Livestock Production and

Management

AnPT1052
 Introduction to Livestock
production
Chapter 1

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

1.1. History and Domestication
• Animal: Anything that feel, move, waste excretion and
reproduce.
• It includes both domestic and wild animals
• Animals are believed to be originated in South East
Asia (Mesopotamia….Iran and Iraq)
• The current world animals are originated in this place
and distributed to other world through migration.
Animal domestication
• Animal domestication: refers to adapting the behavior
of animals to fit human needs
• Animal domestication started in the early time with
the civilization of ancient human being
• Ancient human started domesticating animals to fulfill
basic needs (food, shelter and cloth)
• Later on people started selecting/breeding animals for
best traits such as meat, milk, body color etc.
• They started also using animals for land ploughing
(i.e crop cultivation)
• This implies that animals played an important role in
the civilization and econimic development of the world
• Dog is believed to be the first animal domesticated by
human being (8000BC)
• Sheep (7000BC), Cattle (6000BC), Goats (5000 BC)
and others
• Especially these farm animals (Livestock) are
raised/kept for the purpose of:
• Food (meat, milk, milk products, eggs, honey)
• Shelter (hides and skins)
• Clothes (hides, skins, hair, wool)
• Work and power (land ploughing, transportation etc)
• Manure (organic fertilizer----dung, urine)
• Entertainment (circus, ram fighting, rodeos, racing etc)
• Fuel (tail fats, lipids, butter)
• Animal experiment (research)
 1.2. Livestock Population and
Distribution
• Ethiopia does have huge livestock resources with
various species and breeds of animals like cattle, sheep,
goats, donkeys, horses, mules, camels, pigs,
chickens/poultry and bee colonies.
• The country is first in Africa and ninth in the world in
livestock population
• Almost all cattle, sheep and goats (99 %) are
indigenous and few (1%) exotic
• The animals are found distributed through out the
country in various agro-ecology.
• Actually the distribution of animals is determined by
• feed availability (grazing land, crop residues etc),
• climatic conditions (rainfall, temperature, humidity
etc)
• Animals diseases and pests (various diseases,
parasites)

The distribution of livestock

• 75 % livestock in the mid and highland areas and

• the remaining 25 % are found in lowlands

Table 1. Livestock population in Ethiopia by species
Animal type Population Breeds
Cattle 70,291,776 25
Sheep 42,914,865 13
Goats 52,463,535 15
Donkeys 10,791,896 4
Horses 2,148,492 2
Mules 382,784 2
Camels 8,145,790 4
Pigs - -
Chicken 56,992,987 5
Bee hive 6,986,100 -

Source: CSA (2021)

• Ethiopia has diversified ecology (about 18 agro-
ecological zones) which enabled the country to harbor
diversified fauna (animal) and flora (plant)

• lowlands cattle, sheep, goats, and camels are managed in

migratory pastoral production systems.

• In the highlands, livestock are kept under settled or

transhumans systems utilizing common pastures, many
of which have a million clover content and crop residues.
• Majority of the goats population and almost entirely of the
camel population in the country are largely found in the
arid zone.

• Of the total cattle and sheep mass about 75 – 80% are

estimated to be obtained in the highland.

• Likewise, about 30 % of the goat populations are

substantially found in the highland areas.

• High livestock pressure is prevailed in the highlands.

The relative proportional distribution of land, ruminant livestock
and human population distribution by agro-ecological zones in
Ethiopia.

AEZ Altitude Land Human Animal Human Animal Animal

(masl) mass populatio populat density density holding
(%) n (%) ion (%) (people/ (anima (TLU/p
km2) l/km2) erson)
Mid and 1500 – 34 88 75 12 42 0.5
highlands 3400
Low < 1500 66 12 25 6 11 5.2
lands
 Zone Land Cattle Sheep Goat Ruminant Human
area (%) (%) (%) TLU population
(%)

Arid 44.5 14.0 10.0 38.0 19.0 5.60

Semi-arid 10.1 14.0 16.0 22.0 14.2 43.4
Sub-humid 7.7 14.0 8.00 5.00 12.2 4.90
Highland 37.7 58.0 66.0 35.0 54.4 46.1

Source: Jahnke (1982)

