Study on Dairy Cattle Production Systems, Milk Quality and Major Disease Problems in Debre Berhan Milkshed, Central Highlands of Ethiopia
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Date
2020-06
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Abstract
A cross-sectional study was conducted with the major objectives of characterizing dairy
cattle production systems, analyses of the quality of raw milk and major disease problems
in Debre Berhan milkshed in central highlands of Ethiopia. The survey was conducted in
three selected study sites of Debre Berhan milk shed. A total of 175 randomly selected
household were involved in the study. Data from the household survey were collected using
pre-tested fully structured questionnaire, through observation and focused group
discussion. The result showed that crossbred dairy cows were preferably kept by the
producers than local dairy cows. The main reason producers involved in dairying was
income generation either from milk sale or animal sales followed by dairy farmers kept
dairy cattle as a means of assets. Among the many constraints raised by dairy producers,
shortage of land was the major one which has limiting effect both on keeping dairy animals
and production of dairy feed. The others included feed shortage, high feed price, poor
nutritional quality of available feeds and prevalence of production related diseases. Indoor
feeding and artificial insemination were mostly used feeding and breeding practices,
respectively. The majority (95.4%) of respondents used to wash their hands before milking
of which 78.3% had access to tap water to clean hands, milk utensils and the udder of
cows. About 77.1% of the respondent’s cleaned milk utensils immediately after use with
cold water and detergent while 16.6% of dairy farmers cleaned the equipment prior to use
but not immediately after use. The total bacterial count of cow milk produced in the urban
and peri-urban were 7.11±0.86 log10 cfu /ml and 7.17±0.61 log10 cfu/ml, respectively. The
somatic cell count in the urban and peri-urban milk production system was 6.17±0.54 log10
cfu/ml and 5.42±0.43log10 cfu/ml respectively. Higher (SCC/ml) was found in urban (6.17)
areas of the study compared to the peri-urban areas (5.42). Microbial load of dry season
milk was significantly (p<0.05) higher than wet season milk. Significantly higher total
bacterial count (TBC) and coliform count (CC) was found for milk obtained from
processing plant than milk collection center and dairy farmers. The total bacterial count
(TBC) collected from milk producers (MP), milk collectors (MC) and milk processing
plants (MPP) were 7.14±0.74 log10cfu/ml, 7.43±1.11 log10cfu/ml, and 7.84±0.54
log10cfu/ml respectively. The SCC collected from milk producers (MP), milk collectors
(MC) and milk processing plants (MPP) were 5.68 log10 somatic cell/ml, 5.39 log10
somatic cell/ml and 5.87 log10 somatic cell/ml, respectively. Major health problems
encountered were mastitis, black leg and foot and mouth disease. A total of 510 lactating
cows were examined clinically. California Mastitis Test (CMT) was used to detect clinical
and subclinical mastitis. The overall prevalence of mastitis at cow and quarter level was
72.2% and 55.95%, respectively. Among mastitis cases, 54.9% was subclinical and 17.3%
was clinical mastitis. Similarly, among the total (2040) quarters investigated, 55 quarters
(2.65%) were blind. In clinical mastitis, age, breed, previous history of mastitis, milk yield,
herd size and teat lesion had shown statistically significant association with the prevalence
of mastitis (P<0.05). The most repeatedly isolated pathogens from mastitis positive cases
was Staphylococcus species (57.3%).The study indicated that the overall cow level
occurrence of lameness was found to be 9.2%. The risk factors for the prevalence of
lameness at the animal level were production systems, length of cow track in meter, floor
type and hoof trimming practices. The average daily milk yield/cow was found to be
significantly decline by 1.77 liters with the case of lameness. A total of 744 blood samples
were collected both from male and female of non-vaccinated, crossbred, Jersey and local
breeds of dairy cattle. The seroprevalence of bovine brucellosis was 11 (1.5%) by RBPT
and 1.21 %. by CFT. The risk of having brucellosis in those herds experiencing abortion
was 22.97 times higher (OR =22.97, CI = 2.72-193.73) than those without abortion. It
could be concluded that dairy production was commonly practiced and was good source
of income in the study area. However, land and feed shortage and the price of feed were
among the constraints severely affecting dairying. Milk collected from all value points did
not meet the minimum quality standard hence continuous awareness creation should be
practiced. Among the major dairy cattle diseases, mastitis was a serious problem in dairy
farms in the study areas. Therefore, hygienic milking practice, frequent screening for
mastitis and special handling of chronically infected and older cows with repeated mastitis
records, cow therapy and awareness creation to dairy farm should be practiced to reduce
the risk of mastitis. Similarly, the study showed that lameness is an economically important
dairy cattle problem. Consequently, prevention and treatment of lameness in cows at all
stages of lactation should be part of dairy farm management practice. Finally, isolation of
aborted and new entry animals, movement control between different herds and creation of
public awareness by educating people are forwarded to reduce disease transmission within animals and from animals to humans.
Description
PhD Thesis
Keywords
Crossbred dairy cattle, Debre Berhan, Ethiopia, Management practices, Mastitis, Milk quality, Socio-economic characteristic