Farm Experience Form

Farm practice record form
Date:________________________
Name of the farm: TDA Dairy Farm
I. General information
1. Climate (elevation1800m, ave. rainfall 600mm, ave.temp. 25C0, agro-ecology)2. Farm
type: dairy, small ruminant, poultry, other (specify)3. Farm location: rural, per urban,
urban4. Housing system: closed type, open type, other (specify)5. Farm system:
extensive, semi-intensive, intensive6. Farm owned: governmental, private, cooperative7.
Objectives of the farm: export, local supply, other (specify)
II.Farm activity conducted and their duration in hours
1. Feeding and watering. 2. Milking, weighing, shearing, incubation, heat detection, etc.
3. Health care: vaccination, deworming, washing, disinfection etc. 4. Types of facilities/
equipment used. 5. Record keeping: explain weather it is present or absent and means of
record keeping. 6. Common disease and predisposing factors. 7. Market areas of the farm.
8. General constraint of the farm (capital, land, market, health etc). 9. Other activities of
the farm
1. GENERAL INFORMATION____________________________________________
1.1. Introduction_________________________________________________________
Ethiopia has a large livestock population, relatively favorable climate for improved high
yielding dairy cattle breed and region with less animal disease stress, that make the
country to have substantial potential for dairy development. Considering such a
substantial potential, investing in development intervention to the dairy sector will
contribute to the poverty alleviation in the country by increasing the income of stallholder
dairy producer and, creating employment and transforming the existing largely
substantial types of dairy production to commercial level. According to the 2010 report of
CSA, the cattle population of Ethiopia was to be about 50.9 million, with 45.13% and
54.87% was male and female, respectively. The indigenous breed accounted for 99.19%,
while hybrid and pure exotic breed were represented 0.72% and 0.09%, respectively. In
spite of such substantial potential, the dairy sector is not developed in Ethiopia. The low
productivity of the country’s livestock production system in general, and traditional
sector in particular is mainly attributed to shortage of crossbreed dairy cows, inefficient
and untimely artificial insemination services and poor semen quality, lack of capital by
Name of extern student: AberaNegessesignature _______ date ___________________
I approve and certify that the above mentioned farm has been conducted under my close
supervision.
Name: ___________________________ signature___________ date________________
1
Date: ________________________
type: dairy, small ruminant, poultry, other (specify)3. Farm location: rural, per urban,
urban4. Housing system: closed type, open type, other (specify)5. Farm system:
extensive, semi-intensive, intensive6. Farm owned: governmental, private, cooperative7.
Objectives of the farm: export, local supply, other (specify)
the farm
dairy producers, inadequate animal feed resource, unimproved animal husbandry system,
inefficient and inadequate milk processing material and methods, and poor marketing and
marketing information system._______________________________________________
I was conducted the dairy farm experience at TigrayDevelopmental Association (TDA)
dairy farm or Kalamino dairy farm, which is privately owned farm. The overall
observation carried out during the externship program from November, 2013 to April,
2014 was reported briefly according to the following._____________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
supervision.
Official seal
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Date: ________________________
type: dairy, small ruminant, poultry, other (specify) 3. Farm location: rural, per urban,
urban 4. Housing system: closed type, open type, other (specify) 5. Farm system:
extensive, semi-intensive, intensive 6. Farm owned: governmental, private, cooperative
7. Objectives of the farm: export, local supply, other (specify)
the farm
1.2. Location, year of establishment, initial capital investment and systemofthe
farm___________________________________________________________________
The Tigray Developmental Association (TDA) or Kalamino dairy farm is one of the
privately owned and relatively well organized semi-intensive dairy farm, located at 7Km
South east of Mekelle, the capital city of Tigray regional state. The farm was established
in 1989 E.C by Tigray Developmental Association and covers about 22 hectar of land.
The initial capital invested for the establishment of the TDA farm was 1,306,269 ETB.__
1.3. Climate of the farm___________________________________________________
The climatic condition of the farm is semi-arid with altitude of 1800 a.s.l. The annual
minimum and maximum temperatures of the farm is 20C 0 and 30C0, respectively. The
average annual rain fall is 600mm (400-800mm). The rainy season is bimodal, with short
rainy season occur from March to May and long rainy season is occur from June to
August. The soil type is clay type (85% vertsole). The vegetation type is both indigenous
and exotic plant species. E.g.acacia species, coniferous, suspanea, elephant grass, etc.___
supervision.
