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Animal feeding and management strategies in the commercial dairy farms
Abstract
The study revealed a very poor calf and heifers feeding and management scenario in the commercial dairies. The shed management and breeding management was also very poor indicating that the commercial dairy owners use the dairy animals as a milking machine and discard the animals as soon as the milk production reduces. Therefore a lot of attention needs to be paid to the feeding and management pattern in the commercial dairies with special emphasis on the calf and heifer feeding and management.
... In India majority of the ruminants are reared by small, marginal and landless farmers and most of them do not follow general management practices [25] specifically for buffalo calves. Improper management of young stock kept for future stock replacement may cause huge economic losses because of increased calf mortality, increased incidences of disease outbreaks because of low immunity due to poor feeding management, malnutrition, stunted growth and development, poor growth performance, prolonged or delayed maturity and decreased reproductive ability. ...
... It was observed that the feeding of milk through bottle to the calves and reported that the calves become efficient suckers from bottle within 24 hours after birth [25]. ...
... Besides, farmers also do area-specific vaccination schedules against contagious diseases like Anthrax, and hemorrhagic septicemia. Similar findings were also reported by Tiwari et al. (2009) [13] , Thirunavukarasu & Kathiravan, (2010) [12] , and Akila and Sakthivel, (2012) [1] . The majority of farmers (90.66%) regularly doing deworming to control parasitic disorders and improve growth in the young calves and the remaining 9.34 % of farmers not aware of the importance of deworming in dairy farming (Table 1). ...
... Besides, farmers also do area-specific vaccination schedules against contagious diseases like Anthrax, and hemorrhagic septicemia. Similar findings were also reported by Tiwari et al. (2009) [13] , Thirunavukarasu & Kathiravan, (2010) [12] , and Akila and Sakthivel, (2012) [1] . The majority of farmers (90.66%) regularly doing deworming to control parasitic disorders and improve growth in the young calves and the remaining 9.34 % of farmers not aware of the importance of deworming in dairy farming (Table 1). ...
he study was conducted in 23 districts of Tamil Nadu state to find out the general management practices followed by dairy farmers on feeding, breeding, health care, production performance of the dairy animals, and also the constraints involved in dairy farming. The majority of the farmers had a medium herd size of 5- 8 animals with cross-bred Jersey cattle as the choice of dairy animal. The average daily milk yield of crossbred HF, cross-bred Jersey, and the non-descript cow was 11.83, 8.57, and 5.2 liters per day respectively. The average sale price of milk per liter was Rs. 31. 18 and it ranged from Rs. 22 to 50 depending upon the availability of marketing demand. The majority of dairy farmers (64%) fed green fodder 15- 20 kg/day/animal and the remaining farmers fed 20-30 kg per day per cattle. The majority of respondents (41.33%) fed 2.5-3.5 kg of concentrate feed per day followed by 33.33 % of farmers fed 1- 2kg of concentrate feed per day. The majority of the respondents (above 90 %) were aware and regularly following of vaccination and deworming practices. All of the farmers following the artificial insemination method to breed animals. The low cost for milk sale price, low milk yield, and high occurrence of reproductive disorders were the major constraints faced by the dairy farmers. The present study will help the policy developers to propose any modifications or improvements needed for the dairy farming production system in Tamil Nadu for the dairy farming community’s betterment.
... It was further observed that 92% respondents fed their animals only paddy straw as dry fodder and rest fed paddy straw + jowar (10%). Similarly, Tiwari et al. (2009) also found that dry fodder mostly consists of wheat and paddy straw. Majority of farmers fed straw to their animals as by-product available from paddy (Oriza sativa L.) crop. ...
... Similar fi nding was reported by Aulakh et al. (2011). Present fi nding are encouraging than Tiwari et al. (2009) andSheikh et al. (2011) reported that mineral mixture supplement to their milch animals was very low i.e. 14 and 6%, respectively. It might be due to very low level of awareness regarding feeding extra mineral mixture in their survey areas. ...
