Carcass quality audit - a strategy to improve beef sector in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has the largest cattle population in Africa. However, the potential of the sector has not fully utilized. Average carcass weight of cattle, per capita meat consumption and annual volume of meat produced were very low. Experience from developed countries indicates that implementing carcass quality audit would aid to identify quality problems, develop strategies and establish an educational plan to improve carcass quality. The audit has helped in benchmarking carcass quality parameters to quantify the progress of the sector at intervals of time. The purpose of this paper is to develop strategy on beef carcass quality audit and indicates the possibilities of implementing it at beef export abattoirs in Ethiopia.http://www.academicjournals.org/AJARam201

Causes of beef carcass and organ condemnations in Ethiopia

Carcass and organ condemnations cause big economic losses in the beef industry. The aim of this study was to determine the causes of condemnations of whole and partial carcasses and organs of cattle slaughtered at private abattoirs in Ethiopia. A total of 62,917 cattle slaughtered at Abergelle, Elfora Bishoftu and Elfora Kombolcha abattoirs from February 2010 to November 2013 were used for the study. The main causes of condemnations of whole carcasses were poor bleeding (0.11%), abscess (0.06%), adhesion (0.04%), TB (0.03%), pneumonia (0.01%), Cysticercus bovis (0.01%) and bruising (0.01%). Prevalence of abscesses, TB and C. bovis were significantly (p<0.0001) different between abattoirs. Main causes of partial condemnations of carcasses were bruising (34.11%), poor bleeding (25.59%), contamination (12.58%) and adhesion (9.37%). The prevalence of these problems were significantly (p<0.0001) different between years, abattoirs and season. The main causes of condemnations of liver was faciola (29.74%) while lungs were mainly condemned due to H. cyst (23.01%) and pneumonia (22.68). The main causes of condemnations of kidneys, hearts, tongue and spleens were nephritis (10.91%), poor bleeding (20.83%), abscess (4.71%) and splenitis (2.74%), respectively while heads were condemned mainly due to poor bleeding (18.77%) and bruising (17.05%). The causes of condemnations of organs were significantly (p<0.0001) different between abattoirs or years or both in some cases. From the study it was concluded that the prevalence of disease problems differ from abattoir to abattoir and across years. It is therefore recommended that different strategies should be developed to minimize these problems though the year and between regions based on the dynamic nature of the diseases.The authors wish to thank the University of Pretoria and University of Haramaya for financially supporting the study.http://academicjournalsinc.comcurrent.php?jid=1683-9919am201

Impact of climatic variability on growth performance of Fogera cattle in Northwestern Ethiopia

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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

Defining weaning age of camel calves in eastern Ethiopia

This experiment was conducted with the aim to define the weaning age of camel calves managed with pastoral farmers in eastern Ethiopia. Twenty camel calves (11 males and 9 females) were randomly assigned into five blocks based on their birth date. Calves within a block were further assigned to one of the four Treatments (T1, T2, T3, and T4). Calves in T1, T2, and T3 were weaned at 6, 8, and 10 months of age and supplemented with concentrate from weaning up to 12 months of age, respectively. They were supplemented with a mixture of noug seed (Guizotia abyssinica) cake and wheat bran at a ratio of 40% and 60%, respectively. Calves in T4 (control) were weaned at 12 months of age, hence were not supplemented with concentrate. Calves in all treatment groups browsed natural vegetation for 8 hours a day. Post weaning performance was evaluated for all calves at 14 months of age. The mean daily concentrate intake was significantly higher (P < 0.001) in the dry season compared to the wet season. Daily weight gain was significantly (P < 0.001) affected by treatment, sex of calves, and season of birth. Calves supplemented with concentrate gained relatively more weight (P < 0.001) than calves not supplemented. Calves born during the short rainy season gained more weight than those born during the short and long dry season. Three calves died, two from T3 and one from T4. From the study it was concluded that weaning calves at 8 months of age and supplementing with concentrate to the age of 12 months of age resulted in good post weaning growth rate and survivability of calves.National Camel Research Project and University of Haramayahttp://www.springerplus.comhb201

