Türkiye’nin Kuzeydoğu Anadolu Bölgesinde Buzağı Yetiştirme Uygulamaları: Erzurum İli Horasan İlçesi Örneği

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess calf rearing methods applied in 500 cattle farms in the Horasan district of Erzurum province. Data used in this study were obtained through face-to-face interviews with cattle breeders. In 69.5% of the enterprises operating within Horasan county, the exact quantity of milk consumed by calves could not be determined due to the fact that they are fed by nursing from their mothers. On the other hand, the proportions of farms feeding calves 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 liters of milk per day were determined as 0.4%, 0.6%, 5.7%, 3.6%, 8.9%, and 11.3%, respectively. In 38.4% of cattle enterprises in the county, calves were fed with milk while their mothers were being milked, whereas in 27.6% of cattle farms, calves were weaned at 4 months of age, and in 24.3% at 5 months. Furthermore, it was also observed that the most of breeders (72.7%) considered the birth weight of calves as a criterion to decide on the quantity of milk to be provided to them. On these farms, the methods of feeding colostrum to calves were by sucking their mothers with a percentage of 54.3%, followed by bottle feeding with a percentage of 45.5% and the bucket method with a very low percentage of 0.2%. Furthermore, calves in Horasan County usually begin to be given calf starter feed either at the age of 2 weeks (28.3%) or 3 weeks (28.1%), while dry hay is generally introduced to the most of calves (42.0%) at the age of 2 weeks. In conclusion, some inaccuracies in calf rearing practices were identified in Horasan county of Erzurum province and solutions were proposed to address these problems.