Constraints and risk factors contributing to young stock mortalities in small ruminants in Jordan

Abstract

• Diseases and malnutrition are the major reasons of mortalities for young stocks. • The overall annual mortality rates were higher in kids than lambs. • The overall annual mortality rates of male kids and lambs were higher than females. • Deaths were found to peak during cold season and drop in warm months. • Ecology, production system, flock size affected death rates of newborns. A single-visit survey was conducted from June to October 2017 to estimate the kid and lamb mortalities, and identify major causes and risk factors in Karak governorate of Jordan. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to 120 small ruminant farmers in addition to focus group discussions. Results showed that diseases, feed shortage, poor mothering, predators and insufficient milk provision were perceived to be the most important causes of mortality in kids and lambs. Among diseases, diarrhea and pneumonia, were the top causes of young stock death losses. The overall mean annual mortality rates were 27.4 kids and 8.2 lambs per 100 live births a year. Mortality rates were higher in kids than lambs and found to decrease with age categories. The overall mean annual mortality rates of male kids and lambs within and between production systems were significantly higher than their female counterparts (P < 0.05). Deaths were found to peak (57.3%) during cold season (December to February), and drop (3.5%) in warm months (June to August). Death rates were significantly higher in mountain region, with incidence rate ratio of 2.5 times greater in lambs and 2.1 times more in kids compared to those in semi-desert ecology. Lamb mortality was also higher in transhumant production system (1.6 times more) than sedentary system but no difference for kids. For a unit increase in flock size, the incidence rate ratio of lamb death rate was found to decrease by factor of 0.99. In general, young stock mortality is a challenge for small ruminant production in the study area and calls for improvements of health care and proper feeding during the last stage of pregnancy of females and increased care for newborns.