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How much, how often and in which form should salt (NaCl) be given to a camel?

  • November 2018
  • Conference: The 5th Conference of the International Society of Camelid Research and Development. Laâyoune, Morocco: 12th-15th November 2018
  • At: Laâyoune, Morocco
Authors:
Maurizio Dioli at Freelance
Maurizio Dioli
  • Freelance
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Abstract

It is well known by all ethnic groups raising camels worldwide that Old World camels (Camelus dromedarius, Camelus bactrianus) require very large amount of salt: Sodium Chloride (NaCl), in their diet. Pastoralists the world over address such need by supplementing their camels' diet with exogenous mineral salt and by regularly driving their herds to graze among halophytes (salty) pastures. According to camel pastoralists salt is reputed to have beneficial effect on the general well being well-being and fertility of camels and particularly their skin condition. The high salt content in the diet of free ranging camels is also responsible for the typical salty taste of camel milk of free ranging camel. The peculiar salty taste of camel milk is absent in virtually all the commercially available camel milk brands offered for sale suggesting that salt supplementation is incorrectly addressed by modern day camel husbandry practices. Scientific literature explanations for the camel high requirement of salt in his diet suggest that this is mainly due to the camel peculiar physiological set up as a specialized desert ruminant (although taxonomically speaking camels do not belong to the Ruminantia suborder) capable to withstand substantial dehydration periods without adverse effects. However, this academic information has not translated in clear practical indications for modern camel breeders on the amount, frequency and preferred physical form of salt that should be given to camels. This presentation will address such issue and will put forward practical information for modern day camel breeders on the subject of camel salt supplementation that has been obtained during decades of field work among nomadic camel pastoralists and by critical review of the available literature.
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How much, how often and in which form should
salt (NaCl) be given to a camel?
Maurizio Dioli
camel4ever@fastemail.us
The 5th Conference of
the International
Society of Camelid
Research and
Development
ISOCARD 2018
Palais des Congrès, Laâyoune, Morocco
12th-15th November 2018
How much, how often and in which form should salt (NaCl) be given to a camel?
Dioli independent camel specialist
, M., DVM, MSc, DVetMed, MRCVS
Email: camel4ever@fastemail.us
INTRODUCTION
It is practically known that Old World camels (Camelus dromedarius, Camelus bactrianus) require
very large amount of salt: Sodium Chloride (NaCl), in their diet. Pastoralists address such need by
regularly driving their herds to graze among halophytes (salty) pastures, however they also frequently
supplement their camels' diet with exogenous mineral salt. The salt is provided to camels in various
physical forms, camel pastoralists commonly give it as loose granular salt or dissolved in drinking
water or more rarely, particularly in modern camel farms, in the form of salt blocks of various sizes.
The quantity of salt provided varies greatly from few grams daily to ad libitum amount.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The observations presented in this paper have been obtained by directly witnessing the practice of salt
supplementation in all camel rearing countries of East Africa, Algeria, and Middle East and in several
large modern camel rearing farms in KSA, UAE, Holland, Spain, UK. These field observations have
been integrated with consultation of available literature on the subject.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Old world camels (C. dromedarius, C. bactrianus) are not simply tolerant to salt ingestion but they
are positively craving this substance actively eating it in any form and even drinking sea water on
their own free will when salt supplementation is not available (SLIDE 1 : bactrian camel drinking
sea water on his own free will, Norway). According to camel pastoralists salt is reputed to have
beneficial effect on the general well being and fertility of camels and on their skin condition and for
these reasons camel herds are periodically driven to graze pastures of salty plants: saltbush or
halophytes (Gauthier-Pilters & Dagg 1981, Mandaville 2004). Scientific literature has demonstrated
the critical importance for the livestock health of a sufficient intake of salt particularly in hot arid
regions where forages are low in Na and body water losses are common (McDowell 1985). The camel
very high requirement of salt in his diet is probably related to these facts and by the camel
physiological copying mechanisms of a specialised desert herbivore required to withstand hot
temperatures and water deprivation (Etzion & Yagil 1986, Shamat et al 2009, Babiker et al 2014).
