The combined effects of the provision of feed and healthcare on nutrient utilization and growth performance of sheep during the early or late dry season

Abstract

An on-farm study was conducted to determine the combined effects of the provision of feed and healthcare on nutrient use and growth performance of sheep during the early or late dry season. A total of 36 smallholder sheep farmers with a flock size of ≤7 was randomly selected within each of the three administrative regions in Northern Ghana. The sheep grazed on a heterogeneous natural pasture and offered crop residues as basal diet (control) or were additionally provided with a concentrate feed plus orthodox healthcare to control diseases and pests (CH) in a completely randomized block design. The provision of orthodox healthcare included scheduled control of endo- and ecto-parasites and administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Data was analyzed for the fixed effects of CH, season, or CH × season using the mixed model procedure of Genstats. The CH regimen had no effect (P = 0.098) on intake of natural pasture but pasture intake increased (P = 0.012) during the late dry season. Sheep on the CH regime had higher DM (P = 0.026) and N (P = 0.068) digestibility and improved ADG (P = 0.001) and feed conversion efficiency (P = 0.020) than those on the control. We hypothesize that improvements in growth performance of sheep on the CH regimen could be related to availability of nutrients for growth that will otherwise have been used for repair of damaged tissues caused by gastrointestinal parasites and ticks. Sheep on the CH regimen also had a higher concentration of fecal N during the late dry season when CP concentration was relatively higher than that in the early dry season (63.2 vs 60.9 g/day DM) when CP concentration of pasture was lower.

Effects of feed and health interventions on small ruminant production in mixed crop-livestock systems in Southern Mali

“…The ADG values for sheep and goats in the control and treatment groups were similar to those reported by Avornyo et al (2015) for sheep and goats, and by Konlan et al (2017) for sheep in studies on feed supplementation and provision of healthcare (17.8 and 45.4 g/day for sheep under control and healthcare, respectively). The live weights of goats and sheep at 3 and 12 months in our study were lower than those and Ayantunde, 2014) and they generally have a high crude protein content, but they are high in lignin content which limits intake and digestibility.…”

“…The results on flock dynamics confirmed that the mortality rate is always high in a small ruminant flock without adequate healthcare and nutrition (Konlan et al, 2017). According to Wilson (1986), the mortality rate can be up to 30% in sheep and goat flocks in Central Mali extensive livestock systems, where healthcare is inadequate and nutrition poor, particularly in the dry season.…”

“…Ba et al (1996) reported similar results in Mali when introducing health treatment alone. Konlan et al (2017), and Avornyo et al (2015) also reported synergistic benefits of the combined effect of providing concentrate feed and healthcare to small ruminants kept by smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana.…”

“…Cottonseed cake was used as supplement as it was readily available in the sites because of the widespread cultivation of cotton. The amount of cottonseed cake (200-300 g per animal) was based on Konlan et al (2017) in a similar study in Ghana. The physiological status to determine the amounts of supplement to be distributed was not included as it was difficult to adjust quantities in rural conditions.…”

“…Mortality could be reduced by vaccinating small ruminants against main diseases such as pasteurellosis and peste des petits ruminants (PPR), and by deworming them. In addition to healthcare, strategic supplementation is essential to improve their performance (Ben Salem and Smith, 2008;Nantoumé et al, 2011;Konlan et al, 2017). Previous studies have yielded promising results on feed and health interventions to improve small ruminant production in Ghana under the Africa RISING project (Avornyo et al, 2015;Konlan et al, 2017).…”