Incidence of foetal wastages of cows slaughtered in Minna abattoir, Niger State, Nigeria.

Abstract

This study was carried out to observe the incidence of foetal wastages of cows slaughtered in Minna abattoir, Niger State, Nigeria. Methodology and Results: Data was collected for a period of 3 months (June – August, 2010). The parameters observed included ; total number of slaughtered cattle, breeds of animals sampled and number of pregnant cows slaughtered, the number of foetuses encountered, the sex and weight of foetuses encountered. The result showed that more female cattle were slaughtered compared to male cattle representing 62% and 38% for females and males respectively. However, more foetuses were wasted than the female foetuses representing 56.7% and 43.3% for males and females respectively. There was a significant (p0.05) difference in the mean weight of both sexes in the month of August. Conclusion and Recommendation: It is recommended that livestock farmers be sensitized on how to detect pregnant cows especially at the early stages of pregnancy and that appropriate legislation be put in place by the state Government inorderto allow for mounting of effective surveillance in the slaughter houses by binspection personnel to minimize these losses.