Abattoir survey of foreign body rumen impaction small ruminants

Abstract

A survey was carried out on 800 small ruminants slaughtered at Zaria abattoir over a 3 month period. Of these 187 were sheep and 613 were goats. Seventy-seven percent (144 out of 187) of sheep and 20.7% (127 out of 613) of goats were found to have indigestible garbage weighing 0.3 to 2.5kg in their rumen. Sex and age were found to have significant (P<0.05) interaction with rumen impaction (RI), occurring more in females of over 30 month of age. Breed distribution of RI in sheep was significantly (P< 0.05) higher in Yankasa (81.9%) than in other breeds. Plastic bag was the most prevalent material recovered as observed in 85% of cases. Other materials such as pieces of cloth and leather, shreds of twine and other ropes woven together into various patterns and mango seeds were also recovered. Animals with RI had a poor body condition.

KEY WORDS: Rumen, impaction, foreign, body, small ruminants

Nigerian Veterinary Journal Vol.25(2) 2004: 32-38