Husbandry practices of different dairy farms at Chittagong district

Abstract

The study was included preselected 30 dairy farms at Chittagong district area to study their housing, feeding, breeding, sanitation, water management, udder health management and routine farm activities and bio-security measures which are most essential for a dairy farm operation. It was revealed that 48.7% face in, 41.4% face out, 6.9% mixed and 3.2% others (scattered) housing were practicing in different dairy farms at Chittagong of which 86.7% farms had separate calf shed. About 35.8% farms offered year round green grass to their animals while 23.4% did not supply any green grass. The crude protein contents were about 16-17% of supplied concentrate which were almost similar to the recommended level. There was no specific breeding policy maintained in any dairy farm in the study area. In most farms estrous were detected early in the morning. Simply 3.4% farms used both Artificial Insemination and Natural Insemination, whereas 96.7% farms practice AI. Sub-clinical mastitis was common to all farms of which 15.2% clinical form. Ascariasis was detected to around 29% dairy farm. Merely 3.2% dairy farms practiced machine milking. About 76.3% dairy farms tried to keep AI records only. Finally, the study proved that the improper husbandry practices of dairy farms may lead to less profitable business.