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Herd management and welfare assessment of dairy goat farms in Northern Cyprus by using breeding, health, reproduction, and biosecurity indicators

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Abstract

This study describes the results of a farm-based welfare assessment, herd management, and some yield indicators in Northern Cyprus dairy goat farms. Out of 324 intensive milk goat farms which produce goats, only the 42 goat farms which had 7950 heads were chosen by random sampling in Northern Cyprus (2016), and face-to-face questionnaires and observations were conducted to collect data. Regarding the breeding techniques in these farms, of all the goats in these farms, 45.2% were cross-breed, 38.1% were Damascus, 11.9% were Saanen, and 4.8% were hair goats. The average of the total number of animals was 211.38 ± 209 heads. The average number of pens and the number of animals per pen in the farms, which had 2 to 5 pens, were 67 ± 49.5 heads. The barn types of these farms were observed to be semi-open and nearly open (95%). 45.5% of the farms made a single milking in a day. The most significant reason for this was that the suckling of the kids lasted 3 months or more in 73.8% of the farms. Natural random mating was applied to 69% of the farms. The 45.2% of the farms applied additional feeding before the mating season. The rate of multiple births was 24.76%. The mortality rate in kids was greater than 10% in the 57% of farms examined. The 75% of kids had diarrhea, 33% had umbilicus infections, and 33% suffered from respiratory problems. Among the adult goats of the surveyed farms, the most important problem was external parasites (100%). The second and third problems were overgrown claws (80.9%) and common abscesses (80.95%). Regarding the biosecurity indicators, the general disinfection percentage of farms was 78.57%. However, veterinarian controls were conducted only in the 26.9% of the farms on a regular basis. In these farms, there was no significant difference between the breeds regarding their breeding and reproduction techniques or health indicators. The entrance of the farms carries a high risk for biosecurity. Heat stress is quite important factor for the milk quality.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank all of the Northern Cyprus farmers who took part in the survey and shared data with me legally to the Milk Marketing Board; the Veterinary Service registration; the Animal Breeding Association that shares data with me legally. Besides this, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Duygu Aktürk and Ph.D. student, Vet. Med. Meryem Betmezoglu.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Veterinary Medicine Faculty, Department of Animal Science, Near East University, Nicosia, Northern Cyprus

    Dilek Arsoy

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  1. Dilek Arsoy
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Correspondence to Dilek Arsoy.

Ethics declarations

The research was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the University of Near East, Northern Cyprus. The Animal Care and Use Committee from the University of Near East approved all procedures. All the farmers consented to be involved in the purpose of the survey.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Highlights

1. Determination of herd management and health in milk goat farm in Northern Cyprus.

2. Assessment of animal welfare on farm based on breeding, health, reproduction, and biosecurity indicators.

3. How heat stress influences breeding technique and milk quality.

4. Which diseases occur generally in the milk goat farm.

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Arsoy, D. Herd management and welfare assessment of dairy goat farms in Northern Cyprus by using breeding, health, reproduction, and biosecurity indicators. Trop Anim Health Prod 52, 71–78 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-019-01990-3

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