Estimating the cost of young stock mortality in livestock systems-An application to sheep farming in Ethiopia.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

In sub-Saharan Africa, pre-weaning young stock mortality (YSM) is in the order of 20 to 30% across most livestock species and production systems. High YSM has significant economic implications for livestock keepers, but few studies provide estimates of the "cost of YSM." This study explores a bio-economic herd modeling approach to estimate the "cost of YSM" at farming/livestock system level.

Methods

The static zero-growth version of DYNMOD was used to calculate the annual physical and monetary output of a sheep flock consisting of 100 breeding females at different levels of lamb mortality. Production parameter values and prices were taken from recently published research. Calculations were carried out for values of lamb mortality decreasing from 30% to 0% in 5%

SUBMITTER: Otte J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11303338 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature