15 cm long hair; Buchi bucks crossbred with Labri (long ears) to produce Shurri goats (with medium ears), since long ears get entangled with thorny bushes or injured from frost in winter.

Desi

(Jattal)

Meat Mirpur & Kotli districts in Azad Kashmir

Black Small 19-23 0.6 kg Slim animals covered with 8-10 cm long hair; head massive, ears medim, hair present on chin, horns spiralled in males & smooth in females; 80 litres milk in 150 days; mostly single births.

Kooti Meat/ milk

Almut, Kail, & Southern areas in Azad Kashmir

Black & white patches on body

Small 15-20 0.6 kg Head & ears small, horns small & spiralled; legs short & stout; 100 litres milk in 150 days; twin births 15%; because of smaller size Kooti goats are gaining popularity.

Labri Meat/ milk

Jhelum, Leepa & Neelam valleys of Muzaffarabad district & adjoining areas of Poonch district in Azad Kashmir

Mostly black, but some with light-grey or brown patches

Large 40-48 1.8 kg Body covering of 18-20 cm long hair; head large with long ears, chin has hairy growth; males/females have long thick horns; udder & teats adequately developed, 170 litres milk in 150 days; twin births 45%.

Shurri Meat/ milk

Jhelum, Leepa & Neelam valleys of Muzaffarabad district & Bagh & Haveli areas of Poonch district in Azad Kashmir

Solid white, grey, or black; or patched with these colours

Medium 32-38 1 kg Body covered with 15-18 cm long hair; head & ears medium, males/females horned, hairy growth on chin; legs long and stout, goats at higher altitudes have hairy legs; 135 litres milk in 150 days; twin births 40%.


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HINTS FOR BEGINNERS Q. Give some useful hints for beginners in small ruminant business. Practical experience indicates that it is preferable to start with a small number of animals.

Starting small gives you the opportunity to get low-cost experience. If you start with

fewer animals than your pasture will support, you will be able to keep your best animals

lambs/kids each year. After a few years, as any of your purchased ewes/goats reach an

unproductive age, they can be replaced by those of your best lambs/kids earmarked for

this purpose.

If you have no preference for any specific breed, consideration may be given to a local predominant breed since it is more likely to be well suited to the climate. Buying animals from a nearby area, well suited to the climate, helps save transport costs and a stressful journey for the animal. You can also get replacement rams/ bucks more easily, even these can be exchanged with other breeders in that vicinity, when you have used yours for sometime and want to avoid inbreeding. Q. Is it always necessary to start with purebreds? Discuss. A purebred possesses the distinct characteristics of a specific breed (and in countries where associations for purebreds of various breeds exist, it is either registered or is eligible for registry. Purebreds have greater uniformity in appearance and production and a chance of income from the sale of breeding stock. Theoretically, they are expected to be in better health, as the owner probably would take better care of valuable animals. However, for a beginner to start with purebreds means higher initial cost, plus the cost of registering each lamb/kid, with no better price for either the meat or the wool than if they were not registered. Also, the financial loss is greater if one dies. Q. Discuss the importance of a good ram/buck. It is often considered a good investment to buy a purebred ram/buck to use on grade ewes/goats, for his good characteristics will show up in every newborn. Many breeders feel that the male’s breed exerts more influence on the lamb/kid than does the female’s. Practically this may be true for most traits, but not in case of twinning. This is controlled by the number of eggs the ewe/doe drops to be fertilized, which is influenced by genetics and encouraged by flushing. However, the lambs/kids they produce, will inherit both the ewe’s/doe’s and ram’s/buck’s twinning capabilities and this will show up in the following generations. The ram/buck greatly influences conformation. The ram also does influence fleece type. It has always been known that a whole flock can be upgraded by the introduction of a superior ram/buck. Q. Enlist below the factors, which need to be avoided while buying sheep/goats. A list of such criteria is given below, all of which may not be applicable to both the species.


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i) Extremely thin: Unless she has just raised twins or triplets, she may have a disease or a heavy load of parasites.

ii) Extremely fat: She may not breed, or if bred she may have trouble lambing/kidding.

iii) Narrow shallow-bodied: Their young ones lack good carcass conformation. iv) Fine-boned: Those with larger bones are more hardy and productive. v) Teeth missing: An animal with missing teeth cannot eat well and may require

supplemental care and feeding. vi) Old animals: Those over six or seven years old are progressively less

profitable. They are a poor investment. vii) An animal having pink eye or any eye damage should not be purchased. viii) Limping animal: This may indicate hoof disease. ix) Untrimmed feet, turned up at the toes, or overgrown and turned under at the

sides. x) Lower jaw not matching upper jaw properly, either overshot or undershot. xi) Lumps in the udder: These may indicate mastitis, thus the youngone would

require supplemental bottles or be a complete bottle baby. xii) Bottle jaw: Lumps or swelling under the chin, is usually caused by severe

internal parasite infestation. xiii) Tail and anal region soiled with lose droppings: May be caused by lush

seasonal fodders or pasture, but also could be caused by internal parasites. May be asked when they were dewormed last and what drug was used?

xiv) Animals that were single births: Twinning is quite hereditary which is primarily influenced by female and is more profitable.

xv) Small size: Those that are undersized for their particular breed are not recommended. They produce smaller youngones and less wool in case of sheep.

xvi) Wool covering face. (This is a problem in some of the western sheep breeds). Shearing the face takes time. Wool blindness inhibits eating and mothering. Some studies show that open-faced ewes are more fertile than muffle-faced ewes.

xvii) Wool going too far down on legs: Since shearing on legs is difficult, therefore better avoid such animals.

xviii) Ragged, unattractive fleece: This indicates scratching by sheep because of ticks or mites. Part the fleece in several places and look closely for this problem.

xix) Double teats or teats with double orifices, very large (sausage teats) or very small teats are to be avoided, especially in milk goats.

xx) Very large udders (many of them are just meat) or very pendulous udders (more prone to injury and mastitis infections) are not desirable.

xxi) Do not buy from marshy areas and from places where infectious diseases are a common occurrence.

xxii) Do not buy from too distant places so that transportation and acclimatization problems do not arise.

Q. What points need to be kept in mind while purchasing a ram/buck?


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The old saying that the “ram/buck is half the flock” is still the best rule of thumb for selection of a sire. The choice of sire will most rapidly change the character of flock, good or bad. It is therefore, necessary to examine him well before buying. Some of the points given below are applicable to ram only.

• Good size, deep wide body, heavy muscular neck. • Well-developed sex organs, scrotal circumference 22 to 26 cm for about 50 to

55 kg yearlings. • No scrotal mange, no hernia. Turn the ram/buck up to examine. • Possibly, insist on a negative ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay)

test for sire epididymitis. • Good feet: Bad feet can render a ram useless. • Good eyes: Examine for pink eye or any sign of eye damage. • Good teeth: These should be well aligned with upper jaw. • Head not too large: It is important to avoid problems at parturition time. • Full hindquarters, especially in meat animals. • Possibly be one of twins or triplets, to influence prolificacy of his daughters. • Avoid a ram having too many wrinkles and folds in its fleece. • Notice the general health of the rest of the flock to which the sire belongs. • Watch for external parasites because of their presence signifies negligence in

management. • Must possess the characteristics of the pertinent breed. • Examine its pedigree, at least try to trace some of its ancestors. • In case of milk goat’s flock, make sure that there is milk in buck’s pedigree.

