Comparative growth performance of camel calves kept under station and farmer's conditions

A six-month study was undertaken on 14 camel calves aged 7 days to observe their growth performance. Five calves belonged to the Barani Production Research Institute (BLPRI), Pakistan, while the farmers living near BLPRI owned the rest. The monthly growth rate of Institute calves was determined by actual weighing and estimated by a standard formula based on body measurements. On the farmers’ premises, the growth rate of calves was estimated by using the formula method only. Institute calves on average attained a net weight gain of 135.45 ± 6.35 kg, while farmers’ calves gained 149.20 ± 3.06 kg. In general, the daily growth rate of camel calves was 0.79 kg. Most probably, the somewhat better gain by farmers’ calves could be due to personal attention given to them by their owners. The present study findings are indicative of the great potential camel calves represent, which can be further exploited under optimum feeding and management conditions to alleviate animal protein deficiency prevailing in overpopulated and underdeveloped countries like Pakistan