REGULAR ARTICLES

Body and fleece weights of woollen sheep in veld communalrangelands of the Eastern Cape Province

Sivuyile Alex Mvinjelwa & Monde Mapekula &

Viola Maphosa & Voster Muchenje

Accepted: 18 March 2014# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Abstract The objective of this study was to determine thelive weight, body condition scores (BCS) and fleece weight ofsheep in four smallholder farming communities of EasternCape Province, South Africa. Among the four communitiesstudied, two (Roxeni and Tyabane) were in sweetveld andother two (Luzi I and Luzi II) were in a sourveld. Roxeni andLuzi communities were also engaged in the ram exchangeproject with the National Wool Growers Association(NWGA). Sixty crossbred ewes and 20 non-descript ewesaged 2 to 3 years were randomly selected from the fourcommunities studied and were measured during their annualshearing in October. They were assessed for average greasyfleece weight per head, body condition score and live weightafter shearing. Roxeni sheep were heavier (39.9±1.10 kg)than Tyabane sheep (29.8±1.10 kg). Sheep from Tyabanehad the lightest (P <0.05) fleece weight (1.0±1.10 kg) thanRoxeni sheep (3.1±1.10 kg). The 2-year-old ewes had similar(P≥0.05) live weight to that of the 3-year-old ewes. However,the 3-year-old ewes had higher (3.3±0.11) (P<0.05) bodycondition scores than the 2-year-old ewes (2.8±0.10). Two-year-old ewes also had lower (1.9±0.11 kg) (P<0.05) fleeceweight than the 3-year-old ewes (2.3±0.10 kg). It was con-cluded that sheep that were raised in the sweetveld had higherlive and fleece weights than the ones that were raised on thesourveld. The communities that were engaged on ram ex-change project had sheep with higher live weights, bodycondition score and fleece weight.

Keywords Age . Body condition score . Communalrangelands . Ewes . Fleece weight . Liveweight

Introduction

Currently, there are about 24 million sheep in South Africawith an estimated 3 to 4 million sheep in the former Transkeiand Ciskei regions (Department of Agriculture, Forestry andFisheries 2010; King 2013) grazed on extensive rangelands(Fayemi and Muchenje 2013). Approximately 25 % of sheepin South Africa are raised by communal farmers of the EasternCape and the Free State Provinces (Cape Wools 2007;Mapiliyao 2010). Sheep fulfil a variety of benefits for com-munal farmers including economic products, by-products, riskmitigation, property security, investment, cultural uses andprestige (Mapiliyao et al. 2012). Growth performance of sheepis the key production indicator (Momoh et al. 2013), and it hasimplications in the reproductive efficiency of sheep (Marchant2004). Fast growth performance allows sheep to breed earlierand produce more lambs in their lifetime. Fast growth rateentails reaching market weight earlier and thus produces aquicker income to the farmer (Bela and Haile 2009). Theperformance of sheep under communal management is notrecorded although some evidence has been documented onsheep performance under traditional management (Abebeet al. 2000).

Sheep in the communal farming areas are not selected forgrowth performance traits, but are subjected to natural selec-tion. The communal sheep are of a small to medium frame sizeand resemble wool-type sheep, like the Merino (King 2013).The ram exchange project has shown a continuous improve-ment in the sheep’s live weight and wool quality in thecommunal farming areas of Eastern Cape (King 2005). Theram exchange project supplies 3,000 rams annually to com-munal farmers with the impact of the rams being evaluated in

S. A. Mvinjelwa :V. Maphosa (*) :V. MuchenjeDepartment of Livestock and Pasture Science, University of FortHare, P. Bag X1314, Alice 5700, South Africae-mail: vmaphosa@ufh.ac.za

M. MapekulaGrootfontein Agricultural Development Institute, Private Bag X529,Middelburg 5900, South Africa

Trop Anim Health ProdDOI 10.1007/s11250-014-0584-7

progeny tests. Sixteen ram-breeding groups are beingestablished in the communal areas that will eventually supplyrams to the neighbouring communities (Marais 2007).

Communal grazing areas are managed under a communalland tenure system, where the rangeland resources are used byall members of the community. In communal productionsystems, farmers share the same grazing land, but individualfarmers manage animals using their own experience (Westernand Finch 2004; Mapekula et al. 2010). In South Africa,different pastures are described in terms of sweet, mixed andsourveld (Nqeno 2008). Sweetveld remains palatable andwholesome even when mature, whereas sourveld providespalatable material only during the growing season (late springand summer) (Hardy 1999). Information on the influence ofdifferent communal ecosystems on sheep production is scarce.

