Slaughtered Cattle and Reasons for Slaughtering Cows in Ember Months at Lafenwa Abattoir in Abeokuta, Nigeria (Published)
High incidence of slaughtering of gravid cows has damnable effects on productivity of animal protein to the ever-increasing population in Nigeria. This study was conducted to evaluate the foetal losses from the slaughtering of pregnant cows at Lafenwa abattoir –Abeokuta, Ogun state. Information on demographical pattern of the butchers, herd size and composition of slaughtered animals as well as the reasons for slaughtering were assessed through the use of a structured questionnaire. Most of the butchers fell within the active age (31-40 years), married (83.3%) and having formal education at various levels. It was found that a total of 15112 cattle were slaughtered of which 76.7% were cows. The percentage of foetal wastage was 10.7%, while one foetus was lost for every nine cattle and seven cows slaughtered. Pregnant cows were mostly slaughtered for ceremonies and festivals while sometimes, it was due to poverty or disease condition of the animal. Control of foetal wastage in abattoirs will go a long way in increasing the population of livestock in Nigeria. Knowledge of the magnitude of bovine foetal wastage in abattoirs is necessary to forestall further occurrences.
Keywords: Cattle, Foetuses, Nigeria, Slaughtered, gravid
Assessment of Cost and Returns of Cattle Marketing In Central Zone of Adamawa State, Nigeria. (Published)
The study was to assess the cost and returns in cattle marketing in central Adamawa State, Nigeria. Data for this study were collected from activities of cattle marketer for the year 2012. The data were collected using structured questionnaire. One hundred and twenty (120) Cattle marketers were administered with questionnaires. A total of Ninety questionnaires were used for analyzed. However, both descriptive (frequency, percentage and mean) and inferential statistics was used for analyzing the data generated from the study. Analysis of the structure and performance of cattle marketers was done using Gini coefficient and marketing margin analysis. The results obtained from the study revealed that, performance of cattle marketers which was analyzed using marketing margin techniques was found to be 9.09 percent. This indicates that, marketers obtained 9.09 percent of the final sales which is paid by the consumers. Also, the analysis of seller concentration of cattle marketing shows that, a Gini coefficient of 0.65 was obtained. The relatively high Gini coefficient which by the analysis tends to approach one (1) is a clear indication of inequality in earnings from the sales of the animals and high marketing concentration. The study therefore recommends that, marketers should form / strengthening their associations and cooperatives for extensive information sharing and in-leading between and among members, government at all levels should also be willing to provide information to marketers and researchers so as to help in addressing the problems associated with cattle marketing for necessary support and legislations
Keywords: Assessment, Cattle, Cost, Marketing, Returns
