Carcass characteristics of draught cattle released for beef in Eastern Ethiopia

Most cattle used for beef production in Ethiopia are Zebu breeds. Usually released for beef when they are aged for plowing and in poor body condition. However, there is little available information on carcass yield and percentage earned from these cattle. Therefore, the study was conducted to evaluate the carcass yield and the percentage of cattle released for beef after used in draught power. This study used 280 heads of male indigenous draught cattle released for beef. Each cattle were randomly measured for carcass and noncarcass components. Body weight was recorded as animals arrived. Hot carcasses were weighed and cold carcasses were estimated at 0.98 of the hot carcass weight. Dressing proportions were calculated from the ratio of hot carcass weight to slaughter weight. Descriptive statistics for carcass yield, edible and offal components were analyzed by SPSS. The average slaughter weight, hot carcass weight, dressing and shrinkage percentage recorded in this study was 247.93+5.27, 90.98+ 2.11, 36.98+0.94 and 0.74+0.02, respectively. The amount of total deboned lean meat was 60.38kg (24.35% of the slaughter body weight). The price of live animals and the amount of carcass and other edible parts attained from it, is not worthy of comparison and there was a loss of 402.66+ 0.29 Birr per each cattle. Therefore, draught cattle released for beef after draught power should be fattened either by farmers or beef farm to recover their body weight loss due to agricultural work load.Keywords: Carcass; Drought cattle; External offal; Internal orga

Phenotypic characterization of donkey population in South Omo Zone, Southern Ethiopia

The study conducted in South Omo Zone, Southern Ethiopia with the aim of investigation within population diversification and characterization morphologically that helps to fill the gap of molecular characterization on this population. The data was collected from 500 adult donkeys from both sexes. Quantitative data was subjected to SAS GLM procedures by fitting districts and sex as the main effects. Qualitative data was subjected to a chi-square test with the district as the main effect. Color graph of donkey was done using Microsoft Excel, 2010. For both qualitative and quantitative data, the significance test was conducted at 5% of the level of error, and Tukey multiple range tests were used to separate the significance levels for the two types of data. CANDISC was used to calculate Mahalanobis distances, DISCRIM was used to cluster observations into predetermined groups, and STEPDISC was used to determine the quantitative characteristics that better differentiate populations. Roan coat color cover highest number compare with other coat color of donkey population. Quantitative traits of donkey has variation (P < 0.05) both in study areas and sex of donkeys. Overtly, except height at wither and height at the back Hammer donkey has mostly better metric value than the rest districts of the study areas. Moreover, CANDISC show variation on Hammer and Dasenech districts of donkey population. Furthermore, the longest (6.32) Mahalanobis distance observed in between Hammer and Dasenech donkey population. The Hammer and Dasenech donkey population is where the study fills in population variation the most. This can be because to management or genetics. Therefore, additional research might be required. Furthermore, morphometric measures show that donkey sex is similar, with the exception of heart girth circumference. This can be the result of poor selection, where superior male donkeys are sold for a higher price. Therefore, sound breeding programs should be used to reverse it