scholarly journals Calf Health and Management Practices in Small Holder Dairy Farms in and Around Wolaita Sodo Town, Southern Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Southern Ethiopia ◽  
Calf Health ◽  
Wolaita Sodo ◽  
Small Holder

Bovine Mastitis and Risk Factors in Small Holder Lactating Dairy Farms in Hawassa, Southern Ethiopia

2017 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Nibret Moges ◽  
Tekle Hailemariam ◽  
Tewodros Fentahun ◽  
Mersha Chanie ◽  
Achenef Melaku
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Bovine Mastitis ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Southern Ethiopia ◽  
Small Holder

Managing High Grade Dairy Cows in the Tropics

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Moran
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Dairy Farm ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
High Grade ◽  
Stressful Environment ◽  
Dairy Consumption ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Small Holder

Dairy consumption in Asia has more than doubled over the last 25 years, and has led to more than 50% of the world’s total dairy imports now entering Asian markets. Consequently, Asian countries are seeking to improve their self-sufficiency in dairy produce by developing their local milk industries. Asian livestock importers are looking for increasing numbers of high grade dairy stock from established dairy industries in countries such as Australia and New Zealand. Unfortunately, a major problem encountered throughout Asia has been the poor performance of these exotic high grade dairy heifers when exported from their country of origin to a new, more stressful environment. This has been due to a failure to prepare for their introduction. Exotic dairy cows, particularly those from farms with high levels of herd performance, have high management requirements. If subjected to local and traditional small holder dairy farm practices, they are unlikely to produce acceptable yields of milk or may not even get back into calf. Poor management practices can lead to low growth rates, delayed breeding, stock diseases and even deaths among imported stock both before and after first calving. Managing High Grade Dairy Cows in the Tropics addresses the entire range of management practices found on tropical small holder dairy farms, highlighting those which are likely to adversely impact on heifer and cow performance, hence farm profitability. It is a companion volume to three other manuals written by John Moran: Rearing Young Stock on Tropical Dairy Farms in Asia, Tropical Dairy Farming and Business Management for Tropical Dairy Farmers.

scholarly journals Giving calves 'the best start': Perceptions of colostrum management on dairy farms in England

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-58
Author(s):  
LJ Palczynski ◽  
ECL Bleach ◽  
ML Brennan ◽  
PA Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Passive Transfer ◽  
Dairy Calf ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Dairy Farmers ◽  
Professional Advice ◽  
Calf Health ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Newborn Calves

Good colostrum management can confer protective immunity to newborn calves, making calves less susceptible to infectious disease, and fundamentally improving both their short- and long-term health, welfare and productivity. Industry recommendations commonly refer to 'The Three 'Q's' of colostrum management: the need for calves to receive sufficient 'Quantity' of high 'Quality' colostrum 'Quickly' after birth; some also include 'sQueaky clean' and 'Quantification of passive transfer'. However, research to date suggests that the failure of passive transfer of colostral antibodies is common on commercial dairy farms, contributing to sub-optimal calf health and mortality. This paper explores why this may be the case by investigating stakeholder perceptions of colostrum management and how these perceptions might affect the practice of ensuring adequate colostrum administration to newborn calves. Calf rearing and youngstock management practices on English dairy farms were investigated using 40 in-depth semi-structured interviews: 26 with dairy farmers and 14 with advisors (including veterinarians, feed and pharmaceutical company representatives). Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and thematically coded for analysis. 'The Three 'Q's' were found to act as useful reminders about the goals of colostrum management, and a case can be made for further publicising the inclusion of 'sQueaky clean' and 'Quantification of passive transfer' as there remains a lack of focus on colostrum hygiene and measurement of successful antibody transfer. Knowledge of the 'Q's' did not guarantee implementation, and time and labour constraints alongside farmer misconceptions must be addressed when offering professional advice on improving calf health. Further research to encourage on-farm collection and analysis of monitoring data including rates of passive transfer is particularly needed. Advisors must not overlook the importance of colostrum management when assessing farm practices and ensure that they promote evidence-based recommendations if dairy calf morbidity and mortality is to be reduced.

