Presented by Jennie Stein at the ILRI-EIAR-SLU Workshop on Sharing Research Results on Trypanotolerance in Indigenous Cattle Breeds and Experiences of Community Based Breed Improvement of Indigenous Sheep in Ethiopia—A Road Map for Implementation and Future R4D, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 15-16 November 2011.
Trypanotolerance and phenotypic characteristics of four Ethiopian cattle breeds
1. Trypanotolerance and Phenotypic Characteristics of four Ethiopian Cattle Breeds Jennie Stein ILRI-EIAR-SLU Workshop on Sharing Research Results on Trypanotolerance in Indigenous Cattle Breeds and Experiences of Community Based Breed Improvement of Indigenous Sheep in Ethiopia—A Road Map for Implementation and Future R4D Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 15-16 November 2011
13. PCV – Home areas All breeds show a lower PCV when infected Horro and Sheko have the best PCV Breed Overall Non infected Infected Abigar 20.0 20.8 17.5 Gurage 22.7 23.1 21.2 Horro 26.2 27.2 21.3 Sheko 25.1 25.4 19.5
14. PCV – Experimental station All breeds show a lower PCV when infected Sheko has the best PCV Breed Overall Non infected Infected Abigar 24.1 24.6 22.4 Gurage 22.5 23.7 20.3 Horro 23.0 23.7 20.4 Sheko 24.6 24.9 21.3
18. Survival rate – Experimental station Horro and Sheko highest survival Breed Purchased Born at station No. alive % No. alive % Abigar 32 45 6 67 Gurage 22 48 9 50 Horro 41 76 42 70 Sheko 38 57 39 78
19. Reproductive characteristics – home areas Gurage have the worst reproduction Abigar and Sheko best reproduction Age 1 st mating (yrs) Calving Intervals (yrs) Calves born / cow (No.) Breed Male Female Abigar 3.3 3.0 1.1 8.8 Gurage 4.8 4.6 2.2 5.7 Horro 4.0 3.6 1.3 5.6 Sheko 3.5 3.5 1.3 8.5
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21. Milk production Sheko and Abigar best in home areas Sheko and Horro best on station Home areas Exp. station Breed Lactation length (months) Estimated Total milk (l/lactation) Total milk (l/lactation) Abigar 7.8 527 271 Gurage 6.9 158 312 Horro 7.1 326 436 Sheko 8.8 627 397
24. Body Condition Score All breeds show a lower BCS when infected Horro and Sheko show the best BCS Breed Overall Non infected Infected Abigar 2.90 2.97 2.73 Gurage 3.06 3.06 2.95 Horro 3.60 3.62 3.53 Sheko 3.40 3.41 2.92
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27. Options for conservation and dissemination of genes of best breed(s) in tse-tse areas - facts and issues for discussion Jan Philipsson
Glossina spp. Found in warm and humid mid altitude areas in riverine vegetation, savannah woodlands and woody forests Ethiopia 10-14 million heads of cattle an equivalent number of small ruminants, horses and camels are exposed to the risk of trypanosomosis.
The ability to survive and produce in tsetse infested areas! Humpless Longhorn 6000 B.C. Shorthorn 2500 B.C. Humped Zebu 700 A.D.
Fertile 30 km long gorge SW of Addis Abeba Trypanosomosis still a problem – research and tsetse eradication has continued The use of pour-on resulted in: 63 % less trypanosomosis 50 % less treatments 62 % less abortions and calf mortalities
The four breeds investigated are the Abigar, Gurage, Horro and Sheko. The Sheko breed is the only remaining Bos taurus breed in eastern Africa, and is anecdotally believed to be trypanotolerant. According to a recent census count there are only approximately 2400 Sheko animals. The livestock keepers in the area also perform more or less uncontrolled crossbreeding with local Zebu, and the Sheko is therefore classified as endangered.
According to livestock keepers
Blood sampling with a capillary tube from the ear-vein of the animal. The capillary tube is then centrifuged to be able to determine PCV. After that the blood is looked at through a microscope to determine infection. To the right an animal is just about to be weighed at a weighing bridge. The last picture shows that it is possible to do investigations in the field as well. It was just a matter of loading a table, some chairs, a generator, centrifuge and microscope in the car and then set everything up on a field far away from the nearest laboratory.
Gurage selection:56% bulls 88% cows. Most common selection criteria was big body conformation and for cows also a good milk production. Only 2 farmers select based on trypanotolerance – 1 for bulls, one for cows. 2nd criteria for both Most common way to control mating is to have herd mating or to select certain bulls that are continuously with the cows. Practically all farmers for Abigar, Horro and Sheko purposely selected their breeding animals according to some criteria (bulls and cows). The corresponding numbers for Gurage was 56% regarding bulls and 88% for cows. However, the proportion of calves with known sires was much lower, between 15-45%. This implies that the selection being done is herd-specific and that several bulls are used for group-breeding as in many cases cattle are grazed on communal pastures.
