Department of Animal Science and Health, College of Agricultural Sciences, Arba Minch University, Arba Minch, Ethiopia.
PLoS One. 2021 Sep 16;16(9):e0257139. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257139. eCollection 2021.
Calf morbidity and mortality are serious constraints in the success of dairy calf production. Thus, the current study was carried out with the objective to estimate the incidence of calf morbidity and mortality and associated risk factors in milk-shed districts of Gamo Zone, Southern Ethiopia. A prospective cohort and cross-sectional survey were employed from November 2019 to April 2020. A total of 196 calves were recruited by simple random sampling. Recruitment of calves was deployed by both the concurrent and prospective cohorts in calves aged below three months in study herds. The crude incidence of calf morbidity and mortality was 30.9% and 8.64%, respectively. The most frequently encountered disorder was calf diarrhea (10.17%), followed by pneumonia (6.5%). The other disorders were septicemia, omphalitis, arthritis, eye problem and miscellaneous cases. Multivariable Cox regression was revealed significant association for the calf vigor status, colostrum ingestion time, colostrum feeding status, dam parity, age at first calving, and related disorders were found risk factors of calf morbidity; likewise, calf vigor status at birth, time of colostrum ingestion and weaning were risk factors determining calf mortality. Calf morbidity and mortality rates recorded in this study were marginally higher than economically tolerable level, therefore, could affect the productivity of smallholder dairying by decreasing the obtainability of replacement heifers. Among significant explanatory factors investigated, colostrum ingestion time, method and amount were found important determinant factors of calf mortality and morbidity under the small-holder farming in the milk-shed districts of the Gamo zone. Therefore, rigorous calf husbandry practice is a need to manipulate the aforementioned calf determinants with subsequent application of tailor-made interventions.
牛犊发病率和死亡率是奶牛犊生产成功的严重制约因素。因此，本研究旨在估计甘莫地区奶区奶牛犊发病率和死亡率以及相关风险因素。2019 年 11 月至 2020 年 4 月期间采用前瞻性队列和横断面调查。采用简单随机抽样方法共招募了 196 头犊牛。在研究牛群中，通过同期和前瞻性队列招募了 3 个月以下的犊牛。牛犊发病率和死亡率分别为 30.9%和 8.64%。最常见的疾病是犊牛腹泻（10.17%），其次是肺炎（6.5%）。其他疾病包括败血症、脐炎、关节炎、眼部问题和杂病例。多变量 Cox 回归显示，犊牛活力状况、初乳摄入时间、初乳喂养状况、母畜胎次、首次产犊年龄和相关疾病与犊牛发病率有关；同样，出生时犊牛活力状况、初乳摄入时间和断奶时间是决定犊牛死亡率的危险因素。本研究记录的牛犊发病率和死亡率略高于经济可承受水平，因此可能会通过降低后备小母牛的可获得性，影响小农户奶牛养殖业的生产力。在所研究的重要解释因素中，发现初乳摄入时间、方法和量是甘莫地区奶区小农户养殖中犊牛死亡和发病的重要决定因素。因此，严格的犊牛饲养管理实践是操纵上述犊牛决定因素的必要措施，并随后应用定制干预措施。