A survey was conducted during April, 2014 to December, 2015 and data were collected from randomly selected 50 buffalo farm owners through personal interview with the help of pre-tested structured schedule from peri-urban areas of Surat city of Gujarat. The present study revealed that majority of respondents (86%) followed stall feeding system. The 82% respondents did not cultivated green fodder crops and 62 & 90% respondents fed green non-leguminous and shedha grass to their milking buffaloes, respectively. Majority of respondents fed homemade plus compound cattle feed as concentrate to their milking buffaloes, based on milk production, mainly during milking. The 62% respondents fed concentrate to their animals after soaking in water while, 38% respondents fed concentrates as such. Majority of respondents practiced to feed green/dry fodders as such to their buffaloes. Majority of respondents did not fed concentrates to their young calves while, 54% respondents fed concentrates to their heifers. Only 42% respondents provided mineral supplements to their buffaloes. All the respondents detected heat in their animals by observing the symptom of bellowing and mucus discharge (84%) and bred their buffaloes by artificial insemination (52%) between 12–18 hours after heat detection (84%). The 12% respondents bred their buffaloes after 2 to 3 months of calving and 64% respondents followed the pregnancy diagnosis but only 38% did it either from Livestock Inspectors or Artificial Insemination workers during three months of pregnancy. Majority of respondents followed treatment of anoestrous/repeaters in their buffaloes.
... These findings could be due to the easier availability of para-vets in the village. These results concurred with those from Eqbal et al. (2013), Letha et al. (2013), and Tiwari et al. (2009). Additionally, it was discovered that while 45.56 percent of respondents did not isolate their sick animals from other animals, 54.44 percent of the overall respondents did. ...
To comprehend the current dairy management practices followed by dairy farmers, a field study was carried out in the Northern region of Bihar. The study was conducted in three districts of Northern Bihar, namely Madhepura, Supaul, and Darbhanga. Two blocks from each district were randomly selected, and from each block, two villages were randomly selected, making a total of twelve villages. A total of 180 dairy farmers were randomly selected from twelve villages that provided the data. According to the study, the majority of respondents (68.33%) used artificial insemination for breeding, and most of the respondents (40%) sought the help of a local veterinary service provider to inseminate their animals. The major reproductive issue was repeat breeding. The majority (56.11%) of the respondents got their animals vaccinated for FMD, 54.44 per cent for HS and BQ, and 7.22 per cent for Brucellosis. A majority (79.65%) of respondents got their animals vaccinated from the para-vets, whereas 20.35 per cent respondents got their animals vaccinated through an NGO. Around 66.11 per cent of respondents said that "Mastitis" had affected their animals, and the majority of respondents (51.66%) sought the help of para-vets for the treatment of sick animals. The average quantity of feed and fodder provided to animals was lower as compared to scientific feeding practices. Farmers must be made aware of better animal management practices in general and better animal breeding, feeding, and health management practices in particular, and the extension infrastructure in the study region needs to be developed.
... Since, coccidiosis induces severe diarrhoea, dysentery, fluid loss, distress, decreased appetite, frailty and recumbency (Ahmed and Soad, 2007); it causes significant economic losses as a result of decreased feed efficiency, slower weight gain, and increased susceptibility to other diseases (Thomas, 1994). Improving calves' immunity through proper colostrum feeding and preventing infection from contaminated feed or fodder are crucial aspects in controlling coccidiosis in early life because healthy calf rearing is critical for economic growth as well as the restoration of high-quality germplasm (Tiwari et al., 2009) and the excellence of buffalo dairy farming is heavily reliant on calf mortality control. ...
The present study reports the prevalence of coccidiosis in Murrah buffalo calves (8 nos.) of 11-22 days of age in hilly region of Meghalaya. Clinical signs observed were diarrhea, anorexia, weakness and loss of weight. Fecal sample examination by flotation and modified McMaster techniques revealed the presence of four species of Eimeria, viz., E. bareillyi (29.42%), E. zuernii (22.76%), E. bovis (36.53%) and E. ellipsoidalis (11.29%). High intensity of infection oocyst per gram (OPG) of feces was observed in infected calves. The OPG ranged from 20200 to 121000. Mortality observed when OPG exceeded 121000 which may be due to severe diarrhea, anorexia and weakness. The calves were successfully treated with Amprolium @ 10 mg per kg body weight orally for 7 days, Ceftriaxone @ 0.5 gm I/M for 5 days, Melonex @ 1.5 mL I/M for 5 days, Tribivet @ 1.5 mL I/M along with vimeral @ 10 mL orally for 3 days and fluid therapy @ 500 mL intravenously daily for 3 days. After 7 days of treatment most of the calves recovered gradually and started normal feeding.
