ABATTOIR SURVEY OF SHEEP AND GOATS IN THE GAMBIA

An abattoir survey of sheep and goats was carried out in The Gambia fo r one year, A total of 1248 goats and 438 sheep, predominantly young f emales, were slaughtered and sampled. Sixty per cent of the females of both species were pregnant. There were no significant differences bet ween the dressing percentages of different breeds and age groups, Sex and stage of pregnancy had a significant influence on carcase yields i n both species, In goats the highest carcase yields were obtained duri ng the early dry season, Most of the animals were clinically healthy a nd there were few pathological findings postmortem, In both species, t here was a seasonal fluctuation of packed cell volume (pcv), with a mi nimum during the rains, and although the prevalence of trypanosomiasis was low it reduced the pcv, Faecal egg counts of Trichostrongylidae w ere highest during the rainy season and goats had higher faecal egg an d coccidial oocyst counts than sheep. In sheep, a breed difference was observed for pcv and an age difference for egg excretion, The peak or higher rates of egg excretion occurred during the rains in both speci es, The immune status against peste des petits ruminants was significa ntly lower in goats (39 per cent) than in sheep (49.5 per cent). Antib odies against bluetongue virus were found in 62.6 per cent of goats an d 55.8 per cent of sheep.