Growth Assessment in Camel (Camelus dromedarius): A Meta-Analysis Study

In domestic animals, the body weight is the ultimate result of growth which forms the basis of meat production. Sex, nutrition, breed and health are the main factors which influence the growth rate in animals. Heredity which is the major factor affecting the prenatal growth either directly through the genotype of the fetus or indirectly through the genotype of the dam. The prenatal growth patterns and development of the camel fetus is just like the fetus of cattle, however, the meat output from the breeding shecamels is limited often due to longer gestation periods, longer milk feeding periods, lower calving rates under traditional management system. A lot of variation regarding camelid daily growth rate exists that varies widely between breeds, within breeds and regions. There is a significant effect of pre-weaning and post-weaning growth rates on the final body weights in camelids. Management system, the available milk quantity, husbandry practices and vegetative conditions are the main factors that affect the pre and post weaning growth rates of camel calves. However, it is partially dependent on the availability of browsing species throughout the whole year. In this specific study, an effort has been drawn to look into the literature data for camel growth assessment.