Twelve West African Dwarf sheep, comprising four ewes in each of the Parities 1, 2 and 3, were used to determine the effect of parity on udder traits during lactation, milk yield and composition. Udder length, udder width, udder circumference, udder volume, teat length, teat width, teat circumference, distance between the teats and teat height from the ground of sheep were measured in centimetres (cm) weekly for 12 weeks of lactation, commencing from Day 4 postpartum. Parity highly influenced (P < 0.05) udder traits, except udder volume (P > 0.05). The udder length, width and circumference were higher (P < 0.05) in Parity-3 ewes than Parity-1 and -2 ewes. A similar trend was shown for teat length, width and circumference. Parity had no effect (P > 0.05) on udder volume, but significantly (P > 0.05) affected distance between the teats and teat height from the ground. With the exception of udder volume, all traits peaked by the 3rd week of lactation, and gradually declined thereafter. Milk yield and milk weight peaked by the 3rd week postpartum and these were higher for ewes in Parity 3. Milk yield and milk weight declined faster in ewes in Parities 1 and 2 than they did in Parity-3 ewes (P < 0.05) as lactation length increased. In regard to milk composition, moisture, protein and fat, but not total solid, solid-not-fat and lactose, were greater (P < 0.05) in Parity-3 ewes both at peak milk yield (3rd week of lactation) and end of lactation. From these findings, we conclude that parity type plays a significant role in influencing udder traits, milk yield and milk quality in ewes.

Livestock accounts substantially for the income as well as the physical and intellectual development of rural households which are primary drivers of the present government transformation agenda. The study ascertained the challenges of smallholder sheep and goat keeping in rural communities of Aguata Agricultural Zone of Anambra State. Interview schedule was developed and used to collect data from 72 respondents. The main primary occupations of the respondents were farming (43.1%) and trading (41.7%). About 43.0% and 40.3% earned annual income of between 10,000.00 to 20,000 Nigeria Naira ($57.5 to $115) and less than 10,000 Naira ($57.5), respectively, from keeping of sheep and goat. The average number of goat kept per household was seven while that of sheep was five. Majority (65.3%) of the respondents preferred keeping of goats to sheep (33.3%) while only 1.4% had no choice. About 72% of the respondents used intensive management system while 27.8% were engaged in semi-intensive management system. The major challenges of keeping sheep and goat in the zone were diseases attack (Mean [M] = 1.19), lack of veterinary services (M = 1.19) and lack of feeds (M =1.00). The causes of high mortality in sheep and goat were perceived to be diseases (M = 1.44) and poor feeding (M = 1.03). The study concluded that the number of sheep and goat kept was very few and as such uneconomical. They consequently faced challenges of attack of diseases, lack of veterinary services and lack of animal feeds.

An experiment was conducted to determine the fertility and hatchability of eggs laid by Turkey hens fed extracts of okra seed, pumpkin seed and guava root powder for 8 weeks. Twenty four, 32 weeks old turkeys (4 toms and 20 hens) were randomly selected and allotted into four treatment groups; T1 (No extract or feed supplementation); T2 (50 ml okra seeds extracts/ litre of water); T3 (50 ml guava root extract/ litre of water) and T4 (50 g pumpkin seed powder/kg of feed). Turkey hens were subjected to artificial insemination and eggs laid in the period were collected and determined for fertility and hatchability. Total and weekly egg production of hens was higher (P < 0.05) in T2 and T4 groups of birds. The number of fertile eggs, early, middle and late dead embryo was better (P < 0.05) for the same groups of birds compared to other treatments. Egg hatchability percentage of hens in T2 and T4 groups were markedly improved and higher (P < 0.05) than those in T1 and T3 groups. Fertility and hatchability of eggs in T1 and T3 were similar (P > 0.05). The findings concluded that feeding okra and pumpkin seed extracts to breeder turkey hens can improves the fertility and hatchability of the eggs.