Research Article
Reta Adisu and Abriham Kebede
Abstract
Aim: The study was conducted from November 2014 to April 2015 dairy farms of the Ambo and Holleta town to assess the major observed health problem associated risk factors. Methods: The total of 20 small and large-scale dairy farms were included in the current observational study. From these selected dairy farms, 475 dairy cattle; 201 in Holleta and 274 in Ambo were examined for different health problems. Observational study was implemented by conducting regular visit during the study period with the interval of once per three weeks. Results: Accordingly, Dermatophilosis (25.1%), mange mites (18.3%), tick infestation (30.1), lice infestation (20.2), retained fetal membrane (3.1), dystocia (2.8) as common reproductive problem of dairy cows. Infectious disease like clinical mastitis (5.9%), black leg (1.9%), lumpy skin disease (0.63%), foot and mouth disease (0.84) were also recorded. Conclusion: The result obtained from observational study showed that these major health problems hinder success of dairy farm operation and future expansion. Therefore, further studies should be preceded to develop a control and prevention methods to improve the productivity of the sector.