The growth performance of sheep and the quantity of woolproduced per sheep in the communal farming areas of theEastern Cape are low (Maphosa and Masika 2012), resultingin low returns from both meat and wool production. This isreflected by the low average price per kilogram of woolproduced by the communal farmers. Stated that the aver-age fleece weight of communal wool sheep in EasternCape ranges from 2–3 kg compared to the range of 3–5 kg per sheep in the commercial production. Wool iseconomically important in improving farmers’ incomes (DeBeer 2011), but this improvement has not occurred in theEastern Cape; hence, it becomes imperative to investigate thisgap and evaluate the potential for livestock improvement inthis Province.

A study by Marais (2007) showed that sheep grazing oncommunal rangelands has lower growth performance andfleece weight than sheep grazing on commercial rangelands.Mciteka (2005) also found that sheep that are kept on moun-tains perform better in growth and fleece weight than sheepthat graze communally. However, Marais (2005) further statedthat by introducing commercial rams to communal ewes ofEastern Cape, a significant improvement in growth is possibleand that the ram-breeding project of the National WoolGrowers Association (NWGA) could be of great use in termsof wool quantity and quality and slaughter weight. The objec-tive of the study was therefore to determine the live weight,body condition scores and fleece weight of communal sheepthat were managed differently under sweet and sourveld com-munal rangelands of the Eastern Cape Province.

Materials and methods

Site description

The study was conducted in four different communal areas ofthe Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The selectedcommunities were Roxeni, Tyabane, Luzi I and Luzi II.

Roxeni is a community in the Alice district and is situated at32° 46' 0" S, 26° 45' 0" E with an elevation of 563 m abovesea level. According to records from the Fort Hare ResearchFarm (2001), rainfall was 386 mm per year mainly occurringduring summer. The average daily temperatures range from19 °C in June to 27.6 °C in February.

Roxeni is a sweetveld-type pasture that remains palatableand nutritious throughout the year (South African NationalBiodiversity Institute 2009; Botsime 2006). The most domi-nant grass species include Panicum maximum, Themedatriandra, Digitaria eriantha, Aristida congesta and Cynodondactylon. The dominant bush species is Acacia karroo, Oleaafricana and Ptaeroxylon obliquum in the valleys and plains(Rutherford et al. 2003).

Luzi I and II are communities in the Mount Fletcher district,situated at 30° 46' 0" S, 28° 29' 0" E with an elevation of1,556 m. The average rainfall per annum is 635 mm with mostrainfall occurringmainly duringmidsummer. The average dailytemperatures range from 16 °C in June to 25.5 °C in January.These communities are both on sourveld areas. The dominantgrass species are Sporobolus africanus, Tristachya leucothrix,T. triandra, Podocarpus latifolius, Canthium ciliatum,Leucosidea sericea and the dominant bush species are the Aloeferox, Crassula species and Acacia Mearnsii (Tainton 2000).

Tyabane is a community in Nqamakwe district, situated at32° 4' 60" N, 27° 49' 0" E with an elevation of 744 m. Theaverage daily temperatures range from 7 °C in July to 25.2 °Cin February. The average rainfall per annum is 321 mm, withmost rainfall occurring mainly during midsummer, and it issituated on sweetveld. The dominant grass species includeD. eriantha, C. dactylon, A. congesta and T. triandra. Thedominant bush species include A. karroo, O. africana andP. obliquum (Rutherford et al. 2003).

Livestock

A total of 80 ewes were used in the study, randomly selectedfrom the community flocks and identified using ear tags.Twenty crossbred ewes (from non-descript ewes and purebredMerino rams) were selected in each community in Roxeni,Luzi I and Luzi II and twenty non-descript ewes were selectedin four different flocks of Tyabane village. Only 2- and 3-year-old ewes were used.

Sheep management

The sheep at Roxeni, Luzi I and Tyabane were kraaled at nightand grazed on rangelands during the day with water availablead libitum. They were kept under extensive farming systems,and natural flock mating was practised with rams running withthe ewes throughout the year. The sheep were shorn annuallyin October in shearing sheds. However, in Luzi II, sheep werekept and grazed on the mountains throughout the day and

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sheltered overnight in yards constructed as temporary shelters(amagxamesi). They only come to the village during shearingseason in October. The shepherds also stayed on the moun-tains with the sheep and had their shelters pitched up there.Roxeni and the two Luzi communities participated in theNWGA breeding scheme. In this scheme, home-grown ramswere exchanged with purebred Merino rams annually duringsummer in order to promote autumn mating. Tyabane sheep,which were shorn in November, were not part of the NWGAbreeding scheme.

