Smallscale Farming Practices and Crosssectional Study of Mastitis in Nazareth, East Shoa
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2007-06
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Abstract
The present study was conducted to asses the husbandry practices, identify major health constraints, establish mastitis prevalence, determine potential risk factor of mastitis and isolate responsible agents of mastitis in smallholder dairy farms in Nazareth, East Shoa. A total of 95 market oriented smallholder dairy farms comprising 234 cows were included in the study. Data were collected by using questionnaire survey, farm visit, animal examination, and California Mastitis Test (CMT). Microbiological assessment of milk samples was conducted at the Faculty’s microbiology laboratory. Fifty nine percent of the farms were owned by women and the remaining by men. In most cases (74.7%) dairying was a side-line business while only 25.4% entirely earn their living from this activity. The majority (52.6%) of farm owners had high school and above level of education. The average herd size per farm was 5.23. There were 93.7% crossbred and 6.3% indigenous cattle. The breeding methods used were only AI in 64.2% of the farmers and both AI and natural services in the rest. About 21.1% of the herds were under poor housing conditions. Full time hired laborers perform routine farm activities in 19% of the farms and contract hired laborers practiced milking in 39% of the farms. The most encountered health problem, indicated as primary disease, was mastitis. There was no record that enables the owners to compare the performance of his/her cows with in a herd or with those of his/her community. Based on clinical examination and CMT the cow-level prevalence of clinical and subclinical mastitis was 6.3% and 41.4% respectively. Aseptic collections of milk samples from all clinical and subclinical (CMT+) mastitis positive lactating cows were performed. Of 91 cow milk samples 90.11% were positive for aerobic pathogenic bacteria; predominant isolates being of CNS 21.2%, S. aureus 14.7%, S. agalactiae 11.6% and E. faecalis 10.6%. Duration of farming, poor drainage/slope of stable area, feed provision before milking, milking of clinical cows at any stage, farming practice as a side business were highly associated with mastitis. Poor body condition, previous clinical mastitis problem and leaking teats were associated with mastitis. Although smallholder dairy farmers, were facing a lot of problems specially lack of technical know-how, there is great potential and opportunity for the development of the sector.
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smallholder, dairy cow, husbandry practice, mastitis, prevalence