Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T10:41:17.585Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Game domestication for animal production in Kenya: feeding trials with oryx, zebu cattle and sheep under controlled conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

M. R. Stanley Price
Affiliation:
African Wildlife Foundation of Washington, D. C., P. O. Box 48177, Nairobi, Kenya

Summary

Digestibility trials were carried out with five individuals each of domesticated oryx, sheep and cattle, using three diets ranging from 12·5 to 7·4% crude protein. Feed intake, water consumption and urine production were measured.

Intakes of dry matter (as g/day or g/kg W0·75/day) did not differ between diets for any species. On a metabolic weight basis the sheep and oryx ate the same amount. The cattle ate more than the sheep of all three diets, and more than the oryx in two of the three.

For all three species, digestibility of dry matter, crude protein and crude fibre was lower when the lower quality food was given. On any single diet, significant differences in digestive efficiency for any diet component between species were few and small.

Total daily intakes of water (ml/kg W0·85/day) were lower for each species when eating the diet with the lowest protein content. On each diet total intakes were significantly different in the decreasing order cattle > sheep > oryx, in the mean ratio 3·3:l·7:10.

Urine production (ml/kg W0·85/day) varied slightly between diets for each species. On each diet the cattle produced significantly more urine than the sheep or oryx. The ratio of urine produced to water drunk decreased in the order oryx > cow > sheep, in the mean ratios 0·63, 0·34 and 0·27. Despite some interspecific differences in nitrogen concentration, there were few differences in the proportion of total excreted nitrogen that was lost through the urine.

Calculations of evaporative water loss showed that loss of water by this avenue was significantly less in oryx than in sheep or cattle, which did not differ significantly.

In the absence of any evidence of a more efficient digestion, the low metabolic intake of food by oryx suggests a low metabolic rate. The oryx's low water consumption and small evaporative loss are obvious adaptations to its desert habitat.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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

Arman, P. & Hopcrapt, D. (1975). Nutritional studies on East African herbivores. 1. Digestibilities of dry matter, crude fibre and crude protein in antelope, cattle and sheep. British Journal of Nutrition 33, 255264.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blaxter, K. L. (1962). The Energy Metabolism of Ruminants, p. 232. London: Hutchinson & Co.Google Scholar
Elliott, R. C. (1967). Voluntary intake of low-protein diets by ruminants. II. Intake of food by sheep. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 69, 383390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, R. C. & Topps, J. H. (1963). Studies of protein requirements of ruminants. 2. Protein requirement for maintenance of three breeds of cattle. British Journal of Nutrition 17, 549556.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hofmann, R. R. (1973). The Ruminant Stomach. East African Monographs in biology. Vol. 2. Nairobi: East African Literature Bureau.Google Scholar
Hoppe, P. P. (1977). Comparison of voluntary food and water consumption and digestion in Kirk's dikdik and suni. East African Wildlife Journal 15, 4148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karue, C. N. (1973). Voluntary intake of dry matter by African zebu cattle: factors influencing dry matter intake. East African Agricultural and Forestry Journal 38, 352360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, J. M. (1979). Game domestication for animal production in Kenya: field studies of the body-water turnover of game and livestock. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 93, 7179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, J. M. & Heath, B. R. (1975). Game domestication for animal production in Africa. World Animal Review 16, 18.Google Scholar
King, J. M., Heath, B. R. & Hill, R. E. (1977). Game domestication for animal production in Kenya: theory and practice. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 89, 445457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kleiber, M. (1961). The Fire of Life, 454 pp. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Langlands, J. P. (1969). Studies on the nutritive value of the diet selected by grazing sheep. V. Further studies of the relationship between digestibility estimated in vitro from oesophageal fistula samples and from faecal and dietary composition. Animal Production 11, 379387.Google Scholar
Ledger, H. P., Rogerson, A. & Freeman, G. H. (1970). Further studies on the voluntary food intake of Bos indicus, Bos taurus, and crossbred cattle. Animal Production 12, 425431.Google Scholar
Lewis, J. G. (1977). Game domestication for animal production in Kenya: activity patterns of eland, oryx, buffalo and zebu cattle. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 89, 551563.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, J. G. (1978). Game domestication for animal production in Kenya: shade behaviour and factors affecting the herding of eland, oryx, buffalo and zebu cattle. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 90, 587595.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacFaklane, W. V. & Howard, B. (1972). Comparative water and energy economy of wild and domestic mammals. Symposium of the Zoological Society of London 31, 261296.Google Scholar
Maloiy, G. M. O. (1972). Renal salt and water excretion in the camel (Camelus dromedarius). Symposium of the Zoological Society of London 31, 243259.Google Scholar
Maloiy, G. M. O. & Kay, R. N. B. (1971) A comparison of digestion in red deer and sheep under controlled conditions. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology 56, 257266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peden, D. G., Van Dyne, G. M., Rice, R. W. & Hansen, R. M. (1974). The trophic ecology of Bison bison h. on shortgrass plains. Journal of Applied Ecology 11, 489498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rogerson, A. (1968). Energy utilization by the eland and wildbeest. Symposium of the Zoological Society of London 21, 153161.Google Scholar
Rogerson, A. (1970). Food intake and energy utilization by cattle. East African Agricultural and Forestry Journal 36, 195199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmidt-Nielsen, K. (1972). Recent advances in the comparative physiology of desert animals. Symposium of the Zoological Society of London 31, 371382.Google Scholar
Stanley Price, M. R. (1977). The estimation of food intake, and its seasonal variation, in the harteboest. East African Wildlife Journal 15, 107124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanley Price, M. R. (1978). The nutritional ecology of Coke's hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus cokei) in Kenya. Journal of Applied Ecology 15, 3349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, C. R. (1968). The minimum water requirements of some East African Bovids. Symposium of the Zoological Society of London 21, 195206.Google Scholar