Prevalence of indigestible substances in the rumen and reticulum of small ruminants slaughtered at Katsina central abattoir, Katsina state, northwestern Nigeria

An abattoir based cross sectional study was conducted on 753 slaughtered small ruminants (406 ovine and 349 caprine) at Katsina Central abattoir, Katsina state, Northwestern Nigeria to determine the prevalence of indigestible substances in the rumen and reticulum of small ruminants. The study animals were selected using simple random sampling technique from the study population. 11.02% (83) were found to be positive for the presence of indigestible substances in the rumen and reticulum of the animals examined. A prevalence of 59.0% and 41.0% of indigestible substances were observed in sheep (406) and goat (347) examined respectively and there was no significant association (p > 0.05) between each of the species examined and the indigestible substances. A prevalence of 12.0%, 28.9%, 39.8% and 19.3% were also observed in < 1 year, 2 years, 3 years and > 3 years of the study population respectively. 86.7% and 13.3% prevalences were recorded in both rumen and reticulum of the examined animals respectively and the occurrence of indigestible substances was significantly different (p < 0.05) in rumen and reticulum. Therefore, adopting intensive system of management in small ruminant production and proper managemental practices will reduce the incidence of ingestion of indigestible substances in sheep and goat within the study area.