Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T20:49:11.814Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nutrition of draught oxen in semi-arid west Africa. 1. Energy expenditure by oxen working on soils of different consistencies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

A. Fall ,
R. A. Pearson  and
P. R. Lawrence
A. Fall
Affiliation:
Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9RG
R. A. Pearson
Affiliation:
Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9RG
P. R. Lawrence
Affiliation:
International Livestock Research Institute, International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Sahelian Centre, BP 12404, Niamey, Niger
Get access

Abstract

The Oxylog, a portable breath-by-breath gas analyser, was used on seven animals to determine standing metabolic rate, energy cost of walking on soils of different consistencies and efficiency of work ploughing and carting. The average standing metabolic rate of animals was 5·63 (s.e. 0·12) W/kg M00·75. The consistency of the soil on which animals worked had a marked effect on their energy cost of walking which was 1·59 (s.e. 0·069) on unploughed soil, 2·15 (s.e. 0·084) on ploughed soil and 1·0 (s.e. 0·10) J/m per kg live weight on laterite tracks. The efficiency of ploughing sandy soils (i.e. ratio of work done to energy used for work) was 0·32 and was not significantly different from the efficiency of carting with different loads. The efficiency of doing work was not influenced by the type of work performed, the draught force exerted or the walking speed.

Keywords

draught animalsenergy expenditurework
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Science , Volume 64 , Issue 2 , April 1997 , pp. 209 - 215
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agricultural and Food Research Council. 1993. Energy and protein requirements of ruminants. An advisory manual prepared by the AFRC Technical Committee on Responses to Nutrients. CAB International, Wallingford, UK.Google Scholar
Astatke, A. 1983. Feed and work trials at Debre Berhan, 1980-1982. Working document, ILCA Highlands Programme, International Livestock Centre for Africa, Addis Ababa.Google Scholar
Becker, K., Rometsch, M., Susenbeth, A., Roser, U. and Lawrence, P. 1993. Characterisation of the physiological performance and determination of the efficiency of draught oxen. Special research program (SFB 308), intermediate report 1991-1993, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany.Google Scholar
Brody, S. 1945. Bioenergetics and growth. Hafner Press, New York.Google Scholar
Brouwer, E. 1965. Report of the sub-committee on constants and factors. Proceedings of the third symposium on the energy metabolism of farm animals (ed Blaxter, K. L.), EAAP Publication no. 11, pp. 441–443. Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
Clar, U. 1991. Entwichlung einer Feldmethode zur Messung des Energie Umsatzes bei Zugtieren. Ph.D. thesis, University of Hohenheim.Google Scholar
Dijkman, J. T. 1993. The measurement of draught ruminant energy expenditure in the field. Ph.D. thesis, University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Food and Agriculture Organization. 1987. African agriculture: the next 25 years. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy.Google Scholar
Goe, M. R. and McDowell, R. E. 1980. Animal traction: guidelines for utilisation. Cornell International Agricultural Development mimeograph (USA) no. 81. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.Google Scholar
Humpfrey, S. J. E. and Wolff, H. S. 1977. The Oxylog. Journal of Physiology, London 267:12.Google Scholar
Lawrence, P. R. 1985. A review of the nutrient requirements of draught oxen. In Draught animal power for production (ed. Copland, J. W.). Proceedings of an international workshop, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia, 10-16 July 1985. ACIAR proceedings series no. 10, pp. 59–63. ACIAR, Canberra.Google Scholar
Lawrence, P. R. and Becker, K. 1994. The effects of draft power on feed utilisation and reproduction in cattle and buffaloes. In Sustainable small-scale ruminant production in semi-arid and sub-humid tropical areas (ed. Becker, K., Lawrence, P. R., Ørskov, E. R.). Proceedings of an international workshop on September 24 1994 at the Institute for Animal Production in the Tropics and Sub-Tropics. University of Hohenhcim, Stuttgart, Germany, pp. 101–121Google Scholar
Lawrence, P. R., Buck, S. F. and Campbell, I. 1989a. The metabolic rate of oxen after work. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 48: 153A (abstr.).Google Scholar
Lawrence, P. R. and Pearson, R. A. 1985. Factors affecting the measurement of draught force, work output and power of oxen. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 105: 703–714.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawrence, P. R., Pearson, R. A. and Dijkman, J. T. 1991. Techniques for measuring whole body energy expenditure of working animals: a critical review. In Isotope and related techniques in animal production and health. Proceedings of an international symposium on nuclear and related techniques in animal production and health, International Atomic Energy Agency and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Vienna, 15-19 April 1991, pp. 211-232. International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna.Google Scholar
Lawrence, P. R., Sosa, R. and Campbell, I. 1989b. The underlying ‘resting’ energy consumption of oxen during work. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 48:154A (abstr.)Google Scholar
Lawrence, P. R. and Stibbards, R. J. 1990. The energy costs of walking, carrying and pulling loads on flat surfaces by Brahman cattle and swamp buffalo. Animal Production 50: 29–39.Google Scholar
McLean, J. A. and Tobin, G. 1987. Animal and human calorimetry. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Mahardika, I. G., Sastradipradja, D., Sumadi, I. K., Sutardi, T. and , Kartiaso 1994. Energy expenditure of water buffaloes for draft power in the humid tropics. In Sustainable small-scale ruminant production in semi-arid and sub-humid tropical areas (ed Becker, K., Lawrence, P. R. and Ørskov, E. R.). Proceedings of an international workshop on September 24 1994 at the Institute for Animal Production in the Tropics and Sub-Tropics, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany, pp. 127–130.Google Scholar
Panin, A. and Ellis-Jones, J. 1994. Increasing the profitability of draught animal power. In Improving animal traction technology (ed. Starkey, P. H., Mwenya, E., Stares, J.). Proceedings of the first workshop of the Animal Traction Network for Eastern and Southern Africa (ATNESA), 18-23 January 1992, Lusaka, Zambia, pp. 94–103. Technical Centre for Agricultural Co-operation (CTA), Wageningen, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Pearson, R. A. 1989. A comparison of draught cattle (Bos indicus) and buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) carting loads in hot conditions. Animal Production 49: 355–363.Google Scholar
Starkey, P. H. 1994. A wide view of animal traction highlighting some key issues in eastern and southern Africa. In Improving animal traction technology (ed. Starkey, P. H., Mwenya, E., Stares, J.). Proceedings of the first workshop of the Animal Traction Network for Eastern and Southern Africa (ATNESA), 18-23 January 1992, Lusaka, Zambia, pp. 66–81. Technical Centre for Agricultural Cooperation (CTA), Wageningen, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Steven, A. P. 1994. Improving animal-powered tillage systems and weeding technology. In Improving animal traction technology (ed. Starkey, P. H., Mwenya, E., Stares, J.). Proceedings of the first workshop of the Animal Traction Network for Eastern and Southern Africa (ATNESA), 18-23 January 1992, Lusaka, Zambia, pp. 168–181. Technical Centre for Agricultural Co-operation (CTA), Wageningen, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Zerbini, E., Gemeda, T., O'Neill, D. H., Howell, P. J. and Schroter, R. C. 1992. Relationships between cardiorespiratory parameters and draught work output in Fl crossbred dairy cows under field conditions. Animal Production 55:1–10.Google Scholar