Buffalo calf health care in commercial dairy farms: a field study in Uttar Pradesh (India)

R Tiwari, M C Sharma* and B P Singh**

Agriculture Technology Information Centre, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, U.P.-243 122
rupasi@ivri.up.nic.in
*Extension Education, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, U.P.-243 122
mcsharma@ivri.up.nic.in
**Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, U.P.-243 122
Brajpal@ivri.up.nic.in

Abstract

The present study was conducted on ninety commercial dairy owners in the Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh by selecting 30 livestock owners each from small, medium and large size dairy farms and their dairy calf management practices were studied in detail.

Results of the study indicate that calves are highly neglected in the commercial dairy farms. The herd structure of these dairies reveals that out of total sample only 22.22 percent of the dairy owners had cattle calves while 33.33 percent had buffalo calves. The calf health care practices in the commercial dairy farms are very poor. In fact these dairy owners find the calf rearing uneconomical  The poor care of calves in the commercial dairies is revealed by the fact that the mortality rate in buffalo calves in these dairies was 81.09 percent . This is mainly due to the poor management of calves which are not even given the minimum care of naval cord disinfection, timely colostrums feeding, deworming, appropriate space, proper milk feeding and timely treatment. In fact it can be said that these dairy owners are really not interested in rearing the calves due to the notion of false economy prevailing among these owners that rearing of calf is not beneficial.

Key words: Buffalo calf, calf mortality, colostrum, commercial dairy, health care

Introduction

Calves are the livestock industry of the future. Calf management plays an important role in the development of the dairy sector of the country. The success of the dairy industry depends on appropriate calf management. Calf care is not only essential for sustainance of the dairy industry but is also essential in the wake of preserving and maintaining our good quality germ plasm. Important aspects in the calf rearing are the health management and proper nutrition to the calves.

Research studies have revealed the poor condition of calves in the village dairies wherein the farmers are not much aware about the scientific calf management practices. One emerging trend in the Indian dairying scenario is the growing number of the commercial dairy farms in the urban and periurban areas of the metros and big cities. These dairies mainly cater to the needs of the urban consumers. Their average herd size ranges from small (2-10 animals) to large dairies (up to 500 animals) and most of them are milch animals. Keeping in view the growing importance of commercializing the livestock sector to meet the challenges of globalization, in terms of organized production and marketing, a need was felt to study the commercial dairy farms in urban areas in terms of the calf managemental practices followed with the hypothesis that these farms are adopting the scientific calf management practices for rearing calves and earning long term profits. The study was conducted with a view to delineate the areas where interventions are required to improve such health and production system to meet the standards of global trade and also to have a sustainable dairy development in the country.

Material and methods

The present study was conducted in the Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh. Ninety commercial dairy owners or livestock owner from the Bareilly urban area were selected , 30 each from small size dairy farms ( having up to 10 milch animals ) , medium size dairy farms (having 11 to 20 milch animals ) and large size dairy farms (having more than 20 milch animals) which were mostly buffalo based with very few farms having small number of cattle and their dairy calf management practices were studied in detail. The visit of these dairies and interview with livestock owners was conducted by the researcher. A detailed interview schedule and observation sheet was developed to collect the relevant information on the selected variables. The major parameters observed for the study were calf population, disease pattern, calf mortality, health management practices, viz., deworming, coccidiostat, post natal antibiotic coverage, feeding and management of calves. Data collected were analysed statistically.

