Dairy Farm Study: Analyzing the Rate of Calves Raising Practices and Their Health Effects
Abstract
The increased public awareness about farm animal welfare has highlighted the need for comprehensive methodologies to evaluate and improve animal welfare on dairy farms. This research investigates on calf raising procedures, which is an important part of dairy operations that have a substantial influence on calf wellbeing. The study aims to discover typical behaviors impacting the well-being of milk-fed calves by conducting questionnaires on 130dairy farms around the region. This study aimed to evaluate the procedures of growing calves on dairy farms, by determining the prevalence of variables linked to subpar calves' wellbeing. It investigated the various aspects of calf raising techniques, including the execution of calving barriers, monitoring during calving, cleaning newborn’s navels, dehorning approaches, milk feeding strategies, and weaning protocols. The main risk variables for minimal calf care were found to include insufficient surveillance during calving's, especially at night, and the fact that herds lacked calving barriers. Furthermore, the lack of cleaning of the navels of neonates in herds resulted in a delay that the identification and observation of calves. In herds, typical restricted milk feeding practices were used, and waste milk was given to unweaned calves without any safety measures. Other troubling aspects were the removal of extra teats and late dehorning without appropriate pain management. The herds, abrupt weaning was reported. This complete risk factor evaluation serves as the crucial initial stage in establishing an intervention strategy targeted at improving calf care on dairy farms.
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