Performance of Yankassa Sheep and Savanna Brown Goats under Free Grazing and Tethering Systems of Management

Abstract

Sixteen Yankasa sheep and 16 Savanna Brown goats aged between 2-3 years were used to assess the body weight
and body condition ofsheep and goats underfree range and tethering systems of management over a period 92 days.
Four experimental groups were constituted by randomly assigning 8 animalsfrom each species to eitherfiee range
or tethered system ofmanagement. Free range goats recorded the highest live weight gain of 6.15 kg followed by
free range sheep with a value of 4.32 kg. Tethered goats and tethered sheep recorded relativelylower values of 1.66
and 0.90 kg respectively. The body condition gains were also higher in free range animals compared with the
tethered ones with values being 0.70free range sheep, 0.49 forfiee rangegoats, 0.03 for tethered sheep and -0.29for
tetheredgoats. It was concluded that for tethered animals to perform well, their diet must beadequately supplemented
with good qualityfodder and/or concentrate and should also beadequately protectedfraz adverse weather conditions.