Sheep Flock Structure, Dynamics, Management Practices, and Wool Production Under Bush Encroached and Non-Encroached Areas Of
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Sheep flock structure, dynamics, management practices, and wool production under bush encroached and non-encroached areas of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa By Kom Lubabalo (200908342) A dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURE - ANIMAL SCIENCE Department of Livestock and Pasture Science Faculty of Science and Agriculture Supervisor: Prof. J.F. Mupangwa NOVEMBER 2016 i DECLARATION I, Lubabalo Kom, declare that this study is an outcome of my own investigation under the supervision of Professor J.F. Mupangwa and has not been submitted to any other University. All assistance towards the production of this work and all references contained herein have been duly accredited. Lubabalo Kom: Date: 18 April 2017 Approved to style and content by: Prof. J. F. Mupangwa: Date: 18 April 2017 ii ABSTRACT The main objective of the study was to investigate sheep productivity under bush encroached and non-encroached areas. The study was conducted in two communal areas, namely Idutywa (Mbewuleni village), which represented an open grassland with no encroaching woody species, and Alice (Sheshegu village) which was a bush encroached site. The purposive sampling method was used to select farmers with wool producing sheep who participated in the study. Experiment one employed a structured questionnaire to collect data on sheep flock composition, dynamics and management practices. A total number of 147 respondents were interviewed (73 in Mbewuleni village and 74 in Sheshegu village). The surveys revealed that just above three quarters of the households were male headed with close to half of the respondents being pensioners. Extensive farming was the production system employed across the two villages with community grazing as their source of feed. The sheep were allowed to graze separately during the grazing period with no other livestock such as cattle. The farmers experienced feed shortage, especially in the winter months and they prioritized feeding their lambs and ewes during this period. Shearing was done once a year in September or October. In both villages there was no controlled breeding and the lambing occurred during the winter period. It was found that the non- encroached site (Idutywa) had a significantly (P<0.05) higher number of sheep with 14% of the households having numbers above 121 sheep, while in Sheshegu about 8% of household above 121sheep. The major causes of mortality across the villages were cold weather, drought, predation and diseases. The interviewed households across the two villages mentioned that they dipped their sheep monthly. In the second study, a sample of 110 non-descript sheep breeds were randomly selected from the two villages (10 of each sex and each age group (which is 2 teeth, 4 iii teeth and 6 teeth) from each village with the exception of the 4 teeth old ewes from Sheshegu). The fleece samples were obtained from the selected sheep in October. The quantity and quality were determine based on wool weight, fibre diameter, colour, staple length, and clean wool. The results of the data analysis showed that the site had a statistically significant (P<0.05) difference on wool quantity between Sheshegu and Mbewuleni villages (2.8164kg and 1.6940kg), whilst the difference based on sheep sex was not significant (P>0.05), respectively. The older sheep produced significantly (P<0.05) higher amounts of wool compared to the younger animals. Wool quality was shown to be affected by locality in all parameters except for comfort factor. The clean yield effects were observed to be particularly more significant (P<0.05) when it came to the clean yield with Sheshegu sheep producing greater clean yield than their Mbewuleni counterparts. There was a significant (P<0.05) differences in the interaction of village and sex for crimp length (males had higher values) whereas that of village and age did not affect (P>0.05) the yield and crimp length. It was concluded from this study that age, sex and weight are the factors that affected wool production (quantity and quality). However, differences were not statistically significant (P>0.05) for effects of sex on wool quantity. Wool quality on the other hand was shown to be dependent on locality across all parameters with the exception of the comfort factor. Clean yield was higher in encroached as compared to non-encroached site. The conclusions from the study were that locality affected sheep flock structure and dynamics, because the encroached site had fewer numbers of sheep compared to the non-encroached site. In addition, the quantity and quality of wool produced differed with site, encroached site values being significantly different (P<0.05) to that from the non-encroached site. KEY WORDS: Bush encroachment, Wool production (quantity and quality), sheep Dynamics, management practices, and communal areas. iv DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my grandfather July Khalane Kom and my grandmother N.P Maqubela and my lovely mother Khululwa Cyntheria Kom, my father Saziso Kom and also to my three brothers and lovely sister Camagu v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deep appreciation to my Supervisor, Professor J.F. Mupangwa for his guidance, advice, support and time in my academic development and project. I thank God for being with me throughout my studies. I would also like to thank DAFF (Zero Hunger), and my parents for providing me with funds to make it possible to complete my studies. I would like to express my sincere thanks to my colleagues, and my seniors especially Miss F. Mukumbo, Mr. K. Mrubata, Mr. Lizwell Mapfumo, Mr. Maxwell Rodzi, Mr. S.E. Tikwayo, Mhlangabezi Slayi, Lwando Mazuli, Pumeza Mfobo, Amanda Mayende, Ziyanda Sonyamba, Luvo Tekwini, Lwandile Pamla, and Zolisa Mbopha who encouraged me during my project. I am very grateful to the people of Mbewuleni, and Sheshegu for the wonderful support and provision of data for this research. I would like to give a special thanks to my wonderful parents, my friends for their moral support, encouragement and love throughout my studies. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................................ ii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................................ v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................ 6 LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................................................10 1.1 Background .................................................................................................................................11 1.2 Problem statement .....................................................................................................................15 1.3 Justification .................................................................................................................................15 1.4 Objectives ....................................................................................................................................16 1.5 Null hypotheses ...........................................................................................................................16 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................................19 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................19 2.2 Sheep production in communal areas .............................................................................................20 2.2.1 Sheep population dynamics in communal areas .....................................................................21 2.2.2 Sheep flock composition ............................................................................................................25 2.3 Management of sheep .......................................................................................................................26 2.3.1 Feeding………………………………………………………………………………………....26 2.3.2 Sheep feeding and animal weight .............................................................................................30 2.3.3 Water ..........................................................................................................................................31 2.3.4 Disease ........................................................................................................................................31 2.3.5 Dipping .......................................................................................................................................32 2.3.6 Housing……………………………………………………………………………..…………..32 2.4 Live weight of sheep .....................................................................................................................33 2.5 Age and sex as factors affecting wool quantity ..............................................................................34 2.5.1 Nutrition .....................................................................................................................................35