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Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

DOI

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Abstract

This study was designed to determine the health status of dairy cattle, and the rates of and reasons for culling on dairy farms in Kars. A 2-stage stratified sampling strategy was used to select localities and farms. The study involved an interview with the farmers and regular visits to the farms. The farm prevalence levels of abortion, foot- and -mouth disease (FMD), respiratory problems, leptospirosis, blackleg, hardware (TRP), bloat and anthrax were 46.7%, 57.8%, 4.4%, 13.3%, 4.4%, 11.1%, 8.8% and 0% in 2001 and 53.3%, 62.2%, 17.8%, 17.8%, 4.4%, 11.1%, 11.1% and 8.8% in 2002, respectively. Incidence rates (animal-years/100) for abortion, leptospirosis, blackleg and anthrax were 7.7, 0.5, 0.2, and 0 in all herds and 20, 3, 8.7, and 0 in affected herds in 2001, and 6.7, 2.1, 0.2, and 0.4 in all herds and 12.5, 11, 6.1, and 1.9 in affected herds in 2002, respectively. Vaginal discharge (84.4%), infertility (40%), mastitis (55.6%), retained placenta (42.2%), dystocia (31.1%), weight loss (46.7%) and anorexia (31.1%) were the most common clinical problems encountered at farm level and animal level in the postpartum period. Around 11% of the farmers reported culling of their animals. The most common reasons for culling were old age (34.7% and 30.5%), abortion (22.6% and 19.5%), FMD (14.5% and 7.6%), infertility (1.6% and 14.4%), respiratory problems (4.8% and 5.1%), TRP (5.6% and 2.5%) and leptospirosis (0.8% and 3.4%) in 2001 and 2002, respectively. It is concluded that more detailed epidemiological studies addressing each disease are a prerequisite if profitable farming and preventive measures are planned.

Keywords

Clinical problems, postpartum health, culling, dairy cattle

First Page

745

Last Page

752

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