The Effects of Cattle Enterprise Sizes on the Structural Characteristics of Barns in the Northeast Anatolian Region: The Case of Horasan County of Erzurum Province

Authors : Musa Bastem, Mete Yanar

Pages : 176-187

Doi:10.18615/anadolu.1529204

View : 125 | Download : 116

Publication Date : 2024-12-31

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The objective of this research was to identify the structural characteristics, challenges, and potential solutions for cattle barns in cattle enterprises in the villages of Horasan County, Erzurum Province as well as the relationships between the structural characteristics of the barns and the size of the enterprises (≤20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80, and ≥81 heads). To achieve this, a face-to-face survey with 500 cattle breeders from 77 villages was conducted. The analysis group was randomly selected by simple random sampling from 4565 enterprises in Horasan County. The findings of the study indicated that 99.4% of cattle farms had closed barns, while 0.6% had semi-open barns. A statistically significant (P<0.05) relationship was also determined between the size of the cattle enterprise and the number of chimneys in the barns. It was observed that as the size of the enterprises increased, the number of chimneys in the barns also increased. Additionally, the number of windows increased with the number of cattle on the farms, and the relationship between these parameters was statistically significant (P<0.05). Similarly, enterprisers became more meticulous about general cleaning as their number of animals increased. Cattle barn walls were predominantly constructed using stone (91.0%), with concrete blocks (6.6%) and bricks (2.4%) also employed to a lesser extent in Horasan County. The evaluation of the barn floors revealed that 76.0% of the barns were constructed with concrete floors, while 24.0% were constructed with stone floors. Furthermore, the findings of the study indicated that the majority of breeders in Horasan District perceived the atmospheric conditions in their barns to have detrimental impacts on human health (63.0%), milk yield (72.0%) and animal health (70.0%). In conclusion, in addition to the technical and educational programmes offered to livestock farmers, it would be beneficial to increase the incentives offered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Republic of Türkiye to address the structural deficiencies and defects observed in the barns.
Keywords : Erzurum ili, hayvan refahı, Horasan ilçesi, sığır, ahırların yapısal özellikler