Gurage selection:56% bulls 88% cows. Most common selection criteria was big body conformation and for cows also a good milk production. Only 2 farmers select based on trypanotolerance – 1 for bulls, one for cows. 2nd criteria for both Most common way to control mating is to have herd mating or to select certain bulls that are continuously with the cows. Practically all farmers for Abigar, Horro and Sheko purposely selected their breeding animals according to some criteria (bulls and cows). The corresponding numbers for Gurage was 56% regarding bulls and 88% for cows. However, the proportion of calves with known sires was much lower, between 15-45%. This implies that the selection being done is herd-specific and that several bulls are used for group-breeding as in many cases cattle are grazed on communal pastures.
Important that keepers know how to correctly diagnose trypanosomosis Abigar 23 % Gurage 20 % Horro 17 % Sheko 5 %
Horro: best Body condition score and highest PCV Abigar results will be re-measured! BCS: Body condition score, scale 1-5, where 1 is in poor condition and 5 is in good condition Abigar not bleed during the peak challenge – these data is a bit uncertain, maybe we will have to do another bleeding later. The body condition score was lowest for Gurage, which also showed the highest signs of trypanosomosis. The prevalence of trypanosomes, as well as the number of treatments per year, clearly implied that the Sheko is more trypanotolerant than any of the other breeds in their respective habitat. The significantly lower prevalence of trypanosomes in Sheko compared to the other breeds was also reported in a related study by Lemecha et al. (2006). In the same study they also found that Sheko had significantly higher PCV than Gurage, which supports our findings from the field. As regards to body size, Gurage cattle are clearly smaller than Sheko cattle whereas Horro cattle are the biggest.
Abigar and Gurage 12-13 % dead from tryps, Sheko 4 % dead from tryps Station: Sheko 78 % for calves, 57 % for purchased Horro 70 % for calves, 76 % for purchased
Gurage had a significantly higher age at first mating as well as for the first calf, which could indicate later maturity. The calving interval was also nearly double compared to that of the other breeds and the number of calves was significantly lower than for Abigar and Sheko. This would imply a lower fertility for Gurage than the other breeds of which Abigar showed the best results.
AFC home 4 (Abigar) – 5,5 (Gurage) AFC station 5,3 (sheko) – 7 (Abigar) Home: Gurage double calving interval Station. Abigar only have 5 % pregnancy rate!
Have to note that also some unfinished lactations are present in this data. Big milk production for Sheko despite the size of the animals.
All breeds showed lower BCS when infected Horro and Sheko best BCS Abigar and Gurage worst
Clear differences in trypanotolerance between the breeds Some re-ranking between different traits and environments took place Gurage: Low fertility, milk production and PCV, Many treatments, yet high parasitemia Abigar: Somewhat unclear – reranking of traits. Performed much better in the home environment than on the station regarding reproduction Horro: Overall good performance Sheko: Overall the best characteristics both in the home environment and on the experimental station. Had good production and reproduction, had high PCV, few infections and needed the fewest number of trypanocidal drugs. Since trypanotolerance is associated with control of parasitaemia, maintenance of normal PCV, less need of trypanocidal drugs as well as good production and reproduction levels, the Sheko is clearly found to be the most tolerant breed of the three fully described breeds.
Welcome everybody to my PhD defense. I would especially like to thank my opponent and the evaluation committee for their presence here today.
The four breeds investigated are the Abigar, Gurage, Horro and Sheko. The Sheko breed is the only remaining Bos taurus breed in eastern Africa, and is anecdotally believed to be trypanotolerant. According to a recent census count there are only approximately 2400 Sheko animals. The livestock keepers in the area also perform more or less uncontrolled crossbreeding with local Zebu, and the Sheko is therefore classified as endangered.
Clear differences in trypanotolerance between the breeds Some re-ranking between different traits and environments took place Gurage: Low fertility, milk production and PCV, Many treatments, yet high parasitemia Abigar: Somewhat unclear – reranking of traits. Performed much better in the home environment than on the station regarding reproduction Horro: Overall good performance Sheko: Overall the best characteristics both in the home environment and on the experimental station. Had good production and reproduction, had high PCV, few infections and needed the fewest number of trypanocidal drugs. Since trypanotolerance is associated with control of parasitaemia, maintenance of normal PCV, less need of trypanocidal drugs as well as good production and reproduction levels, the Sheko is clearly found to be the most tolerant breed of the three fully described breeds.
It is at this stage important to focus on conservation and spread of trypanotolerant genes and Sheko animals – NOT breed improvement. Selection of breed and not so much the individual animals within breed. Within breed it is important to focus on selecting healthy animals.
It is at this stage important to focus on conservation and spread of trypanotolerant genes and Sheko animals – NOT breed improvement. Selection of breed and not so much the individual animals within breed. Within breed it is important to focus on selecting healthy animals.
It is at this stage important to focus on conservation and spread of trypanotolerant genes and Sheko animals – NOT breed improvement. Selection of breed and not so much the individual animals within breed. Within breed it is important to focus on selecting healthy animals.
It is at this stage important to focus on conservation and spread of trypanotolerant genes and Sheko animals – NOT breed improvement. Selection of breed and not so much the individual animals within breed. Within breed it is important to focus on selecting healthy animals.
It is at this stage important to focus on conservation and spread of trypanotolerant genes and Sheko animals – NOT breed improvement. Selection of breed and not so much the individual animals within breed. Within breed it is important to focus on selecting healthy animals.