Q. What is meant by ELISA? It is a highly sensitive blood test specific for identifying ram/buck epididymitis. It stands for Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay test. Epididymitis is caused by one of several different organisms, which damages sperm-producing tissue. The infection is well established before the external symptoms become visible. Symptoms include swelling of the epididymis (located at the base of the testis) and the presence of hard lumpy tissue, showing that the disease is well advanced. It is mainly contagious from sire to sire but can be transmitted through an ewe/goat who has been serviced by a diseased ram/buck. Vaccination not highly successful. When the only indication of the disease is seminal white blood cells, before the disease becomes clinical, high levels of antibiotics such as tetracycline and streptomycin can be effective. This might save a valuable animal, but would require isolation and extensive monitoring. In certain countries, a negative ELISA test is a must for any ram/buck sold for breeding purposes. After identification diseased animals are culled. Q. How to avoid shipping fever in animals to be transported to a distant place. To prevent shipping fever, it is helpful to give an injection of combiotic to each animal before transporting them. Preferably they should be moved in mild weather. Overcrowding and rough handling be avoided during transportation. If a large number of


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animals is to be transported, an antibiotic can be added to their water well ahead of time. Stop for rest if the journey requires more time than 28 hours. Q. Give some hints that can be of practical help in avoiding problems with

newly purchased sheep/goats. Give the same feed at your farm as the sheep/goats you bought were accustomed to eat. Get information about feed from the owner, if you feel it is not available at your end, may buy some from the owner (especially the grains). Then gradually change them from their accustomed feed to whatever you intend to feed. Never change abruptly. To avoid scours or bloat, the animals should be fed dry grass before being sent on a pasture more lush than they had before. Ask the owner about the feet trimmed last and see if he will trim one of them while you watch. This is an easy way to learn how it is done. While purchasing it is important to know when deworming was done last and what drug was used?. It is equally important to find out that what vaccinations have been given to the animals you are buying. Also find out what diseases may have occurred in that flock. All sheep/goats possibly should have tested negative for ovine progressive pneumonia (OPP). All animals should be free of foot rot and that ram/buck has tested negative for epididymitis. Q. Discuss sheep/goat age vs/price. The age of ewe/goat is important in relation to the price asked. Workout roughly how many more fleeces and lambs (in case of sheep) and how many more kids and how much more milk (in case of milk goat) she can be expected to produce? If she is quite old, how much additional feed will she need to compensate for her poor teeth? Again there is the importance of multiple births. Does this old ewe/goat have a history of twins or triplets? If so, this marks her more valuable, assuming she gets the care that makes more lambing/kidding possible. Q. What breed of sheep/goat to keep? Whenever you talk of sheep/goat raising, the question which breed to keep crops up first among a few other important things. It may not be advisable to bring a breed from a very far off place. The best would be to use a more available breed, knowing that a careful and patient breeding programme could upgrade any breed and may even give many of the desired qualities of the less-available breed. By adding and using one special ram/buck, at a later stage might help accomplish your breeding goal. Q. What factors help determine the selection of a breed? Different breeds were developed (especially where sheep and/or goat industry is well advanced) in response to market needs and conditions under which they had to be raised. Does not matter, how good a particular breed may sound, it may not be the best choice for all situations. Such things as its availability, climate, pasture/feed, and how much time and money can be invested in their care are important. Sheep/goat breeds known to yield multiple births are, of course, preferred. However, sufficient attention is required to ensure the survival and good growth of youngones. Twins and triplets without supplemental grain feeding grow slowly than singles. Some breeds can be managed to produce youngones twice a year, but off-season births do not usually correspond to the best time for grazing. Thus dams and youngones both will need special feeding. Less emphasis is now placed on visual appearance of animals and more on carefully measured productive characteristics such as feed conversion, weight gains, fast growth of


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youngones, mothering ability, prolificacy, clean weight of wool and milk production in case of milk goats. In a situation where it is not possible for the attendant or the owner to be at home during the day in lambing/kidding season then the ease of lambing/kidding should be more important than growth rate. In case you live in a climate of extremely hot summers, then heat resistance would be more urgent than longevity of the animals. For meat purposes, breeds with large bones and having low-set bodies are preferable. Q. Why sheep with wool on legs (lower down), face and with dense skin folds are

not preferred? Wool on sheep’s legs should be considered a disadvantage because it is almost unusable and makes shearing more time-consuming. Wool on the face is another disadvantage. It is very inheritable. It has been reported that open-faced ewes will raise more and heavier lambs. Also open-faced ewes do not suffer from wool blindness or collect burrs on the face. Skin folds do produce a higher grease fleece weight, which then also means higher shrinkage. For hand spinners, the excessively greasy fleeces are harder to wash. Skin folds make shearing more tedious and cause more second cuts. Also maggots can hatch and thrive in moisture-retaining folds. Folds predispose sheep to fly strike. Skin folds usually indicate a somewhat lower fertility. Folds are inheritable and found mainly in some of the fine wool breeds. Real fine wool breeds are found in Europe, New Zealand, Australia and North America. Q. Discuss the role of a farm manager in successful operation of a sheep/goat

farm.

The farm manager or the farm owner has to be a leader. Farm staff should have sufficient confidence in his managerial judgement and abilities. He should have an inspiring attitude. A manager’s duty, apart from management and coordination for harmonious running of the farm, is to lay down policies and assure their implementation. If any one among the staff has a good suggestion, the manager must consider it and may adopt it. His main consideration in making decisions should be economy. By proper supervision, he must try to economise the working of the farm and thereby increase profit. He must be conversant with computer operation so that all farm related information may be computerized. Q. What specifically are the responsibilities of an animal farm manager?

Briefly these are: planning, organizing, directing, coordinating and controlling the

enterprise.

Planning: Planning regarding the major aspects of an animal enterprise such as feeding, breeding, management and disease control and marketing needs to be made well in advance. The selection, purchase, culling and breeding of animals, cultivation of fodder crops to supply green fodder throughout the year, preservation of surplus fodder, procurement and storage of concentrates and other feeds are among the jobs that need his


34

attention. Off−season purchases always cost more than purchases at harvest. A thorough study of records be made and new plans devised so as to remedy the shortcomings, if any. Each day’s work should be planned at least one day earlier. Depending on the inclination and capacity of each labourer, duties should be assigned to keep them busy without being overworked. Organising: The guiding principle is the proper man at the proper place and at the proper time. It is the manager’s concern to know the norms and quantum of work that a worker is expected to finish in a certain unit of time. Direction: Nothing confuses more than inconsistent orders given and renewed at short intervals. Orders should be simple and specific. A good officer delegates some of his powers to his subordinates/supervisors and inspires them. If some one has done a good job, he must be encouraged. Coordination and Control: Many problems can be solved easily if there is adequate communication between the manager and the staff working with him. Coordination has to be assured between persons working in different sections such as feed supply and feeding, detection of animals in heat and breeding operations, maintenance of equipment and disease control. The manager should encourage the employees to work together as a team. Owner−manager: An owner−managed farm should be more efficient and profitable, provided the owner possesses the necessary skill and technical knowledge. It is better that he should consider the following points before appointing himself as the manager:

i) Does he possess the necessary technical training and knowledge? ii) Has he adequate knowledge of accountancy and book keeping? iii) Is he having sufficient experience with fuel operated machines, tractors, use of

computer etc. If the answers to the above questions are in affirmative, the owner can work as a manager. However, this calls for a great patience and perseverance on his part. In case he lacks technical know how, it is advisable to get himself equipped with the same by undergoing short duration related courses at a nearby agricultural university.


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FEEDING AND NUTRITION Basically sheep are grazers and goats are browsers. Raising sheep and goats is an efficient way to convert grass into food and clothing for humans. They also fertilize the soil in a big way. Pasture or range feeding alone is seldom adequate for 12 months of the year, making feeding of supplements quite necessary. Feeding time provides an occasion to check your sheep/goats, feel their udder when close to lambing/kidding, note the way they are eating, which reflects their state of health. Count the animals, particularly when they were in a wooded grazing area where one could be entangled in bushes and was in need of help. Q. Discuss the current scenario concerning feeding of small ruminants in

Pakistan. Most farmers who keep sheep/goats here are not in a position to pick and choose appropriate feeds for their animals according to the energy or protein content of each feed. They make use of the scant natural grazing and crop by-products that are available and try to feed their sheep/goat as best they can with what they have. Of course, their best is hardly the least of well-fed sheep/goats of farmers in Europe or the USA. The present practice might be termed as ‘supply-driven’ feeding and not ‘demand-driven’ since the small ruminants are being fed according to the supply of feeds available, over which the farmer or the pastoralist may have little control. Farmers can be helped to make more efficient use of the available feeds and to increase supply of feeds by growing forage crops. The use of formulated rations presently seems a remote possibility in most situations prevailing here.

