Foetal Wastage in Sheep and Goats at the Kumasi Abattoir in Ghana: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

The demand for meat from goats and sheep in Ghana far outweighs the local production which calls for a scrutiny of animal production systems including foetal wastage at the slaughter houses bearing in mind that there is dearth of information in this area which further hinders prudent planning. The objective of this study is to determine the level of foetal wastage of these small ruminants in the Kumasi abattoir in Ghana. A cross-sectional study was done from January to March 2015 to establish pregnancy status and characteristics of foetuses using visual inspection of the uterus of slaughtered animals. Out of a total of 939 sheep and 3394 goats slaughtered during the period, 733 (78.2%) were ewes and 2637 (77.7%) were does showing a higher propensity of slaughtering female animals and probably a general preference for goats to sheep in the locality. As high as 50.2% of ewes and 20.4% of does were pregnant. More than 85% of gestations were either in the second or third trimester. The foetuses were predominantly singletons except in goats where 95% were twins, 1.3% quadruplets and 0.5% quintuplets especially among the predominant West African dwarf breed (WAD). The rate of slaughtering of pregnant small ruminants at the Kumasi abattoir is very high. Improving animal husbandry practices of farmers and strict enforcement of standard operating procedures at the abattoir by inspectors could change this trend and increase animal production.