Dairy management is the management of animals for milk and its products for human consumption. The main aim of dairy management is to deal with processes and systems that increase yield and improve the quality of milk. 

Cattles are to be well looked after. Quantity and quality of cattle feed should be maintained. Cleanliness and hygiene of cattle, handlers, milk and milk products should be maintained. Cleanliness and hygiene should be maintained during storage and transport of milk and mil products. The process should be mechanised to avoid direct contact with handlers. The shed must be clean, spacious with adequate facilities for feeding, watering, and light. Identification of health problems, diseases, and rectification by veterinary doctors is mandatory. Cows and buffaloes are the main dairy animals reared for obtaining milk.

Selection of Breed:

The milk yield of dairy animals depends on the breed of the animal. The animals should be high yielding, disease-resistant and adjusting to the climatic conditions of the place where they are reared.

Animal Shelter (shed):

Animals should be protected from too much heat, rain, and cold. Hence proper shelter should be provided to them. The shelter should have a roof, proper sanitation, and ventilation.  The floor should be cemented and should have a slight slope so that the drainage of urine takes place and cleaning of dung is efficient. Different types of animals should be kept separately. Too many animals should never be kept in a small space.

Animal Feed:

The cattle feed consists of two components a) roughage and b) concentrates. The main feed of cows and buffaloes are grass but this does not provide them with all the nourishment. The roughage (Silage) is fibrous food containing a large amount of fibres such as hay fodder, leguminous plants-soybeans, peas and cereals like maize, jowar, etc. and concentrates are grains, oil cakes and seeds, mineral salts and vitamins, cereal like bajra, gram, rice polish, etc. Roughage has less nutritive value while concentrates are rich in nutrients. An average Indian cow eats about 15-20 kg of green fodder and 4 to 5 kg dry grass, which is mixed with a sufficient amount of grain. A cow drinks about 32 litres of water. The diet of animals should be balanced and its vary with age, state, health, breed type, etc.

Water and its Supply:

To keep these animals healthy they should be given clean water to drink and in sufficient quantities. For example, on average, a cow consumes about 27-36L of water. The drinking water supply should be permanent. If the continuous drinking water supply is not available, dairy cows and buffaloes should be provided with water at least 3 times in summer and 2 times in winter. We must bathe the cattle with clean water. There should be enough water to clean the sheds and animals.

Animal Grooming:

The animals should be cleaned, washed and brushed regularly to avoid skin infections.

Diseases of Animals:

• Viral diseases: Pox in cattle, goats, and sheep; dermatitis in goats and sheep; foot and mouth disease in cattle, blue tongue
• Bacterial diseases: Tuberculosis in cattle; diphtheria in calf;  footrot in sheep. mastitis. Anthrax, Hemorrhagic septicemia (due to infection (Pasturella multocida), Black quarter (due to infection of Clostridium chanroei), etc.
• Protozoan Disease: Trypanosomiasis
• Fungal Disease: Ringworm
• Other Diseases in Animals: Anthrax, tuberculosis, salmonellosis, mastitis, rinderpest (cattle plague), coccidiosis,
• External Parasites: lice, fleas, ticks, and mites. A buffalo leech (Hirudinaria granulosa) sucks blood of buffalo and causes anemia.
• Internal Parasites: worms (Ascaris rituloram) affects the stomach and intestine of cows and buffaloes and flukes (Fasciola gigantica and F.hepatica) damage the liver.

Most of these diseases can be prevented by proper sanitation, a controlled diet, proper housing and also by vaccinating the animals against these diseases at the proper time and age. The diseases can be cured by using proper antibiotics.  External parasites can be controlled by applying dilute solutions of insecticides like lindane. A veterinary doctor should check farm animals regularly and the record of each animal should be maintained.

Animal Breeding:

Breeding means to reproduce. In the case of animals, breeding is done to obtain animals with desired characters. The two individuals of desirable characters can be selected as parents. These are then crossed to obtain new breeds of animals. 

Artificial insemination is an important and effective method of breeding. The process involves injecting the semen obtained from desired bull belonging to high milk yielding breed into the reproductive tract of the female during heat period. It generally gives important breeds and is widely used to improve the qualities of cow, poultry, horse and goat etc

In India, improved breeds of dairy cows have been developed at National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal, Haryana. Some examples are: Karan Swiss (Crossbreed of brown Swiss and Sahiwal), Karan Fries (Crossbreed of Tharparkar and Holstein-Friesian), Frieswal (Crossbreed of,  Holstein-Friesian and Sahiwal)

Breeds in Dairy Management

Breeds of Cows:

Milch and Dairy Breeds:

• They are high milk yielding varieties. Bullocks of this variety are not useful as the work animal.
• Examples: Gir, Sindhi, Sahiwal, Gir, Deoni. Sahiwal is a superior breed in all breeds.

Draught Animals:

• The males of these categories are strong and sturdy. They are used for transport, pulling carts and ploughing in farms. The females of this variety give a little amount of milk.\Examples: Malir, Nageri, and Hallikar

Dual Purpose Breed:

• These breeds serve the purpose of above two breeds. The cow gives a moderate amount of milk and the bullocks are used for drought purpose.
• Examples: Tharparker, Kankrej, and Dang

Exotic Breeds:

• These breeds are not native to India. They are Jersey, Brown Swiss, Holstein.

Breeds of Buffaloes:

• Murrah gives 1800-2500 litres of milk every year. Mehsana gives 1200-2500 litres milk per year. Surti gives 1600-1800 litres of milk every year.
• Other well-known breeds of Indian buffaloes are Nagpuri, Bhadawari, Nili, Ravi.

