Evaluation of anaemia in Nigerian goats using FAMACHA© eye colour chart: a preliminary study

Abstract

A preliminary study was carried out on the possibility of using the FAMACHA eye colour chart to predict the level of anaemia in 280 Nigerian goats of varied ages slaughtered at the Nsukka abattoir, in Enugu State, Nigeria. Three indices of anaemia, namely packed cell volume (PCV), red blood cell (RBC) counts and haemoglobin (Hb) concentrations were compared with the colour of the ocular membranes of the goats. The colours of the ocular conjunctiva of all animals were scored on a 1–5 scale using the FAMACHA© card, and blood samples were collected from each animal for determination of PCV, RBC counts and Hb concentration. Correlations between eye colour scores and the duo of PCV and Hb concentrations were highly significant and negative. Haemonchus contortus was the most predominant gastrointestinal nematode parasite observed in the study with average larval recovery of 70.18 %. Age has no effect on the predictability of anaemia by the FAMACHA© technique. It was concluded that the FAMACHA method can be used by farmers in Nigeria to identify anaemic goats particularly in conditions of haemonchosis which is one of the main causes of anaemia in goats and the most predominant gastrointestinal nematode in small ruminants in the study area. It is, therefore, believed that these preliminary findings will form a basis for further work on validating the use of FAMACHA© in Nigerian goats.