Abstract:
The animals slaughtered at the Sokoto City Abattoir in Northwestern Nigeria from 5th
June to 6th
August 2010 were
classified based on body condition s cores (BCS) and other variables . A total of 6215 animals (cattle, sheep, goats
and camels ) were slaughtered with wide disparities in body conditions . Cattle remain the predominant animal
slaughtered (67
.74%) with the leas t predominant animal being camel (5.41%). The majority (80.80%) of the large
ruminant slaughtered were in borderline to optimum (3
-
4) body condition while the majority of small ruminant
(81.73%) primarily fell into the optimum (2
-
3) body
conditions at slaughter. Multivariable ordered logistic
regression analysis revealed that BCS as an estimated outcome is based principally on seasons with the beginning
of rains (June) being the most critical. Since the study was undertaken at the beginning to middle of rainy season, it
is expected that the animals are just recovering from the stress of previous dry seas on and scarcity of feed
resources , this support the result from the analysis . Additional factors may contribute to differences i n BCS of
slaughtered animal s are not evaluated in this study due to limitation of data collection, and future useful data may
be generated by implementing a more comprehensive data recording system for slaughter statistics and research
at the Nigerian abattoirs.
