Doctorate Reveals Dairy Cow Health Issues

TANZANIA - Calf health and growth on farms in the Tasmanian highlands has been described as poor in a doctoral research project with farmers being described as having 'scant knowledge' of calf nutrition and husbandry.
calendar icon 24 December 2012
clock icon 1 minute read

The report, by veterinary surgeon Jelly Changa, appraised dairy calf health in the south eastern highlands of Tanzania and found that low growth rate from birth to weaning was due to feeding practices as opposed to health issues.

Mrs Changa found that despite limited understanding of calf welfare there was a relatively low rate of clinical diseases, blood parasites and endoparasites on calves studied and cryptosporidia had little effect on youngstock health.

Low blood level, phosphorous, haemoglobin and total protein were found to have singificant effects on calf development. The time of year the calf was born, the amount of milk feed, drinking water and age of weaning were stated as factors limiting calf development.

These findings come after four years of studying for a doctorate at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science.

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