FARMERS’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS INTERVENTIONS REGARDING BUFFALO CALF HEALTH CARE AND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS

A survey of small, medium and large size dairy farms was conducted in the peri-urban areas of District Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan. Forty-eight dairy farms owned by 16 farmers from each category were selected randomly to study the status of health care and management of buffalo calves. The results showed that the mortality rate in buffalo calves was 79.51%. None of the farmers was cutting and disinfecting the navel cord and a large number of them (87.8%) fed colostrum after the expulsion of placenta. About 87.5% of dairy owners provided the buffalo calves with grain/fodder from 6 days to weaning age. More than 93% farmers were not deworming the calves and a majority (60.42%) of these dairy owners did not consult a veterinarian for the treatment of sick calves. The study tended to show that owners of these dairy farms were not interested in rearing the male calves because they did not expect sizeable returns from their sale. Thus, there is an urgent need to educate these dairy owners to make calf rearing an economical proposition.