ABSTRACT

A study was carried out to assess the incidence of kid mortality in the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Livestock Farm. The r ecords of 165 kids born in the Farm during the period I 99 — 2001 were employed to determining the cause of death and the seasonality of the aetio logical agents. A total of 80 kids representing 48.8% of the births died during the period of study. The males recorded more death (47) than the females (33). However, sex had no significant effect (P>0.05) on birth weight and mortality. Mortality was more frequent during the pre-weaning period with mean mortality rates of 33.8% from 0 — 30 days of birth and 40.0% from 31 — 90 days after birth. The season of birth did not exhibit any effect (P>0.05) on kid mortality. The results showed that pneumonia (40%, helminthiasis (17.5%) and Peste des Petits Ruminant (PPR) (8.8%) were the major diseases that caused death in kids and these were most prevalent in the rainy season. Mortality rate was highest (94.11%) during late rains and lowest (30.20%) in the late dry season. The correlation between age of kids (0 — 30 days) and birth weight was positive and non-significant in the male (r = 0.071) and negative in the female (r = -0.027).

 TABLE OF CONTENT

Title Page

Acknowledgment

Dedication   

2.4.2 Sokoto Red 7

2.4.3 Sahel 8

2.5 Production Systems 9

2.5.1 Feed and Feeding 10

2.5.2 Housing for Goats 12

2.6 Management of Goats 13

2.6.1 Kid Rearing 13

2.6.2 Feeding 14

2.6.3 Kidding or Parturition 14

2.6.4 Care of Pregnant Does 15

2.7 Socio-Econoinic and Cultural Importance of Goats 16

2.7.1 Constraints to Goat Production 18

2.8 Diseases and Parasites of Goats 20

2.8.1 Causes of Kid Mortality 23

2.8.2 Incidence of Pre-Weaned Mortality in Kids 24

CHAPTER THREE

3.0 MATERIALS AND METHODS 26

3.1 Location of Study 26

3.2 Management of the Animals 26

3.3 Data Collection 28

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 30

4.1 Effect of Sex on Birth Weight and Kid Mortality 30

4.2 Effect of Age of Kids on Mortality 32

4.3 Effect of Season of Kidding on Birth Weight and

Mortality 34

4.4 Conclusion 38

References 40

Appendix