SOME FACTORS AFFECTING SOUNDNESS AND BEHAVIOUR OF DAIRY ANIMALS

Document Type : Research article

Authors

Abstract

This work was carried out on 1255 dairy cows and 183 buffaloes in two types of housing, cow and milk house systems to investigate the effect of housing system on the soundness and behaviour of such animals. Moreover, 1248 dairy cows and 165 buffaloes were examined for detect ion of capped elbow, laminitis, foot rot and overgrowth of claws.
The overall percentages of incidence of kicking, stricking, suckling and eating of bedding were found to be 1.6, 2.1, 0.56 and 3.5% respectively in investigated animals due to overcrowding of the animals. The incidence percentages of limb affections were found to be 0.5, 2.8 and 1.8 for capped elbow, foot cot and claw overgrowth respectively.