1.3. Role of Livestock Production
• Livestock play an important roles in both the farm
community and national economy.

• The functions obtained from livestock simply

categorized as:
1. Output functions

2. Input functions

3. Asset and security functions

4. Social and cultural functions

1. Output functions
• Human foods (meat, milk, milk products, eggs and
honey)
• These animal origin foods are with high nutritional quality
(protein and caloric value) and are expensive in cost
• People use these foods in their daily diet either as
supplementary or complementary to the grain-based diet
• They play a role in human nutrition and health especially
children and pregnant women
• Most grains are caloric rich but poor in protein contents
Output functions/human food
Output functions/human food
• Non-food products (hides, skins, hooves, horn,
slaughter wastes, blood, bone etc)
• have immense functions like for making soaps,
medicines, handcrafts and as animal feed.
• Reproduction and growth (Flock increment etc)
• Herds reproduce themselves and these
accumulated herds are asset for farm community
• Smallholder farmers face capital shortage to
invest in livestock business
• Farmers usually begin to invest with few farm
animals and these stocking animals increase in
their population gradually
Non-food products
2. Input functions
• Work (Draft and pack)
• Land preparation and improvement (contour ploughing,
drainage ploughing)
• Soil preparation (ploughing, hoeing, harrowing)
• Crop husbandry (seeding with drills, tie ridging)
• Crop processing (threshing)
• On-farm transport (grain, crop residues etc)
• Off-farm transport (trade and marketing; water drawing and
fetching; oil extraction and homesteads/nomadic people)
• In Ethiopia draft animals provide the power for the
cultivation of nearly 96 % of the highland cultivated land
• Manure (organic fertilizer)
• Organic fertilizer (NPK) for crop cultivation by
enhancing soil organic matter increase, soil texture,
soil structure and grain yield increase
• Fuel (replacing wood collection)
• Building materials (especially in Ethiopian highland)
• Income source (manure sale---700-1000 birr/lorry)
3. Asset and Security Functions
• Sources of income for farm community (to purchase
grain and home needs)
• Risk balancing (livestock not adversely affected by
climate variation unlike crop)
• Provide continuous income (milk sold regularly)
• Readily sold (to solve a liquidity problem)
• Living bank (saving accounts)- in rural area no banking
services; and credit and saving institutions (remote
areas)
• Relatively safe
• Durable form of storing wealth
• Unaffected by inflation
4. Social and cultural functions

• Social and religious festivals and ceremonies

• As dowry (bride price) at wedding

• Prestige value (increasing social value and acceptance)

• Wealth ranking

• Form of investment in rural (b/se in rural areas no

financial institutions)
1.4. Role of Livestock in Ethiopian Economy

• Livestock give benefits to both the farm community (food

security, socio-economic and religious-cultural benefits) and
national economy (GDP, hard currency)
• Ethiopia has an agriculture-based economy from which
close to 85% of the population derive their livelihood.
• Agriculture contributes about 80 % of the country GDP
• Livestock contributes 20 – 30 % of the agricultural GDP
• Livestock contributes 19 % of export earnings
• Livestock contributes 80 % farmers’ income
• Livestock provides about 90 % employment opportunity
• If the contribution value of animal traction, transport
and manure are taken into considerations, the share of
livestock to GDP would be higher.

• Hides and skins constituted the second largest export

earner (15 – 16 %) next to coffee (50 – 60%)

• Live animal exports share around 3 % of the total value

of exports
 Raw Hides
and
Skins

Local uses of hides

and skins

Processed hides
and skins
Leather Products/Goods
1.5. Role of livestock in Ethiopian Agriculture
• About 10 million oxen provide virtually all the draught power
for the cultivation of the nation's grain crops.
• No agricultural practices other than mowing are conducted
without the involvement of farm animals.
• Land cultivation is mainly done by oxen, horses, donkeys or
their combinations
• Farm animals serve to level the ploughed field, shortly before
and after sowing.
• Transportation of the harvested crops to and from threshing
sites, threshing itself, transportation to and from the market is
conducted by the farm animals.
• Similarly transportation of water, firewood, mobile houses,
construction materials and other goods is conducted by farm
animals and they are the main means of human transport.
 1.6. Production and Productivity of
Livestock
• In Ethiopia livestock production system is subsistence based (hand to
mouth); not market oriented
• Low production and productivity due to many factors
• Beef productivity
• 110 kg/head-----Ethiopia (25 – 40 % lower)
• 143 kg/head ----East Africa
• 156 kg/head ----Africa
• Beef consumption
• 8 kg/capita------Ethiopia
• 14 kg/capita ----Kenya
• 11 kg/capita ----Sudan
• 80 kg/capita ----America
• Mutton production:
• sheep ------10 kg/head
• Goat -------9 kg/head
• Mutton consumption: 7.2 kg/capita
• Milk productivity
• 200 – 250 kg/head/lactation ------------
Ethiopia
• Above 3000 kg/head/lactation ---------Europe
• Milk consumption
• 19 kg/capita ---------------Ethiopia
• 90 kg/capita --------------America
Poor Reproductive performances