Data collection

The sheep were measured for post shearing live weight (LW),body condition scores (BCS) and greasy fleece weight duringthe October shearing season in the four communities. Fleeceweight was recorded immediately after shearing using a LibraMeasuring Instrument (LMI) scale. BCS was recorded imme-diately after shearing using a 1 to 5 scale (Lifetime 2011).

Statistical analysis

The data was analysed using the analysis of variance(ANOVA) to determine effect of community, veld type andage on live weight (LW), body condition score (BCS) andfleece weight (FW). The general linear model of SAS (2003)was used to analyse the effect of community, age and veldtype and their interactions on live weight, body conditionscore and fleece weight. Comparisons of the least squaremeans were performed using the PDIFF procedure of SAS(2003). The following generalized linear model was used:

Yijklm ¼ μþ Vi þ Cj þ Ak þ VAl þ Eijklm

Where:

Yijklm Live weight, fleece weight or body condition scoreμ Constant mean common to all observationsVi Effect of rangeland (sweetveld or sourveld)Cj Effect of community (Roxeni, Tyabane, Luzi I or

Luzi II)Ak Effect of age (2 years or 3 years)VAl Interaction of rangeland and ageE Random error

Results

Effects of community on sheep live weights, body conditionscores and fleece weight

Roxeni had the highest sheep live weights (39.9±1.1 kg),followed by the Luzi communities (35.9±1.10 kg), with sheep

from Tyabane having the lowest (29.8±1.10 kg). There weresignificant differences (P<0.05) in body condition scoresbetween sheep of Tyabane (2.2±1.10) and the three othercommunities (Roxeni (3.1±1.10) and Luzi (3.5±1.10)). Boththe Luzi communities had high BCS (3.5±1.10), followed byRoxeni (3.1±1.10); Tyabane had the lowest (2.2±1.10). Therewere significant differences (P<0.05) in sheep fleece weightbetween the communities as shown in Table 1.

Effect of age on live weight, body condition score and fleeceweight of sheep

There were significant differences (P<0.05) in BCS betweenthe 2- and 3-year-old ewes. The 3-year-old ewes had higherbody condition scores (3.3±0.11) than the 2-year-old ewes(2.8±0.10). Age and sourveld had a significant (P<0.05)effect on body condition scores and fleece weight. The 3-year-old ewes had higher body condition scores (4.3±0.35)than the 2-year-old ewes (3.3±0.35) and produced higherfleece weight (2.9±0.33 kg) than the 2-year-old ewes (1.9±0.33 kg), also Table 2.

Effect of veld type on sheep live weights, body conditionscores and fleece weight

The live weight of ewes in the sweetveld (39.6±1.21 kg) wassignificantly higher (P<0.05) than that of ewes in the sourveld(36.0±1.21 kg). The body condition scores of ewes raised insourveld was also significantly different (P<0.05) from thoseof ewes raised on sweetveld, with sourveld-raised ewes hav-ing higher body condition scores (3.5±0.20) than those raisedon the sweetveld (3.0±0.20). The fleece weight of ewes raisedon sweetveld (2.9±0.11 kg) was higher (P<0.05) than thefleece weight of sourveld-raised ewes (2.1±0.11 kg), as can beseen in Table 3.

Discussion

Sheep from Roxeni community were the most productivesheep in this study, and this could be ascribed to feed avail-ability and farmer resource ownership. This area is asweetveld and in this veld-type grasses remain palatable andretain a relatively high-nutritive level throughout the winter(Hardy 1999; Palmer 2003; Palmer and Ainslie 2006;Mapekula 2009). Therefore, lower stocking rates must beapplied in this veld type. The heavy weights could be attrib-uted to a combination of sweetveld condition, lower stockingrate, as well as management, where improved breeds of Me-rino ramswere used to upgrade the local stock (Zhongwu et al.2014).

Unlike in Roxeni, Tyabane, which is also on a sweetveld,had the lowest sheep live weight. This could be attributed to

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using non-selected rams from within the flock that has led topoor live weight and wool production (Marais 2007).Upgrading the non-descript communal breeds with pure bredMerino ram contributes significantly towards the improve-ment of sheep performance (van Wyk et al. 2009; Selvaggiet al. 2010), which eventually improves the quality and quan-tity of wool produced (Olivier 2007; Tanya and Johan 2011).This programme commenced in 2002 and has shown a sig-nificant upgrading of communal sheep performance, woolquality and quantity, as well as the alleviation of starvationof farmers (King 2005).