Q. Give an estimate of the capacity of a milk-fed lamb/kid stomach and that of a mature ewe/doe.

A young milk-fed lamb/kid has about 30% stomach space occupied by the rumen and reticulum. At maturity, a well developed ewe/doe has a rumen that occupies 80% of the stomach space and a reticulum 5%. The omasum is 8% and the abomasum is 7%. An illustration of why feeding requirements of ruminants differ from single stomach animals, note that a horse’s stomach holds 11 to 18 litres, while a buffalo/cow stomach (fours) holds about 240 litres. The rumen does not increase to this size without proper development. Early feeding of roughage is essential for this purpose. Q. Poor feeding of ewes/does may lead to what damaging effects? Poor feeding results in reduced fertility, poor nursing ability, reduced multiple births, decreased wool/meat/milk production, a higher incidence of pregnancy disease and reduced growth rate of lambs/kids. An undernourished animal may also give birth to an offspring a few days early, which thus has less chance of survival. An undersized offspring, born outdoor in bad weather is more likely to suffer greater loss of body heat leading to its death. Q. Discuss the importance of regular feeding. Small ruminants do not thrive well when the time and quality of their feeds fluctuates much, especially grain feeding. These animals are not like buffaloes, cattle or horses since they do not eat well in the dark and should have time to eat their feed before nightfall. Too much variation in feeding time disturbs rumen function. During advanced pregnancy, erratic feeding can trigger toxaemia. Some reports indicate that regular


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feeding of sheep/goats, say about 10 a.m. helped reduce the night and early morning births. More recent trials suggest late afternoon feeding, shifting even later in the day two to three weeks before parturition. Either feeding schedule helps shift lambing/kidding time primarily into daylight hours. Q. Why sudden feed changes in small ruminants are not advisable? The stomach of small ruminants can adjust to a great variety of feed, provided changes are made gradually. A sudden change of ration, such as sudden access to excess feed can cause death. The rumen has a mixed bacterial content with the ability to adapt to the nature of the diet. Small ruminants who are fed only roughages will not be able to adapt to a sudden change to grain, since the rumen will be so geared to the handling of fibrous material that the bacteria which utilize concentrated starch and protein will be present in too small a number to function, thus the animals will go off their feed and suffer. A gradual change from roughages to grain gives those grain-handling flora a chance to multiply. A disturbance of the rumen by an abrupt change of diet will leave the animals open to infections and disease, by interfering with the production of VFAs and the synthesis of A and B vitamins. A good rule of thumb would be to change feed no faster than 10% per day. Production of milk requires more protein than would be needed for body maintenance. Thus a milking doe is fed ration of at least 16% protein, while a dry mature doe or buck will do well on 12%. Protein is expensive and any excess is just wasted. Q. Write a note on composition of feeds. It is important to know the quality of different types of feeds and to know their characteristics and role in small ruminant feeding. In developed countries printed tables of feed analyses show the composition of feeds. This type of information in printed form is partly available in this country as well. It is useful to be able to read and understand the printed tables of feed analyses. All feeds consist of the components shown in Figure 1. Feed is first divided into water and dry matter (DM). The DM component provides all the nutrients necessary for life such as energy, protein, vitamins and minerals. Of course water is also vital for life. However, it is on dry matter basis that feeds are evaluated because the quantity of water in feeds varies greatly according to feed type, season, stage of growth etc. Water Carbohydrates (starch and sugars) Energy Fibre (cellulose, lignin) Lipids Feed

Organic Protein Vitamins Dry matter Inorganic – Minerals Figure 1. The main components of feed Q. Write an essay on methods of feed analysis. By far the most common method of making a basic analysis of a feed is known as proximate analysis, which was developed over 100 years ago. In this method the feed is broken down into the fractions shown in Table 1. There are problems in interpreting the


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results of proximate analysis. Important feed components are split between two fractions; carbohydrates, for example, are split between the crude fibre fraction and the nitrogen-free extracts fraction. The crude fibre fraction should indicate the proportion of the feed that is indigestible, but it does not, because it contains both cellulose and hemicellulose, which can both be digested, depending how closely they are associated with lignin. Despite its weakness, this method of analysis is widely used in the subtropics and tropics. A typical feed analysis looks like as shown in Table 2. This table shows the amount of dry matter in different parts of Leucaena leucocephala. It can be a helpful starting point when estimating how much dry matter a sheep/goat will receive from a feed. It also gives an indication of the amount of protein, but the crude protein value does not show how much of the protein is digestible by a small ruminant. Thus the proximate analysis results should be viewed as an initial guide to the potential value of a feed. A better method of feed analysis is the Van Soest method. The Van Soest method divides the feed into different fractions from those employed in proximate analysis. The term acid detergent fibre (ADF) may be seen in some tables; it is a good indicator of the indigestible fibre content of feeds. If fibre is largely indigestible, the amount of energy a sheep/goat can obtain from the feed is low. Table 1. Feed components of proximate analysis Fraction Components Moisture Water Ash Minerals Crude protein (CP) Proteins, amino acids, B-vitamins Ether extract (EE) Fats, oils, vitamins A,D,E,K Crude fibre (CF) Cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin Nitrogen free extract (NFE) Cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, sugars,

tannins, water-soluble vitamins Table 2. Proximate feed analysis for Leucaena leucocephala

As% of dry matter Plant part

Dry matter % CP CF Ash EE NFE

Fresh leaves

30.7 24.2 24.2 8.9 2.7 40.0

Pods 91.0 35.8 11.4 4.4 7.5 40.9 Q. Give a detailed account of digestion in an adult small ruminant. The sheep/goat, like other ruminants, has a specialized series of organs, in which the huge quantity of fibrous feeds it eats is broken down into feed components that it can absorb and actually use. The break down of feeds is done for it by a huge population of bacteria and protozoa, known as rumen microbes, to which the sheep/goat plays host. The small ruminant provides the microbes with a nice warm environment and a steady supply of feed. The sheep/goat benefit from this arrangement, because it obtains feed which has been partially broken down and which the sheep/goat can directly digest. They can also digest both dead and living microbes when they pass out of rumen, providing the host with valuable nutrients. Thus when feeding a small ruminant (SR), it is important to think


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not just about the SR itself, but also how to adjust and make the microorganisms active and able to multiply, by supplying them with the nutrients they need. Feed enters the stomach through the mouth, where it is mixed with saliva. After passing down the oesophagus, it enters the rumen. The rumen being a compound stomach, has four compartments: the rumen proper, reticulum, omasum and abomasum (Figures 2,3). Once in the rumen, the feed is broken down by physical means through the movement of the rumen and during rumination, when the feed is regurgitated and chewed again by the animal. The rumen is home to microbes which secrete enzymes that act on the feed and break it down. Carbohydrates (sugars, starch and fibre) are converted into volatile fatty acids (VFA) and methane. The VFAs can be absorbed through the rumen wall by the sheep/goat, while the methane is released through belching. During the process of breaking down feed, a substantial amount of heat is released. The SR has to get rid of it through panting, sweating and simple convection. This heat source can be a great advantage to it in a cold climate, but a burden in hot weather/climate. The VFAs are the main direct source of energy for the SR’s maintenance and growth. The SR is also able to convert them into their various products. Three main types of VFAs are produced in the rumen: acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acid. The proportions, in which they are produced, are determined by the type of feed consumed. The balance between fibre and starch/sugars can have an effect on the quality and quantity of milk yield, being more important in dairy goats. Starch/sugars largely determine total milk yield, while increasing fibre enhances fat content of milk. Feeds rich in starch and sugars such as whole grains or sweet potatoes, can have a dramatic effect on milk yield, but it needs to be careful. The break down of starch and sugars happens very quickly, producing large quantities of methane, which must be removed quickly if a bloat of rumen is not to occur. Bloat can be fatal. Fibre is broken down much more slowly and helps maintain efficient conditions for digestion in the rumen. Fibre should always be fed with foods such as grains. Proteins are broken down by the microbes in the rumen into peptides, amino acids and ammonia. These are then used by the microbes themselves, when they reproduce and multiply. Microbes are continuously multiplying and dying. Living and dead microbes, when they move out of the rumen, constitute microbial protein, which together with amino acids is digested by the sheep/goat in the abomasum and the first part of the small intestine. It is important to understand that only proteins and amino acids, which actually manage to reach the small intestine, are of direct use to the goat. It is much more efficient for the sheep/goat to digest protein for itself in the small intestine, than to wait for the microbes to break down and digest a protein to covert it into microbial protein, which the host animal then has to break down again for itself. Protein is often the scarcest, most expensive component in the diet, therefore, it is important to think about how to use most efficiently the protein that is available. Urea can be absorbed directly by small ruminants, which recycle it through their saliva or it may be converted into microbes and then microbial protein for later use by sheep/goat. It means that microbial organisms in the rumen can be encouraged to develop by feeding urea in the diet as a source of non-protein nitrogen. Non-protein nitrogen is a cheap source of nitrogen. The urea must be fed with a source of easily fermentable energy; molasses is commonly used. The urea might come from simple urea fertilizer. This is a feature that can be exploited to achieve cheap improvements in small ruminant feeding. A


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word of caution is that do not feed urea in excess of the levels recommended for sheep/goat. Q. What is meant by manipulation of digestion in the rumen and small

intestine? Discuss. Manipulation here refers to adjusting the proportions of energy (sugars, starch and fibre) and protein (amino acids and non-protein nitrogen), so that the rumen microbes are well fed to do their job and so that some protein escapes the rumen and provides a source of protein directly and efficiently, to the sheep/goat through the small intestine. Protein that is broken down in the rumen is called Rumen Degradable Protein (RDP), which supplies a source of nitrogen to the microbes in the rumen. Protein that goes through the rumen and is digested in the small intestine is called Undegraded Dietary Protein (UDP) or simply ‘by-pass protein’. Different feeds contain different proportions of RDP and UDP (Table 3). The amounts of RDP and UDP in any feed are measured by using the rumen bag technique. This technique gives a simple, quick and useful assessment of the nutritive value of a feed in the rumen. Table 3. Degradability and by-passability of proteins from different feeds Feed Degradability By-passability Grass hay 0.9 0.1 Wheat 0.8 0.2 Soya bean meal 0.6 0.4 Fish meal 0.4 0.6 Blood meal 0.3 0.7