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

Beef carcass quality, yield and causes of condemnations in Ethiopia

Beef carcass quality, yield and causes of condemnations in Ethiopia were investigated in this study. Data was collected from Abergelle, Adama, Elfora Bishoftu, Elfora Kombolcha, Elfora Melgawendo, Hawassa, and Mekelle local and export abattoirs which include a total of 88,299 cattle. The study indicated that management practices at the abattoirs contribute to the poor quality of carcasses. The average carcass weight at the local abattoirs was 135.90 + 0.69 kg. Carcass weight was significantly (p<0.001) different between abattoirs, season, conformation grades, fat grades and categories of cattle. Superior conformation and fat grades were lower for cows and castrated bulls compared to other categories of cattle. The average live weight, carcass weight and dressing percentage at the export abattoirs were 241.41 + 0.37 kg, 106.93 + 0.21 kg and 44.21 + 0.05 %, respectively. Live weight, carcass weight and dressing percentage were significantly (p<0.001) differ between abattoirs, season and breeds. Average meat yield and yield percentage were 61.56 + 0.94 kg and 67.81 + 0.33%, respectively. Meat yield and weight of primal meat cuts were significantly (p<0.001) different between breeds of cattle. Only 31.13% of total carcasses sampled had an acceptable ultimate pH of 5.4-5.7. 170 whole carcasses, 52,437 partial carcasses and a number of organs were condemned out of a total of 62,917 cattle slaughtered. The main causes of condemnations of carcasses and organs were poor bleeding, bruising, contamination, abscess, hydatid cyst, pneumonia, nephritis, pericarditis and cysticercus bovis. The financial loss due to condemnation of carcasses and organs at one of the abattoirs was about 771,666.9 ETB (38,953.40 USD). From this study it was concluded that main factors that affected carcass quality of cattle in Ethiopia were poor management practices at the abattoirs, very low level of carcass fat, low proportion of carcass with desired pH for acceptable conversion of muscle to meat and higher level of condemnations of carcasses and organs. It is therefore recommended that developing law governing abattoirs operation, implementing good management program at abattoirs, proper feeding of cattle before slaughter and proper handling of cattle during transport will improve the quality of carcasses in Ethiopia.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2015.tm2015Animal and Wildlife SciencesPhDUnrestricte

Opportunities to Improve the Quality of Beef Produced under Smallholder Mixed Crop and Rangeland Livestock Production Systems

East African countries contain a substantial proportion of cattle (9.3%, 136.4 million) and small ruminants (12%, 253.4 million) compared to the world’s total livestock population. In this region, more than 70% of the land surface is conducive to raise red meat animals. However, the region has limited share (approximately 1%) of meat products to the world market due to the failure to satisfy the minimal quality standard. Most of livestock farmers in this region are smallholders operating pastoral and mixed crop-livestock production systems. This study looked at reports on the quality of beef produced by smallholder production systems using Ethiopia as an example in order to identify potential and determinants in quality beef production under smallholders production system. In order to achieve this, research station beef quality reports were considered as a standard to compare the instrumental quality of beef reported from oxen and bulls raised by smallholders in mixed crop-livestock systems, ranches, and Hararghe cattle fattening systems. According to the analysis, oxen in the smallholders in the mixed crop-livestock systems produced comparatively lower-quality beef than oxen reared by the smallholders in the Hararghe fattening and bulls reared in the ranch systems, which produced good-quality beef. Improved feed resources are used in the Hararghe cattle fattening systems; oxen are used for draft service for a brief period of time (2.85 ± 0.58 years) and then sold for slaughter relatively at a young age. In pastoral settings, ranches offer options for the effective use of scare feed resources. The primary factors that determine the quality of beef produced from oxen raised in the mixed crop-livestock system were poor-quality feed resources, long-term draft service (6.62 ± 1.92 years), and old age at slaughter. To improve the quality of beef produced from the oxen raised in the mixed crop-livestock system, the practice of smallholder farmers in the Hararghe cattle fattening system needs to be adopted. The adoption of the practice also contributes to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the system and convert the subsistence mixed crop-livestock into a market-oriented system

Ethiopian beef carcass characteristics

This study was conducted to evaluate beef carcass characteristics of cattle slaughtered at local abattoirs in Ethiopia. About 10% of carcasses (3080) were collected from Adama, Hawassa, Mekelle and Kombolcha abattoirs between August 2013 and January 2014. The results of the study showed that 98.56% of cattle slaughtered were indigenous cattle while 1.44% was Holstein Frisian. The average carcass weight of indigenous cattle was 135.90 + 0.69 kg. Carcass weight was significantly (p<0.001) different between abattoirs, season, conformation grades, fat grades and categories of cattle. Conformation grade 1, 2 and 3 accounted for 30, 34.29 and 35.71% of carcasses evaluated, respectively. Fat grade1, 2 and 3 accounted for 67.5, 23.57 and 8.93% of carcasses evaluated, respectively. Intact bulls, castrated bulls, growing bulls and cows accounted for 26.07, 64.64, 3.95 and 5.36% cattle slaughtered, respectively. Higher carcass weight, higher proportion of superior conformation and fat grade were observed in the wet season compared to the dry season. Inferior conformation and fat grades were relatively higher for cows (80 and 84.42%) and castrated bulls (37.57 and 67.96%) compared to other categories of cattle. From the study it was concluded that the use of dairy beef was very low in Ethiopia. The proportion of carcass with little /no fat cover (fat grade 1) was very high. The relatively better carcasses weight, conformation and fat grades in the wet season compared to the dry season indicates the opportunities to improve carcass weight and quality through better feeding management.University of Haramaya and University of Pretoria post graduate bursaryhttp://www.academicjournals.org/AJARtm201

Carcass quality audit - A strategy to improve beef sector in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has the largest cattle population in Africa. However, the potential of the sector has not fully utilized. Average carcass weight of cattle, per capita meat consumption and annual volume of meat produced were very low. Experience from developed countries indicates that implementing carcass quality audit would aid to identify quality problems, develop strategies and establish an educational plan to improve carcass quality. The audit has helped in benchmarking carcass quality parameters to quantify the progress of the sector at intervals of time. The purpose of this paper is to develop strategy on beef carcass quality audit and indicates the possibilities of implementing it at beef export abattoirs in Ethiopia.http://www.academicjournals.org/AJARam201