Abstract:
In Ethiopia, small ruminant had a great role in the economic development for farmers or producers,
food-insecure areas and one of the main sources of meat production. The study was conducted in five small ruminant
potential zones of Amhara region from November to June, 2017, with the objective of assessing small ruminant fattening
practices in Amhara region, Ethiopia. Twenty representative kebeles were selected purposively. From each of
selected kebeles, 10 small ruminant fatteners were selected purposively based on their fattening experience. A total
of 200 households were selected for interviewing. Data were analyzed by using SPSS version, 20.
Results: Majority of (47%) small ruminant fatteners can read and write. Mean and SD of family size per household
was shown to be 5.22 ± 2.00. Mean and SD of private and communal grazing lands and total land for traction was
0.30 ± 0.60, 0.81 ± 1.81 and 1.84 ± 2.90, respectively. From the total of 100% respondents only 46.6% had there
owen private grazing land this mean the remaining 53.4% were utilizing communal grazing land. Among the 46.6%
of respondents only 74.5% were primarily grazed fattening animals. About 59% of respondents responded that the
status of grazing land was decreased from the previous status, but the remaining 31.5 and 9.5% responded that there
was no change and that it was increasing, respectively. Mean and SD of sheep and goat fattening per household was
2.86 ± 2.90 and 1.65 ± 4.67, respectively. Majority (71.5%) of producers preferred fattening sheep species to goat. In
Amhara region, the purpose of small ruminant fattening was mainly income source (81.5%) and the remaining 12, 2,
1.5, 1, 1, and 1% were risk/benefit, meat, social or cultural function, sacrifices/rituals, saving and others, respectively.
Natural pasture grazing and stubble grazing were the major feed sources in the wet and dry seasons, respectively. Fatteners
were provided with supplementary feeds for small ruminant fattening twice a day (36%), once in a day (31%)
and whenever available (12%). Majority of respondents (77.6%) were not provided with supplementary feed scientifically
recommended due to the low supply and high cost of concentrate feed in the market. The main water source
was pipe water. The average distance of water from their home was less than one km, and watering frequency was
twice a day.
Conclusions: In general, the present study showed that fatteners in the region did not fatten small ruminants scientifically
recommended, because there were high cost of supplementary feed in the market and lack of enfaces on the
development of small ruminant fattening in Amhara region. So, there should be given more enfaces by the government
and researches should be done on alternative and non-conventional feeds with low price by considering th