Source: Peacock (1996). Q. How can you use the knowledge gained from the preceding three questions to

make sure that sheep/goats get the best balance of nutrients? The first thought that comes in mind in this respect is: does the current diet contain a source of carbohydrates that can be easily used by the rumen microbes? This might be derived from grass or better sources such as molasses, banana peelings etc. In addition to energy, the rumen microbes need a source of protein or non-protein nitrogen so they can multiply and build up a source of microbial protein for the small ruminant. A diet that satisfies the rumen microbes and thus indirectly the sheep/goat, is likely to be sufficient for the basic needs of sheep/goat. However, protein made by microbes will not be enough if high levels of production (fast growth, higher wool yield, higher milk yield) are expected. In this case a source of by-pass protein will be needed to supply higher levels of protein directly to the sheep/goat. Q. What different purposes are served by providing feed to small ruminants? These include the following: Maintenance: The normal activities of staying alive, breathing, blood circulation; digestive processes etc., all require nutrients. Reproduction: Pregnancy and delivery make demands on the dam, which have to be met from her feed, if she is not to lose weight. The foetus increases in size quickly during the last six weeks of pregnancy, drawing on the body reserves of the dam.


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Growth: Any growth requires nutrients; during the main period of growth between weaning and attaining the mature body weight, a small ruminant requires large quantities of energy and protein. Lactation: Producing milk either for one or two newborns or for human consumption requires high levels of energy and protein and good access to water. Wool/Mohair Production: Energy and protein are both required for fibre production. Significant responses have been obtained from protein supplements. Extra Activity: Sheep and goat in pastoral systems have to be very active particularly during dry season, walking long distances searching for feed. Sheep and goat flocks may walk 5 to 15 km per day. Goats cover longer distances. A great deal of energy is used up by sheep and goats for the purpose, significantly affecting productivity. Q. How to calculate the digestibility of a feed for small ruminants? Although the potential value of a feed can be roughly determined by proximate analysis, the actual value of the feed to a small ruminant, what is digested and absorbed, cannot be calculated unless digestibility of the feed is known. Digested feed is the part of the food that is consumed and not excreted as faeces. It is commonly expressed in terms of dry matter. There are two methods of calculating digestibility, using live animals (in vivo) and in a laboratory (in vitro). If a small ruminant consumes 1.5 kg of DM as feed and excretes 0.3 kg DM, the apparent digestibility of the feed is: Intake – Output 1.5 – 0.3 _____________ X 100 = _______ X 100 = 80% digestibility Intake 1.5 Coefficients for digestibility can be calculated for each fraction of the proximate analysis of dry matter. This method of calculating digestibility is not precisely accurate since there are other losses of nutrients apart from the loss through faeces. Nutrients are lost in sweat and gases, but these are difficult to measure. Moreover, not all the material in faeces comes directly from the feed just eaten. It could also have come from the body of the animal itself, in the form of dead microbes from the rumen. Estimates of digestibility tend to lead to underestimates of true digestibility and are normally expressed as estimates of apparent digestibility. The higher the digestibility of a feed, the higher the quality of that feed. Low quality feeds that take a long time to be digested in the rumen will take up space and prevent more feed from being consumed, reducing the total amount eaten. Feed that has a high dry matter digestibility such as young green grass or young leaves of leucaena, is a high quality feed. Feeds such as older stemmy grass or rice straw have low digestibility, because there are high levels of lignin, making most of the cellulose indigestible to the small ruminants. Q. What factors may influence the digestibility of a certain feed? The following are the factors: Stage of Growth and Part of Plant: The stage of growth of a forage species can affect its digestibility; similarly, the part of the plant whether it is the growing point or older more lignified material, affects the quality of the feed.


41

Species of Animal: Goats are thought to be more efficient at digesting fibrous feeds than sheep, particularly at low levels of crude protein. Physical Characteristics of Feed: If the feed is chopped or ground, it may pass through the rumen so quickly that its digestibility is actually reduced. Level of Feeding: An increase in the quantity of feed can cause an increase in the rate of passage through the rumen and digestive tract, so the feed is exposed to digestive enzymes for a short period, reducing digestibility. Q. Write a detailed note on feed intake in goats. The more feed a goat eats, the better. It is true unless feed is very scarce and needs to be carefully rationed over a particular period, as in the dry season. The amount of feed a goat eats will affect its health and production: the more the better. But eating is essentially a voluntary activity; it is hard to force a goat to eat something that it does not want to eat! Thus it is important to understand the factors that affect the amount of feed a goat eats and how these influences can be manipulated so that the goat can be encouraged and in some cases tricked into eating as much as it can. The amount of feed actually eaten by goats (voluntary feed intake) is possible to measure only in stall-fed goats. The amount eaten by grazing goats can only be guessed at. The quantity of feed consumed is determined by factors relating to the goats and factors relating to the feed and the way the goat has access to that feed. This is true whether the goat is free grazing or stall-fed, although there is more scope and need for manipulation in stall feeding than if the goat is out grazing and allowed to express its natural preferences. An objective of the farmer should be to trick the goat into eating cheaper, lower quality feeds such as crop residues. The taste, smell and physical ease with which the goat can eat the feed are important. If it is contaminated, smells bad, tastes bad and is difficult for the goat to reach, or the feed is presented low down on the ground so that it has to bend down to eat, then it will not eat much (Figure 4). Ideally long coarse grasses or crop residues should be chopped. If straw and stovers are fed, the goat will need more water. These coarse feeds with a high dry matter content need to soak up water in order for them to be digested. If the feed is highly digestible, it will be degraded and absorbed quickly and pass through the goat’s digestive system quickly. This in turn stimulates appetite, because the goat will soon feel empty. Conversely, in areas having humid climate, moisture content may be very high, in which case the goat may quickly fill up with watery feed and be unable to eat until it has excreted the excess water as urine. If a feed is not liked by the goat, it will be very selective in what it eats. If a lot of feed is offered, the total amount eaten will be more than if it had only a small amount from which to select. Mixing new feed with left over feed, provided that it still smells and looks good, can trick the goat into thinking that it is being offered a large quantity of new feed from which it can make its selection. If the feed is liked, it is best to feed it little to avoid wastage. When only a small amount of feed is provided, the goat will be forced to eat a higher proportion of feed than when offered a large quantity at one time. Q. Do hot and/or humid climates affect feed intake in small ruminants? In very hot and humid climates, the heat and humidity can reduce the amount that sheep/goats eat. In the process of digestion a great deal of heat is produced which must be lost if the animal is not to over heat. Most of this heat is lost through sweating, which is less effective in humid environment. During the hottest part of the day sheep/goats may stop eating, not because they are full, but because they have great difficulty in keeping


42

their body temperature down to a tolerable level if their rumens are actively digesting feed and producing heat. In such a situation, the small ruminants will more actively feed at a cooler time of the day, early in the morning and late in the evening. Allowing sheep/goats to go out for grazing early in the morning and stay out late in the evening can significantly increase the amount eaten in hot environments. In stall-feeding, with many animals eating from the same feed rack, their needs to be enough space for all the sheep/goats to have easy access to the feed. Small, weak and sick animals have trouble coping when there is competition for space and they have to fight over feed. In this case it is the best to feed them separately. Q. How much energy and protein are normally required by a small ruminant? When you think about the quality of the diet, you need to consider whether it provides enough energy and protein to allow the small ruminant (SR) to produce what is expected of it. The energy value of a feed is expressed in terms of metabolizable energy (ME), which is the energy actually available in the feed to be used for metabolism by the sheep/goat. There are different energy units used in different countries. These days energy is measured in several countries in joules. For those used to calories, 4.18 joules are equivalent to one calorie. Large units of energy are required by animals, therefore, the unit megajoule or MJ (1 million joules) is used. The amount of energy in a feed is expressed in MJME per kg dry matter, because it is the dry matter that contains energy. The amount required will vary according to the needs for maintenance, reproduction, production or growth. The amounts of energy required by the small ruminant for different purposes are shown in Table 4. Various factors will affect the energy requirements such as activity and the environmental temperature, and in case of milkers, the fat content of milk. An extra 1.5 to 2.0 MJ would be required for animals grazing outside. Not enough is known yet about the energy requirements of fibre producing animals. The Angora is unusual in continuing to grow hair at the expense of body function. With sheep, lambs would be produced at the expense of body condition and wool growth. Table 4. Total energy requirements (MJ ME per day) for goats

Liveweight (kg)

Mainten-

ance

Mainten-ance + some activity

Mainten-ance + a lot

of activity

Mainten-ance

+ growth (50g/da

y)

Mainten-ance

+ growth (100g/day)

Mainten-ance

+ growth (150g/d

ay)

Mainte-nance

+ pregna

ncy

10 2.3 2.8 3.2 4.0 5.8 7.5 5.1 15 3.2 3.8 4.4 - - - 6.9 20 3.9 4.7 5.5 5.5 7.3 9.0 8.5 25 4.6 5.5 6.5 - - - 10.0 30 5.3 6.4 7.4 6.8 8.6 10.3 11.5 35 5.9 7.1 8.3 - - - 13.0 40 6.6 7.9 9.2 8.0 9.8 11.6 14.3 45 7.2 8.6 10.1 - - - 15.6 50 7.8 9.3 10.9 9.0 10.8 12.6 16.9 55 8.3 10.0 11.7 - - - 18.2 60 8.9 10.7 12.5 10.3 12.0 13.8 19.4

Source: Peacock (1996).


