Effect of Season and Age on Dry Matter Intake in Female Camels on Sahara Rangelands of Algeria

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the influence of season and age on intake in female camels. Methods: study was conducted in the El Alia region (South-East of Algeria). In order to measure bite counts and dry matter intake (DMI) in the dry and wet seasons, monitoring were made on 64 females camels consisted of two age categories, 32 adult (AF) and 32 young (YF). This was done by following one animal randomly selected/day/category. Thus, sixteen simple were observed during each season. Forage intake for each preferred plant species was estimated by multiplying bite counts by the average mass per bite. Forage consumption was quantified by the bite count technique (Gauthier-Pilters and Dagg,1981). Result: The results showed that there was a significant difference (p less than 0.05) in the number of bites between seasons and age categories, with a maximum average 63.33±23 for AF and a minimum average 16.8±12.47 for YF in the dry season and wet season respectively. The highest amounts of dry matter intake (DMI) are recorded in the wet season on Traganum nudatum 1.9 kg DM for YF and 0.34 kg DM in YF. The season influences the feed intake of female camels on course.