Big camelids rearing

Abstract

The rearing of big camelids is a margin farming activity, developped by some farmers as diversification. These animals (dromedaries and camels) are adapted to desertic areas, climatic stress, draught and under-nutrition. From this point of view, they have developped physiological mecanisms for this adaptation. Their reproduction performances are low (fecondity rate, viability of the calves), but their production performances (growth, meet and milk production) are not negligeable in spite of the constraints from their original middle. One year study on 65 she-camels belonging to 9 farmers in France has allowed to observe that blood parameters as albumin (36.4 ± 4.7 g/l), total globulin (32.7 ± 5.1 g/l) total protein (69.2 ± 6.1 g/l), urea (30.0 ± 14.8 mg/100 ml), glucose (111 ± 12.2 mg/100 ml), free fat acid (0.15 ± 0.15 mmole/l), GLDH (5.8 ± 10.8UI/l), GGT (10.1 ± 5.8UI/l), GOT (48.1 ± 14.3UI/l), calcium (10.2 ± 6.5 mg/100 ml), magnesium (2.6 ± 0.3 mg/100 ml), copper (65.4 ± 20.2 μg/100 ml), zinc (34.6 ± 7.8 μg/100 ml) and ceruloplasmin (41.4 ± 2.6 UO) are similar to the observed values in desertic areas, but with higher standart-deviation due to the high variability of the feeding systems. The season, the feeding supplementation (particularly mineral) and health status have a significant effect on the metabolic profiles of the she-camels. The winter season and the excess of nitrogen supplementation are risk factors for the stillbirth and mortality of calves which overpass 40 % in our study.