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Protein is required to build new tissues for growth or replacement in an animal body. It is also necessary for milk, hair/wool production. Also, the rumen microbes need protein to enable them to play their part in the digestive process. Estimates for protein requirements are normally presented as digestible crude protein (DCP) in grams per day. The DCP requirements for maintenance, growth and pregnancy are shown in Table 5. Approximately 9 g of rumen degradable protein should be supplied per MJME. High yielding dairy goats and growing lambs/kids may need amino acids in greater quantities than can be obtained from the microbial protein and therefore, these must be supplied by extra undegradable protein (UDP). Remember that high yielding goats need additional water, calcium and phosphorus. If they do not get enough water, their production will be reduced. If the does and high yielding ewes do not get sufficient calcium and phosphorus, they will have to draw on their body reserves and may develop metabolic disorders such as milk fever. Energy and protein requirements for one litre milk are 5.0 ME (MJ/day) and 45 DCP (g/day). Animals in temperate climates comparatively need more ME and DCP. Table 5. Digestible crude protein requirements for maintenance and growth

(g/day) Liveweight (kg)

Maintenance

Maintenance +

50g/day

Maintenance +

100g/day

Maintenance +

150g/day

Pregnancy

10 15 25 35 45 30 20 26 36 46 56 50 30 35 45 55 65 67 40 43 53 63 73 83 50 51 61 71 81 99 60 59 69 79 89 113

Source: Peacock (1996). The amount of dry matter in grasses increases with age, while the protein content and the degree of digestibility decline. The concentration of energy in grass is not high. Crop residues have quite a high concentration of potential energy, but most of it is in the crude fibre fraction, which tends to be indigestible. It is hard for animals to eat enough bulky straws and stovers to obtain sufficient energy for maintenance; crop residues are also very low in protein (2 to 4%). Q. How do you calculate the quantity of feed needed by a small ruminant in

order to meet its requirements? First determine how much dry matter? At the simplest level the small ruminant has a basic requirement for a quantity of dry matter each day. To start with, the dry matter has to supply nutrients for maintenance to keep the sheep goat alive, then for other functions such as growth, reproduction etc. Thus it will have to eat more feed. This is where problem arises with bulky low quality feeds such as crop residues and hay, because even when they are available in large quantities, the sheep/goat simply cannot eat enough of these to meet more than its basic requirement for maintenance. This is why it is important to try to improve the quality of diet, so that the sheep/goat has to eat smaller quantities of higher quality feeds. Generally, the small ruminants eat about 2 to 3% of their body weight in dry matter each day. The smaller meat type animals such as Teddy goats or Salt Range sheep probably eat 2 to 2.5% of


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their body weight while the larger milk type goats such as Beetal eat about 3% of their body weight. If dairy goats are imported from temperate countries such as UK and France, they will need higher intake rates of about 4 to 5%. To know the actual weight of feed, which the sheep/goat should be fed, we need to know the amount of dry matter in the feed it is eating. If possible take a sample of feed and weigh it fresh, then dry it in an oven and calculate its dry matter by referring to the feed analysis tables and determine a rough average dry matter content for the mixture of feed which a small ruminant generally eats. As a rough guide, most grasses here contain about 25 to 30% dry matter, depending on stage of growth. After working out the amount of fresh feed needed, round up the figure to the nearest kilo or half kilo. A sample calculation: An adult goat weighs 28 kg and will consume 3% of its weight in dry matter/day. 28 x 0.03 = 0.84 kg dry matter per day 0.84 x 3.33 = 2.79 kg fresh feed required per day. Thus a 28 kg goat needs about 3 kg (rounded up) of feed per day. Allowance must be made for goats being very selective in what they eat. They need to be fed much more feed than 3 kg each, unless it is something that they really like. Q. What are the dietary protein requirements for a lactating and a dry dairy

goat? Proteins are exceedingly complex, each molecule containing thousands of atoms. All are made up of amino acids and protein must be broken down into amino acids before it can be absorbed and utilized by the body. There are more than two dozen amino acids, but since they can combine like letters of the alphabet, there could be as many proteins as there are words in the dictionary. There are many kinds of proteins-animal proteins, plant proteins. The proteins in plants are concentrated in rapidly growing parts, the leaves and the reproductive parts i.e. fruits or seeds. In animals, protein comprises most of the protoplasm in living cells and the cell walls. Thus it is important for muscles, internal organs, skin, wool or hair, feathers or horns and it is an important part of the skeleton. Protein requirements vary among classes of livestock, being higher for young growing sheep/goats, reproduction and lactation. Q. During inclement weather/scarcity of grazing, what roughages are

considered ideal for sheep/goats. While roughages are the most important part of the diet of a ruminant, they alone do not provide all of the needed vitamins and minerals, nor do they provide sufficient energy. However, berseem or alfalfa or clover hay is considered ideal for small ruminants because of the high protein and calcium content. These fodder plants are cut before full bloom, when nutrition is the highest. These are suncured quickly. Rain or slow curing in damp weather leaches nutrients out of hay and may make it a moldy hay. Good hay is fine-stemmed, bright green and leafy. Most of the nutrition is in the leaves. Hay that is baled when it is too dry suffers much shattering and loss of leaves. Good alfalfa hay can have as much as 80 mg carotene per kg while when bleached and otherwise of poor quality can have as little as 8 mg/kg. Poor hay has the appearance of some straw, which contains much fibre and especially lignin. Late in pregnancy, hay must be of good quality.


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Q. How much of an average type of hay is consumed daily by a mature sheep/goat?

Daily requirement of hay of a mature sheep/goat varies from 2.5 to 4.5 kg depending on its quality, type, waste etc. Q. Can cane molasses be fed to sheep/goats? Yes! It may be fed. Molasses is a good source of energy, iron and other important minerals. It increases the palatability of the feed. The ewes/does fed ample molasses during gestation are less likely to encounter ketosis. Molasses contains about 3% protein which mostly is not digestible. Molasses provides a binding effect on fine ingredients of feed and makes it less dusty. There is some evidence that excess molasses interferes with digestibility of other feeds. More easily assimilated sugars in molasses cause delay in digestion of other feedstuffs. Cane molasses may be fed up to 10% of the grain ration of dairy goats. Q. In what form grains may be fed to small ruminants? Partially crushed grains and soaked for 2 to 3 hours are better for small ruminants. When completely crushed and fed as such may lead to excessive sneezing and breathing problems in growing lambs/kids. Prolapse in heavy pregnant ewes has also been reported. Some reports also suggest that feeding of whole grains promotes a healthy rumen wall. In contrast, pellet feeding (as practised in certain western countries) caused papillae of rumen to lump together and become inflamed. Q. What are the various appropriate times/periods for grain feeding to

sheep/goats? Economics, illiteracy and ignorance of our sheep/goat raisers seem to be the main factors that keep them from providing grain supplements to their animals. However, that should not keep us back from suggesting here the feeding of concentrates to small ruminants during various periods of their productive life. Positive change is always gradual. It already seems to be taking place in the area of animal husbandry in this country. Feed supplement is not needed at all times of the year, particularly under economic conditions of our small ruminant raisers. Concentrate feeding mostly is planned around reproductive cycle of the animals.

• Seventeen days before turning ram/buck in, give up to 200 g of concentrate per ewe/doe, starting gradually for the first few days.

• Up to 3 weeks after mating, give the same amount, tapering off gradually. This may prevent resorption of the fertilized ova.

