Husbandry practices of livestock farming in the Drâa-Tafilalet region of Morocco

Abstract

The study was aimed to determine the husbandry practices of livestock farmers in the Drâa-Tafilalet region of Morocco. Five sites in the region were selected. Three to five rural districts, each with one to eight breeders of each livestock species, were randomly selected at each site. A survey consisting total 305 farmers was conducted in 21 districts with 60, 105, 71, 21, 35, 13 farmers of cattle, sheep, goats, camels, poultry and rabbits, respectively. For identification, 31.9% of breeders used ear tags, and 26.3% used notch or fire marks. The study found that 55.4% of breeders kept their animals in barns, 40.2% in "zriba" and 4.38% in open fields. All cattle breeders reported milking their cows, but only 4.72%, 72.1% and 88.9% milked their ewes, does and she-camels (cows), respectively. There were 2.38% of breeders who practiced castration, including 33.3% of sheep breeders, 16.7% of goat breeders, and 50% of camel breeders. In this study, it was found that cattle breeders did not practice castration at all. Natural pasture was used by 19.1% of breeders, especially during the spring and summer months, 21.4% used crop residues, 31.3% straw, 27.2% forages, mainly alfalfa, and 3.09% silage. A total of 83.5% of rangeland breeders kept their herds separate from those of other breeders to prevent mating males from other herds, while 16.5% mixed their herds with those of neighbors. Animals were given water once a day (60.8%), twice a day (25%), once every two days (9.8%), once every three days (0.98%) and 2.94% had access to water all the time. Among the most common diseases were respiratory diseases (30.2%), reproductive tract diseases (10.9%), mastitis (16%), bloat (9.06%), diarrhea (16.3%) and mange/moth (12.4%). Among cattle breeders, 64.9% sold animals, 3.51% sold milk, and 31.6% both sold animals and milk. Breeders of sheep, goats, and camels and rabbits sold 91.3%, 92.5% and 100% of their animals, respectively, whereas chicken breeders sold eggs (26.9%), birds (15.4%) and both eggs and birds (57.7%). According to the study, despite the traditional husbandry practices in the region, successful management programs should consider them.