This study was carried out to determine the genetic relationships among seven west African goat breeds : Casamance Goat (Kolda, Senegal), Labe Goat (Fouta Djallon, Guinea), three Sahel Goat (Djoloff, Senegal ; Maradi, Niger; Gorgol, Mauritania) red Sokoto Goat (Maradi, Niger) and Guera goat (Atar, Mauritania).The polymorphism of six microsatellites and the α s1 -casein locus was analysed. The six microsatellite loci were polymorphic with a mean number of alleles ranging from 2.71 to 4.0. At the α s1 -casein locus, A and B were the most frequent alleles, which are known to be associated with a high level of protein synthesis. A neighbour-joining tree and a Principal Component Analysis were performed and the reliability of both methods was tested. Our study shows that the genetic relationships among the breeds analysed correspond to their geographical distribution and in addition, that the Labe Goat is strongly separated from the other breeds. Among the seven markers used, four have an effect on the distribution of breeds while three seem to be non-informative.

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Objective: The present study aimed at carrying out the morpho-biometric characterization of indigenous guinea fowl populations.Materials and Methods: Data collection was conducted between March and July 2018 in two agroecological zones in northern Togo.The study was carried out on 738 adult guinea fowl. Each animal was described by direct observation. Body weight and measurements were recorded. Results: The results revealed twelve colours of the plumage with a dominance of Bonaparte (39.0%) and Pearl grey (27.1%) colours and a rarity of Cinnamon pied (0.7%), Isabelle (0.3%) and Coral blue (0.1%) colours. The plumage was mostly smooth (90.5%). The eyes were mostly brown (57.0%) but Albino guinea fowl predominantly had white colour (85.2%) for the eye. Regardless of the phenotype, the helmet was curved (73.2%) and mumps white-bluish colour (85.5%). In Atakora, the beak was brown (81.3%), the wattles were redwhite (49.8%), the shanks were black-red (32.6%) and the toes were red (47.6% ) while in the Dry Savannah the beak was red (52.9%), the wattles were red-bluish (38.4%), the shanks were black-orange (12.3%) and the toes were grey (35.2%). For the beak length, drumstick length, body length and body weight, the Dry Savannah guinea fowl showed significantly (p<0.05) higher values than those of Atakora guinea fowl. Moreover, guinea fowl with Pearl grey phenotype (1.36±0.28 kg) were heavier (p<0.05) than the other phenotypes. Conclusion: Positive relationship could not be established between phenotype and biometric characteristics in this study. Further studies are required using molecular and zootechnical information to establish relationship between different phenotypes.

ackground and Aim: Several factors contribute to the unusual incidence of antibiotic resistance, which is now a primary public health concern. However, failure in managing preventive and therapeutic antibiotic use on farms is one of the most crucial factors. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the biosecurity of farms, farmers' competence, and practices related to antibiotics and their resistance in poultry and pig rearing in Togo. Materials and Methods: Through a cross-sectional survey, 121 commercial poultry farmers and 97 commercial pig farmers were questioned to evaluate the biosecurity of farms and farmers' competence and practices related to antibiotics and antibiotic resistance. Descriptive analyses, including the evaluation of proportions, were carried out. In addition, results from qualitative factors were evaluated in a defined grid and totaled up to assess cleanliness measures, awareness, and behavior regarding antibiotics and their resistance. Results: The results demonstrated that most farmers working on poultry farms had a university education, while most working on pig farms had secondary education. Most poultry (69%) and pig (44%) farms were of small sizes (<1000 animals in poultry and <10 animals in pig farming). The footbaths were used in just 51% of poultry farms and 4% of pig farms, respectively, with 37% and 82% of poultry and pig farms having inadequate levels of hygiene. In poultry farms, respiratory issues and periodic decline in egg-laying were the main problems. Simultaneously, skin disorders (scabies) and plagues (African swine fever) were the primary health constraints in pig farming. Tetracycline is the most commonly used antibiotic by farmers. However, in poultry and pig farms, 21% and 67% of farmers were unaware of antibiotics. In addition, 39% and 57% were unaware of antibiotic resistance. Poultry and pig farmers' competence were substantially linked to their education level. Poultry farmers demonstrated better practices, including procuring antibiotics based on veterinary prescriptions (63%) and they knew where antibiotics should be bought (90%). Nevertheless, 43% of farmers asserted unpleasant activities – no application for laboratory testing (93%) and use of antibiotics for prevention (82%). In pig farming, most farmers (69%) reported inadequate incidents of the use of antibiotics. Conclusion: This study identified a crucial non-compliance with biosecurity measures and good practices toward antibiotic use on many farms. Therefore, training of farmers is mandatory for safe livestock products.

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