Calf Management Practices in different farms at Chhagalnaiya, Feni

Abstract

A survey was conducted to characterize calf management practices adopted by dairy farmers at Chhagalnaiya, Feni. A total of 20 dairy farms located in 3 different unions and 1 municipal area at Chhagalnaiya were surveyed. Calf management practices related data was collected through a standard questionnaire and all sampled farm were visited once and administered the questionnaire by ‘face to face’ method during the period February, 2022 to April, 2022. Only 10% of the farmers had 21-50 no. of cows and most of them were very small farmers. Among them 50% farmers had only 4-7 no. of cows. 60% of the farms were south facing and 30% of the farms were north facing. Among the farms, 50% had cemented floors and 55% had rubber pad bedding. Most of the farms had no separate house for calves. 60% of the farmers feed their calves colostrum up to 3 days after birth and 55% of them feed 1 liter or less than one liter of colostrum per day. 55% farmers breastfeed calves till 10 months of age. 60% of farmers start feeding calves green grass and grain feed from 5 weeks of age. 95% of farmers cut the umbilical cord and disinfect immediately after birth. The first deworming is given when the calf is 4-5 weeks of age. 65% of the farms were vaccinated against various diseases and 60% of the farms had a history of calf scour during the period of the study