• Keep up grain feeding about 100 g/animal until the last 5 weeks of pregnancy. • To prevent pregnancy disease, the ewe/goat should be on a rising plane of

nutrition during the last 5 weeks of pregnancy, thus give 200 to 250 g concentrate per animal.

• For 6 weeks of lactation, ewes/goats with single newborn should have 300 g concentrate per day, while those with twins should get 500 g daily plus quality hay. Then taper off as the lambs/kids eat more hay and concentrate (in their creep feeder).

• Start reducing the concentrate 10 days before weaning the lambs/kids, leaving some in the feeder for the growing youngones for the coming few weeks.

• During the breeding season, feed the ram/buck 300 to 400 g concentrate per day so that if he is too intent on the ewes/does to graze properly, he is still


46

well nourished. After separating him from the bred animals, a maintenance ration of 150 to 200 g grain/day plus quality roughage should carry him through until good grazing is available.

• Any sudden large amount of grain can paralyze the digestive system of sheep/goat and cause death from acidosis, impacted rumen, enterotoxaemia or bloat. Acute indigestion is not a minor illness for sheep/goats.

Q. What is meant by ‘Ash’? Discuss its role in small ruminant nutrition. ‘Ash’ indicates the mineral matter of feed components. Minerals in plants come from the soil but the mineral matter of animals is higher than that of the plants. Calcium and phosphorus are particularly important since together these comprise about 75% of the total mineral matter in the body and nearly 90% of the bone structure, as well as 50% of the mineral content of milk. The body contains almost twice as much calcium as phosphorus. Therefore, it is of extreme importance to growing animals that are producing bone and muscle; pregnant animals that must digest the nutrient needs for the growing foetus; and for lactating animals, which excrete great quantities of these minerals in their milk. The ratio of calcium to phosphorus in small ruminants ration is critical (Table 6). Table 6. Recommended daily allowances for minerals and trace elements Growth Lactation Calcium 0.5 g/kg body weight

+ 1g/100 g gain 18-21 g

Phosphorus 15 g Magnesium 0.8 g/kg DM 2.5 g/kg

DM NaCl (salt) 0.5% of daily ration Potassium 5 g/kg DM 8 g/kg DM Sulphur (more important in fibre animals)

0.16-0.32% of daily ration

Selenium 0.1-0.2 mg/kg DM Iodine (higher levels recommended if goitrogenic feeds such as clover, cabbage etc are offered)

0.5-2.0 mg/kg DM

Iron 50-100 mg/kg DM Copper (dependent on molybdenum levels)

10 mg/kg DM

Zinc (high levels of calcium interfere with zinc absorption)

10-40 mg/kg DM

Manganese 20 mg/kg DM Cobalt 0.1 mg/kg DM

Overfeeding calcium can be dangerous, especially for young animals. Lameness and bone problems can result from excess calcium. A lack of phosphorus will result into a lack of appetite. The animal will fail to grow or will drop in milk production if in lactation. It may acquire a depraved appetite such as gnawing on bones or wood. In extreme cases stiffness of joints and fragile bones may result.


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Roughages, especially legumes, are high in calcium, while grains are high in phosphorus. Sodium and potassium play a significant role in maintaining electrolyte balance in the body. Magnesium too is important. Among the trace minerals, iron is 0.01 to 0.03% of the body and is vital for the role it plays in haemoglobin, which carries oxygen in the blood. Copper requirements are about one-tenth of those of iron. High amounts of copper prove poisonous. Nutritional anaemia can result from a lack of iron, copper and cobalt. Cobalt is also needed in the rumen for bacteria to synthesize vitamin B12. Copper and zinc are also required by small ruminants for normal growth of wool/hair. A few other trace minerals having important role in the body are sulphur, selenium and fluoride. If you feed your sheep/goats well, a trace mineral salt block will last a long time. In that case there is no need for adding minerals to the feed. Q. Discuss the salt requirements for small ruminants. Small ruminants are particularly fond of salt (NaCl) and consume considerably more of it per 100 kg body weight than do buffalo or cattle. The total salt requirement of growing lambs/kids approximates 0.40% of the DM of the ration. Sheep/goats on ranges need to be provided 250 to 350 g salt per animal per month. When salt is provided free-choice, goats may consume it in excess of their requirement, but with no apparent ill effects. In iodine-deficient areas, iodized salt should be provided when salt is added to mixed feeds, it is customary to add 0.5% to the complete ration or 1% to the concentrate portion. There is no need to add supplemental salt to the ration in areas where ground water is brackish. A deficiency of salt may result in an abnormal appetite, with the sheep/goats trying to satisfy their craving by licking dirt or eating toxic amounts of poisonous plants; decreased feed consumption, and decreased efficiency in the utilization of nutrients. Q. Give a very brief account of the place of vitamins in small ruminant feeding. By now there is a big store of knowledge concerning the role of vitamins in animal feeding-both for monogastric and polygastric. Two vitamins of major consequence to small ruminants are A and D. Vitamin A is of prime importance because of its evident requirement for growth, reproduction and milk. Vitamin A is synthesized by animals that receive carotene in their diets. The chief sources are lush green pastures, leafy green hay, yellow maize. Common symptoms of vitamin A deficiency are poor growth, scours, nasal discharge, respiratory diseases including pneumonia and blindness. A severe lack of this vitamin prevents reproduction or weak/dead youngs at birth. The other important vitamin is D. As with other animals, a lack of this vitamin causes rickets, week skeleton, impaired joints and poor teeth. Vitamin D is necessary to enable the body to make proper use of calcium and phosphorus. Chief source of vitamin D is sunshine, but it is also available in suncured hay (Table 7). Vitamin E functions to prevent stiff lamb disease in nursing lambs. Thus vitamin E is a dietary requirement for young nursing lambs/kids. The higher the selenium level in the diet, the lower the vitamin E requirement. Good response is obtained when lambs receive 11 mg/kg of body weight weekly in rations containing 0.5 ppm of selenium. Deficiency symptoms are stiffness in hind quarters, tucked up rear flanks and arched back. The B-complex vitamins are synthesized in the rumen and therefore, the feeder has no concern with them directly. Vitamins C and K are also synthesized therein.


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Table 7. Vitamin-deficiency symptoms Vitamin Deficiency symptoms Source of vitamin Vitamin A Poor appetite, weight loss,

night blindness, poor hair coat

Browse, leafy hay, sweet-potato vines

Vitamin B1 Blindness, nervous signs Synthesised in rumen, supplied from brewer’s yeast

Vitamin B12 Weight loss, weakness Synthesised in rumen, supplies cobalt to rumen

Vitamin D Weak, deformed bones Synthesised by skin, obtained from hay, fish meal

Vitamin E Weak muscles, difficulties walking, poor fertility

Grains, leaves of green forage

Q. Write very brief notes on carbohydrates, lipids and proteins.

Carbohydrates: Carbohydrate is a general term, which includes simple sugars such as glucose, more complex sugars such as sucrose and highly complex substances such as starch, cellulose and lignin. There are big differences in the ease with which each can be digested and thus in the availability of energy they contain. Glucose, sucrose and starch can be digested easily and in the rumen cellulose can be degraded and digested. However, lignin is indigestible and unfortunately it is often combined with cellulose, making it hard for the sheep/goat to digest the cellulose part. Lipids: The important lipids are fats and oils, which are broken down to monoglycerides and fatty acids, absorbed by the small ruminants and used as a source of energy or stored as fat. Most forages in arid/desert areas contain little fat. Any fat that is deposited in the animal body may be mobilized later, in the dry season as a source of energy. Sheep deposit more fat in the body than goats. Protein and Non-Protein Nitrogen: Proteins are vital to the small ruminants. They form soft tissue, enzymes, antibodies, genes, horn, hoof and wool/hair. Proteins are made up of amino acids. Fortunately, the sheep/goats are able to make all the amino acids they require out of proteins in their diet and also from non-protein nitrogen compounds such as urea. Q. Give very briefly the characteristics and two examples of each of the

following: tree leaves, oil cakes, cereal grains, root crops and by-products of food processing.

Leguminous trees such as Leucaena leucocephala, Sesbania sesban and S. grandifolia, have high protein content, which is associated with antinutritional compounds such as tannin. Much tree-legume protein may be classified as ‘by-pass protein’. Non-leguminous trees include Acacia species and banana. These have lower levels of protein. Oil cakes such as cottonseed cake, linseed cake, soybean and maize oil cake, and peanut cake tend to be high in both fats and proteins. They can make a useful protein and energy supplement.


