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.

Goat rearing is a key livelihood sector in Ethiopian agriculture, upheld in diversified agroecology and inputs, which calls for the study of innate performances description. Moreover, performance determination at age intervals has an immense role in management and genetic interference in the near future for selection and upgrading. As a result, the study aimed to evaluate the effects of agroecology, birth type and sex on the growth performance of Arsi-Bale goat-born kids under old-style supervision practices in three agro-ecologies. Live body weight data were recorded on 71 kids from the birth period until yearling age for a total of 25 days in a year. Statistical Analysis Systems version 9.4 was used to analyse the data. The average live weight at birth, three months, six months and yearling ages were 2.0, 7.6, 13.0, and 19.3 kg, respectively. As well, the average weight gain immediately after birth, three months, six months and yearling ages were 125.3, 60.4, 70.1 and 40.2 g/day, respectively. The effect of agroecology was highly significant (p≤0.01) at birth, weaning and yearling ages. Moreover, live body weight and weight gain at six months and yearling ages were higher in midland and lowland agro-ecologies. However, three-month-old weight gain was nonsignificant (p≥0.05) among the environs. Kids born single were significantly higher (p≤0.01) at birth weight but no differences (p≥0.05) were observed across the rest of the ages on birth type. An increment in live weight and daily weight gain was higher in the females when aged due to sexual characteristics differences for early maturation. Thus, the effects of agroecology and sex was higher for performance variation under prolonged thermal pressure across seasons as well as sharing of dam milk for home consumption was an added factor in the lowlands. As a result, improvement of quality and quantity feeds and shelters for day-night thermal stress effects in routine seasonal changes can lead to a reasonable advance in yield of Arsi-Bale goat’s kids. Key words: Agroecology, birth weight, body weight, daily weight gain, yearling weight

Udder and teat morphometrics provide a simple, low-cost tool to predict milk yield, showing positive correlations with yield and body condition, and serving as key selection criteria for improvement programs. Thus, the study was conducted to evaluate milk yield performances and udder and teat morphometric traits of lactating goats reared in the lowlands of the Bale Zone, Ethiopia. For this study, 270 clinically healthy lactating goats were selected from three districts highly inhabited by goats. Data on the daily milk yield (DMY), udder height (UH), udder width (UW), udder circumference (UC), udder depth (UD), teat depth (TD), teat length (TL), distance between the teats (DBT), teat circumference (TC), udder distance from ground (UDG), and udder volume (UV) of lactating does were measured early in the morning and evening before kids sucking among lactation stages, dam parity, birth type, and sex of kids. Data were analyzed using ANOVA, correlation, regression, and multivariate analysis. Results indicated that DMY, udder, and teat morphometric traits were significantly (p < 0.05) affected among the studied districts except UV. The lactation stage effect was significant (p < 0.0001) on DMY and UC; however, the effect was non-significant for UD, UDG, and TD. The doe parity effect was highly significant (p < 0.0001) on TD and DMY, while it was non-significant (p > 0.05) on UW, UD, UC, UDG, and UV. High milk yield in does enhanced the performance of second-parity, single-born, and male kids. UC, UV, and UW showed significant variations (p < 0.0001) and exhibited moderate to high correlations with DMY, indicating strong positive associations for predicting milk yield performance. Therefore, presence of wide variation among all measured udder and teat morphometric traits and DMY among studied goat populations were potentials for selections to initiate community based breeding programs in lowlands of the Bale zone, Ethiopia.

This study was conducted to evaluate morphometric traits of horse ecotypes reared in four districts of the Bale highlands, southeastern Ethiopia. Twenty-seven morphometric traits were measured from 500 horses (294 males and 206 females) of both sexes. Data were analyzed using SAS 2012. This study revealed that certain traits, such as head length, loin length, bi-ischial width, and sternum height of horses were similar. However, significant differences (p p < 0.0001, p < 0.01, p < 0.05) were observed in other traits across the districts. All traits were affected by age (p p < 0.05) except rump width and canon perimeter. All 27 morphometric traits were subjected to STEPDISC analysis, of which 21 had the best discriminating power. The uppermost distances of 32.2 and, 28.8 were reported between the Agarfa and Dinsho and, Agarfa and Sinana horse populations, respectively. Mean separation distance among districts ranges from-1.75 to 3.57,-2.42 to 2.43, and-1.61 to 0.92 for CAN1, CAN2 and CAN3, respectively. The quadratic discriminate function classified 95.2, 94.4, 96.0, and 96.8 % of the sampled horses into source populations of the Dinsho, Agarfa, Sinana, and Goba districts, respectively. In addition, the cross-validation summary revealed reduced consistency of membership among each districts with 5 % average success rates and 4, 8, 4, and 4 % for the Dinsho, Agarfa, Sinana, and Goba districts, respectively. Therefore, the presence of variation in morphometric traits within the Bale Highland horse ecotypes has the potential for selection and further genetic interventions.

