Survey of Calf Management and Hygiene Practices Adopted in Commercial Dairy Farms in Chittagong, Bangladesh

Abstract

IntroductIon Livestock is an inherent element of the compound farming system in Bangladesh as it besides a source of meat and milk protein, a prime source of farm power services as well as employment. The livestock sub-sector dispenses 20% and 50% of the total population a full time employment and part-time employment, respectively. The contribution of the livestock sector to total gross domestic product persisted steady within a range of 2.1-3.6% over the 1973-2008 periods. Despite a steady contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), budget allocation for this sector remained <1% of the total expenditure. Moreover, it was revealed that the growth in individual livestock products were mainly in minor products (e.g., tails, bones, etc.) and hides and skins (a major export item) rather than in milk and milk products, meat and eggs might not be very motivating because such tendency will lead to less imresearch Article Abstract | A survey was conducted to characterize calf management and hygiene practices adopted by dairy farmers at Chittagong, in Bangladesh. A total of 210 dairy farms located in 3 geographically distinct regions in Chittagong division, namely coastal, hilly and plain area, were surveyed. Calf management and hygiene practice related data was collected through a standard questionnaire and all sampled farms were visited once by technical persons and administered the questionnaire by 'face to face' method during the period July, 2015 to May, 2016. Statistically significant variations were observed in distribution of different factors through different strata (herd size and region). Among larger farms (>50 cows), 10% had a poor hygiene score whereas 32% of the smaller farms (5-20 cows) belonged to this category. 97% of the large farms used tube well water as the source of drinking water for their calves; whereas 35% of the small farms used surface water. None of the large and medium farm owner said they never clean the calf pen; 47% small farm owners said yes to it. More than half of the smallholders (54%) were discovered with raising other domestic animals and birds within the same premises. Hygiene score and surrounding environment of the farms did not show any regional variation (p>0.05). Remarkably 65% farms of the hilly area used surface water for their calves to drink with. The relationship between management practices and calf mortality/morbidity is complex. Our study design did not allow us to draw conclusions about the management and hygiene practice responsible for calf mortality/morbidity, but knowing the management practices adopted on farms is valuable for bringing attention to herds with less optimal practices and for planning meaningful experiments to explore causal affects.

Disease burden and associated factors of rotavirus infection in calves in south-eastern part of Bangladesh

“…However, group housing for calves less than 30 days of age is not recommended and the number of calves per group also needs to be considered (Gulliksen et al, 2009). In a previous study conducted on the same study population observed that single housing for calves is very rare in the study area (6 out of 210 farmers practiced single housing) (Chowdhury et al, 2017). We did not observe any significant influence of single/group calf housing on being positive to rotavirus infection in the present study, however might be because of very much skewed distribution of the variable.…”

“…Moreover, it is unknown whether risk factors identified by previous works done elsewhere (in abroad), are associated with the risk of infection and diarrhea in the study area. Nevertheless, diagnosis and treatment of rotaviral diarrhea in claves involves cost; could be a concern for small holding dairy farms abundant in the study area (Chowdhury et al, 2017). Knowing the risk factors might assist them in preventing the disease prior infection.…”