The study was conducted in Adami Tulu Jidokombolcha(ATJK),Bora,Dodola,Shala and Negele-Arsi districts with objective to assess main cattle feed resources,water sources and housing systems.A pre-tested,semi-structured ...The study was conducted in Adami Tulu Jidokombolcha(ATJK),Bora,Dodola,Shala and Negele-Arsi districts with objective to assess main cattle feed resources,water sources and housing systems.A pre-tested,semi-structured questionnaire was used to conduct survey.About 240 respondents were identified using random sampling techniques.Collected data was analyzed by SPSS statistical software(Ver.24).Study result indicates that household in average had three hectares of land and allocated about two hectares of land for crop cultivation.Most respondents reported that cattle herding is not common during dry season while it is common during wet season.Survey result indicate that natural pasture,weed and maize tiller and stored crop residues are main feed resources in wet season while crop after math,crop residue and fodder trees are main resources during dry season.Brackish,local mineral and common salt are mineral sources for cattle in study areas.Lake,river and boreholes are important water sources in dry season where as ponds and rivers are main water sources during wet season for their cattle.The observed cattle watering frequency is mainly once a day.Housing system practiced in the study areas is mainly Kraal.The information generated from this study on land size per household,cattle herding system,feed resources,mineral sources,water sources,water utilization and housing type can be used as a baseline for any livestock development programs in those and similar areas.展开更多
Structural measurements are indicators of animal performance,productivity and carcass characteristics.This study was conducted with the objectives of assessing structural measurements,developing body weight prediction...Structural measurements are indicators of animal performance,productivity and carcass characteristics.This study was conducted with the objectives of assessing structural measurements,developing body weight prediction and structural indices for cows of Arsi breed.The cows were purchased from highland and lowland agro-ecologies of Arsi and East Shoa zones of Oromia regional state,Ethiopia and kept in Adami Tulu Agricultural Research Center(ATARC)for the breed development purpose.Totally 222 cows were included in the structural traits measurement.Thirty four young heifers were also considered in the study.Twenty two structural traits were considered during observational survey.The structural index was calculated from the phenotypically correlated linear measurements.Structural traits were analyzed by T-test of SPSS version twenty four.The observed average values of height at wither,chest depth,heart girth,body length,pelvic width,cannon bone circumferences of the cows were 107,55.62,141.06,117.82,31.41 and 13.58cm,respectively.Heart girth(0.82),flank girth(0.73),hook circumferences(0.67),chest depth(0.65)and height at rump(0.64)were highly correlated(P<0.01)to body weight of the cows.Regression analysis indicated that hearth girth had the highest coefficient of determination for body weight of the cows and heifers.Accordingly,the simple linear equations were developed to predict the body weight of cows and heifers.Body weight of Arsi cow(y)=-221.005+3.1(heart girth)and Body weight of Arsi heifer(y)=-188.452+2.75(heart girth).Based on this,the measuring chart tape can be developed to estimate the body weight of Arsi cows and heifers at field condition where there is no access to weighing scales.展开更多
文摘The study was conducted in Adami Tulu Jidokombolcha(ATJK),Bora,Dodola,Shala and Negele-Arsi districts with objective to assess main cattle feed resources,water sources and housing systems.A pre-tested,semi-structured questionnaire was used to conduct survey.About 240 respondents were identified using random sampling techniques.Collected data was analyzed by SPSS statistical software(Ver.24).Study result indicates that household in average had three hectares of land and allocated about two hectares of land for crop cultivation.Most respondents reported that cattle herding is not common during dry season while it is common during wet season.Survey result indicate that natural pasture,weed and maize tiller and stored crop residues are main feed resources in wet season while crop after math,crop residue and fodder trees are main resources during dry season.Brackish,local mineral and common salt are mineral sources for cattle in study areas.Lake,river and boreholes are important water sources in dry season where as ponds and rivers are main water sources during wet season for their cattle.The observed cattle watering frequency is mainly once a day.Housing system practiced in the study areas is mainly Kraal.The information generated from this study on land size per household,cattle herding system,feed resources,mineral sources,water sources,water utilization and housing type can be used as a baseline for any livestock development programs in those and similar areas.
文摘Structural measurements are indicators of animal performance,productivity and carcass characteristics.This study was conducted with the objectives of assessing structural measurements,developing body weight prediction and structural indices for cows of Arsi breed.The cows were purchased from highland and lowland agro-ecologies of Arsi and East Shoa zones of Oromia regional state,Ethiopia and kept in Adami Tulu Agricultural Research Center(ATARC)for the breed development purpose.Totally 222 cows were included in the structural traits measurement.Thirty four young heifers were also considered in the study.Twenty two structural traits were considered during observational survey.The structural index was calculated from the phenotypically correlated linear measurements.Structural traits were analyzed by T-test of SPSS version twenty four.The observed average values of height at wither,chest depth,heart girth,body length,pelvic width,cannon bone circumferences of the cows were 107,55.62,141.06,117.82,31.41 and 13.58cm,respectively.Heart girth(0.82),flank girth(0.73),hook circumferences(0.67),chest depth(0.65)and height at rump(0.64)were highly correlated(P<0.01)to body weight of the cows.Regression analysis indicated that hearth girth had the highest coefficient of determination for body weight of the cows and heifers.Accordingly,the simple linear equations were developed to predict the body weight of cows and heifers.Body weight of Arsi cow(y)=-221.005+3.1(heart girth)and Body weight of Arsi heifer(y)=-188.452+2.75(heart girth).Based on this,the measuring chart tape can be developed to estimate the body weight of Arsi cows and heifers at field condition where there is no access to weighing scales.
