Estimates of the Economic Cost Caused by Five Major Reproductive Problems in Dairy Animals in Assam and Bihar, India

Reproductive problems in dairy animals reduce fertility, prevent conception, create problems in the delivery of healthy calves, lead to postpartum complications, increase inter-calving periods, reduce milk yield, and lower overall lifetime productivity. This study aimed at understanding the incidence of reproductive problems and the cost caused by these. The study covered 954 dairy animals in Bihar and 1348 dairy animals in Assam that were selected using a multi-stage random sampling method. The costs were calculated as the sum of income losses and expenditures incurred. The major cost incurred resulted from extended calving intervals (46.1% of the total cost), followed by loss through salvage selling (38.1%), expenditure for treatment of repeat breeders (5.9%), loss of milk production (5.3%) and expenditure for extra inseminations (2.0%). About one fifth of the selected reproductive problems were left untreated. The estimated cost of reproductive problems was Indian Rupees (INR) 2424.9 (USD 36.1) per dairy animal per year (of the total dairy animal population) which represented approximately 4.1% of the mean value loss of dairy animals (INR 58,966/USD 877) per year. Reproductive problems were significantly (p < 0.001) higher among improved (exotic breed or cross-bred) dairy animals than indigenous (native breed or nondescript indigenous) dairy animals. The study suggests that with the increase of improved dairy animal population, the loss may further increase. The study concludes that any economic estimation of reproduction problems based on aetiology without confirmatory diagnoses could be highly misleading because of the complex nature of the problems.

Nutritional Properties of Camelids and Equids Fresh and Fermented Milk

Milk is considered a complete food because all of the nutrients important to fulfill a newborn’s daily requirements are present, including vitamins and minerals, ensuring the correct growth rate. A large amount of global milk production is represented by cow, goat, and sheep milks; these species produce about 87% of the milk available all over the world. However, the milk obtained by minor dairy animal species is a basic food and an important family business in several parts of the world. Milk nutritional properties from a wide range of minor dairy animal species have not been totally determined. Hot temperatures and the lack of water and feed in some arid and semi-arid areas negatively affect dairy cows; in these countries, milk supply for local nomadic populations is provided by camels and dromedaries. The nutritional quality in the milk obtained from South American camelids has still not been completely investigated, the possibility of creating an economic resource for the people living in the Andean highlands must be evaluated. Both mare and donkey milks show a chemical composition very similar to human milk, and they represent a good replacer of cows’ milk for infants nutrition, especially for children affected by cow milk proteins allergy. In this review, differences and similarities in the quality parameters of milk from minor dairy animals, such as camelids and equids, have been compared.

Association of Livestock Ownership and Household Dietary Quality: Results from a Cross-Sectional Survey from Rural India

Studies from India and several eastern African countries found that the impact of dairy animal ownership on household nutrition varied greatly, depending on the socio-geographic context. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between livestock ownership and household dietary quality in rural Kolar district, India. We collected data from a household survey in four study villages (n = all 195 households of the four villages) of Kolar district, applying a cross-sectional design. Kendall’s rank correlation coefficient was employed to determine the correlation between milk consumption and other dietary variables. Multivariable logistic regression was used to describe the relationship between dairy animal ownership and household milk consumption. Households owning dairy animals more often had access to irrigation (58.3% vs. 25.2%) and were less often woman-headed (2.4% vs. 22.5%). Household milk consumption was significantly correlated with consumption of vegetable variety, egg, and meat (all p-values < 0.05). After adjusting for multiple confounders, the odds ratio of milk consumption between dairy animal-owning households as compared to other households was 2.11 (95% confidence interval 0.85, 5.45). While dairy animal ownership was found to be associated with improved dietary quality, larger households were in a better position to adopt dairy animals, which, in turn, might contribute to better household nutrition.

Detoxification of Aflatoxin M1 in Milk by Lactic Acid Bacteria

Background: Aflatoxin M1 is a highly toxic and carcinogenic compound which is found in milk and milk products and it is a hydorxylated metabolite of Aflatoxin B1. When the dairy animal digested AFB1 contaminated feed, it is changed to aflatoxin M1 and transferred to tissues and milk. Aflatoxin M1 is less carcinogenic than AFB1, but it is acutely hepatotoxic as AFB1. Liver is their main target organ in the body. It has been calculated approximately that 0.3- 6.2% of presented AFB1 in animal feed transferred as aflatoxin M1 in milk. Occurrence of AFM1 in milk and milk products is a big concern. Therefore, several countries have standardized the maximum levels of AFM1 in milk and milk products. Methods: In this experiment, the ability of yoghurt bacteria to degrade AFM1 levels in milk and yoghurt were analysed. The starter culture of yoghurt contains Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. Bulgaricus (1:1). The experiment is carried out in Glasgow Caledonian University, department of life science in 2010. Result: These bacteria showed the higher binding ability between 90- 100% in milk samples whereas no considerable reduction was observed in yoghurt samples. In some yoghurt samples, an increase of AFM1 level was detected but in overall, concentration of AFM1 was stable in yoghurt. Also, the fat content of milk and yoghurt did not have any negative or positive effect on the concentration of AFM1 in milk and yoghurt.

Vitamins Supplementation Affecting Colostrum Composition in Murrah Buffaloes

Background: Vitamins A and E are unable to get synthesized by animal’s body and due to unavailability of sufficient green fodder in the ration, supplementation is required. Buffaloes are the major milk producer dairy animal in India and hence a study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of supplementing vitamin A and E on the colostrum composition of peri-parturient Murrah buffaloes. Methods: Twenty-two multiparous Murrah buffaloes during their advance stage of pregnancy (-30 day) were selected and divided into three groups i. e. control (C, n=8), treatment 1 (T1, n=7) and treatment 2 (T2, n=7) based on the most probable producing ability of milk, parity and body weights. Buffaloes were fed either control diet (C) or supplemented with vitamin A and E @ 75,000 IU and 1,500 IU/day, respectively, in group T1 and @ 1,50,000 IU and 3,000 IU/day, respectively in group T2. Colostrum samples were collected from one day after parturition up to day 5th after calving and analysed for fat, protein, lactose, solid-not-fat and total solids. Result: Supplementation of vitamin A and E at a higher level (T2) was helpful to increase (P less than 0.05) colostrum protein levels for first three days and total solids percentage for first two days as compared to control, while colostrum lactose and solid not fat % were high (P less than 0.05) in T1 groups as compared to control at day third only. The fat percentage had a reducing tendency (P less than 0.05) in control and T1 group and total solids in the T1 group only with the advancement of the post-parturient period. Based on the findings of the study, it may be concluded that vitamins A and E supplementation had a positive influence on the colostrum composition of peri-parturient Murrah buffaloes.

The human−animal relationship in dairy animals

The present study aims to identify margins for the improvement of dairy animal welfare and production based on the quality of the human−animal relationship (HAR). The main tool proposed to improve the quality of HAR in dairy animals is training of stock-people by targeting their attitude and behaviour. Given that a good quality HAR may benefit the welfare of dairy animals and productivity, new technologies, by monitoring the handling routine on farm, may be more effective in promoting good practices. In particular, the implementation of new technologies may allow identification of specific inappropriate behaviours to be targeted at stockperson level, thus increasing the efficacy of training. However, an issue related to the introduction of new technologies in the farms, particularly in those that follow traditional farming practices, is the resistance to innovation which may be encountered.