Keeping male animals for breeding

Many farmers are reluctant to keep male animals (bulls, he-goats, rams or cockerels), as they are costly and difficult to keep, and do not produce milk or offspring. The farmers prefer to sell or slaughter the male animals, and keep only the females. But this may make it difficult to find a male for breeding. The few males that are in the village mate with all the females, causing problems of inbreeding.

Governments often keep male animals of improved breeds at breeding stations, and use the semen to provide artificial insemination services. But there are few such stations, and the nearest may be a long way away. By the time the farmer is able to call an inseminator, the female animal may be no longer on heat.

Groups of farmers can overcome this problem in various ways. The group may decide to buy an animal and give it to one of the group members to look after. Or an individual farmer can own the male, and lend it to other farmers for a fee.

The approaches described in this section are useful where there are few male animals, or where it is difficult to access the services of a breeding station. They can also be used to improve the quality of the local breed of livestock by crossbreeding the females with a male of an improved breed. The description below is for cattle, but the approach can be used with all types of livestock, as shown by the examples later in this section.

Procedure

1. The farmers' group buys a bull (possibly one of an improved breed).

2. One of the group members feeds the bull and looks after it.

3. When a cow comes on heat, its owner brings it to the bull for breeding.

4. The cow-owner pays the bull-keeper for the service in cash or in the form of feed.

5. Every 2 years, the group sells the bull and buys another one. This is to prevent inbreeding.

Issues

Issues and problems encountered in this type of approach include:

Should the male be a local or an improved breed? Local breeds may be more resistant to diseases, but improved breeds often produce more meat and milk.
Who should own the male? Alternatives include ownership by the group (with some payment to the person keeping the animal), or ownership by an individual (who charges others for the breeding services of the male).
Who should keep the male? Keeping a male animal involves quite a lot of work and responsibility: providing feed and water (more for a male than a female), keeping the animal healthy, and dealing with the females which come to be bred.
How is the male animal to be fed? Some communities bring feed for the male, or set aside community land to grow fodder grass.
How is payment for the male's service made? Payments can be made in cash or in kind (in the form of fodder, feed supplements, milk, or another animal).
When should payment be made? Alternatives include on service (each time a female is served), on result (when the female successfully gives birth), or continuous (eg, villagers take turns in bringing feed to the male).
What is the level of payment? How much should the keeper get for caring for the male animal? In general, the benefits (in terms of cash, in-kind payments or prestige) should be high enough to be attractive for the keeper, but low enough for the group to want to contribute.
Are the animals healthy? The group should make sure that both the male and the females are healthy, to avoid spreading diseases and pests.

There are many different ways of resolving these issues. The examples below illustrate some of these.

Dairy goats in Ethiopia

As part of its work to promote dairy goats with women in Ethiopia (see the section on Community-based veterinary services), FARM Africa established 15 community goat-breeding stations in the highlands of eastern and southern Ethiopia. At each station, a village woman keeps an exotic-breed he-goat for mating with the female animals belonging to group members. The group decided who should look after the he-goat and how to pay for the breeding service. Payments included providing feed for the male, paying when they bring a female for mating, or working on the keeper's farm.

This arrangement began to have problems: some farmers failed to bring feed for the he-goat, as they scarcely had enough for their own animals. They also

said they were too busy to work on the keeper's farm. The keepers started to complain about their extra work and the lack of reward from looking after the he-goat. At this stage, FARM Africa decided to pay the keepers birr 10 (US$ 1.30) for every crossbred kid born. It said it would make such payments for no more than 2 years—the time it would take for the crossbred kids to grow and start to produce milk.

After seeing the quality of the offspring, women's groups in Eastern Harange decided to buy their own exotic he-goats for birr 1200 (US$ 170) each. They pay birr 5 for every successful kid sired by the male. Moreover, the keeper receives 25% of the price of the male when it is sold.

Not all the breeding stations have been successful. In Konso and Wolaita in southern Ethiopia, the project ended before farmers were convinced of the benefits of improving their goats breeds in this way. —For more information contact Kettema Yilma, FARM Africa-Ethiopia.

Breeding-bulls in Zimbabwe

Villagers in Mujimba, Zvishavane district, Zimbabwe, lacked a good-quality bull. They asked Lutheran World Federation for help, and were given a bull of an improved breed. They agreed that the village councillor would keep the bull and would graze it on common land along with other farmers' cows. If a cow belonging to a farmer living far away comes into heat, its owner borrows the bull and takes care of it while it is on his or her farm. After the service, the bull is returned to the councillor's house.

The bull has improved the quality of the animals in the village. The group now plans to plant improved fodder crops such as Napier grass and Kikuyu grass on community land. —For more information contact Zephaniah Phiri, Zvishavane Water Project, Zimbabwe.

Cockerels in Kenya

The Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture has given groups of women in Naitiri each a cockerel of an improved breed. The women chose one of the group members to keep the cock. Each of the members has about five hens; she can borrow the cock from the manager for about a week. In return, she has to give the manager a 2-month-old chick. The manager can then do what she wants with this bird: sell it, slaughter it, or add it to her flock.

This scheme works well, though there have been problems. There is a danger that the cock contracts diseases, and moving the cock around may stress it. Local cocks are also still being used, diluting the effect of the improved cock on the quality of the local poultry. —For more information contact Eric Kisiangani, ITDG Kenya.

Bulls in Kenya

A group of farmers in Taita, Kenya, received a bull from the government. One member of the group keeps the bull, and the other members bring their cows to it for service.

They must spray the cow against ticks before bringing it to the bull; to make sure, the bull-keeper sprays it again before the service.

Each time a cow is served, the cow owner must pay the keeper KSh 100 (about US$2) and bring a load of Napier grass as feed. Out of the payment of KSh 100, the bull-keeper can pocket KSh 90, but must set aside KSh 10 for maintaining the bull and for medicine and other supplies. Every 2 years, the group sells the bull and buys another one to avoid inbreeding. —For more information contact Ruth Masha, HPI-Kenya.

Payment with milk in Kenya

A farmers' group in Matunda, Kitale, Kenya, pays the bull-keeper in the form of a dairy cow. The keeper can keep 2 litres of milk each day in payment for looking after the bull. The rest of the milk is sold, and the money goes into the group's fund. —For more information, contact Dorcas Nekesa Wangila, Kenya.

Avoiding inbreeding in goats in Kenya

A farmers' group in Mangu, Kenya, avoids the problem of inbreeding by keeping two male goats. A farmer is not allowed to bring a female goat to mate with its own sire. Farmers pay KSh 30-50 (US$ 0.50-0.83) per service, but if a female does not become pregnant, it can be mated again without payment. The group also buys feed concentrates to feed the males. —For more information, contact Peter Njenga Ndung'i, Kenya.

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