Tropicultura (Jan 2004)
Caractères de reproduction et mortalité des jeunes moutons Toronké à la station de recherche zootechnique de Kayes
Abstract
Reproductive and Mortality Characters of Young Toronké Sheep on the Animal Research Station of Kayes. Livestock which is an important component of Malian economy (18.5% GNP) remains low graded because of the extreme vulnerability of it's potential of production due to persistent harsh climate and to non adapted production techniques. Small ruminants that have a short production cycle and a good potential of milk and meat production could rapidly contributed to the objective of food self-sufficiency. However, small ruminants face major constraints like low numeric productivity and high mortality of young animals. The objectives of this study are to evaluate reproductive parameters and the mortality of young Toronke sheep. Toronke sheep was studied in the semi-arid zone of Kayes, Mali, at the Toronke Animal Science Research Station. Convexilign animal, eumetric, its head is long and strong in the male and small in the female. The color is in a white background, dominated with the red or black patches (77%). The uniform colors found were white (12%), red (9%) and black (2%). The average first kidding age was 545 ± 145 days. The average interval between two successive kidding fluctuated from 334 to 253 days. Rate of fecundity was 92%. Prolificity varied from 1.02 to 1.06 and annual rate of reproduction between 1.06 and 1.20 according to the age. Kidding occurred all year long. However, kidding are higher in December when occur 40 to 50% of kidding, indicating a maximum fertility in June-July, beginning of the rainy season, more favorable period for natural feed sources. Mortality of young animals was high and evaluated in opposite side of the age. So, 26% of the mortality occurred during the first month of the kid's life and 56% of the mortality occurred during the first three months of their life (0-90 days). The mains reasons of the deaths were feed deficiencies (51%) and digestive affections (21%). Death was more frequent from January to March with respectively 14, 16 and 20% for the 3 months. The period corresponds to the cold dry season with a transition to the hot season. The cold season is characterized with harsh weather (cold and winds), which may cause several illnesses.