Background: The quality of livestock feed resources enhances yield performance and plays a significant role in keeping production sustainable. However, today's climate forces the usage of crop residues as primary feeds due to soil degradation and the shortage of natural feed resources. Moreover, crop residues have low mineral content, requiring treatments to increase quality. This study evaluated the effect of the mineral soil (MS) supplement on in vitro digestibility of dry matter (IVDDM) and in vitro organic matter (IVOMD), and in sacco dry matter degradation (ISDMD) of urea‐treated maize stover (UTMS). Methods: The in vitro experiment was done after the first stage of the Tilley–Terry method using three replicates of all treatments. The rumen cannula‐equipped Boran × Holstein Friesian steers were used to measure the ruminal degradation rate of dry matter (DM). The diet includes 70% urea‐treated maize stover (UTMS) and 30% concentrate mixtures (wheat bran and noug seed cake at a 2:1 ratio). Treatments were UTMS + concentrate alone (T1); UTMS + concentrate with 1% MS (T2); UTMS + concentrate with 1.5% MS (T3); UTMS + concentrate with 2% MS (T4); and UTMS + concentrate with 2.5% MS (T5). Results: The concentrate DM and crude protein (CP) content were 90.94% and 23.8%, respectively. Urea treatment increased the content of CP (15.49 [treated] vs. 4.97 [untreated]) and ash (7.14 vs. 6.37) and reduced the content of DM (86.40 vs. 92.53), NDF (70.12 vs. 84.63), ADF (33.93 vs. 41.58), and ADL (12.64 vs. 20.11) of maize stover. The highest ( p < 0.05) DM and OM digestibility were recorded in supplements compared with the control group, while differences among the supplemented group followed the order of DM (T4 = T5 > T2 = T3) and OM (T3 > T2 = T4 = T5). The degradation of DM increased ( p < 0.05) with increasing incubation time and level of mineral soil. Supplement levels of mineral soil improved ( p < 0.05) the slowly soluble fraction ‘b’, rate of ‘b’ fraction degradability ‘c’, and effective degradability of urea‐treated maize stover. Conclusions: It can be concluded that mineral supplementation enhanced the fermentability and degradability of the diet.

Enhancing feed resource availability and nutritional qualities with healthful soil management practices is a decisive intervention for future livestock husbandry in developing countries. However, there is a need for sound recommendations on agronomic practices and fertilization due to local differences in the climate and soil profiles. Therefore, this study evaluated the intercropping effects of desho grass ( Pennisetum glaucifolium ) with vetch ( Vicia villosa ) variety of Var‐Lalisa on soil fertility, forage accumulation (FA), and nutritional compositions among seeding rates across harvest days. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design for intercropping of the desho grass with vetch at the seeding rates of 12 kg/ha (T1), 9 kg/ha (T2), 6 kg/ha (T3), 0 kg/ha or sole desho grass (T4), and sole vetch (30 kg/ha) (T5) with three replications. Data on soil profile in depths, plant height, biological compatibility and yield advantage, FA by forage type, and chemical compositions were studied across harvesting. The intercropping effect was substantially greater ( p < 0.05) on plant height and FA than sole sown desho grass at all harvests. Moreover, T1 had the highest total forage accumulation (TFA), crude protein (CP), and in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD). However, lower CP and IVOMD were obtained in T4 across the harvests. The sole desho grass yields significantly ( p < 0.05) higher ash, acid detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent lignin contents. Therefore, the intercropping effect of T1 at higher sowing rates of vetch can maximize the TFA and soil nutrient utilization efficiency, and this can be suggested for further accession study in a range of agroecologies for adoption.