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Assessment of Body Condition of Livestock Slaughtered At Abattoir and Field Grazing Ones in Northern Guinea Savanna Ecological Zone of Nigeria.

By Dr. D. Zahraddeen, Prof. I. S. R. Butswat, Prof. S.T. MBAP and K. A. Akibu

This study was carried out in and around Bauchi from February to November, 2007 to assess the body conditions of some livestock with respect to species, season and location (abattoir and field). A total of 4,504 animals were studied; 1,496 were cattle; 371 sheep and 2,047 goats. The data were subjected to chi-square analysis and simple descriptive statistics using species, season and location of factors. The results on body condition scores of cattle, sheep and goats differed significantly (P<0.001). The results also showed that the percentages of animals with body scores 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 were 2.3 versus 0.0, 6.7 versus 0.4, 27.5 versus 2.9, 35.6 versus 28.9, 26.5 versus 58.8 and 1.4 versus 8.9% (P<0.001) for those slaughtered at abattoir and field-gazing ones, respectively. Most of these animals had average body condition scores (2 and 3) in both the two locations studied. Cattle and sheep exhibited better body condition scores in the wet than dry season. Conversely, goat thrived better in the dry than wet season; with larger number exhibiting good body condition scores. The overall results showed that the animals had body condition scores 0(1.1 versus 1.7), 1(3.6 versus 5.1), 2(12.8 versus 22.9), 3(33.3 versus 33.1), 4(42.5 versus 35.1) and 5(6.7 versus 2.1%) in the wet and dry season, respectively. The goats were the highest species followed by cattle and lowest in sheep in terms of their population and contribution to meat supply in Bauchi. It is, therefore, concluded that a large number of animals with poor body conditions or malnourished were ear-marked for slaughter and made available to public for consumption in the study area. Animals grazing in the field had better body conditions than their counterparts ear-marked for slaughter at abattoir. It is recommended that strict surveillance be imposed on all animals meant for slaughter to ensure they have appreciable body condition scores so as to increase meat production quality.

Keywords: Body condition, abattoir, field-grazing animals

INTRODUCTION
Animal management is one of the most important factors limiting efficient livestock production in Nigeria. It has been shown that the management systems of livestock are dictated by several factors such as climate, cropping system and population density (Otchere and Kallah, 1985). Butswat and Bellow (2002) also reported that the system varies from free-range grazing and browsing with little or no supplementary feeds during the cropping season. However, the low productivity of livestock has been attributed to the traditional husbandry system practiced by most Nigerian farmers (Zahraddeen et al, 2007a). Bayer (1986) reported that in the traditional husbandry system no special care is given to the breeding stock and hence their performance remains perpetually low.
The low performance of animals in the tropics has been attributed to factors such as breed (Butswat, 1994: Butswat et al, 1998) nutrition (Malau-Aduli et al, 2004), season (Butswat 1994; Zahraddeen, 2006), pests and diseases (Butswat et al, 2005 Zahraddeen et al, 2007b). Livestock production is an important segment of the world food industry. Nigerian farmers engage in the rearing of cattle, sheep, goats, camels pigs and other un-popular animals such as donkeys, horses, dogs etc that are used for meat production at specific locations of the country. The primary aim of keeping any livestock species is for the provision of quality meat, milk, wool and hide/skin. The meat produced by these livestock is a major source of animal protein and it is also an important part of the diet of most people (Butswatt et al, 2002). A report shows that in the developed countries, average per caput daily intake of animal protein stands at over 50 grams, while in the developing countries including Nigeria, it is only between 12 and 20 grams or 3 4 times less (FAO, 1998). Similarly, the average consumption of mil per head in the developed countries has practically remained unchanged for the last 20 years and stands at about 200kg per year, in the developing countries, the parameter is 5.5 times lower. In any sub-saharan Africa countries milk consumption is extremely low, sometimes less than 10kg per caput (Sanusi, 2002).
Body conditions
core of livestock is a good indicator of the quality of meat or milk produced by the animals, since good body condition score is a reflection of amount body tissue reserves necessary for normal physiological body functions. To the best of our knowledge, comparative assessment of body condition scores of abattoir and field-grazing livestock is practically non-existent in literature in Bauchi, the study area. Therefore, this study was designed to monitor and evaluate the body condition scores of livestock with respect to species and season in abattoir and field-grazing livestock in northern guinea savannah ecological zone of Nigeria.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Location and climate
Bauchi metropolis, the study area, apart from being the headquarters of Bauchi State and Bauchi Local Government, is also the urban centre in the State. It lies on latitude 100 17` north, longitude 80 49` cast and at an altitude of 690.2 meters above sea level in the northern guinea savannah ecological zone of Nigeria (Kowal and Knabe, 1972). The society is mainly agrarian, with human population of 4.6 million (NPC, 2006).
The climate is suitable for agriculture. However, the climate exhibits two marked seasons; dry and rainy (October March and April to September, respectively) (Butswat, 1994). The annual rainfall is between 1016 1270mm. the mean monthly hours of sunshine is highest in December (300.3h) and lowest in August (150.1h). April is the hottest month with mean maximum and minimum temperatures of 30.1 and 13.70C, respectively. The mean relative humidity is highest in August (74.0%) and lowest in February (16.5%) as reported by Butswat et al, (2000).


