My Visit To a Local Dairy Farm

 Vivek Kumar

            GEHU, Dehradun

Dairy  farm Visit in Bihar:

I visited a dairy farm located in Supaul district Bihar, near NH57, here  is the details of farmer's and summery of what i saw and learnt:

 Farmer’s name – Ramchandra  Yadav

 Village name - majhari

 Block name- Nirmali

 District name- Supaul

 State – Bihar

 No. of cow he has: 12

 No. of bull: 1

·      No. of heifer : 3

·      No. of calf: 4

      Mr. Ramchandra Yadav gives brief introduction about  dairy farming and he also tells in their Herd how much cattle are there and how they manage a large no of population  of cattle in  simplest way,

      for  management of all cattle he has 2 male labours and 1 female labours.

  

      firstly he gives brief idea about housing system of cattle and their advantages, he said   there are 2 types of housing:  

• 👉The loose housing barn in combination with some type of milking barn or parlor.

• 👉The conventional dairy 

      but he  kept 2nd type of housing pattern for cattles their details are as follows  

           conventional Dairy Barn

• The conventional dairy barns are comparatively costly and are now becoming less popular day by  day. However, by this system cattle are more protected from adverse climatic condition.

• The following barns are generally needed for proper housing of different classes

 

             👉 Dairy Stock in the Farm

• 👉Cow houses or sheds

• 👉Calving box

• 👉Isolation box

• 👉Sheds for young stocks

• 👉Bull or bullock sheds

            Cow Sheds:

• 👉Cow sheds can be arranged in a single row if the numbers of cows are small.

• 👉Say less than 10 or in a double row if the herd is a large one.

• 👉Ordinarily, not more than 80 to 100 cows should be placed in one building.

• 👉In double row housing, the stable should be so arranged that the cows face out (tails to tail system) or face in (head to head system) as preferred 

            Advantages of tail to tail system:

• Under the average conditions, 125 to 150 man hours of labour are required per cow per year. Study of time: Time motion studies in dairies showed that 40% of the expended time is spent in front of the cow, and 25% in other parts of the barn and the milk house, and 60% of the time is spent behind the cows. Time spent at the back of the cows is 4 times more than the time spent in front of them.

• 👉In cleaning and milking the cows, the wide middle alley is of great advantage.

• 👉Lesser danger of spread of diseases from animal to animal.

• 👉Cows can always get more fresh air from outside.

• 👉The head gowala can inspect a greater number of milkmen while milking. This is possible because milkmen will be milking on both sides of the gowala.

• 👉Any sort of minor disease or any change in the hind quarters of the animals can be detected quickly and even automatically.

          Advantages of face to face system:

• 👉Cows make a better showing for visitors when heads are together

• 👉The cows feel easier to get into their stalls.

• 👉Sun rays shine in the gutter where they are needed most.

• 👉Feeding of cows is easier, both rows can be fed without back tracking.

• 👉It is better for narrow barns.

          ✋ he said for housing requirements  each cow takes 4.5- 5 m2 area.

          

            In cold season he also gives beddings for cattle 

            For beddings he generally used rice straw, sometimes he also used rubber mat 

            If extreme cold is there than he also take some jute cloth for cattle.

                                          Where as in warm season there should be proper ventilation, exhaust fans &  ceiling fans should be there.

             Cattle breed: (@ Mr. Yadav farm’s)

1. Sahiwal :

Character-

• Highest and sweetest milk.
• Originated in Montgomery district in present Pakistan.
• This breed otherwise known as Lola (loose skin), Lambi Bar, Montgomery, Multani, Teli.
• The colour is reddish dun or pale red, sometimes flashed with white patches.  

☺The average milk yield of this breed is between 2,725 and 3,175 kgs in lactation period of 300 days

2. Jersey :

Character-

• It is the smallest of the dairy types of cattle developed on island of 
Jersey, U.K.

• In India this breed has acclimatized well and is widely used in cross breeding with indigenous cows.
• The typical colour of Jersey cattle is reddish fawn.
• Dished fore head and compact and angular body.

• These are economical producers of milk with 5.3% fat and 15% SNF.

 

3. Holstein Friesian: 

Character-

• This breed was developed in the northern parts of Netherlands, especially in the province of Friesland.
• They are ruggedly built and they possess large udder.
• They are the largest dairy breed and mature cows weigh as much as 700kg.
• They have typical marking of black and white that make them easily distinguishable.

