**3. Herd size and productivity of cattle in Nigeria**

### **3.1 Herd size**

Only after several variables have been evaluated can the optimal herd size for an area and a population be estimated [34]. The notion of optimum herd size takes into account the current environmental conditions, the species biological capability (performance), herd management technique, resource utilization, and distribution in general principles [36]. The world's cattle population stands at 1,000,967,000 with the top ten producers being the India, Brazil, China, United States, European Union, Argentina, Australia, Russia, Mexico and Uruguay. The above data are based on the 2021 ranking of countries with the most cattle [37]. The average beef cow herds are 43.5 for United States [38], 69 Canada [39] and 41 for Nigeria [40]. Nigeria with an estimated cattle population of 18,404,661 million [14] and an annual growth rate of 1.5 percent could not feature among the first 17 countries as shown in **Table 1**.

However, the current paper is based on the literature evidence based on the assumptions in Nigeria. Cunnings [41] estimated the size of the Fulani cattle herd to be 100–150, while [42] estimated it to be 80–100. Another study [43] found that the average cattle herd size was 41, and that the majority of herders (46.4 percent) herded 41 to 60 cattle. The pastoralist herd size ranged from 16 to 69 animals per herd, according to a recent survey of pastoralist households in Zaria and surrounds by [34]. In the humid rainforest of Imo State, Nigeria, the majority of Fulani pastoralists (63.60 percent) maintained herd sizes of 41 to 70 heads, according to [43]. With a population of more than 170 million people, Nigeria requires a large number of cattle to meet its demand for cattle and cattle products. As long as more than 80% of the cattle population is in the hands of traditional herders, supply will not be able to meet demand. Cattle importation is thus practiced in order to bridge the deficit. The imported total was 5,142 heads per year in January 1996. In a study conducted by [44], the pastoralist's operational sizes were evaluated to determine the makeup of the herds in terms of the class of cattle—steers, lactating or non-lactating cows,


### **Table 1.**

*Ranking of countries with the most cattle.*

and calves. Small scale pastoralists (SSP), medium scale pastoralists (MSP), and large scale pastoralists (LSP) were the three kinds of pastoralists (LSP). According to the findings, the SSP had an average herd size of roughly 17 cattle, while the MSP and LSP had 32 and 73 cattle, respectively. Furthermore, the LSP had more lactating and non-lactating cows, as well as calves, than the SSP and MSP, whereas the MSP had the most steer in the herd [45]. The herd pattern in Zaria revealed a gender disparity, with more cows than bulls, with cows accounting for 60 to 75 percent of each herd on average. Keeping more cows than bulls is advantageous to pastoralists because a simulation of herd dynamics demonstrates that when female calves outnumber male calves in the kraal, the herd's maximum growth is achieved [36]. The herd size had a 50 percent preponderance of young animals, with females (35 percent) and males (35 percent) as the genders (15 percent). The breeding cows made up 49.1 percent of the herd, while the breeding bulls made up 6%. The number of breeding cows and young females in a herd impacts the profitability of any cattle operation to a large extent [46]. This helps to explain why the Fulani herd has such a high number of breeding cows and young females. Except for selected and retained breeding bulls, the young males, who had previously been plentiful, were sold out before to breeding to supplement the family's revenue. Because the mating ratio is usually 1 bull: 20 cows, keeping a large number of bulls in the herd is uneconomical [47]. The ratio of cows to young animals in the herd was practically equal, according to the data (0.98). The ratio of breeding bulls to young animals was low (0.14), implying that breeding bulls and cows were almost equal (0.15). The ratio of young males to young females was 0.42, indicating that young females outnumber young males [36].

*Assisted Reproductive Technologies as Veritable Tools for Improving Production Efficiencies… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.100066*