scholarly journals 101 Evaluation of Growth Curve Functions for predicted weight in small holder crossbred dairy cattle in Tanzania

2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (Supplement_4) ◽  
pp. 79-80
Author(s):  
Chinyere Ekine ◽  
Raphael Mrode ◽  
Edwin Oyieng ◽  
Daniel Komwihangilo ◽  
Gilbert Msuta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Growth Curve ◽  
Model Comparison ◽  
Predictive Ability ◽  
Nonlinear Least Squares ◽  
Information Criterion ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Exponential Model ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Small Holder ◽  
Two Parameter

Abstract Modelling the growth curve of animals provides information on growth characteristics and is important for optimizing management in different livestock systems. This study evaluated the growth curves of crossbred calves from birth to 30 months of age in small holder dairy farms in Tanzania using a two parameter (exponential), four different three parameters (Logistic, von Bertalanffy, Brody, Gompertz), and three polynomial functions. Predicted weights based on heart girth measurements of 623 male and 846 female calves born between 2016 and 2019 used in this study were from the African Dairy Genetic Gains (ADGG) project in selected milk sheds in Tanzania, namely Tanga, Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Iringa, Njomba and Mbeya. Each function was fitted separately to weight measurement of males and females adjusted for the effect of ward and season of birth using the nonlinear least squares (nls) functions in R statistical software. The Akaike’s information criterion (AIC) and Bayesian information criterion (BIC) were used for model comparison. Based on these criteria, all three polynomial and four parameter functions performed better and did not differ enough from each other in both males and females compared to the two-parameter exponential model. Predicted weight varied among the models and differed between males and females. The highest estimated weight was observed in the Brody model for both males (278.09 kg) and females (264.10 kg). Lowest estimated weight was observed in the exponential model. Estimated growth rate varied among models. For males, it ranged from 0.04 kg-0.08 kg and for females, from 0.05 kg-0.09 kg in the Brody model and logistic model respectively. Predictive ability across all fitted curves was low, ranging from 25% to approximately 29%. This could be due to the huge range of breed compositions in the evaluated crossbred calves which characterizes small holder dairy farms in this system and different levels of farm management.

scholarly journals Pre-Weaned Calf Rearing on Northern Irish Dairy Farms: Part 1. A Description of Calf Management and Housing Design

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1954
Author(s):  
Aaron J Brown ◽  
Gillian Scoley ◽  
Niamh O’Connell ◽  
Jamie Robertson ◽  
Amanda Browne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Key Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Healthcare Management ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Housing Design ◽  
Hygiene Management ◽  
Calf Performance ◽  
And Performance

The first few months of life are of great importance to the longevity and lifetime performance of dairy cows. The nutrition, environment and healthcare management of heifer calves must be sufficient to minimise exposure to stress and disease and enable them to perform to their genetic potential. Lack of reporting of farm management practices in Northern Ireland (NI) makes it difficult to understand where issues impacting health, welfare and performance may occur in the rearing process. The objective of this study was to investigate housing design and management practices of calves on 66 dairy farms across NI over a 3-month period and also identify areas that may cause high risk of poor health and performance in dairy calves. An initial survey was used to detail housing and management practices, with two subsequent visits to each farm used to collect animal and housing-based measurements linked to hygiene management, animal health and performance. Large variations in key elements such as weaning criteria and method, calf grouping method used, nutritional feed plane, and routine hygiene management were identified. The specification of housing, in particular ventilation and stocking density, was highlighted as a potential limiting factor for calf health and performance. Lack of measurement of nutritional inputs, hygiene management practices and calf performance was observed. This poses a risk to farmers’ ability to ensure the effectiveness of key management strategies and recognise poor calf performance and health.

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