Forage for camels

Camels are animals adapted to difficult conditions. They can endure undernourishment. Camels and dromedaries digest forage better than sheep and other domestic ruminants. Their abilities are said to be close to those of cattle, both because of a very efficient recycling of nitrogen and minerals (Engelhardt et al, 1986) and a longer residence time of food in the digestive tract ( Kayouli et al, 1993). *

Açoine (1985), cited by Chriqui (1988) estimates that the maintenance requirements for a dromedary of 450 kg, would be of the order of 10 FU per day.

The dromedary consumes a wide variety of species, both botanically (grasses and leguminous plants, trees and herbaceous plants, etc.) and chemical composition (Faye et al., 1988). These same authors have shown that the most popular species are quite rich in nitrogen and energy.

Açoine (1985), cited by Chriqui (1988) estimates that the maintenance requirements for a dromedary of 450 kg, would be of the order of 10 FU per day.

It does not tolerate excess food very well. The food ration of a dromedary or a camel is not the same depending on whether it is intended for fattening, milk production or work. 4 to 5 kg of fodder per day is sufficient.

Food adapted to the performance of the racing camel:

Very popular in Saudi Arabia, Qatar United Arab Emirates, Oman, Pakistan, Jordan and India, professional camel racing is recognized just like racing horse racing. The Méhari breed dromedary, larger and thinner than the pack dromedary, is the most suitable for horse racing.

The food ration of the racing camel must be balanced in energy, protein and minerals and vitamins to meet its specific needs: the maintenance of good musculature with a fine and solid skeleton, the renewal of muscle fibers.

A ration of fodder rich in energy, carbohydrates and lipids allows more performance in fast running events of short duration: first cut of Crau hay, first cut of Timothy hay or first cut of Longchamp® hay. Richer in lipids for endurance racing events to provide energy for more sustained efforts: second cut of Crau hay, second cut of Longchamp® hay. With high quality proteins, minerals and vitamins for events combining endurance and speed: second cut of Crau hay, because it is very balanced in nutritional and mineral values. The racing dromedary needs quality proteins, rich in particular in sulfur elements (methionine in particular). But not in large quantities as with milk production. On the contrary, an excess of protein in the ration is not recommended.

Fodder diet adapted to camel milk production.

A ration of fodder rich in proteins makes it possible to increase the milk performance of camels, while maintaining their good condition: Alfalfa (0.65 FU to 0.70 FU) or a second cut of Crau hay (0.64 FU to 0.75 FU). In sufficient quantity.

* Jp Dulphy, Jp Jouany, W Martin-Rosset, M Th erai. Comparative abilities of different species of domestic herbivores to ingest and digest forages distributed at the trough. Annales de zootechnie, INRA / EDP Sciences, 1994, 43 (1), pp. 11-32.