However, such academic information has not translated in clear practical indications for modern
camel breeders on the amount, frequency and the preferred physical form of salt that should be given
to camels. Amount suggested in old literature mentioned a daily individual salt supplementation
varying from 30-50 g (Rathore 1986) to 42-56 g (Leese 1927) or alternatively 127-170 g every 3 days
(Leese 1927). However, some authors deemed these daily quantities insufficient and recommend a
much higher individual daily quantity of salt: 141 g. (Peck 1938, 1939). In fact Peck (1938)
mentioned that "45 camels, although free grazing on salt bush Salvadora indica (note: now
reclassified as Salvadora persica), voluntarily consumed over 31 kg of salt in 6 days when offered salt
freely". This quantity was equivalent to 116 g/day per camel and prompted Peck (1939) to recommend
that even free grazing camels on salt bush pasture should be given 141 g/day per camel of salt. The
same author commented that such amount prevented pathologies such as contagious skin necrosis and
lameness. Such high values of daily salt supplementation have also been confirmed by other studies
(Leitch 1940). Salt is occasionally given as salt-blocks however, since camels are not capable of
licking like cattle and small ruminants, such format is not ideal (SLIDE 2 : top l eft: dromedaries
using their prehensile lips to try to ingest salt from a salt block, Holland, bottom r ight: typical
"lips alopecia" in a dromedary caused by prolonged use of the lips to try to eat salt from salt
blocks, UAE). Camels with access to salt-blocks are not able to ingest adequate quantities of salt
furthermore by chewing on the salt-blocks they may cause premature teeth wear. Surprising this
approach of salt supplementation to camels is extremely common in many, if not all "modern", camel
farms the author has visited (SLIDE 3: salt blocks used in various modern camel farms: from top
2
left cl ockwise: UAE, Holland, Spain, UAE, SLIDE 4: top left camels chewing on salt rocks,
Algeria, bottom r ight: salt blocks in a camel farm, UAE). This is probably the reason why the
typical salty taste of camel milk is absent in all the commercially available camel milk brands tested
by the author. During decades of work among nomadic camel pastoralists (Dioli 2013, Schwartz &
Dioli 1992) the author has personally witnessed that the routine methods pastoralist use to supplement
salt to their camels is by providing salt in a granular format, added separately in a trough or mixed
with fodder (SLIDE 5: top left: camels using their prehensile lips to grasp and eat granular salt in
a trough, Kenya and UAE), or diluting a quantity of salt in drinking water (SLIDE 6: top left: loose
common salt used for camels bottom r ight: the salt is added to the water provided to camels,
Sudan). On the strength of this evidence the author recommend that modern camel farms should
adopt the same approach and provide salt in a granular format and in "ad libitum" amount.
REFERENCES
Babiker IA, Shamat AM, Mukhtar AMS, Ahmed FA (2014) The effect of feeding natron (ATRON) as
a mineral and buffering agent on the general health and production of camels (Camelus
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Humped Camel, 2nd Edition, http://www.ivis.org/newsletter/archives/sep13/sep0213dioli.htm.
Etzion Z, Yagil R (1986) Renal Function in Camels (Camelus dromedarius) following Rapid
Rehydration. Physiological Zoology, 59 (5) : 558-562.
Gauthier-Pilters H and Dagg AI (1981) The Camel: Its Evolution, Ecology, Behavior, and
Relationship to Man. University of Chicago Press.
Leese AS (1927) A treatise on the one-humped camel in health and in disease. Stamford,
Lincolnshire: Haynes & Son, UK.
Leitch I (1940) The feeding of camels. Technical Communication No. 13. Aberdeen: Imperial
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Mandaville JP (2004) Bedouin ethnobotany: Plant concepts and plant use in a desert pastoral
world. PhD Thesis, U. of Arizona, USA, https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/290142
McDowell LR (1985). Common Salt (Sodium and Chlorine), Magnesium, and Potassium. In:
McDowel LR (ed), Nutrition of grazing ruminants in warm climates. Academic Press,
Orlando, Florida, pp. 213-234.
Peck EF (1938) The relationship of salt starvation to contagious necrosis and lameness in camels. The
Vet. Rec. 14 (50): 409-410.
Peck EF (1939) Salt intake in relation to cutaneous necrosis and arthritis of one-humped camels
(Camelus dromedarius) in British Somaliland. Vet Rec. 51:1355–1360.
Rathore GS (1986) Camels and their Management. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New
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Schwartz HJ and Dioli M (1992) The one-humped camel in Eastern Africa. A Pictorial guide to
diseases, health care and management. Margraf Scientific Book, Berlin, Germany.
Shamat AM, Babiker IA, Mukhtar AMS, Ahmed FA (2009) Seasonal and Regional Variations in
Mineral Content of Some ImportantPlants Species Selected by Camels (Camelus
dromedaries) in Arid and Semi-arid Lands (ASAL) of Sudan, J. Applied Sciences Research,
5(10): 1676-1684.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author is grateful to the many camel nomads in Horn of Africa and Arabian Peninsula who shared
their wisdom and experience.
© M. Dioli 2016
Slide 1
© M. Dioli 2018
courtesy A.Tinson 2018
Slide 2
© M. Dioli 2017
© M. Dioli 2017
© M. Dioli 2018
from 3June 2018 on YouTube
Slide 3
© M. Dioli 2018
Dioli, M. (2013). Pictorial Guide to Traditional Management, Husbandry and
Diseases of the One-Humped Camel, 2nd Ed. Open Access:
http://www.ivis.org/newsletter/archives/sep13/sep0213dioli.htm.
© M. Dioli 2013
Slide 4
© M. Dioli 2018
© M. Dioli 2018
Dioli, M. (2013). Pictorial Guide to Traditional Management, Husbandry and
Diseases of the One-Humped Camel, 2nd Ed. Open Access:
http://www.ivis.org/newsletter/archives/sep13/sep0213dioli.htm.
© M. Dioli 2013
Slide 5
Dioli, M. (2013). Pictorial Guide to Traditional Management, Husbandry
and Diseases of the One-Humped Camel, 2nd Ed. Open Access:
http://www.ivis.org/newsletter/archives/sep13/sep0213dioli.htm.
© M. Dioli 2013
© M. Dioli 2013
Slide 6
... Fibre digestion correlates with the available protein (Kamalu et al. 2010). Camels also need ad libitum salt supplementation or to graze pastures of salty plants (Dioli 2018b;NET 4). Salt has positive effects on dry matter intake (Johansson 2008) and provides solid digested fibre and energy for milk production. ...
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