Milk productivity of camel and growth of calves (Camelusdromedarius) in eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

Milk suckled, off take and growth of calves of Camel was measured from August 2008 to July 2009 in eastern Ethiopia with the aim to evaluate the performance of the herd in terms of milk productivity and growth of calves. Data on milk suckled and growth of calves was collected by methods of weight-suckle-weight. Milk off take of the herd was measured by hand milking method. Productivity of the herd in terms of milk was evaluated based on the sum of milk suckled and off take. Average daily milk suckled was 2.00 ± 0.18 kg, daily milk off take was 3.50 ± 0.14 liter, daily weight gains of calves was 0.243 ± 0.01 kg/day, respectively. Average milk productivity as the sum of milk suckled and off take was 5.5 ± 0.16. Milk sucked, off take and daily weight gain of calves was affected by months of lactation, season of births of calves and parities of dams. Daily milk suckled, off take and weight gain in 3-4 months of lactation was relatively higher than other months of lactation which were 2.17 + 0.22 kg, 3.55± 0.16 liter and 0.300 ± 0.02 kg, respectively. The productivity of the herd in terms of milk yield and growth of calves decrease as the camels advanced in lactation. Daily milk suckled, off take and weight gain was relatively lower in 11-12 months of lactation which was 1.27+ 0.31 kg, 1.69 ± 0.15 liter and 0.193± 0.02 kg, respectively. From the study it was concluded that the Camel herd in eastern Ethiopia managed under arid range condition was comparable to the productivity of Camel in east Africa based on the performance measured in terms of milk productivity and growth of calves.