Calf Morbidity and Mortality in Ethiopian Smallholder Dairy Farms

Calf mortality and morbidity are important indicators of dairy cattle welfare. Although the Ethiopian government has initiatives for expanding the commercial and smallholder market oriented urban and peri-urban dairy production systems to meet the demands for dairy products, there have been only limited on-farm studies on the health and welfare status of commercial dairy breeds. Therefore, this study was carried out to explore and estimate the incidence of calf morbidity and mortality, identify and quantify causes and predictors of calf morbidity and mortality from birth to six months in urban and peri-urban dairy farms in North-western Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to quantify the incidence and identify predictors of calf morbidity and mortality from birth to 6 months of age in (peri-) urban dairy farms of Northwest Ethiopia. A total of 439 calves aged below 6 months from 174 dairy farms were included in the study. Kaplan Meir survival curve and Cox proportional hazard regression model were employed to summarize the cumulative survival and to identify and quantify predictors associated with time to morbidity and mortality. Among 439 calves enrolled and monitored for 6 months, a total of 141 morbidities and 54 mortality events were recorded. Overall morbidity and mortality incidence rates were64 per 100-calf 6-months at risk (risk rate of 47.3%) and 19 per 100-calf 6-months at risk (risk rate of 17.9%),respectively. Diarrhoea was the most frequent calf health problem (25.2% risk rate) and primary cause of death (33.3%). Pneumonia was ranked second with a risk rate of 8.6% and was responsible for the death of 12.9% of all 54 calf deaths. Among 35 potential risk factors, calf age, vigor status at birth, calf breed,colostrum ingestion, and herd size were significant (p<0.05) predictors of calf morbidity and mortality. In conclusion, the magnitude of calf morbidity and mortality was higher and above economically tolerable level (>5%) in the study areas. Besides, calf management practices of farmers were not up to the standard as 32%of respondents denied calves from taking colostrum on the erroneous belief that it causes calf diarrhea. This situation carries significant implications for both herd health and welfare in these areas. Therefore, educating farmers on improved calf health and welfare management practices could reduce calf morbidity and mortality in the study areas.