Chandan and Debashish,
If you like you can check out this ad post. It serves all the answers you have.
Dairy cows are very sensitive to heat stress, which can cost the dairy producer. Majority of the losses is because of the drop in production and the balance with health issues due to impaired reproduction, mastitis, acidosis. Heat stress is linked to ambient temperature but also to relative humidity, which will amplify the impact of heat. The temperature–humidity index is a common indicator of heat stress. Some signs of heat stress in lactating cows are obvious, especially the reduced milk production and the lethargic behavior of the cows. Moderate signs of heat stress may occur when the temperature is between 80° and 90°F with the humidity ranging from 50 to 90 per cent. These signs include rapid shallow breathing, profuse sweating and an approximately 10 percent decrease in milk.
Higher producing cows exhibit more signs of heat stress than lower producing cows because higher producing cows generate more heat as they eat more feed for higher production.
Its better to spray water over cows twice a day and providing a wallowing tank is recommended for buffaloes as they like being in water to cool their body. Better leave them for sometime everyday.
Murali Krishnan
Importance of calcium supplementation:-
Calcium concentrate is a liquid mineral supplement supplied to cattle immediately after calving and for the next four to six weeks. Calcium is important for the formation of bones and teeth and to replace calcium that is lost from the bones during to the pregnancy period and lactation cycle. Calcium supplementation is not at all recommended in the period leading up to calving. Due to this, it can significantly impair the cow’s ability to mobilize calcium post calving. A dosage of 25 ml per cow per day must be administered from the day of calving and it should be continued for four to six weeks after calving.
Murali Krishnan
Sri Vinayaka Agencies
Trivandrum
Deworm your cattle during rainy season. Internal parasites cause sub-clinical effects and it is followed by clinical signs. Sub-clinical signs/effects results in loss of production. Animals won’t look like sick animals but a drop in production, weight loss, low conception rates happens. It results in big economic loss for the farmer. Its always better to deworm your cows twice a year. Keep rotating the type of dewormer used (Albendazole, Fenbendazole, Piperazine Hexahydrate) Keep in mind its spectrum of control, withdrawal period, cost, effectiveness, product efficiency, and method of application. Parasites develop resistance towards dewormers over a period of time. So rotating dewormer given is the best way. Your veterinarian is the best judge to recommend as he can relate well depending upon the parasites of that area. In places where you let loose the cattle, pasture management techniques may be implemented.
Murali Krishnan
Sri Vinayaka Agencies
Trivandrum
Hi all,
I wanted to start a dairy farm in my town. I own about 18 acres of land. I do not have any expertise in this field. I was looking for some advise on how should I go about it. I was looking for some kind of training/internship in this field.
Thanks,
Anil
anilagarwal88@gmail.com
Hello,
I have started a dairy farm. I have two questions.
-
I use Delaval milking machine to milk cows. Is it mandatory to dry cows manually after machine milking ?
-
We use regular washing soap to wash the cows. Please suggest any better option (or soap liquid).
Thank you,
-Ganapathi Bhat
PENERGETIC - What is this ? Need Advise
Hello,
When i was reading in the internet, i hit upon “PENERGETIC”. there are few variations of PENERGETIC, that can be used for Slurry tank operations and also to feed cows. Please let me know the effectiveness of this product in homogenizing the slurry…
i have done lot of reading on this in the internet…i would like to know practical experience of farmers who have used this or know this product. is this being used by farmers ? does this product work as promised ?
thank you,
-Ganapathi Bhat
[quote=Chandra]
Some sound advice on cow dairy farming: farmnest.com/forum/animal-farmin … g93/#msg93
[/quote] Hi Mr. Murli
I am sunil an want to start my dairy business. Can i have your contact detail.
Hats off for being very honest in giving guidance to people who would like to start dairy farm not many people do this.
Ein45, thanks a lot for your comments.
Murali krishnan
srivinayakatvm@gmail.com
Dear Murali cheta
Hope you are doing well .
Whether Kota stones (one type of lime stone from Rajsthan) can be used in diary farm. Kota stones are looks like finished cement flour but being stone good to clean and maintain with pressure pumps. if flooring done with Kota stine with rubber mats to cow stands whether it is good or not?