Results and discussion

General management of cows and buffaloes in commercial dairy farms

The managemental practices in the commercial dairy farms in the study has revealed the poor and unscientific management of the farms . Majority of the dairy farms had a very poor housing structure for these animals which is not suitable as per the requirement of the different seasons i.e. summer, winter and rainy season. Further there is overcrowding of animals in most of the farms due to lack of space. The roof and floor of most of these farms were found to be broken and in a shabby condition and in need of repair. Most of these farmers cleaned the farms two times a day but very few (16.7 %) used disinfectant like phenyl and calcium carbonate (Lime powder) occasionally. The milch animal are provided bath once a day in summer and once a week in winter. During milking time they are cleaning the teats and udder with water but in none of the farms there is separate milking byre and the animals are milked in the same shed where they are kept. Majority of these farmers (54.4 %) are disposing the dung and waste material nearby animal houses leading to unhygienic conditions. Regarding feeding they are providing wheat straw and high quantity of concentrates to milch animals regularly but most of them are not feeding green fodder , salt and mineral mixture regularly due to poor awareness about the importance of balanced diet for proper animal health and optimum production. However these commercial farms are very much aware about vaccination and timely treatment and are providing very good health care to their milch animals .But they are not providing timely treatment to the calves . In fact the calf management in these commercial dairy farms is very poor leading to high calf mortality.

Calf population in commercial dairy farms

The importance of the calves in the commercial dairies is revealed by the number of calves available in these dairies. Results of the study reveal that calves are very few in numbers in these dairies. Especially cent percent of these dairies have buffaloes but the presence of buffalo calves in these farms is not in proper proportion to adult animals. A look at the herd structure reveals that out of total sample only 22.2 percent of the dairy owners had cattle calves while 33.3 percent had buffalo calves. Further , a comparison of the presence of calves in the dairies as compared to the milch animals reveals that the percentage of cattle calves is higher ( 58.9%) as compared to the buffalo calves (33.3%) in these dairy farms.(Table 1). The table further revealed that the proportion of cattle calves to milch cows in these dairies is 58.9 percent whereas in case of buffalo calves it is only 33.3 percent which indicate that buffalo calves are neglected more in these dairies. The buffalo calves in these dairies suffer from a number of diseases finally succumbing to death while the commercial dairy owner does not bother for this death as a considerable amount of milk to be fed to the calves can then be sold and the problem of milk let down is solved by injecting oxytocin to the milch buffaloes indiscriminately surpassing all animal ethics .

Major problem/ diseases of calves in the commercial dairy farms

Table 2 shows the disease incidence in calves in these dairy farms which reveals that the most common and frequent occurring disease in calves was diarrhoea which was reported by 82.2 percent of the dairy farms followed by endoparasite infestation (80 %), ectoparasite infestation (78.9 %), naval ill (66.7 %) and pneumonia in calves (26.7 %).

Besides these diseases calves were also suffering with other disease like skin diseases, , eye infection ,lameness ,wounds , fever, hygroma, weak and debilitated. When data was analysed to observe the effect of these diseases on size of farms it was noticed that the incidence of diseases was more in large size farms (70.0%), followed by medium (66.7 %) and small farms (60.0%). The data indicate that small size farms are taking much care of the calves as compared to the larger farms.

Calf mortality in commercial dairies

The poor care of calves in the commercial dairies is revealed by the fact that the mortality rate in buffalo calves in these dairies was 81.09 percent (Table 3).

In the small commercial dairy farms having up to 10 milch animals the calf mortality rate was lower i.e., 68.8% than the calf mortality (82.2%) in the medium size and large size farms (83.5%). Further the death rate in male calves was found to be higher (84.7%) than the female calves' death rate (71.6%). The high mortality rate in the calves in these farms indicates towards the poor calf care practices in these dairies. In fact these dairy owners keep on replacing the animals by buying new milch animals from the Punjab and Haryana states of India which are the home tract and famous for breeding of good breeds of cattle (Haryana , Sahiwal and Red Sindhi) and Buffaloes (Murrah). And in these states the cattle and buffalo breeding is the main occupation and business of majority of the farmers and businessmen. Even they are also supplying these breeds to many other countries like Russia, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Brazil etc.

Mortality pattern on the basis of size of farms revealed that in case of male it was higher in large size farms (88.5 %) followed by medium (83.9 %) and small farms (75.8 %). In case of female calf mortality was almost same in medium size farms (80.6 %) and large size farms(79.3 %) whereas it was lower in small size farms (58.7%). Similar findings have been reported by Mandape et al ( 1999) and Tiwari et al (2003) who found high calf mortality in the small holder buffalo farms .