Source of data
The data for this study were collected from animals ear-marked for slaughter at Bauchi Main Abattoir and field-grazing animals in and around Bauchi. The livestock used were cattle, sheep and goats of different breeds. The predominant cattle breed in the area was Bunaji and few other breeds were available. The sheep breed was mainly Yankasa, while Red Sokoto was the commonest goat breed in Bauchi, but few other breeds were also available.
The abattoir animals were mostly obtained from surrounding markets and villages as well as from small-scale producers in Bauchi metropolis. However, few others were brought from elsewhere. As these animals were brought for slaughter, the owners were stopped at random and were asked for their animals to be used for the study. In most cases they did cooperate. All the animals brought to the abattoir were earmarked for slaughter.
The field-grazing animals were those found in and around Bauchi metropolis, but they are not ear-marked for slaughter. This group also comprised animals from small-scale holders and nomadic Fulani pastoralists found grazing in the field.
The management system of these animals have been previously described by Butswat and Bello (2002), which is mostly traditional. This ranges from herding, free-range grazing and browsing with little or no supplementary feeding during the non-cropping period to tethering with zero grazing during the cropping seasons. Few other animals were fattened occasionally before taking to abattoir for slaughter.
A total of 4,504 animals were used for the study. Out of this, 1,496 were cattle, 2,407 goats and 961 sheep. The study lasted for a period of ten (10) months (February November, 2007).
The body condition scores of animals were taken on weekly basis throughout the experimental period. The scores were taken as per the procedures described by Jefferies (1961) and Butswat (1994). The scores covered six grades (0 to 5) as follows: 0 scores referred to emaciated animals at the point of death; score 1 was for animals with prominent back bone with virtually no flesh around the bones, sharp lumbar processes and thin eye muscles; score 2 was for animals with prominent but smooth back bone, smooth and rounded lumbar processes and having eye muscles with moderate depth and a little fat; score 3 was for animals with smooth and rounded back bone with good coverage; score 4 was for animals with barely detectable back bone, lumbar processes thickly covered by muscle and full eye muscles with thick fat coverage and score 5 was for animals in which the back bone cannot even be felt with firm pressure, with lumbar processes that cannot be felt because of fat coverage and having eye muscles with very thickly fat coverage which may be flabby (Butswat, 1994).

Data analysis
The data were subjected to chi-square method of statistical analysis (Humburg, 1977) using species, season, abattoir and field-grazing animals as factors, while simple percentages were used on other relevant measurements.

RESULTS
Data on body condition scores of cattle, sheep and goats as influenced by abattoir and field-grazing animals are presented in Table 1. For cattle, the results showed that percentages of animals with body condition scores 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 were 4.1 vs 0.0, 10.3 vs 1.0, 41.0 vs 2.2, 28.0 vs 25.1, 14.2 vs 56.0 and 2.4 vs 15.7% for those slaughtered at abattoir and field-grazing ones, respectively (P<0.001). The results showed that sheep slaughtered at abattoir and field-grazing ones had per cent body condition scores; 0(1.9 vs 0.0), 1(7.3 vs 0.5), 2(28.8 vs 2.4), 3(40.1 vs 27.8), 4(21.9 vs 60.0) and 5(0.0 vs 9.3%), respectively. For the goat species, the results revealed that the percentages of animals slaughtered at abattoir and field-grazing ones with body condition scores 0(0.9 vs 0.0), 1(3.8 vs 0.0), 2(16.7 vs 3.9), 3(40.4 vs 32.5), 4(37.3 vs 59.5) and 5(0.9 vs 4.1%), respectively (Table 1).
Data on body condition scores of animals slaughtered at abattoir and field-grazing ones are shown in Table 2. The overall results showed that the percentages of animals with body scores 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 were 2.3 vs 0.0, 6.7 vs 0.4, 27.5 vs 2.9, 35.6 vs 28.9, 26.5 vs 58.8 and 1.4 vs 8.9% (P<0.001) for the abattoir and field-grazing respectively (Table 2).
Data on body condition scores in animals as influenced by season (wet and dry) are shown in Table 3. The results showed that in the wet season cattle had the largest population followed by sheep and lowest in goats having average (2 and 3) body conditions scores. There were few other animals with extreme scores (0 and 1 versus 4 and 5) in the three species. Conversely, larger number of goats had better body condition scores in the dry season as compared to cattle and sheep; having fewer numbers.
Table 4 depicts the overall results on body condition scores of cattle, sheep and goat species as influenced by the two seasons; wet and dry. The results showed that the percentages of these animals with body condition scores 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 were 1.1 vs 1.7, 3.6 vs 5.1, 12.8 vs 22.9, 33.3 vs 33.1, 42.5 vs 35.1 and 6.7 vs 2.1 %(P<0.001) for wet and dry season, respectively.