Some journals and some of the diary farmers says, it is a tough job and low income. So not a suitable enterprenureship for new comers or people who consider as the business. where some of the farmers says they gets good profit out of it,. basically what are the major challenges in Diary farm and whether it is possible to over come it?
rgds
mathew
Hello Mr.Mathews,
NO. You should not use Kota stones. For dairy flooring, just have rough cemented floors, (have concrete flooring underneath, top up with cement for levelling) , having broom finish, meaning before the cement gets dried up, draw lines on top of it using a coconut broom (kutti choolu in malayalam).
The lines made using broom will provide good grip for cows and also for the persons handling cows and also for calves. Its the cheapest solution. Rubber mat straight edged if put on top is good for cows. I have already written in detail on this site the advantages in using cow mats.
The major challenges in dairying is the lack of involvement of the owner in the management - i mean milking and feeding time. That’s the time for spending and earning money. You spend to feed the cows.See that the right amount of feed is fed to all the cows according to their yield. Not all the same quantity for all the cows. Feed them according to the milk produced. Normally owners sit at home and try to run the farm on remote control. In such cases, their money will be enjoyed by their staff. Another important point is " Record the milk produced by each cow everyday. Observe the increase or decrease weekly. If decrease is observed, find out the reasons, if need be ask your veterinarian for a check up. If increase is there you must add more ration for that cow. Make it a point for calcium and mineral supplementation as need be for all cows.
Murali Krishnan
i wnt to know where do i get loan to start a diary farm and what knowledge required to do this business
dear muralicheta,
thanks for valuable advise.
rgds
mathew
Milking Machine consists of three parts,the vaccum pump and the motor, the vacuum line using pvc 1 inch threaded pipes with vacuum stop cocks fixed on the line- one behind every 4 cows with 2 metre vacuum hose connecting the vacuum line to the milking can assembly and the milking can assembly set. The vacuum pump sets consist:vacuum pump, motor,vacuum tank, vacuum regulator and vacuum meter, the milker consists of milking bucket, milk claw, pneumatic pulsator, stainless steel milk shell and some rubber parts like liners, short milk tube, twin pulsation tubes, milk tube etc.There are different types milking machines to meet your needs depending upon the herd size, vacuum pump type, blade vacuum pump and dry pump type, single bucket and double bucket, 4 can, 5 can, 8 can,10 can,12 can and diesel engine types and gasoline types. Its always better to have a stand by power unit like generators as you need to complete milking without any hindrance.
Ensure service back up for these machines. Service plays a crucial role.
The milking unit is a part of the milking machine for extracting milk from the udder of a cow/buffalo or goat. It is made up of a claw, stainless steel teat cup shells,four teat cups in case of cows/buffaloes, 2 teat cups in case of goat milking systems, or 2 in case of goats –teat cups made of plastic, rubber liners, milk sight glass which enables you to see the milk flow from each teat, long milk tube- transparent one, long pulsation tube, and a pulsator on top of the milking can. The milking claw consists of an assembly that connects the short pulse tubes and milk tubes from the teat cups to the long milk tube. Claws are commonly made of plastic and the shells having liners are mostly steel made, to make it heavy and shock resistant. In the milk claw you can see the milk flow from each teat. Teat cups are composed of a rigid outer shell that holds a soft inner liner. Transparent sections after the shell – milk sight glass in between liner and short milk tube- may allow viewing of milk flow.
Milking machines work in a way that is different from hand milking or calf drinking milk. Continuous vacuum is applied inside the soft liner to massage milk from the teat by creating a pressure difference across the teat canal. The vacuum produced by the vacuum pump using an electric motor attached to it, helps to keep the cluster attached to the cow in its udder. Atmospheric pressure is admitted into the pulsation chamber about every second to allow the liner to collapse around the end of teat and relieve congestion in the teat tissue. The ratio of the time that the liner is open is called milking phase and in closed position is called rest phase and this action is called the “pulsation ratio”.
The four quarters releasing milk from the teat cups in case of cows/buffaloes are usually combined in the claw and transported to the long transparent milk tube falling finally to the milk can, made of stainless steel, capacity 30 litres, by means of vacuum.
For small farms upto 25 cows better to buy machines having dry type vacuum pumps avoiding recurring expenditure.
Pulsators the oldest type is the piston type. Then came the hydro pulsator. Latest is the pneumatic type pulsators which is oil free.
