Seasonal growth and grazing behaviour of Djallonké sheep raised in ecosystems of irrigated and rain fed landscapes of the Guinea Savanna Zone of Ghana

Abstract

The study was conducted in the Nabdam, Bawku-West, Kasena-Nankana districts of the Upper East Region, and the  Kumbungu district in  the Northern Region of Ghana. Twelve (12) ecosystems within four landscapes were selected for  this research in the rainy (May-  October) and dry (November-April) seasons. Twelve (12) grazing sites were purposively selected and a two-step sampling approach was  used in the selection of sampling points within the grazing lands.  The grazing behaviour of 36 Djallonké rams (weighing ≈13kg) was  observed in the 12 ecosystems. Generally, Feeding,  Watering and Walking by the rams were affected by the season in both landscapes.  The rams spent less time for watering (11% dry season vs, 8 % wet season) and walking (40% dry season vs. 30% wet season) but high  percentage of  time on feeding (45% wet season vs. 31% dry season) during the wet season in the rain-fed landscape. Forage analysis  were carried out to determine the effect of ecosystem and season on the growth performance of the rams in the landscapes. Season  had a significant effect on all the growth parameters. Higher final weight (16.56 vs 15.08 kg), final  weight gain (3.27 vs 2.28 kg) and  average daily weight gain (54.5 vs 38.1 g) was observed in the wet season than in the  dry season in the irrigated landscape. In the rain  fed landscape, the effects of the ecosystem and season interaction was  not significant, there was however a significant effect of season  on the growth parameters. Higher final weight gain  (2.8 vs 2.3 kg) and average daily weight gain (46.9 vs 39.4 g) was recorded in the wet  season than in the dry season in  the rain-fed landscape for the rams. The two-way interaction effect of ecosystem and season was not  significant for  any of the nutritional parameters in the irrigated landscapes. With the exception of dry matter (DM) which recorded  higher values in the dry season, the main effect of season was significant with the wet season recording higher crude  protein (CP) than  the dry season in both rain fed and irrigated landscape.