Management practices and utilization of milk and milk products of Abergelle breed of Goats in extensive production systems in Kolla Tembien district, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

Abstract

A cross sectional study design was conducted from January to June, 2019 to study the housing and health management of Abergelle breed of goat and the utilization of goats’ milk and milk products in Kolla Tembien District of Tigray region, Northern Ethiopia. Data on housing, health and utilization of milk and milk products of Abergelle breed of goats were collected from randomly selected 200 respondents by interview, focused group discussion and observation. Accordingly, mixed crop livestock production was practiced by 88% of the respondents. Moreover, 116 (58%), 61 (30.5%) and 23 (11.5%) of the respondents were hosing their goats alone, with sheep and cattle, respectively; whereas 83% of the respondents were housing adult goats and kids separately. Furthermore, 100% of the respondents complained their goats are affected by various diseases that resulted in mortality and reduction in production and reproductive performances. It was also revealed that, 90.5% of the respondents take their diseased goats to the nearby veterinary clinics. However, 78% of them complained the veterinary service in their locality is not satisfactory. Additionally, 100% of the respondents use goat milk for household consumption and income generation. Majority (62.5%) of goats milking activity was carried out by children. Therefore, the study has investigated the housing, health and utilization of milk and milk products of Abergelle breed of goats in the study district.

Keywords: Goats; Health; Housing; Kolla Tembien; management; Milk; Utilization