LOW PRODUCTIVITY OF INDIAN DAIRY ANIMALS: CHALLENGES AND MITIGATION STRATEGIES
A.R. Ninu
Assistant Professor,
Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology,
Veterinary College and Research Institute, Tirunelveli
Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University
Low productivity of Indian dairy animals can be attributed to several factors like improper selection of breeding stock, poor nutrition, environmental stress, improper breeding practices, improper management practices and lack of access to veterinary healthcare. Mastitis, brucellosis, hoof affections, FMD, leptospirosis, Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, parasitic and haemoprotozoan diseases also causes massive economic losses to farmers.
- Selection of the breeding stock
A good breeding stock is very important for the success of any dairy farm. This can be done based on selection of cows or calves from cows with a consistent record of high milk production, herd calving percentage (≤ 90 %), good udder conformation, disease resistance and longevity. Cross breeding increased disease resistance and improved the production performance in dairy animals.
- Nutritional management
Provide quality roughages, concentrates and supplements like minerals, vitamins and protein in a balanced ratio. Always provide ad libitum access to clean water. Provide salt/mineral licks. Rotate pastures, manage these pastures to provide fresh supply of fodders and to reduce worm load. Ensure that the quality of feed is good by testing them at frequent intervals. Also check for mould or aflatoxins in the roughages, concentrates and silages. Feeding may be tailored to the needs of the cow based on its basal metabolic rate as per the physiological and milking status. For high yielding cattle, the optimum concentrate roughage ratio on dry matter basis should be 60:40. In late lactation, more roughage and less concentrate may be fed. Maintain a score card based on the body condition of the animals. Provide the feed as per the body condition, milking status and physiological needs of the animals. Provide a transition management of nutrition to support cows during the transition from pre-calving to calving, calving to post-calving. Gradual transition of the diets will be very important for preventing acute metabolic diseases like hypocalcemia and ketosis seen in early lactation.
- Proper breeding practices
Avoid inbreeding among closely related stock. Prefer artificial insemination using high quality semen from superior breeds. Closely monitor the heat signs and inseminate at the right time so that one calf per year is born. Maintain detailed records of each animal’s reproductive history like date of insemination, date of calving, lactation yield, lactation period etc.
- Proper management practices
Maintain a strict time schedule for feeding, milking, vaccination of the herd, screening of diseases like mastitis, brucellosis, leptospirosis, bovine viral diarrhoea, hoof and udder care, insect management, anthelminthic treatment, cleaning or grooming of the animals, cleaning of shed, utensils etc.
Provide proper training to the milkers so that improper practices like knuckling can be avoided. Washing and sanitizing hands and udder using 1 in 1000 potassium permanganate solution before milking can reduce the incidence of mastitis. If milking machine is in use, proper checking of milking pressure and equipment cleaning may be scheduled.
Accurate detection of heat in dairy animals and timely insemination is a key factor in the breeding of animals and hence there should be regular monitoring for the same. Carefully monitor the calving time to reduce complications due to dystocia. Now artificial intelligence can be utilized for the close monitoring of diseases, assessing heat status, calving time and other behavioural changes in animals by way of sensors that detect body temperature and movement of the animals.
Steps may be taken to properly store the feed in dry and pest free conditions. Adequate silage may be maintained for the dry seasons in advance.
Maintain records on the health status of animals like vaccination, disease, deworming and on feeding chart, feeding schedule etc.
Provide atleast 60 days dry period before calving. Soon after calving, feed colostrtum to the calves. This is to be done within first two to three hours of birth. This will help in passive immunization of the calves through the IgA in colostrum. Disbudding may be done in calves before 7 days of birth as this will reduce pain during the procedure. Disbudding will provide more housing space and reduce the complications from gore injuries in future. Tagging of dairy animals is also important as it helps in identification and record keeping.
Proper infrastructure facilities like proper open area, covered area, watering space, manger space, drainage channel, milking passage, good ventilation is utmost important for good milk yield. Provide non-slippery floors. This can reduce the incidence of hip dislocation and fractures. Providing rubber mats can reduce the incidence of hoof affections in dairy cattle along with proper nutrition and hoof care. There should be separate sheds for Milch animals, calves, heifers, pregnant animals, dry animals, bulls, downer calves, isolation sheds. Always keep quarantine shed for keeping animals having contagious diseases. Separate milking parlours can be maintained in large farms.
- Reducing environmental stress
Music therapy can improve the immunity by increasing the activity of natural killer cells. It can increase lactation yield and promote milk let down during milking in cows and reduce stress in dairy cattle. Providing showers and fan during summer season can relieve the heat stress that contributes to severe production loss in high producing dairy cattle. Proper fly management and deworming during rainy season also can reduce stress in milch cattle. Provide dry bedding and protect the animals from winds during cold months of the year.
- Lack of access to veterinary care
If the dairy animals need to be transported for health care, as in remote places not having access to veterinary hospitals, this may be done in early morning hours to prevent summer stress. Agitated or animals in severe pain may be tranquilized before transportation. Proper bedding, space, feed and water should be provided if the livestock has to be transported for long duration. Farmers can utilize ethnoveterinary medicines for deworming, improving immunity and prevention of diseases like mastitis, internal and external parasite control and retention of placenta etc. This can reduce the antibiotic residues in milk and reduce economic losses due to discarding of milk during antibiotic treatment in cows.
