Dairy Cattle Farming in Kars District, Turkey: II. Health Status

Authors : Hidayet Metin ERDOĞAN, Vehbi GÜNEŞ, Mehmet ÇİTİL

Pages : 745-752

View : 18 | Download : 4

Publication Date : 0000-00-00

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This study was designed to determine the health status of dairy cattle, and the rates of and reasons for culling on dairy farms in Kars. A 2-stage stratified sampling strategy was used to select localities and farms. The study involved an interview with the farmers and regular visits to the farms. The farm prevalence levels of abortion, foot- and -mouth disease insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(FMD);, respiratory problems, leptospirosis, blackleg, hardware insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(TRP);, bloat and anthrax were 46.7%, 57.8%, 4.4%, 13.3%, 4.4%, 11.1%, 8.8% and 0% in 2001 and 53.3%, 62.2%, 17.8%, 17.8%, 4.4%, 11.1%, 11.1% and 8.8% in 2002, respectively. Incidence rates insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(animal-years/100); for abortion, leptospirosis, blackleg and anthrax were 7.7, 0.5, 0.2, and 0 in all herds and 20, 3, 8.7, and 0 in affected herds in 2001, and 6.7, 2.1, 0.2, and 0.4 in all herds and 12.5, 11, 6.1, and 1.9 in affected herds in 2002, respectively. Vaginal discharge insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(84.4%);, infertility insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(40%);, mastitis insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(55.6%);, retained placenta insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(42.2%);, dystocia insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(31.1%);, weight loss insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(46.7%); and anorexia insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(31.1%); were the most common clinical problems encountered at farm level and animal level in the postpartum period. Around 11% of the farmers reported culling of their animals. The most common reasons for culling were old age insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(34.7% and 30.5%);, abortion insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(22.6% and 19.5%);, FMD insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(14.5% and 7.6%);, infertility insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(1.6% and 14.4%);, respiratory problems insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(4.8% and 5.1%);, TRP insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(5.6% and 2.5%); and leptospirosis insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(0.8% and 3.4%); in 2001 and 2002, respectively. It is concluded that more detailed epidemiological studies addressing each disease are a prerequisite if profitable farming and preventive measures are planned.
Keywords : Clinical problems, postpartum health, culling, dairy cattle