Effect of liveweight and body condition on work output from draft oxen

A trial was carried out to assess the effect of liveweight and body condition on working capacity of Zebu oxen. Over a working period of 9 days, animals which started work with a mean liveweight of 360 kg and body condition score of M+ produced the highest daily work output. At an initial liveweight of 360 kg, body condition had relatively little effect on work output of 3.19 MJ. In contrast, at a mean live-weight of 310 kg. at the start of work, mean daily work output of animals of condition score M+ was significantly lower than that of animals in poorer condition (M-) at 0.81 compared with 2.50 MJ work output per day. It was concluded that body weight as indicated by body size is probably a more useful indicator of likely capacity for work than body condition under the short-season working conditions typical for oxen in the semi-arid zone of central Mali

In-village studies of the use of work oxen in central Mali

Amongst 186 farmers interviewed in 1986 in central Mali 95 percent declared having used oxen for at least some part of their crop production activities. Most of the users (98 percent) had exploited oxen for soil preparation, but only 66 percent had used animal-drawn equipment for weeding. Only 21 percent of respondents attributed problems with field operations to deficiency in oxen work-capacity. On average oxen undertook 22 days of primary cultivation and 11 days of weeding in 1989. All the work observed was carried out using oxen harnessed in pairs. Soil preparation consisted principally of ridging with a single-furrow plough (16 days work) and this was carried out at an average working speed of 0.75 m.s.-1 with an average draft force of 778 N. Inter-row weeding was generally made with a duck-foot harrow working at 0.77 m.s.-1 at an average draft force of 610 N. The average work load in primary cultivations was 138 N. 100 kg-1 liveweight and for weeding 120 N. 100 kg-1 liveweight. Liveweight and size of oxen had no evident effect on working performance. Energy consumption in work was estimated at 144 percent and 136 percent of maintenance requirement for primary cultivation and weeding respectively

Effect of change in body weight and condition during the dry season on capacity for work of draft oxen

Work oxen supplemented at different levels during a feeding period of 3 months, were divided into 3 groups of average weight change -25, +35 and +70kg and worked under loadings of either 7.5 or 12.5 kgf/100kg of liveweight for 2 weeks, in order to assess the impact of dry season supplementation on capacity for work. At approximately equal levels of stress in work, manifest in maximum heart rate one minute after ceasing work, oxen with higher dry-season weight gain produced higher levels of work output, in proportion to their increased body weight. Rate of work and mean daily work output increased from the first to the second week of work, inspite of average daily weight losses of 2.63 kg throughout the period. Decline in rate of working through each day was continuous and essentially linear with relation to distance worked. The time taken to cover 1km increased at an average of 0.16 and 0.68 min/km for light and heavy loadings respectively

Dry-season cattle fattening by smallholder farmers in the semi-arid zone of Mali

Presents results of a study of a beef-fattening project in which smallholder farmers in the semi-arid zone of Mali were provided with credit to purchase mature cattle for fattening programme. The daily weight gain in animals kept permanently housed was on average higher than in animals which were allowed out to graze and only provided with supplementary feed in the stable. The loss in individual animal performance was apparently offset by a saving in labour for forage collection of approximately two hours per day. Animals of the Maure breed gained weight at a significantly higher rate than Peul animals even when both breeds were maintained under apparently similar conditions of management