• Delayed age at first service/mating (3 years for cattle)

• Late first calving (4 years for cattle)
• Long calving interval (2 years)
• Short lactation period (6 months)
• Low milk yield (250 kg/head/lactation)
 1.7. Animal products consumption
• Animal products include meat (beef, veal, mutton, goat
meat, pork, chicken meat), milk, milk products (butter,
cheese, yoghurt, whey), eggs
• Many Ethiopians do not consume an adequate amount
of meat
• Most Ethiopians do not consume pork due to their
religious beliefs.
• The consumption of sufficient meat is very rare in
developing countries.
• Meat consumption for Ethiopia (13 kg/capita/year), Africa
(14 kg/capita/year) and USA (120 kg/capital/yr)

• But in the future the meat consumption of developing

countries including Ethiopia is expected to grow by 2.8 %
annually due to increased income, urbanization,
improving life style etc.

• In developing countries, by 2020 the meat consumption is

anticipated to be 30 kg/capita/year)
1.8. Livestock Nutrition
Livestock feed resources
• Natural pastures
• Browse plants
• Hay
• Fresh grass and weeds
• Crop residues (teff, wheat, barley, sorghum etc)
• Crop aftermath (crop stubble)
• Non-conventional feeds (cactus, enset etc)
• By-products (attela etc)
• Improved forage plants (grass and legumes)
• Industrial by-products (wheat bran, oil seed cakes,
brewery, molasses etc)
Feed situations in Ethiopia

• Natural pastures contribute about 90 % of the animal

feed requirement
• Grazing lands account for about 36 % of the total land
mass (40 million ha)
• Nowadays, natural pastures are getting diminished due
to many factors
• Crop encroachment (to feed the increasing human population)
• Urbanization and industrialization expansion
• Poor management and utilization practices
• Degradation and overgrazing
• Natural pastures can not satisfy nutrient requirement of
animal (weight loss up to 20 %)
• Crop residues contribute next to natural pastures
• Crop residues are poor in their nutritional value
• In pastoralism natural pastures are the main feed
resource
• In highland (crop-livestock mixed farming) crop
residues contribute substantial amount to the feed
resources
• Use of improved forage plants is uncommon
• Agro-industrial by-products (molasses, brewery, oil cake
etc) contribute limited amount to the feed resource
(expensive, unavailable etc)
 Natural pastures (Grazing lands

Crop residues Teff feild

Crop stubble Animals grazing on crop stubble

Green grasses
Browse plants

Forage plants
 Agro-industrial by-products

Molasses Urea

Wheat Bran (Fruska) UMB Block

Vegetable wastes

Forage Irrigation

Cactus fruit
Cactus pad
 Digestive system in ruminant and non-ruminant
animals
1. Ruminant animals: refers to animals with their stomach
is compartmented into four parts: Rumen, Reticulum,
Omasum and Abomasums
• Ruminants include both domestic and wild animals
• Ex. Cattle, sheep, goats, antelope, Walia etc
2. Non-ruminant animals: refers to animals with single
stomach.
• They are also called monogastric animals or single-
stomach animals
• They include both domestic and wild animals
• Ex. Human, dog, cat, loin, tiger, donkey, pig, chicken etc
Cattle digestive system Rumen

