ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to establish quality attributes of local chicken meat supplied in Dodoma roast meat outlets. A questionnaire and on site observations were used to collect data from randomly selected respondents that included live chicken suppliers, retail sellers, middlemen and managers of selected chicken roast meat outlets. Data collected include chicken live body weight, estimated age, ecotype, sex and source of origin. Random samples of fresh local chicken breast...
ABSTRACT This study was aimed at studying the management, productivity and socio-economic attributes of guinea pigs (GP) in the Njombe district. Two separate studies were conducted. A survey was done among 72 households and results indicated that GP was owned by most of the households. The majority (93.1%) of farmers who keep GP practise intensive production system. GP were found to be a good source of meat (35.5%) manure (32.8%) and for income (17.5%) to farmers. The mean weights of sampled...
ABSTRACT A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of Brucella infection in cattle in urban and peri-urban areas of Sumbawanga Municipality. All 19 wards of the Municipality were involved in the study where 13 villages and 26 neighbourhoods (mitaa) were randomly selected. To identify the potential risk factors associated with the spread and transmission of the disease, questionnaires were administered to the heads of randomly selected 108 households. Blood sample...
ABSTRACT Two studies were carried in the Misungwi, Nyamagana and Magu districts of the Mwanza region to investigate the performance of cattle under different feedlot practices. The specific objectives were (1) To document feedlot beef production practices in the study area, (2) To study the source, quality of feeds and type of animals used by feedlot practitioners in fattening enterprises and (3) To evaluate the performance of indigenous beef cattle under different feedlot practices. Study 1...
ABSTRACT The relationship between diets digestibility and morphology of digestive systems, were studied in local Tanzanian Short Horn Zebu (TSHZ) cattle finished on agro industrial by products. Forty five TSHZ were weighed and randomly allocated to five dietary treatments in a completely randomized design, and nine grazer animals were used as a control group which made a total of fifty four animals. The feedlot animals were fed on hay as a basal diet and supplemented with concentrate, the con...
ABSTRACT The study was conducted to assess the contribution of local knowledge, practices and attitudes of the rural community in relation to disease occurrence, poultry production systems, and management practices in the face of outbreaks of Newcastle disease in vaccinating and non-vaccinating wards. Participatory epidemiology techniques were employed in twelve selected villages to collect data. The information collected covered the existence of poultry diseases, clinical signs, disease inci...
ABSTRACT Two investigations were carried out in Turiani division to assess the feeding practices and their effect on the performance of lactating dairy cows kept by smallholder farmers under zero grazing system. Investigation 1, aimed at evaluating the nutritional values of the feeds commonly fed to dairy cattle and performance of lactating cows under different feeding practices. Twenty four lactating dairy cows within their 1st to 2nd month after calving were selected from smallholder dairy ...
ABSTRACT Two experiments were conducted in Babati district to assess types and quality of crop residues and other feed resources available for feeding livestock, crop residue handling, quantity fed, milk yield and manure handling and use within the farming system. Experiment one covered three different villages across different agro-ecological zones, involving 143 farmers in six focused group discussion and 54 farmers in individual quantitative questionnaire while experiment two involved 24 f...
ABSTRACT This study was carried out to evaluate the performance of dairy cattle managed under different production systems of smallholder dairy cattle keepers in Kilolo district. The breeds involved in the study were Friesian and Ayrshire crossbred cows. Also a survey was conducted on the production environments of Kilolo herds of crossbred dairy cattle. Primary data were collected using a structured questionnaire in which a total of 176 farmers in Kilolo district were interviewed. Statistica...
ABSTRACT This study was conducted to evaluate the performance of different crosses of Norwegian dairy goats raised by farmers in Mgeta, Morogoro using data collected for three years. Growth of goats, age at first kidding (AFK), kidding interval (KI) and lactation traits were evaluated. The general linear model (GLM) procedure of the statistical analysis system (SAS) was used in data analysis. Correlations between the factors were assessed by using a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA)....
ABSTRACT This study was conducted in Meru District, Arusha region. Specifically, the study assessed production performance of VCs; identified market chains and market opportunities; analyzed gross market margins and profit margins at different stages in the market chains. Data were collected from 90 farmers, 78 traders and 33 consumers, who were purposively sampled. Production performance of VCs was computed through descriptive statistics and cross tabulations. Results that indicated the mean...
ABSTRACT A study was conducted to validate the use of rumen liquor from slaughtered cattle as an alternative source of inoculum for estimation of in vitro digestibility of ruminant feedstuffs. The experiments were conducted in three (3) different institutions, namely Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), Tanzania, National Livestock Resources Research Institute (NALIRRI) Uganda and Rwanda Agricultural Board (RAB) in Rwanda. Each institution evaluated 4 diets of different nutritional qualit...
ABSTRACT This study was carried out to evaluate the current performance of dairy cattle at ASAS and Kitulo farms in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. The objective was to assess the effects of genetic and non-genetic factors on lactation and reproductive performance, calf mortality rate, longevity traits and constraints affecting performance of dairy animals. Ayrshire and Friesian cows were involved in the study. Data were analysed using General Linear Models procedure of Statistical Analys...
ABSTRACT Studies to determine the optimal level of chickpea seed waste (Cicer arietinum L.) inclusion in the diets for growing rabbits were carried out using two experiments. In Experiment 1, 24 male rabbits were allocated to four dietary treatments in a completely randomized design to evaluate nutrients digestibility and nitrogen balance of diets containing different levels of chickpea seed waste (CSW). Diet T0 was a control, formulated to meet nutrient requirements of growing rabbits, where...
ABSTRACT Goat production is an integral component of small holder agriculture in Tanzania but farmers have been keeping indigenous goats which have poor genetic potential for growth and have small mature body size. Goat keepers can improve mature body size by crossing with improved breeds. However, in Tanzania there is paucity of information on performance of crossbreds in comparison to their parents. The effects of breed, sex, birth type, season of birth, year of birth and dam weight class o...