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Cereal grains such as maize, barley, oats, sorghum and rice have the highest concentration of energy mainly in the form of starch and some sugars. Protein content in some of these is as high as 16%. Some form of treatment to the grain such as grinding or rolling increases their digestibility. Root crops such as turnips are low in protein but high in energy but not as high as in cereal grains, because roots tend to have high moisture contents. Roots unless very small should be chopped to improve intake. By-products of food processing such as brans left over from milling, brewer’s grain and molasses contain high dry matter but low protein. Q. On average, how much water per day is required by small ruminants? Among the small ruminants, goats in the arid/desert areas are second only to the camel among farm animals in efficient use of water. However, this efficiency should not lead us to overlook their needs, especially those of lactating goats. Sheep under the same situation also adapt to live with comparatively restricted availability of water. In the wet season and in humid climates, sheep/goats may eat forage composed of 70 to 80% water. Thus they may not take water at all. However, most feeds in the arid and semi-arid regions has a lower content of water and sheep/goats will need to be given water in addition to their feed. Coarse, fibrous feeds will require the use of more water for their digestion by the small ruminants. The feed needs to have absorbed water in the rumen to enable the rumen microbes to break it down. Ideally, the small ruminants should have constant access to a supply of clean water, but presently it seems too much to expect since it is not yet possible in rangelands even in the most developed and advanced countries. The amount of water required daily by an average-sized small ruminant depends on its breed, the climate, the type of feed eaten, the purpose of keeping it and its physiological state. A lactating animal requires 1.4 litre water for each litre of milk produced and milk production would decline if water is limited. It is normally recommended that four times as much water is needed as dry matter consumed by the animal i.e. 4 litres water for one kg DM. To make it more simple, a sheep/goat requires 4 to 18 litres water based on the conditions mentioned above. The sheep/goats in typical arid areas are able to store water in their rumen and in doing so can withstand water deprivation for 2 to 4 days. They reduce water loss in urine and faeces. Q. Write down the important functions of water in a small ruminant body. Water is vital for life. It is used by the animal for digestion and as a solvent in which

nutrients are transported around in the body and in which waste products are excreted by

the animal. Many important chemical reactions in body take place in water. The

evaporation of water is also used by the sheep/goat as a cooling method. Water

evaporated from the skin, lungs, nostrils and mouth helps to keep down body

temperature. Milk produced by the lactating animals is 84 to 90% water. The small


50

ruminants obtain water from three sources: drinking water (Figure 5), water in feed and

water released as a by-product of certain metabolic processes.


51

Q. Discuss common feeding problems of small ruminants in arid/semi-arid areas.

A wide range of feeding problems is commonly encountered, including: • Fibrous feeds causing low intakes, resulting in low levels of overall

production. • Seasonal fluctuations in quantity, digestibility, protein and water availability. • Low levels of protein for growth, milk and wool (in sheep) production. • Specific mineral deficiencies such as lack of sodium in feeds having high

moisture content in a specific area. • Poor presentation of feeds to stall fed goats. • Poor access to water. • Poor nutrition of lactating dams, leading to low milk yields and poor rates of

growth and survival among lambs and kids. • Poor quality of feeds for lambs and kids at weaning, causing a sharp drop in

weight and possible death. Q. Describe the characteristics of feeds commonly available to goats. The characteristics of various feeds available to goats, in many parts of Pakistan, in terms of nutritional quality are: Natural Bushes and Trees: They may be green throughout the year, or may lose their leaves during some part of the year. In chemical terms they tend to show high protein levels and good digestibility, however, in reality much of the actual protein digestibility is reduced due to the presence of anti-nutritional factors such as polyphenolic compounds, tannins in leaves. In arid and semi-arid areas at the end of dry season, there is often a flush of growth on trees as humidity rises before the onset of rains. Goats can take good advantage of this flush of green leaves, gaining weight and thus they may then be able to start breeding earlier than sheep. In addition, seedpods of native trees can be a valuable dry season feed for goats. Pods may be eaten off the ground or shaken down by herders for their flocks. Pods (of Acacia species) can be stored for later supplementary feeding. Natural Grasses: Natural grasses can be highly digestible when in young stage of growth during the wet season, but tend to become stemmy and indigestible quickly during the dry season. Goats will eat grasses when there is no alternative. These will, however, provide essential feed during the difficult dry season. Crop Weeds and Thinnings: Weeds collected from cropland during crop’s growing period or grazed just after harvest, can be a valuable source of highly digestible feeds. Leaves picked from growing maize or sorghum can be fed to goats. Crops such as cassava and banana can supply a high quality feed for goats. Crop Residues: These include the stover of maize (corn), sorghum and millet and the straws of rice, wheat, barley, oats, legumes and oil crops. Generally, they have a high fibre content, which makes them relatively indigestible to goats. Crop residues can be treated to make them more digestible. The sweet-potato vine is a highly digestible feed. Planted Legumes and Planted Grasses: Legumes are planted to improve the quality of feed available to goats. They are normally rich in protein and highly digestible, but like natural trees, may have high level of anti-nutritional factors such as tannins, which reduce their digestibility. Grasses are normally planted to improve both the quality and quantity


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of the goat’s feed. If they are regularly cut or grazed, they can supply relatively high quality feed, which with some supplementation can be used as a basic diet. Crops and Crop By-products: Crops such as maize (corn), barley, oats and sweet-potatoes may be fed directly to goats in intensive systems of production. Crop by-products include rice or wheat bran, peanut cake, sunflower cake, linseed cake and sugar-cane tops. These feeds can provide useful low cost feed supplementation to goats. Q. Discuss in detail the feeding management of small ruminants keeping in view

the conditions prevailing in Pakistan. A deficiency of energy for small ruminants is common in Pakistan because available feedstuffs are generally poor in quality. Forages are usually harvested when fully mature to obtain maximum bulk, and in rangelands, which provide about half of the present requirements of livestock in this country, many natural grasses, weeds and shrubs grow luxuriantly only during rainy season. During the remaining part of the year and in areas where rain fall is low and uncertain, forage is scarce. Low intakes of energy by sheep/goats affect their growth rate, milk production and wool production, reproductive performance and susceptibility to infection. Small ruminant feeding practices in Pakistan can be improved by developing rangelands and reducing stocking pressure, conserving fodder during lush growth and by feeding crop and industrial wastes. Protein-rich supplements may be required where pastures are bleached or dry for an extended period, or leguminous roughage cannot be provided, or NPN sources such as urea and ammonium compounds can be used to provide additional dietary nitrogen. Where mineral deficiencies or imbalances are likely, the following supplement, with a little modification according to specific regions or individual productive status, may be used: Compound Percent Dicalcium phosphate 62.25 Sodium chloride 35.00 Calcium carbonate 1.00 Copper sulphate 0.25 Iron sulphate 0.75 Manganese sulphate 0.10 Zinc sulphate 0.50 Cobalt sulphate 0.10 Potassium iodide 0.05 Source: Mackintosh (1993). Additional copper should be provided in regions where molybdenum or the inorganic sulphur content of forage is high. In regions where goiter is prevalent, iodised salt should be provided, particularly to pregnant ewes/does. The vitamin needs of small ruminants are generally met by microbial synthesis and dietary provision. Feeding for Production: The requirements of ewes/does for nutrients depend on the stage of reproduction and liveweight. The requirements for minerals and vitamins are seldom considered specifically. For dry ewes/does nutrient requirements are relatively low, although feeding to achieve good liveweight for conception and the subsequent pregnancy is important. Grazing is


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often sufficient but with low quality roughage 200 to 250 g of concentrate may be required. Around mating time ewes/does should be allowed to graze good quality pasture and receive a minimum of 200 g of grain per head per day. Pregnant ewes/does require about 50% more energy and protein for the development of the foetus, especially during the last 6 weeks of pregnancy. Bulky roughages are insufficient during this period and 200 to 250 g of a concentrate supplement should be provided. Young and growing ewes/does should be given additional amount to promote better liveweight during pregnancy. Lactating ewes and dairy does require much more feed than pregnant animals because the nutrients secreted in milk exceed he amounts of those retained by the foetus. Ewes and especially does nursing two or more lambs/kids require more feed than the dams with single lamb/kid and should be kept in separate groups. Ewes/does in milk should be fed according to their daily milk yield. Good pasture is an ideal feed for lactating ewes/does, especially a grass-legume mixture. They need 1.4 litres water for each litre of milk produced. Ewes/does in drylot should be given at least 350 g grain per day in addition to roughage and a protein supplement if at least half the roughage is non-leguminous. Q. Discuss fattening of sheep and goats in Pakistan. Suggest a few fattening