... Since, coccidiosis induces severe diarrhoea, dysentery, fluid loss, distress, decreased appetite, frailty and recumbency (Ahmed and Soad, 2007); it causes significant economic losses as a result of decreased feed efficiency, slower weight gain, and increased susceptibility to other diseases (Thomas, 1994). Improving calves' immunity through proper colostrum feeding and preventing infection from contaminated feed or fodder are crucial aspects in controlling coccidiosis in early life because healthy calf rearing is critical for economic growth as well as the restoration of high-quality germplasm (Tiwari et al., 2009) and the excellence of buffalo dairy farming is heavily reliant on calf mortality control. ...
The present study reports the prevalence of coccidiosis in Murrah buffalo calves (8 nos.) of 11-22 days of age in hilly region of Meghalaya.
Clinical signs observed were diarrhea, anorexia, weakness and loss of weight. Fecal sample examination by flotation and modified
McMaster techniques revealed the presence of four species of Eimeria, viz., E. bareillyi (29.42%), E. zuernii (22.76%), E. bovis (36.53%) and
E. ellipsoidalis (11.29%). High intensity of infection oocyst per gram (OPG) of feces was observed in infected calves. The OPG ranged
from 20200 to 121000. Mortality was observed in one calf when OPG exceeded 121000 which may be due to severe diarrhea, anorexia
and weakness. The calves were successfully treated with Amprolium @ 10 mg per kg body weight orally for 7 days, Ceftriaxone @ 0.5gm I/M for 5 days, Melonex @ 1.5 mL I/M for 5 days, Tribivet @ 1.5 mL I/M along with vimeral @ 10 mL orally for 3 days and fluid therapy @ 500 mL intravenously daily for 3 days. After 7 days of treatment most of the calves recovered gradually and started normal feeding.
... Aniket B. Navkar 1 , Bapurao S. Khillare 1 , Sridhar Y. Shirale 1 , Babasaheb W. Narladkar 2 , Gajendra N. Bhangale 2 * IntroductIon H ealthy calf rearing is important for economic growth as well as essential for maintaining a good quality germplasm (Tiwari et al., 2009). The success of buffalo dairy farming depends significantly on the control of calf mortality. ...
The present study was designed to evaluate the efficacies of commonly used anti-coccidial drugs viz. Sulphadimidine, Amprolium and Toltrazuril against coccidiosis in buffalo calves. Eighteen buffalo calves under 6 months of age naturally infected with coccidiosis were
randomly divided into three groups (6 calves each). Calves were administered with standard doses, and the efficacy of drugs were
assessed by observing the oocysts per gram of feces and weight gain. It was observed that all three treatments showed a significant
impact in treating coccidiosis and weight gain. Toltrazuril appeared to be comparatively more efficacious than sulphadimidine and
amprolium in terms of reduction in OPG and weight gain. However, amprolium and sulphadimidine showed faster efficacy in reducing
the coccidial burden in buffalo calves than toltrazuril.
... Despite this, their attitudes towards cow welfare and gaushalas have never been studied. Studies investigating attitudes towards animal welfare issues are common in developed countries [19][20][21], including aspects of dairy farm management [22][23][24], and even dairy farms in India [25][26][27]. ...
