Comparative study of factors affecting birth weight of Muturu, N'dama and Boran cattle in South eastern Nigeria

Abstract

Data on two hundred and thirty five (235) calves consisting of 45 Muturu, 140 N'dama and 50 Boran were subjected to factorial analyses over the period January 1997 to April 2002, during which some factors affecting birth weight were studied. Results indicated that the mean birth weights of Muturu, N'dama and Boran calves were 14.04±2.60, 13.89±0.28 and 24.50±0.70 kg respectively. The effects of breed and sex interaction were statistically significant (p<0.01) for all the breeds analyzed. In the Muturu breed, it was noted that sex of calf, year of birth, month of birth and their 2-way interactions except month of birth x sex interaction affected birth weight significantly (p<0.01). The differences were statistically significant (p<0.01) between Boran and Muturu and between Boran and N'dama. There was also significant (p<0.01) difference between the male and female in the Muturu. There was variation in birth weights from month to month and year to year, with the highest number of calves being born in February for the Muturu and Boran and in March for the N'dama. A decreasing trend was observed in all the breeds over the years of study, but was more pronounced in the Muturu breed.

Keywords: calves, N'dama, Muturu, Boran, birth weight, cattle, Nigeria

Animal Production Research Advances Vol. 1(1) 2005: 7-12