In today’s world, machines are there to milk 1,2,4,5,8,10,12 cows at a time. Better to go for ISO standards, and machines of European origin for long life. See www.tarimak.com
Murali
9447088234
Colostrum feeding – very important for a calf for its survival
For a newly born calf, feeding colostrum milk is very important for its survival. So, rearing calves in the right way and protecting it from diseases is very important as it reduces the cost of replacing dairy animals. A calf will be having a very low immunity when it’s born. Normally placenta does not allow the transfer of antibodies from its mother to the calf during the pregnancy period. The colostrum is the first milk from mother to the calf which is rich with anti bodies, in its early life until the calf develops its own immune systems. Through colostrum the new born calf gets its own defense system against diseases. Anti bodies are proteins that identify and kill the disease causing organisms in the calf. Three types of Immunoglobulins – Igg,Igm, and IgA. The Igg- identifies and helps in destroying invading pathogens. Igm – identify and destroys bacteria that have entered blood and IgA – attaches to the membranes that line many organs like intestine and it prevents pathogens from attaching and disease occurring situations.
Make sure that the calf gets the colostrum milk immediately after calving.
Murali krishnan
srivinayakatvm@gmail.com
9446352007
dear members
Any one have experiance or feed back on a distance learning program named Diploma in Dairy Technology (DDT) conducted by IGNOU? or if you have idea about more better cource pls advise
rgds
mathew
Colostrum - feeding the calf is very important
The newborn calf begins to breathe immediately after the umbilical cord breaks. Mucus around the nostrils should be cleaned using a dry clean cloth. Do not press too much on the calf’s chest or lift it by the rear legs since this will do more harm than good. Immediately after birth, the navel cord should be dipped with iodine solution. The cow should be allowed to lick the calf after delivery. If the cow does not lick the calf, the calf should be dried with clean dry cloth. This practice not only dries the calf but stimulates its blood circulation. Generally, dairy calves are removed from their dam immediately after the dam has licked the calf clean within an hour. Colostrum is secreted by the mammary gland shortly before and after calving. True Colostrum is normally available only from the first milking. After the first milking and for the next two and a half days, the mother’s milk is called transition milk.
Murali Krishnan
srivinayakatvm@gmail.com
Cleaning of milking equipment:
All milking equipments, pipelines, and utensils that come into contact with milk, dirt, or manure must be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized before the next milking. Bulk milk tanks also must be cleaned after each milk pick up and sanitized before the next milking using acid and alkali solutions. The purpose of cleaning is to remove milk residues as well as organic and mineral solids that form on equipment surface after the milk is removed. The purpose of sanitizing is to remove residual microorganisms present on these surfaces immediately prior to milking. Inadequate or improper cleaning or sanitizing allows bacteria to remain on equipment surface and it grows . This results in elevated bacterial count in milk. Proper brushes to be used for cleaning. Warm water mixed with acid/alkali detergents is normally used for cleaning.
Murali krishnan
srivinayakatvm@gmail.com
Bloat in cattle:-
Bloat is a risk when animals are grazing young, lush pasture, particularly if the pasture has high legume content. Ruminant animals produce large volumes of gas during the normal process of digestion. This gas either is belched up or passes through the gastrointestinal tract. If something interferes with gas escape from the rumen, bloat occurs. Natural foaming agents in legumes and some rapidly growing grasses cause a stable foam to form in the rumen. Gas is trapped in small bubbles in this foam in the rumen and the animal cannot
belch up the gas. Pressure builds up in the rumen causing an obvious swelling on the left side of the body.
Cattle with bloat may display the following signs:
• Distended left abdomen;
• No longer grazing;
• A reluctance in moving around;
• Appear distressed – vocalize, eyes bulging;
• Strain to urinate and defecate;
• Rapid breathing – mouth may be open with tongue protruding.
• Staggering.
In advanced cases the animal will go down. Death is rapid at this stage, and is due to the swollen rumen compressing the lungs, interfering with breathing and tissue oxygenation, and obstructing blood flow.
Treating cattle
Animals that are mildly affected can be treated orally with an anti-bloat preparation. After dosing, keep the animals moving to encourage the preparation to mix with the frothy rumen contents.
Bloated animals starting to show signs of distress need veterinary attention. A stomach tube can be used to relieve the gas build-up. Anti-foaming agents can be delivered directly into the rumen through the tube. Moving the animal around after treatment is important.
Murali Krishnan
srivinayakatvm@gmail.com
9447088234