muhammad abdullahi mahmud

Cryptorchidism is seen more often in horses, cats, dogs, and pigs and rare in ruminant. It is believed to result from heredity, an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance or a dominant gene with the incomplete penetrance. Ruling out castration as well as conducting physical examinations can easily diagnose cryptorchidism. It can be controlled by complete castration or culling of the affected animal and where appropriate, the animal be used as food animal other than for breeding purposes.

The slaughter of camels at the Sokoto abattoir was evaluated over one year period from May, 2009-April 2010 with the aim of determining foetal wastage due to slaughter of pregnant camels. The total number of camels slaughtered during the period of study at the Sokoto abattoir was 3366 out of which 1625 were females and 113(7%) of these number were pregnant. In the study the highest wastage was observed in the month of April, followed by March and the least wastage was observed in the month of September and November. In relation to season it was observed that more female camels were slaughtered in the late dry season followed by early rainy season. However, the highest percentage of foetal wastage was in the early rainy season and least in the early dry season. It was observed that of the 113 foetuses, 35(30.97%) were in the first trimester, 52(46.02%) were in the second trimester while 26(23.01%) were in the third trimester. Estimated financial losses over a ten year period through annual slaughter of 113 pregnant camels at Sokoto abattoir was eleven million two hundred thousand naira (N11, 200,000.00). It was concluded that Government intervention in camel marketing remain essential particularly in the enforcement of policies relating to sales of pregnant camel for slaughter. Adequate ante-mortem inspection be intensified, literacy campaigns amongst butchers and farmers on the implication on slaughtering pregnant animals be intensified as effort to improve camel production in Nigeria.

Bovine babesiosis is a hemo-protozoan disease diagnosed in a four-year old heavily tick infested Friesian-SokotoGudalli crossed bull. Clinical signs observed were pyrexia (rectal temperature of 40.8oC), anaemia, anorexia, haemoglobinuria, dysuria, salivation and lacrimination. The bull was weak and could not graze. The thin blood smear was positive for both Babesiabigemina and B. bovis. The bull’s condition improved after the administration of the following drugs; diminazineaceturate 7.0 mg/kg, antipyrine 8.6 mg/kg I.M. and application of acaricide, Flumethrin® on the body of the body of the animal. The management of the case was discussed in the paper.

Proper measurement of live body weight, which often is hard in the village settings due to lack of weighing scales, is a prerequisite for achieving so many lofty goals that are always associated with either medical or economic status of the animals. Under standard conditions, properly calibrated livestock scales are the most accurate and consistent method for determining body weight. Under farm conditions however, where scales and records may be absent, it may be difficult to know the weight of sheep and goats. Procedures for estimating weight of small ruminants in such conditions include the use of weight band, visual appraisal, and use of body linear measurements among others. All these measurements give estimates of the animals’ live body weights however, it has been shown in many studies that the heart girth is the most appropriate and confident parameter in live weight estimations for sheep and goats.