rations for lambs/kids. A large number of lambs/kids raised in Pakistan are not fat enough for slaughter at the time of marketing and many are slaughtered at an early age and low weight. However, young lambs/kids can be fattened for about 100 days to produce a liveweight of 14 to 15 kg yielding some 7.5 kg of dressed meat, if given free access to good quality roughages and concentrates in addition to milk from their dams. After weaning at 3 to 4 months, the lams/kids may be put in a feedlot and fed concentrate mixtures containing 12 to 14% DCP and 8.5 to 11 MJ. ME/kg. About 0.5 kg per head of chopped green fodder should be provided to meet the carotene requirement and clean water ad libitum. The fattening period usually lasts 3 to 4 months before the desirable liveweight of 30 to 35 kg is achieved. Examples of such rations, using agro-industrial wastes are given in Tale 8. Locally available suitable ingredients can be substituted for those given in the example rations. A second fattening method, which is less intensive is to feed less concentrate and more roughage in the form of good quality green fodder, hay or silage. The fattening period in this case is usually longer. Suitable concentrate mixtures are given in Table 8 and these would be fed at 250 to 500 g/day depending on the grazing available. Cull lambs/kids and ewes/does should be fattened before slaughter, especially after poor feeding conditions, preferably in feedlots using mixtures of roughages and concentrates composed of agro-industrial by-products. The DCP requirements of fattening adult sheep/goats are much less than those of fattening lambs/kids, breeding ewes/does and rams/bucks, but their energy requirements are relatively high because of the high rate of fat deposition. An example of suitable rations is given in Table 9. Table 8. Recommended rations for intensive feedlot fattening of lambs/kids Ingredient I (%) II (%) III (%) Wheat straw 20 23 20 Cottonseed cake 22 - 30 Rapeseed cake - 10 10


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Maize gluten (20% CP) 20 33 - Wheat bran 20 - - Rice polishings - 16 20 Molasses 17 17 19 Dicalcium phosphate 0.5 0.5 0.5 Sodium chloride 0.5 0.5 0.5 DCP (%) 9 11 10.6 ME (MJ/kg) 9.50 10.05 8.41

Table 9. Recommended concentrate mixtures for fattening lambs/kids

Summer supplement Winter supplement Ingredient Percent Ingredient Percent Maize gluten feed 30 Cottonseed cake 40 Cottonseed cake 25 Rice polishings 15 Wheat bran 20 Wheat bran 15 Molasses 24 Molasses 28 Dicalcium phosphate 0.5 Dicalcium

phosphate 1

Sodium chloride 0.5 Sodium chloride 1 DCP (%) 11.70 DCP 10.20 ME (MJ/kg) 9.59 ME (MJ/kg) 10.13

Source: Mackintosh (1993); Warraich and Rehman (2002). Q. Write a note on feed intake of small ruminants. Meat breeds will eat up to the equivalent of 3% of the animal’s body weight in dry matter daily. Reasonably productive dairy goats will consume about 4 to 5%. In cooler parts of the world, dairy goats might eat up to 8%. Goats have a much better capacity for forage than sheep of a similar size. How much a small ruminant eats depends on its age, breed, production capacity and whether it is pregnant/lactating. Younger animals eat more than older ones because they are growing. Pregnant and lactating animals consume more than non-pregnant and non-lactating because they need more feed to enable the foetus to grow and to produce. Sheep/goats with free access to feed will vary their intake depending on the energy available from the feed. On average, bigger animas eat more than smaller ones. All sheep/goats will eat more if the feed is in a fine rather than coarse form. If hay or straw is chopped more will be eaten than if fed without chopping. If a high energy feed such as molasses is mixed with a fibrous feed such as straw, the animals will eat more. Feed intake is generally measured in terms of dry matter. Dry matter (DM) is the amount of feed remaining when all the water has been removed from it. It is used as a guide to determine that how much fresh or moist feed can be fed. A 30 kg sheep/goat requires: for maintenance 1.6% DM as percent of liveweight = 0.5 kg for production 3.0% DM as percent of liveweight = 0.9 kg 1.4 kg If DM of feed is 25%, four times as much is needed to achieve a set target figure, therefore:


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1.4 x 4 = 5.6 kg fresh feed is required daily. Q. What is meant by feeding extras? Any material which normally is not a part of sheep/goat diet but can be fed usefully may be termed extras. Sheep/goats love apples. A few over-ripe and spoiled apples past their prime for human consumption may be fed to them. These are still nutritious. Discarded vegetables, at least some of them, from the wholesale market and local grocers can make a good addition to the diet of small ruminants. Molasses is another treat for them and a good source of minerals, its sugars enter the bloodstream quickly. It is of value to ewes/does, late in pregnancy, to prevent toxaemia. None of these things be fed in excess. Q. Write a note on feeding and use of bucks. Young bucks being raised for breeding purposes should be fed in the same manner as replacement does, except that they will require more feed because of their rapid growth. They should be separated from the does soon after weaning to avoid unintended breeding of young females. Bucks should be growthy, but they should not be allowed to put on extra fat, which may impede their muscular, skeletal and sexual development. If properly grown out they may be used lightly as yearlings. It is advisable not to use them so if they have been on sparse feed and are not prepared for the stresses of heavy breeding. Whether the bucks are young or mature, they should be fed 150 to 230 g of supplemental concentrates daily per head for 10 days or so before turning them in with the does, with the supplementation continued throughout the breeding season. If the bucks get too fat or become inactive in their mating habits, concentrate can be partly withdrawn as a means to improve their effectiveness in breeding. Bucks not in active service need no supplement unless the range feed becomes too sparse or too mature. In the latter case, they may be given about 450 g of supplement for each 2 to 3 animals daily. This type of supplementation is especially important for young bucks that are still growing. Older bucks can mostly get along without supplementation unless the range is extremely poor. Q. Discuss urea toxicity in sheep/goats. In countries where livestock production is carried out on scientific lines, urea is frequently included in ruminant diets, partially to replace protein ingredients. Urea is not being used on large scale in this country. However, its use is increasing gradually. When feeding sheep/goats, producers and feed formulators must exercise caution, since excessive amounts can result in a buildup of ammonia to toxic levels in the bloodstream. Urea should not supply more than one-third of the total crude protein in forage or roughage type diets and not more than one-half in the concentrate portion of the diets. Also, an adaptation period of at least 3 weeks is required for the animals to utilize urea efficiently. It is generally believed that 44 g urea 100 kg body weight at a single feeding will result in acute toxicity. Usual symptoms are severe abdominal pain, muscle tremors, incoordination, dyspnoea, bloat and violent struggling. Treatment consists of oral administration of a weak acid such as vinegar or 5 % acetic acid and parenteral use of calcium and magnesium salts. Q. Discuss in detail urea poisoning in small ruminants. Ammonia is the actual toxic agent in urea poisoning. Primarily urea is the source but other non protein nitrogen (NPN) products such as ammonium salts and ammoniated feeds used in ruminant rations can also cause this problem. Urea is hydrolyzed by the urease activity of the rumen microorganisms with the production of ammonia as follows:


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NH2 C = O H2O microbial 2NH3 CO2

+ + NH2 (urea) (water) urease (ammonia) (carbon

dioxide)

When urea is fed at excessive levels, large amounts of ammonia are liberated in the

rumen. Eventually, the pH of the ruminal fluid increases, thus facilitating the passage of

ammonia across the rumen wall. If the levels of ammonia absorbed are greater than the

ability of the liver to convert ammonia to urea, ammonia accumulates in the blood. If

blood ammonia levels reach toxic levels (80 mg per 100 ml), the animal shows signs of

acute ammonia poisoning. The hazard of ammonia toxicity (urea toxicity) assumes rather

acute proportions when NPN is fed to young ruminants, due to their limited bacterial

action.

The animal shows signs of nervousness, excessive salivation, muscular tremors, respiratory difficulty and tetanic spasms. Death occurs within ½ to 2½ hours. Urea or ammonia toxicity should never occur in practice, if feeds are thoroughly mixed and total intakes are moderate. Errors in formulation and improper mixing of urea with other ration ingredients are probably the major factors causing urea toxicity in the feeding of small or even large ruminants. An effective treatment, if applied before tetanic spasms, consists in administering immediately 5 to 7 litres of cold water orally. About a litre of either dilute acetic acid or vinegar given with cold water is more effective than cold water alone. Prevention of urea toxicity consists in removing or lessening the following predisposing factors: i) Poor mixing of feed. ii) Errors in ration formulation. iii) Inadequate period of adaptation. iv) Low intake of water. v) Feeding urea in conjunction with poor quality roughages. vi) Low feed intake prior to feeding urea. vii) Treating hay with more than 1.5% anhydrous ammonia and treating it unevenly. Urea is less effective in young ruminants in which the rumen is not fully functional. Note: Figures relevant to each chapter are given at its end.


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Sheep Goat 1

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