Fourteen morphological and eight morphometric traits on a total of 456 adult cattle (354 cows and 102 oxen) from five purposively selected districts were recorded to characterize the cattle populations in eastern Ethiopia. Frequency, general linear model, and multivariate analysis procedures of Statistical Analysis Software (SAS 9.0) were used to analyze the data. The morphological similarities among the cattle populations from Tulo, Jarso, and Fedis districts confirm the presence of a unique cattle breed which was previously referred to as Harar cattle. The same was observed for the cattle populations from Jigjiga and Kebri Beyah districts which were previously referred to as Ogaden cattle. The Harar cattle are characterized by their forward-oriented, widely spaced, and medium-length horns while the Ogaden cattle possess upright-oriented, narrowly spaced short horns. The majority of the Ogaden cattle had gray body color while the Harar cattle possess multiple body colors where red and its combination with white and black colors are observed frequently. Most of the morphometric measurement values were higher for the oxen, while the cows had longer horns. Moreover, Ogaden cattle had higher morphometric measurement values than the Harar cattle. According to the multivariate analysis results the cattle populations in the study area were separated into two breeds; the Harar and Ogaden. However, these results only showed the phenotypic differences which might not necessarily be due to genetic differences. Therefore, further genetic characterization is recommended to understand their level of relationships which in turn helps to design conservation and breeding programs.

The objectives of this study were to identify the breeding objectives of Begaria cattle keepers. A semi-structured questionnaire, live animal ranking, and focus group discussions were employed to identify the breeding objectives of the farmers. The study was conducted on a total of 75 conveniently sampled households. Among the total cattle population of the sampled households, 506 heads of cattle (252 male and 254 female animals) were ranked as first best, second best, third best, and/or the worst animals. Owners were asked to choose the first best, second best, third best, and worst animals from their herd for both sexes. Reasons for ranking, important morphometric measurements, and (re)production performance of the ranked animal were taken. The R Commander package version 2.6-0 was used to analyze qualitative data and analysis of variance in R software was used to analyze quantitative data. Reasons for ranking of cows in the study area were milk yield (39.14%), calving interval (15.14), temperament (12), and body size (10.86), whereas for bulls, reasons were body size (30.39%), growth (30.66), body condition score (16.85), and color (15.19). Survival rate (Sur), calving interval (CI), milk yield (MY), and lactation milk yield (LMY) for the cows and body condition score (BCS), weaning age (WA), yearling weight (YW), and weaning weight (WW) for the bulls were significantly different (p < 0.05) mainly between the first- and last-ranked animals. Farmers were willing to pay up to Ethiopian birr (ETB) 11,500, 10,700, 10,400, and 9500 on average for first-, second-, and third-ranked breeding females and up to ETB 6300, 5800, 5200, and 4500 for breeding males. Lactation milk yield, calving interval, mothering ability, growth rate, and age at first calving were determined as breeding objective traits of the community. with suggested selection criteria of lactation milk yield, calving interval, survival rate, yearling weight, and age at first calving, respectively.

Abstract. Melak A, Hailu A, Assefa A, Aseged T, Sinkie S, Tsion S. 2021. Characterization of the production system and breeding practices of sheep producers in Tahtay Maychew District, Northern Ethiopia. Intl J Trop Drylands 5: 5-11. Sheep rearing plays an important role in the livelihoods of rural people in Ethiopia, yet limited information is available regarding the management system of the sheep. The study was conducted in Tahtay Maychew district of the central zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. The objective of the study was to understand the sheep production system, the breeding practices, selection criteria, and sheep production constraints to identify sheep farming practices about future production strategies in the study area. A total of 70 households from 2 kebeles (lower administrative structure) were selected purposively based on sheep population and production potential and accessibility. Data was collected through semi-structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, and key informants. An index was calculated to provide an overall ranking of the purpose of keeping sheep, culling rams and ewe, according to the formula: Index = ? of [3 for rank 1 + 2 for rank 2 + 1 for rank 3]. It is concluded that both female and male sheep are maintained mainly for income generation followed by breeding. A variable that was given a higher priority in selecting breeding males and females was body size. Disease, feed shortage, lack of grazing, and predators are the major constraints of sheep production mentioned in the study area. Therefore, addressing these constraints is important to design a successful genetic improvement scheme in the area for sheep.

The study was conducted on a total of 144 randomly selected households of goat keepers from Boset district of Oromia region and Minjar Shenkora district of Amhara region. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect both qualitative data, and the data were organized and analyzed by using SPSS, version 23. The main purposes of keeping goats in the study area were mainly for cash income and meat production with an index of 0.37 and 0.23 in Boset and 0.44 and 0.23 in Minjar Shenkora district respectively. The fast growth rate, body size, and coat color of the animal were ranked as major selection criteria for breeding buck across the study area. Body condition score was considered as the first reason to cull breeding male (0.35) and female (0.31) in Boset district. Whereas, poor fertility and growth stand first as culling criteria for breeding females and males in Minjar Shenkora with an index of 0.37 and 0.32 respectively. Predator (with an index of 0.32) and shortage of grazing lands with an index of 0.28) were the major constraints of goat production in Boset and Minjar Shenkora districts. Therefore, any conservation and improvement program strategy that is intended to be implemented in the study area should consider the practical variation of the existed system, and the interest of the farmer

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