Reticulum

Omasum
 Ruminant Animals

Cattle Sheep Goat

Elk Deer
1.8. Constraints of Livestock Production
• There are many constraints that hinder livestock production system
• The problems are categorized as technical and non-technical
constraints
1. Technical constraints
1. Feed shortage
2. Genetic problem
3. Animal diseases and pests
2. Non-technical constraints
1. Physical factors
2. Socio-economic factors
3. Policy factors
4. Technological factors
A. Technical Constraints
1. Feed shortage
• Feed shortage is the most sever problem in livestock production
• Feed shortage in both quantity and quality (low crude protein
and energy)
• Feed availability variation with season (critical feed shortage in
dry season and drought periods)
• Natural pastures are degraded and dominated by unpalatable plant
species
• Crop residues have poor feeding value (low energy and protein
contents)
• Utilization of improved forage crops are uncommon
• Agro-industrial by-products are less available and utilized
2. Genetic problem
 The local animals (cattle, sheep and goats) are blamed
for their poor genetic potential in both production and
productivity.
 The local (indigenous) animals are not characterized
and evaluated for the meat and milk potential (i.e no
more research undertaken in local animals)
 The local animals are the result of natural selection
(survival of the fittest).
 The survival traits are favored over the production traits
 Cattle milk yield ---230 kg/head/lactation
 Beef production ----110 kg/head
 Mutton production ---10 kg/head
 Poor reproductive performances
 late maturity age,
 long calving interval,
 short lactation period etc)
3. Animal diseases and pests
• Animal disease is one of the major constraints of
livestock productions.
• The major animal diseases prevailed in the country are
• pastorolosis, anthrax, blackleg, PPR, CBPP, CCPP, Smallpox,
chicken pox, Newcastle diseases, African horse sickness,
trypanosomiasis and others.

• Prevalence of internal and external parasites

• Inadequate veterinary/animal health extension
services (poor delivery of drugs, vaccines and
treatments)
• These animal diseases and pests cause:
• high livestock death
• reduced production (milk and meat)
• Expense for animal medication
• economic loss.
B. Non-technical constraints
1. Physical factors

• Edaphic factors (soil type, texture, soil nutrients etc)

• Water resources (Ground and surface water)

• Climate (temperature, rainfall, humidity, sun light etc)

• Pollutants (water air and soil pollution)

2. Socio-economic factors
• Inadequate infrastructure (poor road,
telecommunication and electric power access etc)
• Shortage of capital to invest on livestock businesses
• Pastoralists keep more animals for prestige values
• Highlanders use animals for draught power
• Poor credit and saving institution especially in the rural
areas (i.e no more investment in livestock)
• Poor marketing system and information
3. Policy constraints
• Often livestock neglected from national and/or regional
development plans
• Lack of clear policies regarding livestock development
• Even though huge animal resources the country has no
animal breeding policy
4. Lack of appropriate technologies
• Poor research policy and undertakings
• Poor research approaches
• Research centers are not well developed (manpower and
facility)
• Poor research-extension-farmer linkage
1.9. Livestock Improvement Options
A. Genetic improvement options
1. Selection
• It is a process by which the genetics of animal in a
population changed
• The offspring population will have different gene and
genotype
• Selection can be natural or artificial
• Natural selection: where by animals mate by random
(survival of the fittest)
• Artificial selection: is a practice where best animals are
mated to animals
2. Cross breeding
• It is a practice where animals of different breeds are
mated with the aim to combine favorable traits from the
breeds crossed
• The blood level required to attain depends on the
prevailed non-genetic factors which can support the
crossbred animals
3. New breed formulation (synthetic breed)
• Breeds can be formed by crossing two or more breeds
with varying proportions
B. Non-genetic improvement options
1. Feed improvement
• Forage development/cultivation
• Improving crop residues management and utilization (ex
urea treatment)
• Natural pasture improvement (oversowing, fertilizer
application, burning, improved grazing mgt etc)
• Encouraging utilization of agro-industrial by-products
2. Livestock diseases and pests
• Delivering good veterinary services (drug, vaccines etc)
• Promote effective diseases control measures to reduce
disease risk
• Strengthening research of ethno-veterinary medicines
• Establishing veterinary clinics at development station
level
• Developing disease tolerant genotypes
3. Socio-economic improvements
• Having adequate infrastructures (access to roads, electric
power, telecommunication etc)
• Access to credit and saving institutions
• Improving marketing system and information
4. Policy issues
• Providing attention to livestock at both nation and
regional level
• Having clear and appropriate policy on livestock
development and research
5. Developing appropriate livestock technologies

• Establishing and strengthen research centers (manpower

and facility)

• Developing appropriate animal technologies (demand

driven, client oriented, participatory approach, local
resource based etc)

• Creating strong linkage among research-extension and

farmer