The observation that ewes from Luzi I and Luzi II had highbody condition scores could be ascribed to high precipitationat the end of the cool-dry season every year, which results inabundant feed in summer (South African NationalBiodiversity Institute 2009). The high rainfall guarantees thepresence of feed in the hot-dry season. This is in agreementwith findings reported by Mapiliyao (2010) whereby, duringthe hot-wet season, body condition scores were almost thesame across the two villages of sweetveld and sourveld. Theobservation that Tyabane had the lowest body condition score

might be due to drought and high sheep numbers in thisvillage.

High fleece weight produced by sheep from Roxeni mightbe due to favourable rainfall which increases feed availability.Fleece weight is influenced by feed on offer (Lifetime 2011).The live weight, body condition scores and fleece weightdifferences between the 2- and 3-year-old ewes could beattributed to environmental adaptation of the ewes. Matureewes had on average a higher live weight and body conditionscores than younger ewes. The higher the live weight andcondition scores, the higher the fleece produced. The ageeffect of sheep on their live weight and fleece weight couldbe ascribed to the uniform availability of high-nutritive feed inthese areas throughout the year. Properly fed lambs havehigher daily weight gain, because they use feed more effi-ciently at this stage of growth (Hamito 2010;Mapekula 2013).

The difference observed on BCS of sheep kept undersourveld conditions was associated with the high-quality veg-etation during the hot-wet seasons. The sourveld provides goodspring grazing, but is far less satisfactory than sweetveld in theautumn (King 2013). The crude protein content of sourveld isat its highest in spring and declines during late summerreaching low point in nutritional value before the onset ofspring growth (Lyle 1991; Nowak, and Poindron 2006).

Conclusion

There is scarcity of information on livestock production incommunity systems, which this manuscript is addressing withproduction measurements within two ecosystems. There isalso a lack of documentation of the impact of ram-breedingschemes compared to traditional breeding systems in mostsheep-producing countries. The study revealed that sheepreared on a sweetveld had higher live weight and fleeceweight than sheep reared on the sourveld; however, sheep onsourveld had higher body condition scores. It was also foundthat in communities where ram-breeding schemes comparedto traditional breeding systems, sheep had higher live weights,body condition scores and fleece weight. This shows thatimproved breeding management result in an increase on sheepgrowth and wool performance.

Table 1 Least square means (± standard error of means) of sheep liveweights, body condition scores and fleece weights as affected by com-munity at P<0.05

Community Live weight(kg)

Body conditionscore

Fleece weight(kg)

Roxeni 39.9±1.10c 3.1±1.10a 3.1±1.10c

Luzi I 35.9±1.10b 3.5±1.10a 2.0±1.10b

Luzi II 35.9±1.10b 3.5±1.10a 2.0±1.10b

Tyabane 29.8±1.10a 2.2±1.10b 1.0±1.10a

a, b, c Values with different superscripts within a column are significantlydifferent (P<0.05)

Table 2 Least square means (± standard error of means) of sheep liveweights, body condition scores and fleece weights based on age

Age(years)

Live weight(kg)

Body conditionscore

Fleece weight(kg)

General

2 35.0±0.80a 2.8±0.10a 1.9±0.10a

3 35.8±0.81a 3.3±0.11b 2.3±0.10b

Sweetveld

2 39.9±3.32a 2.8±0.41a 3.1±0.35a

3 45.3±3.32a 3.3±0.41a 3.0±0.35a

Sourveld

2 35.8±2.28a 3.3±0.35a 1.9±0.33a

3 39.6±2.28a 4.3±0.35b 2.9±0.33b

a, b Values with different superscripts within a column are significantlydifferent (P<0.05)

Table 3 Least square means (± standard error of means) of growthperformance and fleece weight of sheep in the communal veld-typeEastern Cape

Veld type Live weight (kg) Body condition score Fleece weight (kg)

Sweetveld 39.6±1.21b 3.0±0.20a 2.9±0.11b

Sourveld 36.0±1.21a 3.5±0.20b 2.1±0.11a

a, b Values with different superscripts within a column are significantlydifferent (P<0.05)

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Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank CapeWools SouthAfrica (CWSA) for financial support. We appreciate the technical sup-ports received from (Mr.: Sizwe Soga, Loyiso Ndima andMjelo Gcobani)of the Departmental of Livestock and Pasture Science (University of FortHare) in the process of data gathering. Appreciation also goes to all thecommunal farmers and extension officers participated in the study.

Conflict of interest The authors declare that there is no conflict ofinterest pertaining publication of this manuscript.

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