Gaushala management is a specialized profession requiring particular skills relating to the management of cow shelters or gaushalas, which are traditional and ancient Indian institutions that shelter old, unproductive and abandoned cows, The 1800 registered cow shelters in India have managers who are important stakeholders in the management of cows in these unique institutions. It is important to survey the routine management of these shelters and attitudes of the managers towards cow welfare to identify the constraints and welfare issues. We visited 54 shelters in six states of India for a face-to-face structured interview of the managers. Quantitative data collection included questions on demographics, routine management operations, protocols followed in the shelters and attitudes of the managers towards cow welfare. All shelters except one were managed by males, half of them were in the age range of 45–65 years, were university graduates or post-graduates, with 5–15 years shelter management experience, and with the majority having lived in rural areas for most of their lives. Each shelter housed a median of 232 cattle were housed, out of which 13 were lactating cows. The majority of managers vaccinated their animals against endemic diseases like foot and mouth disease, haemorrhagic septicaemia and black quarter (gangraena emphysematosa) and administered endo-and ectoparasiticidal treatments, however, hardly any screened the cattle for brucellosis and tuberculosis. Only 17% of the shelters had in house veterinarians and most cows died of old age, with an annual mortality rate of 14%. The majority of the shelters allowed the cows to reproduce. Access to pasture was available in only 41% of the shelters, while most allowed some access to yards. Most (57%) had limited biosecurity measures, but 82% of the shelters disposed of the carcasses by deep burial on their own premises or through the municipality, with 18% disposing of them in open spaces or nearby creeks. About one half of the shelters maintained records of the protocols followed routinely. Charitable societies ran half of the shelters, mostly through public donations, with accounts audited regularly. Most managers thought that shelter cows’ welfare was important and that they should attempt to improve it. They were less in agreement that their knowledge of animal welfare was adequate. Local support, more moral than financial, was recognized more than government support. Managers perceived cow welfare as important from a religious perspective, citing the mother god and caring for abandoned animals as frequent themes in their definition of cow welfare. Caring for animals, mother and goddess were key elements in managers’ perception of animal welfare. The recommendations arising from this survey include that the shelter managers should be involved in the decision-making process for the welfare of cows in shelters, which is vital for the sustainability of these unique institutions. Welfare could be improved by strict compliance with biosecurity measures and disease surveillance protocols, avoidance of unrestricted reproduction in cows and separation of males and females.
... In India majority of the ruminants are reared by small, marginal and landless farmers and most of them do not follow general management practices (Tiwari et al., 2009) specifically for buffalo calves. Poor management practices leads to economic losses to the farmers in terms of higher calf mortality, poor growth rate, delayed maturity and poor productivity. ...
... They were feeding small amount of concentrates to these heifers and mostly dependent on grazing. Similar findings were reported Tiwari et al. (2009). ...
An experiment was conducted to study the sero-biochemical alteration on Kadaknath birds resulting due to coccidiosis from various locations in Government farm at Dhar and Jhabua districts and farms in surrounding areas. The Kadaknath birds are good foragers, efficient mothers, require less cost and care to grow. Hen lays about 60-80 eggs in a year and the adult body weight is 1.1-1.5 kg. Although the Kadaknath birds are poor egg producer but they are very popular for their delicious black flesh and possess certain medicinal properties. From the above mentioned facts this study has been planned for spontaneous parasitic infections in Kadaknath birds with special reference to coccidiosis along with following objectives.
... During present study it was seen that only 32% of respondents were feeding colostrums to the new born calf before expulsion of placenta, while majority (68%) of respondents waited for the expulsion of placenta for feeding colostrums. However, the present observations are improvement over the earlier results reported by Dhiman et al. (1990); Malik and Nagpaul (1999), Singh et al. (2008); Tiwari et al. (2009) andSinha et al. (2010) in several parts of country. It was observed that none of the respondents in the present area of study adopted weaning system for their calves just after its birth, while 66.4% respondents weaned their calves at the age of 3 months. ...
A study on breeding and calf rearing management practices of Varanasi district in Uttar Pradesh was carried on by collecting data from 250 dairy farmers of 5 different block viz. Sewapuri, Kashi Vidyapeeth, Arajiline, Rohaniya and Chiriagoan of Varanasi district. The study revealed that almost all the respondents relayed only on symptoms of estrus and particularly mucus discharge alone (33.6%) or in combination of other symptoms of estrus like bellowing (45.2%) and restlessness (21.2%) for heat detection in their animals. Respondents were breeding their animals by AI (26.8%), natural service (26.8%) and by both (46.4%). Mostly (73.2%) respondents mate their animals after 18 hrs of heat detection, while maximum (41.6%) number of respondents bred their animals between 3-5 months after calving. In case of calf rearing management practices, study revealed that 70% of respondents attended their animals during calving, while only 30.4% of respondents practiced ligation, cutting and disinfection of navel cord. Only 32% respondents fed their calves colostrum within 2 hrs of birth. 66.4% of respondents weaned their calves at 3 months of age, rest never weaned their calves. Majority 57.6% of farmers provided calf starter to their calves, while 42.4% didn’t provided calf starter and 68.4% of respondents fed fodder to their calves around 2 months of age. Only 38% respondents were dehorning their calves and 33.2% castrating their male calves in the study area.
