Pratiques d’élevage et indicateurs morphométriques de performance laitière chez les éleveurs de bovins Kouri au Niger

In the Diffa region of Niger, a survey was carried out in 140 farms to analyze the breeding practices and dairy perfor­mance of Kouri cattle. In addition, morphometric traits that were indicators of dairy performance according to the farmers were documented. Most of the herders were sedentary and the majority of herds were medium-sized (36 ± 30 head per farm). For cows with the most recent complete lactations, milk pro­duction per cow was on average 2.7 ± 1.4 liters per day for an average lactation duration of 7.2 ± 2.8 months. For cows considered as the best dairy cows, milk production per cow was 4.2 ± 1.5 liters per day for an average lactation duration of 8.9 ± 2.7 months. Although breeding practices were similar for many aspects in the different ethnic groups, morphomet­ric selection criteria for Kouri dairy cows varied according to the ethnic group. The phenotypic characteristics thus associ­ated with the Kouri breed in the identified ethnic groups were mainly the pelvic length, chest width, teat length, withers height, and tail length. It is important to consider endogenous knowledge of genetic improvement because the morphomet­ric parameters identified in this study as performance indica­tors were not unanimously accepted within the ethnic groups.