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The presence of parasites on the farm can be a cause of losses in animal production, and often a threat to public health. A cross-sectional study was carried out in rural areas of the western highlands of Cameroon to determine the prevalence and husbandry-related risk factors associated with Cordylobia anthropophaga infestations in domestic cavies. The overall prevalence of myiasis in animals was 2·80% [95% confidence interval (CI) 1·50-5·10]; myiasis was found in 2% and 4·30% animals in Menoua and Bamboutos divisions, respectively. Eleven farms (8·95%) in total were infested with C. anthropophaga, with 6·41% and 13·34% of farms in the Menoua and Bamboutos divisions, respectively. The relative risk of infestation within each factor showed that the risk of myiasis in animals kept in kitchen compartments without litter was 6·16 times higher (95% CI 1·71-22·29, P = 0·04) than in animals kept in kitchens and house floors. Despite the low prevalence, the burden of cordylobiasis needs to be assessed. It is assumed that the risk of humans acquiring the disease is higher in farmers keeping cavies in kitchen compartments without litter. Farmers need to be educated on control measures to reduce the risk of infestation, which include both sanitation and medical (larvae extraction) measures.

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Three hundred and twenty 1-week old ducklings (160 males and 160 females) were used to evaluate the body weight, body parts and carcass characteristics of the African Muscovy duck. Sexual dimorphism was in favour of the male for all the parameters throughout the experimental period, however the difference was significant (P<0.05) only after week 2. The 12-week old male weighed 1832.0+/-180.4 g while the female reached only 68.2% of the male weight. Metatarsus diameter, thoracic perimeter, body length, length of bill, foot and wing in cm were respectively 1.3, 29.5, 57.5, 7.0, 27.1 and 27.8 for the male as compared with 1.2, 25.8, 51.0, 6.3, 23.3 and 26.9 for the female. Body measurements were highly (P<0.01) correlated with body weight for both sexes, however the highest correlation coefficients were obtained with wing length (0.990 and 0.995) and thoracic perimeter (0.993 and 0.973) for female and male respectively. Live body weight had a linear relationship with both wing length (R2=0.991 and 0.81) and thoracic perimeter (R2=0.948 and 0.986) for male and female respectively. The female duck yielded higher percent ready-to-cook carcass (66.3%), breast (13.6%), liver (2.8%), heart (1.5%) and gizzard (3.8%) as compared to the male (65.0%, 12.0%, 2.5%, 1.1% and 3.4% respectively) although the difference was not significant (P>0.05). The male small intestine (185.1+/-3.4 cm), colon (14.8+/-1.0 cm) and caecum (17.9+/-0.4 cm) were significantly (P<0.05) longer than that of the female (152.2+/-1.8, 10.8+/-0.7 and 14.85+/-0.6 cm respectively).

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The utilization of grain legumes as a protein source for poultry is limited by the presence of antinutritional factors. Various methods have been developed to eliminate them. One hundred and sixty 3-week-old birds of 622 g were used to evaluate the effect of feeding 15% of common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) either soaked (R1), soaked and extruded (R2) or soaked and heated (R3) and a control (R0) in a completely randomized design. The protein content of the common bean decreased with all the treatments, while the other characteristics remained similar. Feed consumption was highest (p < 0.05) for the R0 birds and lowest for the R3; however, there was no significant difference between R1 and R2 in feed consumption. Body weight gain was comparable for R0 and R2 birds and significantly higher than that of R1 and R3 birds. The control and R2 birds recorded the best feed conversion ratio, while the R1 birds had the poorest (p < 0.05) as well as the highest feed cost for 1 kg body weight. However, there was no difference among the three other groups of birds with regard to cost. All the treatment groups were comparable (p > 0.05) for carcass yield and serum creatinine level. However, the R3 birds had the lowest proportions of liver (2.26%) and heart (1.07%) to body weight.

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Results of a 12 month study of traditional guinea-pig production in the western highlands of Cameroon are reported. The mean age of guinea-pigs (Cavia porcellus L.) at first parturition, kidding interval and litter size at birth were 126.30 +/- 10.40 d, 64.8 +/- 1.70 d and 1.63 +/- 0.26 kids respectively. The annual reproductive rate was 9.18 kids/breeding doe while the doe post-partum weight was 530 g. Mean body weights at birth, presumed weaning (21 d) and 15 weeks of age were 78.36 +/- 3.20, 147.51 +/- 8.10 and 418.88 +/- 32 g respectively. Type of birth and sex had a significant effect on body weight at all ages. Birth weight dropped significantly from 83.88 +/- 2.87 g for singles to 81.57 +/- 3.40 g for twins, 74.25 +/- 2.39 g for triplets and 73.75 +/- 4.12 g for quadruplets. These differences were maintained to maturity (15 weeks). Males were generally heavier than females. Mortality rates were relatively high among kids: 24% at birth, 39% at 3 weeks and 40% at 15 weeks. Productivity indices were 0.827 kg of young weaned per doe per year, 1560 g of young weaned per kg of doe per year and 2.52 kg of young weaned per kg metabolic weight (kg 0.75) of female per year.

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Thirty-six weaner Large White piglets were randomly assigned to 3 replicates of 3 treatments to determine the effects of feeding 0, 10 or 20% of cattle manure in partial replacement of ground maize in the diet. The trial lasted 15 weeks. Feed efficiency was not significantly affected. However, pigs fed on the control diet consumed significantly more feed than pigs on the experimental diets containing cattle manure, and although their higher daily weight gain was not statistically significant, at the end of the trial they were significantly heavier (P < 0.05) than those fed the diet containing 20% cattle manure. Carcasses from pigs fed on the diets containing cattle manure were leaner than pigs fed on the control diet.

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