Calf health care in commercial dairies

The calf health care practices in the commercial dairy farms are very poor. In fact these dairy owners find the calf rearing uneconomical. The calf management practices mainly include the care of calf at various stages after birth which includes various aspects viz., naval care, colostrums feeding, timely deworming, proper milk feeding, proper and timely treatment, appropriate housing, etc. The practices at the commercial dairy farmers level are presented below.

Naval care of calf

Interview of the commercial dairy owner along with observation of the buffalo calves in the commercial dairies revealed that most of the calves suffered with naval cord infection . As naval cord is a channel through which infectious agents can enter into the blood or underlying tissues leading to certain serious diseases in new born calf, it is very essential that the livestock owners take proper care of the naval cord after the birth of calf. Cutting the cord with a hygienic blade and then dipping the cord in an antiseptic solution is essential. (Sharma and Mishra 1987). A look of table 4 reveals that almost cent percent of the commercial dairy owners did not cut or disinfect the naval cord due to which naval cord infection in calves was seen in most of the farms.

Similar findings have been reported by Kumar (2002) and Tiwari et al (2006) who found that buffalo owners in the small holder buffalo farms also did not cut and disinfect the naval cord of the calves due to poor knowledge about the scientific management of calves.

Timely colostrum feeding to calves

It has been found that the commercial dairy owners do not feed the colostrum timely. They feed colostrum only after the release of placenta and many times the animal does not release placenta for more than 7-8 hours than the colostrum feeding is delayed leading to lowered immunity level in the calves. Table 5 reveals that only 12.2 percent livestock owners fed colostrum to their calves within 2-3 hours of birth.

In fact it is the most important period when the calves should receive colostrum. In majority of the commercial dairy farms i.e., 90 percent, 83.33 percent and 90 percent of small , medium and large farms the calves received the colostrums after release of placenta (7-8 hrs) which is not so beneficial for newly born calves. Verma et al (1994), Malik and Nagpaul (1999) and Singh et al (2003) and Tiwari et al (2001) also found that buffalo owners feed colostrums to calves only after release of placenta as they feel that if they feed colostrums immediately then the animal will not release the placenta, while Kumar (2002) reported that farmers did not feed colostrums as they felt that colostrums feeding leads to diarrhea in calves. Timely feeding of colostrums to calves is essential and it should be fed within 2-3 hours after birth. It is a well established fact that delay in feeding of colostrums lead to lowered effectiveness of the colostrums in terms of providing immunity to calves . (Sharma and Mishra  1987).

Proper milk feeding to calves

Table 6 reveals that one teat full milk is provided by only 2.22 percent of the dairy farmers and most of these farmers belong to the small dairy farms (6.67 %).

Rest of the respondents (97.8 %) reported that they are providing the milk to the calves before and after milking only. Milk is more or less a complete food for young calf, to which gastrointestinal system is adopted for digestion of nutrients present in it. Nature has provided milk for calves which is of high nutritional value. It has been emphasized that a calf must receive sufficient milk during first three months or a minimum of 110 litres of whole milk to be fed over a period of 4-5 weeks, along with a calf starter having a good quality protein and low fibre content (Sharma and Mishra 1987). These commercial farms want to get maximum milk production from the animals and are using the calves only to stimulate milk let down and not for providing the milk to them. Even after milking they are not leaving enough milk in the udder required for the survival of the calf. In fact the calves are just used as a stimulator for getting the milk let down and those animals whose calf dies is given oxytocin for milk let down. The study revealed that all the farms were using oxytocin in animals whose calf had died as the calf mortality in these farms was as high as 80 %. Although 97 % farms reported feeding milk to the calves before and after milking but in most of these farms calves were not found which indicates the status of poor calf management in these farms. In most of the farms the calves die due to malnutrition and wanton starvation.

Timely deworming of calves

In the commercial dairy farms only 16.67 percent of the dairy owners dewormed their calves. Rest 83.33 percent reported that they do not deworm their calves.(Table 7). 