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Ever since the beginning of civilization, humans have depended on animals for many requirements, such as that of food (milk, meat, and egg), clothing (hide or wool), labour (pulling, carrying the load) and security, etc. Humans have consistently tried to improve the breeds of domesticated animals to make them more useful for them. The branch of agricultural science, which deals with the study of various breeds of domesticated animals and their management for obtaining better products and services from them is known as Animal Husbandry. The term husbandry derives from the word “husband” which means ‘one who takes care’. Animal husbandry is essential to manage this gap between demand and supply of food and related products.

The rearing of animals for specific purposes is called domestication and animals are called domesticated animals. When animal husbandry incorporates the study of the proper utilization of economically important domestic animals, it is called Livestock Management. Livestock is used for different purposes. Cattles like cow and buffalo provide milk. Goats provide milk, meat, hair, and skin. Sheep, poultry, and pigs also provide meat. Horses, camels, donkeys are the beasts of burdens, they are used for carrying load and transport. Some insects are the sources of wax and honey. Animal husbandry provides high yielding and high breeding livestock. It gives supplementary income to farmers and tribal. It has importance in national income.

According to one estimate, more than 70% of the world livestock population is in India and China. But the total contribution of these two countries to world farm produce is only 25 %. It is due to low productivity and improper livestock management.

Livestock management of farm management includes a selection of high yielding breeds, their food requirements, a supply of adequate nutrient sources, cleanliness of the environment, maintenance of health and veterinary supervision, vaccination, high yield cross-breed development, preservation, and production of corresponding products, distribution and marketing.

Objectives of Animal Husbandry:

• To satisfy the need for food of the growing population.
• To do proper management of the domestic animals.
• To develop high yielding breeds of animals.
• To increase the standard of living of farmers.
• To increase the production of milk
• To increase the production of eggs
• To increase the production of meat
• To increase the production of fish
• To help in systematic disposal of animal wastes and maintaining a healthy environment.

Products Obtained From Animal Husbandry:

• Milk: Cows, buffaloes, and goats provide us with milk. It is an important source of nutrients.
• Eggs: Fowl and ducks are two major sources of eggs. It is an important source of nutrients.
• Meat: It is protein-rich food and is obtained from ducks, fowls, pigs, sheep, and fish.
• Honey and Wax: These are obtained from beehives of honeybees.
• Hides: The skin of animals is used as leather for making articles and shoes.
• Fibres: Wool is obtained from hairs of sheep and silk is obtained from the cocoons of the silkworm.
• Manures: Droppings and urine of animals are used as manure to enrich the soil with nutrients.
• Bone-meal: Crushed bones of cattle is used as feed in poultry farms and also used as fertilizer.
• Glue and gelatin: It is obtained from cattle bones, horns, and hooves. It is used as adhesive. Gelatin is used for making jellies.
• Draught or working animals: Bullocks, buffaloes, camels, horses, ass, horse, mules, and animals are used for transport and farm work.

Categories of Animals:

Wild:

The animals which breed better where they are free than they do when they are captivated are called wild animals. Example lion, tiger, rhinoceros, deer, etc. Wild animals go through their entire life without any need for human intervention, either directly or by means of alterations to their environment of situation. These animals do not depend upon human for food or their other needs to go through their whole lifecycle without ever coming into contact with, or even seeing, a human being. They have no common use for humans.

Feral:

A feral animal is an animal from a breed or species that have either previously been domesticated and then allowed to revert back into a natural state, or that has the potential to become domesticated.  Thus a feral animal is one which has escaped from a domestic or captive status and is living more or less as a wild animal. Animals which were wild before and escaped from captivity are not regarded as feral. Feral animals can be easily tamed and domesticated. e.g. dogs and cats in forests. Dogs can go feral. Wolves can’t go feral, because that’s their natural state (wild). They just stay untamed.

Tamed:

Taming is the process in which a behavioral modification of an individual animal is done by a mixture of force and awards so that it can exist in human society to some degree. The animals, which are caught from the wild and trained to be useful to humans in some way are called tamed animals. Bears and elephants can be, and often are, tamed and trained to perform tricks, but they are not domesticated. They are used for labourous work, entertainment, racing, riding, in advertisements and movies. Examples: elephant, chimpanzee, gorilla, yak, etc.

Domesticated:

Domestication a whole species or a population of wild animals is the genetically modified to (controlled breeding) of a wild animal to establish a new breed or cultivated variation which live symbiotically alongside humans.  The animals which are of use at home and are easily bred and looked after by humans are called domesticated animals. Domesticated animals are distinct from their wild counterparts. Their breeding and survival are controlled by humans. Examples:  dog, horse, cow, sheep, buffalo, fowl, etc.

Characteristics of Domesticated Animals:

• Domesticated animals breed easily and readily in captivity without the need for artificial aids or inducements.
• They grow quickly, thus their food and nutritional value increases.
• They are fairly docile (easy to manage) and easy to handle by humans.
• Generally, they avoid fights with other domesticated animals or do not attack owners and heard mates.
• They show social or herd structure by which they share territories.
• They have a flexible and efficient diet. Basically, domestic animals should be herbivorous so they can graze rather than requiring special diets.
• Generally, they are calm and do not show panic attack.

Classification of Domesticated Animals:

• Milk giving animals: e.g. Cattle, buffalo, goat, sheep, etc.
• Draught animals (used for load): e.g.  Bullock, horse, donkey, mule, camel, elephant, yak, etc.
• Fibre, hide and skin yielding animals: e.g. sheep, goat, cattle, buffalo, camel
• Meat and egg yielding animals: e.g. fowl (a hen) and duck, goat, buffalo, pig etc.

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