FARMERS’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS INTERVENTIONS REGARDING
BUFFALO
CALF HEALTH CARE AND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS
S. AHMAD, M. YAQOOB,
N. HASHMI1, M. A. ZAMAN2,
AND M. S. AMJAD3
Department of Livestock Management,
University
of Agriculture,
Faisalabad;
1Department
of Statistics, Govt.CollegeUniversity,
Faisalabad;
2Department
of Parasitology, College
of Veterinary
and Animal Sciences, Jhang; 3Institute
of Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, University
of Agriculture,
Faisalabad,
Pakistan
Abstract
A survey of small, medium and large size dairy farms was conducted in the peri-urban
areas of District Rahim Yar Khan,
Pakistan.
Forty-eight dairy farms owned by 16 farmers from each category were selected
randomly to study the status of health care and management of buffalo calves.
The results showed that the mortality rate in buffalo calves was 79.51%. None of
the farmers was cutting and disinfecting the navel cord and a large number of
them (87.8%) fed colostrum after the expulsion of placenta. About 87.5% of dairy
owners provided the buffalo calves with grain/fodder from 6 days to weaning age.
More than 93% farmers were not deworming the calves and a majority (60.42%) of
these dairy owners did not consult a veterinarian for the treatment of sick
calves. The study tended to show that owners of these dairy farms were not
interested in rearing the male calves because they did not expect sizeable
returns from their sale. Thus, there is an urgent need to educate these dairy
owners to make calf rearing an economical proposition.