Further those who practiced deworming did not practice it scientifically according to recommended schedule. Most of them dewormed the calves when the calf was off feed or they observed worms in the faeces. Many other researchers also reported that the livestock owners did not deworm their calves timely due to which the health of the calves was poor in the small holder buffalo production system also (Farook et al 1999, Singh and Singh 2000 and Das 2001).Deworming in calves is essential and regular deworming cycle should be followed against parasitic infections. This practice should be started on or before two weeks of age, followed after 21 days and should be repeated 3-4 times in a year at regular interval. A major reason of calf mortality is the parasitic load in the calves due to which their health deteriorates and the calf often dies.(Sharma and Mishra 1987).

Timely treatment of calves

Results of the study have revealed that majority of the commercial dairy owners ( 64.4 %) do not call a veterinarian when the calves fall sick as they feel that it is uneconomical . Around 18.9 percent of the dairy owners try some indigenous drugs to treat the calf and if not cured then call a Veterinarian. Only 16.7 percent call a veterinarian immediately when the calves fall sick. Table 8 indicates that majority of the dairy owners do not provide proper medication to the calves which is very much essential in neonatal period.

General condition of calves

Further a look at the general condition and appearance of the calves in these dairies reveal that majority ( 16.7 ) are very weak and emaciated. Further the condition of calves is poorer in the medium and large dairies where the herd strength is higher (Table- 9).

The dairy owners reported rearing of calf as uneconomical and preferred if the calf died. These dairy owners only prefer to rear milch animals to maintain the milk production level throughout the year. Further these dairy owners are only bothered about the short term monetary gains and are not able to foresee the economical benefit of raising the calves which have good milk production potential and germplasm. These dairy owners instead of rearing calves prefer purchasing buffaloes for making replacement.

Appropriate housing and bedding

The housing conditions of the livestock greatly affects their health and productive performance specially the calves which are more prone to diseases as their immunity level is low. Further exposure to extreme climatic variations such as extreme heat and extreme cold leads to physical stress and the body of calves is not adapted to bear such stress and the calves may collapse . Separate shed / space allotment for calves in the commercial dairies revealed that majority of the dairy owners (92.23 %) neither had a separate shed for the calves nor provided any bedding material (70.00 %) to the calves (Table 10 and Table 11). The calves were tied in the corner of the shed of the adult animals in a crowded manner. Only a few respondents (3..00 %) reported providing gunny bags and straw as bedding material for the calves.

Feeding arrangement for calves

Apart from providing appropriate housing to the calves it is essential that proper size mangers be constructed for the calves, so that the calves can feed properly and the feed does not get contaminated or wasted when the calf is feeding. But in the commercial dairies almost all of the dairy owners did not feed the calves in mangers. The calves were either given fodder in cane baskets or the fodder was spread on some plastic sheet or on floor.

Conclusions

• In the commercial dairies the calves are highly neglected due to the notion of false economy prevailing among these owners that rearing of calf is not beneficial . In fact majority of these dairy owners purchase milch cattle and buffaloes with characteristics of good milch breeds ( Murrah and Nili Ravi buffaloes and Holstein Friesian and Jersey breeds of cattle) which have a high production potential. It is well proven fact that the offspring of these animals will also have the similar traits as its parent and therefore the calves in these dairies if reared will become very precious milch animals. But the dairy owners feel that the rearing of calves is much more costly and will yield returns after a minimum of 3-4 years and therefore they prefer to purchase new milch animals to maintain their herd strength and milk production throughout the year.

• But the neglect and poor care of calves in these dairies is creating a great damage to the nation in terms of loss of good quality germplasm . Also the future of dairy industry will be affected if the calf care practices in these dairy farms are not improved .Therefore there is an urgent need to educate the commercial dairy owners about the importance of rearing calves in terms of economic profitability .In fact a mass campaign needs to be taken up to improve the calf care practices in these dairies through making the dairy owners analyse themselves about the cost benefit ratio of rearing calves. Further they also need to be taught about the fattening of male buffalo calves which can be sold to the butchers for their meat value.

Acknowledgement

The authors gratefully acknowledge the help and support in the form of timely fund availability and other infrastructural facilities provided by the Indian Veterinary Research Institute in carrying out this research work.

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Received 2 January 2007; Accepted 19 January 2007; Published 1 March 2007

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