The aim of this paper was to review cattle husbandry practices (feeding, breeding, watering and health care) and production systems in Ethiopia, identifying constraints limiting the production and quantifying cattle feed resources, specifically. Highland crop-livestock farming system in Ethiopia encompasses nearly 40% of the country’s land area, while lowlands areas cover about 60% of the country’s land area. The sector is characterized by pastoral and agro-pastoral production systems. The major constraints that limit cattle production in Ethiopia are genetic resources, shortage of feed and water, climatic factor, diseases, and poor housing. Major feed resources for cattle in the country are natural pasture, crop residue, and crop aftermath beyond other non-conventional feed resources. It was concluded that more emphasis should be given to perform applied research to improve cattle production through strong extension services in delivery of veterinary services, improved fodder cultivation and feed conservation, and improved availability of water in different agro-ecologies of the country. Key words: Constraints, feed resources, production systems.

The primary purpose of this research was to examine the bacteriological properties of raw ovine milk produced by Merino, Tsigai, Dorper, Lacaune, and British Milk Sheep flocks on four sheep farms located in the eastern part of Hungary. In addition to individual raw milk (IRM) and bulk tank milk (BTM) samples, the udder surface (US) of ewes was also tested for bacteriological quality. A total of 77 US, 77 IRM, and 10 BTM samples were collected in the early morning during regular milking sessions. The samples, kept cooled at temperatures below 4 °C, were delivered to the microbiological laboratory and were examined immediately. The relatively low numbers of bacteria in both US and IRM samples reflected good housing conditions of ewes kept on the four farms studied. However, BTM samples had up to 3.5–4.0 log₁₀ CFU/mL higher mean bacterial counts than their IRM counterparts, and the mean levels of bacteria in BTM on two farms even exceeded the regulatory limit of 6.18 log₁₀ CFU/mL. Further studies need to be performed to clarify this issue.

This study was conducted in Essera Woreda, Dawuro Zone of South Nations Nationalities and People Region with the objectives of characterizing cattle husbandry practices as well as identifying and prioritizing cattle production constraints of the study area. Ninety households (HHs) owning cattle were selected randomly. A semi-structured questionnaire was prepared and used to collect data on cattle production system, production constraints and available feed resources. The average family size was 6.74±0.32 per HH. Crop-livestock mixed farming was the commonly used farming system (95.5%). The mean total land holding was 2.91±0.18 ha per HH and there was no significant (P>0.05) difference in total land holding among three agro-ecologies. The average land allocated for crop production, fallow land, others and grazing land were 1.00 ± 0.26, 0.92 ± 0.20, 0.46 ± 0.19 and 0.42 ± 0.19, respectively. The results of this study showed that the average cattle herd size per HH was 11.12 ± 0.69 and was significantly (p<0.05) varied across agro-ecologies. The purpose of keeping cattle in Woreda was for milk (46.7%), meat (44.4%), manure (100%), traction (4.4%), and others (37.8%). Natural mating (82.2%) was the most widely used breeding practice and was significantly (p<0.05) differed among agro-ecologies. Trypanosomiasis was the first ranked disease in the study area. The first three major feed resources were natural pasture (54.4 and 90%), crop residues (63.3 and 100%), and crop aftermath (65.5 and 90%) during dry and wet season, respectively. Grazing on natural pasture was the commonly used feeding system. Majority (93.3%) of HHs kept their cattle in their living house. The sources of water for cattle were river (75.5%), spring (13.3%) and tap (11.1%). The survey showed the major constraints of cattle production to be shortage of feed, diseases and shortage of water with indices of 0.385, 0.367 and 0.111, respectively. It was concluded that more emphasis should be given to improve cattle production through strong extension services in delivery of veterinary services, feed conservation and improved fodder cultivation and improved availability of water. Key words: Cattle production, Essera Woreda, feed resources, Husbandry practices, production constraints.

Assessment of Cattle Feed Resources; Chemical Composition and Digestibility of Major Feeds in Essera District, Southern Ethiopia

Background: Morphometric traits discrepancies are associated with production, reproduction, adaptation and behaviours in horses. It also determines the design of harnessing implements, physical injury level and working performance of the native horses. Thus, the study was conducted to evaluate morphometric traits and body conformation indices of horse ecotypes reared across four districts of Bale Zone, Ethiopia.Methods: Data of croup height, croup length, hip height, mid‐back height, wither height, hip width, thoracic depth, chest width, body length, sternum height, thorax perimeter and cannon perimeter were measured in 500 horses (294 male and 206 female). Using those traits, 17 body conformation indices were calculated to define the horses for multi‐faceted performances.Results: The study revealed that croup height, hip height, wither height, hip width, croup length, body length, thorax perimeter and sternum height were significantly (p < 0.0001) different among the studied districts. The district effect was also significant at p < 0.05 for mid‐back height, thoracic depth, chest width and cannon perimeter. The sexual dimorphism effect was statistically significant for all measured traits; however, females were inferior to males except for cannon perimeter. Body conformation indices of pelvic index, body index, transversal pelvic index and weight were highly significant (p < 0.0001) among the studied districts. The sex dimorphism effect was significant (p < 0.001) for dactyl‐costal index, pelvic index, longitudinal pelvic index, transversal pelvic index, weight, tare index 1 (trot or gallop), tare index 2 (walk) and riding comfort degree, while non‐significant (p > 0.05) for the remaining indices. The studied horses were classified as mediline, elipometric, light, small and suitable riding ecotypes with a medium‐conforming body structure and good capacity for carrying loads on carts and backs for functional effectiveness. The correlations of body conformation indices ranged from very high to low, with positive and negative associations for functional capabilities.Conclusion: Therefore, selection for improvement needs to rank morphometric traits and body conformation indices in correlation to developing racing and modern sport horses in the highlands of the Bale eco‐regions. Further, molecular studies will be essential to determine whether the predominated phenotypic multiplicity is genetic or environmentally progressed.