•     ☺The average production of cow is 6000 to 7000 kgs per lactation. However, the fat content in their milk is rather low (3.45 per cent).

        

Feed management:

In Mr. Yadav dairy  farm, crop residues and by product

are the major components in livestock feed. In their farm dry fodder affords the largest proportion of fodder accounting for about 84% of the feed requirements. Straw of paddy and wheat both together contribute to about 92 % of dry fodder feeds for livestock in their  farm.

       He also used green fodder like maize, berseem, napier grass and some legume crop.

sometimes He also used leaves of some trees for feeding of livestock 

Leaves like bamboo leaves and banana leaves, mango leaves etc…

For feed He also used  oil cakes , chokar, sugar cakes, and banana  (this is given mainly those cows which is currently milching).

           

      

 Government  Schemes for Dairy Farming in Bihar :

Doodh Ganga Yogana :

This schemes gives finance for:

• Establishing small dairy units upto 10 aniimals.

• Finances for rearing heaifer calves.

• Vermi-compost 

• Purchasing the milking machines, cooling units and other dairy equipments

• Dairy processing equipments.

• Transportation facilities and cold chain , cold storage for milk and milk products.

• Establishment of veterinary clinics.

• Dairy parlors

The scheme approves loan upto 15 lakh rupees for setting of machines and cooler for the purpose of milk production and conservation.

For the transportation of dairy product, a loan of 25 lakh can be availed under the scheme.

Loan from rupees 1.2 lakh to 4.8 lakh are given for purchasing cattle and set up another animal husbandry venture.

         This information is taken from  and local news paper, and some basic information given by village Pradhan.

       General term which is important in dairy farm:-

Body temp. of cow:- 38.5`C

Respiration rate/min. :- 12- 16

Pulse rate/min:- 45-55

Onset of puberty :- 24- 30 months (females)

Length of estrous cycle:- 21 days

Length of heat period:- 18 hrs

Gastation period:- 282 days 

Common diseases of cattle:

1. Mastitis: inflammation of udder

2. FMD: viral disease 

3. Riderpest: viral, known as cattle plague

4. Anthrax : bacterial disease, it is called splenic fever

5. Cow pox: viral disease.

Few things that i observed there:

     in local dairy farm farmers do not have own dairy unit for processing of milk . In their  herds he has generally 10 to 30 cows  and he milked each cow twice a day (6:00 am & 5:00 pm) and after milked  dairy staff come there and collect whole milk  

milking is generally done by hand or somewhere also by machine. if machines were used than 4to 4.5 mins take each cow to milked where as by hand it takes 15 to 20 mins each cow

Every morning hormones or drugs are injected into the cow to increase there milk yield

Since cow produce the most milk after pregenancy, they are kept pregnant for their entire fertile life through AI

every year each cow delivers a baby. the local cowherds can not absorb all the baby calves that are born every year in their business. hence they sell the baby calves( 80 to 85% of them) to the beef industry where they raised the calves for beef and are slaughetered in three to four years or to an illegal veal industry where they are being slaughetered in 6 months .

Also after 4 to 5 deliveries, the milk yield of an adult cow drops significantly and hence the cowherd replace the old cow with a young one and sells the old cow to a slaugheter house for cheap meat. only few cows (7% or less) end up in a cow shelter place.

👉 Slaughtering the mother cows after five years of their fertile life while their life  expectancy is 15 years.

Organic Milk:

     The Organic farm is generally smaller than the huge factory-style farm. The Organic milk is produced without using antibiotics, pesticides, and hormones. There are no milk additives added into the milk. However there are no legal regulations that prevent farmers from engaging in similar abuses such as keeping the cows in tie stalls and using electric milking equipment, etc. Only few organic farms treat cows properly during her milk producing life.

 

Also to ensure steady milk production the organic farms:

  👉Keep cows pregnant all the time through artificial insemination or other means

   👉Sell baby calves to veal industry, where they are slaughtered in six months

   👉Sell the adult cows to the slaughter houses after four years when the milk production yield drops

Hence the Organic milk is not cruelty free milk.

@vesaliusvivek 

                                                           THANK YOU 🙏 

❔ What is your opinion about Slaughter houses & Organic milk.........must write in comment section