Journal of Veterinary Medicine and Health
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  • Research Article   
  • J Vet Med Health 2023, Vol 7(4): 187
  • DOI: 10.4172/jvmh.1000187

Cross-Breed Neonatal Calf Mortality and Health Problems in Small Scale Dairy Production in and around Bishoftu Town, Oromia

Gedion Goshu1*, Bikila Abebe2 and Firomsa Dinka3
1School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Jimma University, Po Box; 378, Jimma, Oromia region of, Ethiopia
2School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Jimma University, Po Box; 378, Jimma, Oromia region of, Ethiopia
3School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Medical and Health science, Wollega University, Po Box; 395, Nekemte, Oromia region of, Ethiopia
*Corresponding Author : Gedion Goshu, School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Jimma University, Po Box; 378, Jimma, Oromia region of, Ethiopia, Email: gedijesus27@gmail.com

Received Date: Jun 30, 2023 / Accepted Date: Jul 26, 2023 / Published Date: Jul 27, 2023

Abstract

Calf mortality is perennial problems for dairy producers worldwide which impair appropriate heifer replacement. The common diseases which cause death in young calves were diarrhea and pneumonia, even though other diseases like novel ill, arthritis, bloat, septicemia, arthropod parasites, and nutritional diseases were also incriminated. A Longitudinal prospective observational study was conducted between November 2016 to April 2017 in urban and peri-urban small holder dairy farms of Bishoftu town on 158 live born calves selected from 60 dairy farms to identify the risk factors associated with calf mortality in cross-breed small holders in an intensive and semi-intensive dairy production systems. Questionnaire tool was used to collect information on the risk factors of calf mortality. Calf diarrhea was the leading cause of calf mortality with case-specific mortality of 3.1% among the causes of death recorded. The total cumulative incidence of mortality found in this study was 8.2 %. The association of 8 potential risk factors with dairy calf mortality was investigated. Of these factors, among others, delivery condition (OR=5.9, P=0.018), amount of colostrum (2L) (OR =0.17, P = 0.039), Age of calf (OR=6.5, P=0.046), and farm size≥8 (OR = 12.9, P = 0.007), were the risk factors found to be significantly associated with the death of calves. The present study suggested that the existence of high mortality in small dairy farms might be due to poor farm and calf management. Hence, special emphasis should be given to the amount of colostrum feeding; proper management as the farm size increases and especial care management of the first week age of calves were found important. Moreover, further investigation is suggested to identify the specific causative agents incriminating for calf mortality in dairy farms.

Citation: Goshu G, Abebe B, Dinka F (2023) Cross-Breed Neonatal Calf Mortalityand Health Problems in Small Scale Dairy Production in and around Bishoftu Town,Oromia. J Vet Med Health 7: 187. Doi: 10.4172/jvmh.1000187

Copyright: © 2023 Goshu G, et al. This is an open-access article distributed underthe terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricteduse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author andsource are credited.

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