DISCUSSION
This study observed significant differences in the body condition scores of animals (cattle, sheep and goats) ear-marked for slaughter in the abattoir and their counterparts grazing/browsing in the field. The significant variation observed in the study might have been due to differences in the feeding habits of these animals and partly due to differences in their rearing methods. For instance, the goats are difficult to be managed indoor as they do not respond to confinement as compared to cattle and sheep. This was similarly reported by Butswat (1994) in his study using sheep and goats. Zahraddeen et al. (2007b) reported that good body condition score is a reflection of good nutrition and hence adequate body tissue reserves for normal physiological functions. Also good nutrition is a prerequisite for good health and reproduction, high milk yield as well as fast growth rate of the animals.
The goat is considered superior to other ruminant species in its utilization of poor quality and high fiber forages during adverse condition of feed scarcity (Howe et al., 1988; Dominique et al., 1991). Similarly, Butswat (1994) reported that the weights of goats were highest during the early rainy season and lowest in the late rainy season. However, changes in weights or body condition scores of animals are to a greater extent influenced by periods of feed availability or its scarcity. The goat specie had the highest number followed by cattle and then sheep in terms of number of livestock slaughter figures in the study area. This was similarly reported to Butswat and Bello (2002). This is attributed to the fact that farmers find it easier to keep goats than other animal species in Bauchi as most of them practiced the small-husbandry system, and in most instances these animals fend for themselves. However, the high slaughter figure of goats may be partly due to their high population density (an index of good adaptability to the prevailing weather condition) and partly because of their affordability by the butchers who mostly operate all small-scale level.
The present investigation revealed higher number of animals with low body condition scores (0 to 2) slaughtered at abattoir as compared to field-grazing ones. This probably might be the reason for the higher number of animals with low body scores in the abattoir. Conversely, there were very few animals in the field with low or poor body condition scores. Animals are being fattened and eventually taken to markets for sale and slaughter. In the study area, it is a rife tradition of the farmers whereby animals that are meant for slaughter are first subjected to special treatments in forms of extra-feeding, good medication and other improved management practices some weeks to slaughter so as to increase their amount of fat deposition and tissue reserves with the sole aim of attaining higher body weight and good market value. This can be for short or long term depending on the immediate need of the farmer.
The differential methods of rearing these animals may also play a contributory role for the low body conditions of some animals. For instance, Olalokun (1985) reported that the extensive system entails considerable hazards for the animals as there is no provision of housing, very rudimentary health care, records are not kept, uncontrolled breeding, inadequate feeding in both quantity and quality. Abdullahi (2001) reported that animals with such low managerial inputs usually result in poor economic return. If such animals are ear-marked for sale and slaughter attract low price due to their low body weights or poor conditions of body.
There was higher number of animals with average body condition scores (2 and 3) in the dry than wet season. This probably accounted for the large number of goats sampled in the present study; Zahraddeen et al. (2007b) showed that goats had a much lowered body weight in the wet as compared to dry season. This was similarly reported by Zahraddeen et al. (2008) that the West African Dwarf goats were heavier as the savannah zone is approached. These workers attributed the increase in weight to low rainfall in savannah as compared to forest zone; the ecological niche of West African Dwarf goats. Butswat (1994) observed that the wet season is characterized by many growth limiting factors; the restriction imposed on the animals due to farming activities, high incidence of pests and diseases and the interplay and influence of climatic factors. The worker also reported that the climatic factors influence greatly the productivity of animals (especially goats) under traditional system of management through their effects principally on forage/fodder production and supply, water availability, thermal stress and photoperiod which are reflected in seasonal trend in growth, reproduction and morbidity. Cattle and sheep had a relatively better body condition scores in both the wet and dry seasons. This is an indication that the two species are adapted to the prevailing environment.

CONCLUSION
The results obtained in this study on body condition scores of animals slaughtered at abattoir and field-grazing ones showed that substantial number of animals with low body condition scores is slaughtered in the study area. There was larger number of animals with good body conditions in the field than in abattoir. Cattle and sheep thrived better in the wet season than dry; with larger number exhibiting good body conditions. Conversely, goats thrived better in the dry than wet season. It is therefore, suggested that strict surveillance be imposed on all animals ear-marked for slaughter at abattoirs so as to curtail the number of animals slaughtered with poor body conditions. It is recommended that animals meant for slaughter must be allowed to attain appreciably good body condition scores in the study area.

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By Dr. D. Zahraddeen, Prof. I. S. R. Butswat, Prof. S.T. MBAP and K. A. Akibu