The present study was conducted in eight randomly selected villages of Ajmer district in Rajasthan. Data was collected through structured interview schedule. A total sample size was constituted with 160 Gir cattle owners. Perusal of data revealed that knuckling (87.50 per cent) was the main method of milking. All the respondents used to clean udder and teats, wash hand before milking and milked their cattle twice a day. None of the cattle keepers follow dry hand milking. About 56.25 per cent of the respondents used sand and clean water for cleaning of milking utensils. All (100%) of the respondents follow the practice of drying of the pregnant animals about 60 days before calving. About 82.50 per cent of the respondents adopt intermittent milking method of drying of the pregnant animals. Results indicated that 85.62 per cent of the owners cleaned and trimmed hooves of the calf after birth. Majority 93.13 per cent of the respondents did not cut the naval cord of calf. About 47.50 percent respondents allowed adlib quantity of colostrum to calf. About 51.50 per cent of the owners are feeding colostrums to calf within 2 hr of birth. It was found that 55.62 per cent of the owners allowed suckling of calf up to 6 month of age. Majority 91.87 per cent of owner did not perform deworming of calves.
he study was conducted in Ajmer district of Rajasthan, out of 10 tehsils of Ajmer district two tehsils i.e.
Bhinay and Bijainagar were selected purposively. Further, four villages from each selected tehsil were identified. From
each village 20 respondents were selected randomly. Thus, the entire sample consists of 160 respondents. The field
survey was conducted to collect the first hand information on existing housing and health care management practices
followed by Gir cattle owners in Ajmer district of Rajasthan.All the cattle keepers had kuccha floor in shed and 55 per
cent kept their cattle inside dwelling house. About 64.37 per cent of the cattle owners used bedding material during
winter season. About 68.13 % of the respondents had less ventilation provision in animal shed. Results indicated that
90.62 per cent of respondents vaccinate their animal against diseases. Majority 97.50 per cent controlled flies by smoke
of waste grasses. Only 20.13 per cent of respondents practiced deworming measures. About 25 percent of the owners
isolate the sick animals from healthy ones.
A study has been conducted in Karur District of Tamil Nadu state, to find out the status of dairy farming in rural villages. A sample size of 400 farmers was selected randomly. An interview schedule was prepared and pre tested to collect the data from the farmers regarding the general management practices on feeding, breeding health care and, production performance of the dairy animals and the constraints involved in dairy farming. The findings of the study indicated that the farmers adopted the technologies like artificial insemination (60 per cent), concentrate feeding (75 per cent), deworming and vaccination to the dairy animals (88 per cent). The animals were in the lactation length for 240-300 days and the average yield for cows was from 1400 - 1600 lts and buffaloes 1200-1400lts. Lack of veterinary services and absence of veterinary dispensary, high cost of feed, lack of organized milk marketing channels, lack of knowledge in scientific practices and the high cost of treatment were the constraints felt by majority of the respondents in keeping livestock.
A field survey was conducted to collect the first hand information on the feeding management practices of buffalo farmers in Jaipur district of Rajasthan. The data were collected from 160 buffalo rearers randomly selected from two tehsil of Jaipur district through pretested and pre designed interview schedule. Regarding feeding practices, most of the farmers followed group feeding and grazed their buffaloes in fallow/harvested field. All the respondents used to chop dry fodder before feeding while 70 per cent of respondent chopped green fodder. A large share i.e. 84.37 per cent of buffalo keepers soaked concentrate mixture before feeding. About 90.62 per cent of buffalo keepers fed concentrate mixture to buffaloes in advance pregnancy. Only 34.37 and 13.75 per cent of the respondents fed common salt and mineral mixture, respectively. None of the buffalo keeper has been recorded to prepare hay and silage. Five traits of respondents i.e. age, family size, education, land holdings and herd size were selected and their relationship with feeding management practices were identified. From the study It was concluded that feeding practices were significantly (pd <= 0.01) correlated with education, herd size and age of respondents.
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