Milk productivity of camel and growth of calves (Camelusdromedarius) in eastern Ethiopia

Milk suckled, off take and growth of calves of Camel was measured from August 2008 to July 2009 in eastern Ethiopia with the aim to evaluate the performance of the herd in terms of milk productivity and growth of calves. Data on milk suckled and growth of calves was collected by methods of weight-suckle-weight. Milk off take of the herd was measured by hand milking method. Productivity of the herd in terms of milk was evaluated based on the sum of milk suckled and off take. Average daily milk suckled was 2.00 ± 0.18 kg, daily milk off take was 3.50 ± 0.14 liter, daily weight gains of calves was 0.243 ± 0.01 kg/day, respectively. Average milk productivity as the sum of milk suckled and off take was 5.5 ± 0.16. Milk sucked, off take and daily weight gain of calves was affected by months of lactation, season of births of calves and parities of dams. Daily milk suckled, off take and weight gain in 3-4 months of lactation was relatively higher than other months of lactation which were 2.17 + 0.22 kg, 3.55± 0.16 liter and 0.300 ± 0.02 kg, respectively. The productivity of the herd in terms of milk yield and growth of calves decrease as the camels advanced in lactation. Daily milk suckled, off take and weight gain was relatively lower in 11-12 months of lactation which was 1.27+ 0.31 kg, 1.69 ± 0.15 liter and 0.193± 0.02 kg, respectively. From the study it was concluded that the Camel herd in eastern Ethiopia managed under arid range condition was comparable to the productivity of Camel in east Africa based on the performance measured in terms of milk productivity and growth of calves.National Camel Research Project and University of Haramayahttp://www.lrrd.org/hb201

Forage preference of camel calves (Camelus dromedarius) in easten Ethiopia

A study on forage preference of Camel calves from 6 to 12 months of age was conducted in eastern Ethiopia. Data were collected at an interval of 50 minutes for each calf for 15 consecutive days in dry and wet season. Based on the observation, calves commonly selected 13 plant species in the dry season and 15 plant species in the wet season. The top 10 plant species preferred by calves accounted for about 99% and 94% of the total browsed forage species during the dry and wet season, respectively. Opuntia ficus-indicus was the most frequently browsed forage species both in the wet (37%) and dry (41%) seasons. The second frequently browsed species in dry season were Lantana camara (15.09%) and Becium species (15.09%) and in wet season Becium species (13.08%). The crud protein (CP) content of mixed plant species browsed by the calves in the dry and wet season was 13.8 and 27.7 %, respectively. On average calves spent 79.51 + 14.83% of their time on browsing during the dry and wet season in the present study. Relatively more time spent on browsing in wet season (82.11 + 9.74%) compared to dry season (76.91 + 19.92%). From the study it was concluded that number of commonly preferred forage species of calves were less than number reported for mature Camels. Calves selected for feed with lower CP content in dry season compared to wet season. Moreover, time spent browsing was relatively lower in dry season compared to wet season. It is therefore, recommended that further study will be suggested to know how much the requirement of the calves can be satisfied from the liquid milk suckled from the dams and solid feed available in the area in order to supplement the calves strategically.The National Camel Research Project and University of Haramaya.http://www.thejaps.org.pk/am201