A cross-sectional[4pc] survey investigating husbandry and productivity of free-range village chickens was carried out in four administrative districts within 60 km of Accra. Responses were provided by 101 men and 99 women. The mean (SD) household flock size was 28.7 (25.97) and the median was 20. The factors included in the final model investigating variance in flock size were sex of the respondent (p = 0.011), administrative area (p = 0.004), the numbers of members in the household (p = 0.017) and the number of cattle, sheep and goats owned by the household (p = 0.031). Chickens were owned by individual members of the household, but women and children were the predominant providers of care for chickens. All respondents described their chickens as scavengers that were provided with supplementary feed, and over 80% of respondents named maize as a supplementary food source. Approximately 50% of respondents claimed difficulty in providing supplementary feed, with the degree of difficulty varying between administrative areas (p < 0.001). A majority of respondents (approximately 65%) claimed that their chickens laid 3-4 clutches of eggs per year. Over 70% of respondents estimated that each clutch contained 10-20 eggs, and approximately 70% of respondents estimated that 75% of the eggs hatched. Opinions on mortality varied, but 60% of men and 70% of women estimated that between 50% and 75% of both chicks and adult birds died each year. Approximately 80% of respondents named Newcastle disease as the most important health issue. The opportunities for and consequences of controlling Newcastle disease are discussed.

No abstract

A 2×2×2 factorial experiment investigated the effect on lactational oestrus in sows of housing system (group or singly housed; G v. S), boar presence (boar present or absent; B v. N) and feeding level (ad libitum or restricted; A v. R). All treatments were imposed from day 20 post partum until weaning at day 42. A total of 183 Camborough hybrid female pigs were used, providing between 21 and 24 animals within each cell in the experimental design.The occurrence of oestrus during lactation was observed as: 0·40 for G compared with 0·10 for S (P<0·01); 0·36 for B compared with 0·14 for N (P<0·05); and 0·28 for A compared with 0·21 for R (NS). The only treatment in which a high proportion of sows (0·78) showed oestrus was the combination G-B-A. Oestrus occurred during lactation on average 11 -4 days after imposing treatments, on average at day 20 post partum and 31·6 days after farrowing, and no significant differences were apparent between treatments. Individual piglet and overall litter weight gains were significantly reduced on G compared with S treatments (P < 0·01).Sow food intake was greater for the S compared with G, for N compared with B, and A compared with R treatments (P<0·001). Sows on the R treatment lost significantly more live weight than the A sows between days 20 and 42 (P<0·001). Singly-housed sows also lost more weight than group-housed sows between farrowing and day 42 (P<0·001), mainly because of losses occurring before day 20.

A 2-year longitudinal survey was carried out to investigate factors affecting milk yield in crossbred cows on smallholder farms in and around an urban centre. Sixty farms were visited at approximately 2-week intervals and details of milk yield, body condition score (BCS) and heart girth measurements were collected. Fifteen farms were within the town (U), 23 farms were approximately 5 km from town (SU), and 22 farms approximately 10 km from town (PU). Sources of variation in milk yield were investigated using a general linear model by a stepwise forward selection and backward elimination approach to judge important independent variables. Factors considered for the first step of formulation of the model included location (PU, SU and U), calving season, BCS at calving, at 3 months postpartum and at 6 months postpartum, calving year, herd size category, source of labour (hired and family labour), calf rearing method (bucket and partial suckling) and parity number of the cow. Daily milk yield (including milk sucked by calves) was determined by calving year (p < 0.0001), calf rearing method (p = 0.044) and BCS at calving (p < 0.0001). Only BCS at calving contributed to variation in volume of milk sucked by the calf, lactation length and lactation milk yield. BCS at 3 months after calving was improved on farms where labour was hired (p = 0.041) and BCS change from calving to 6 months was more than twice as likely to be negative on U than SU and PU farms. It was concluded that milk production was predominantly associated with BCS at calving, lactation milk yield increasing quadratically from score 1 to 3. BCS at calving may provide a simple, single indicator of the nutritional status of a cow population.

1. Whole-body, hind-limb and uterine tissue metabolism of glucose was studied using a combination of isotopic and arterio-venous difference techniques in shorn and unshorn pregnant sheep over the final 4 weeks of pregnancy. This was combined with the measurement of the concentrations of oxygen and carbon dioxide in arterial blood and plasma concentrations of lactate, acetate, non-esterified fatty acids, 3-hydroxybutyrate, glycerol, growth hormone (GH), insulin, glucagon, cortisol, thyroxine and 3, 5, 3'-triiodothyronine (T,).2. Glucose entry rate was 28 % higher in shorn ewes compared with unshorn controls, even though there was no difference in the arterial plasma concentration of glucose. This effect may have been caused by a decrease in the molar rate, insulin : glucagon (I :G), which was 40 % lower in shorn ewes as a result of a significant decrease in the plasma concentration of insulin. There was no difference in the plasma concentration of cortisol or GH.3. Blood flow across the hind-limb or uterine tissues was not significantly different between shorn and unshorn groups, neither were the net glucose uptake, glucose oxidation rate or contribution of glucose to 0, consumption across these tissues.4. Insulin-tolerance tests performed on a separate group of shorn and unshorn ewes showed an increased sensitivity to the hypoglycaemic effects of insulin in the shorn group.5. There was no significant difference between shorn and unshorn animals in the contribution of glucose to CO, output or in the proportion of glucose entry rate oxidized. CO, entry rate was 18% higher in shorn ewes compared with unshorn controls which resulted in a 26% higher estimated value for heat production. There was a 47 % increase in glucose oxidation rate in shorn ewes but there was no significant difference in the proportion of total heat production which was derived from glucose. The arterial concentrations of 0, and CO, were significantly higher in shorn ewes, which may be an indication of the higher metabolic rate in these animals. This effect may be mediated via a significant rise in plasma T, concentration in the shorn group.6. It is concluded that as a result of long-term cold exposure there is a significant increase in whole-body glucose entry and oxidation rates in the shorn pregnant ewe. The increase in insulin sensitivity at the same time as a decrease in plasma insulin concentration may represent a mechanism to ensure continued glucose supply to insulinsensitive tissues while the concomitant decrease in plasma I : G stimulates hepatic gluconeogenesis.Winter shearing of pregnant ewes during the final 10 weeks of gestation has been shown to both increase lamb birth weight (LBW) and maternal fat oxidation (Symonds et al. 1986~). Thompson et al. (1982) have proposed the hypothesis that in the shorn animal, there is an increase in glucose supply to the fetus as a result of adaptations in maternal glucose metabolism in response to cold stress. Studies involving the effect of short-term cold exposure of non-pregnant sheep have dem...