Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the practices of small-holder cattle breeders in South Africa and investigate differences among the breeds they keep. Cattle of non-descript genetic provenance had significantly lower calving rates and greater mortality than other breeds (P<0.05). Although not different from the Bonsmara, exotic breed had significantly lower pre-wean mortality rates than the rest of the breeds (P<0.05). Women owned exotic as well as non-descript breeds (P<0.05). Men own larger herds of cattle, are highly dependent livestock income, and affiliate and hold office in community associations (P<0.05). Ownership of indigenous breeds correlated with experience, number of persons attending school, dependence on livestock income, as well as affiliation and office bearing in community associations (P<0.05). Results suggest that there is acumen for rearing indigenous cattle and that the demographic attributes should be considered in design of in situ conservation programs
Proceedings of the World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Volume Genetic Improvement Programs: Selection for harsh environments and management of animal genetic resources (Posters), , 447, 2014
Download Full PDF
BibTEX Citation
Endnote Citation
Search the Proceedings
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.