Camel herd health and productivity in Eastern Ethiopia selected semi-nomadic households

Abstract

This study was conducted on camels kept under pastoral management conditions from October 1997 to September 1998. Trypanosomosis was one of the most important diseases identified with a maximum prevalence of 20.6% and minimum of 5.4% for the sampled period. The prevalence rate of sarcoptic mange mites varied from 21.7 to 4.7% during rainy and dry months, respectively. The highest prevalence rate of strongyle eggs was 85.7% during rainy months and the lowest was 61.5% during dry months. The highest eggs per gram count was 1036.1 ± 0.6, the lowest 358.8 ± 0.6. Milk offtake was significantly higher (p < 0.01) during the wet season (3.1 l) than during the dry season (1.5 l). A significantly higher (p < 0.01) milk offtake was also recorded in camels of parities 1-4 (3 l) than in camels of parities 5 and above (1.6 l). Female immature camels (1-4 years old) showed a significantly higher (p < 0.01) daily weight gain (59.4 g) than males of the same age (33.2 g). Furthermore, a significantly higher (p < 0.01) daily weight gain (63.1 g) was recorded in camels 1-2 years old compared to camels 3-4 years old (29.5 g). Likewise, a significantly higher (p < 0.05) daily weight gain (50.7 g) was observed during the wet season than during the dry season (41.9 g). Mating and calving mainly occurred during the rainy months. The annual calving percentage of the herd was 42.7%. The annual commercial animal offtake and herd growth rates were 4.74 and 8.9%, respectively. The mortality rate of calves below one-year of age was higher than that of immature and adult camels.