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Date: ________________________
1. Climate (elevation1800m, ave. rainfall 600mm, ave.temp. 25C0, agro-ecology)2, Farm
urban4. Housing system: closed type, open type, other (specify) 5. Farm system:
8. General constraint of the farm (capital, land, market, health etc.). 9. Other activities of
the farm
1.4. Animal population and blood type_______________________________________
On its establishment the farm has begun the project by 61 cross breed cows of Holstein
Friesian which was brought from different site of Tigray and Amhara regional state and
one bull. At present the total number of animals are 129, with 50 lactating cows, 18
pregnant cows,10 dry off cows, 23 heifers, 16 (4 males and 12 females) unweanedcalves,
10 weaned female calves, 1 bull and 1 cart horse. At the beginning, the blood level of the
cross breed cows was not well known but, it was estimated to be about 50-60% exotic
breed. At present the blood level of the cow is about 80% Holstein Friesian.
1.5. Objectives of the farm_________________________________________________
 To decrease shortage of milk and milk product in and around Mekelle,
 To create the job opportunity for local people
 To increase in come for TDA from selling of milk, male calves, aged cows and
dung
 To introduce high milk yielding animals (exotic breed) to small scale farmers in
the surrounding_____________________________________________________
Name of extern student: AberaNegessesignature _______ date _________________
supervision.Name:___________________________signature___________date________
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Date: ________________________
1. Climate (elevation1800m, ave. rainfall 600mm, ave.temp. 25C0, agro-ecology) 2, Farm
the farm
1.6. Housing system of the dairy farm________________________________________
The TDA dairy farm housing system is closed types with head to head barn design and
east to west wind direction. The farm has three separate houses used for different
purpose. These are dairy house, feed storage house and workers house (office, laboratory,
drug storage, toilet, and bathing room).________________________________________
Dairy house_____________________________________________________________
There are two large, separate and well-constructed dairy house each of which has the
capacity to stock about 75-80 head of cows. The two houses are called cow’s house and
growing house. The lactating cows, pregnant cows and bull are kept in the cow’s house
while the heifer, both weaned and unweaned calves, and cart horse are kept in growing
house. Both houses are 2.5m away from each other and have the same design and size.
The animals are tied at their neck with chain and the distance between each animal is
1.20m. The cows are kept in house except during watering and exercise. Most activities
of the farm, feeding milking, vaccination, pregnancy diagnosis, artificial insemination,
cleaning of the cows ,etc, is takes place in the house while the cows are kept in tying
position.
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Date: ________________________
the farm
Lay out of the house______________________________________________________
Floor: the floorsconcrete type which is constructed from grooved cement concrete and
sand. The slope of the floor is 2% and it is cleaned daily in the morning.______________
Wall: the wall is made up of cement (blocket) and each house has 40 transparent glass
and semi structures windows and 6 doors made from metals.The inside of the walls has a
smooth hard· finish of cement, which will not allow any lodgment of dust and moisture._
Roof: the roof of the barn is constructed fromiron sheets with aluminum painted tops to
reflect sunrays and bottoms provided with metal.The height of the roof is 3.5m at the
sides and 6.5m at the ridge which is slightly sufficient to give the necessary air space to
the cows._______________________________________________________________
Cow standing: it is made from rough concrete and about 1.80 m from the gutter. The
slope of the floor is about 2.5 cm which facilitate free flow of fluid to the gutter. The
distance between each cow is 1.8m.
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Date: ________________________
the farm
Manure gutter: it is made from concrete and wide enough to hold the whole dung
facilitate the free flow of liquid excreta. The width of the manure gutter is about 31cm
and 1.8m away from the manger. The length of the gutter across the length of the house
and the ladder made from metal is placed over the top of the gutter__________________
Central walking: it is made from concrete and surrounded by 70cm height wall and its
width is about 1.32m. It is used for temporary feed storage, preparation of feed and
inspection of the animals.___________________________________________________
Manager: the manger is made from concrete and continuous across the length of the
house. The height of the manger is about 25cm which prevent losses of feed and its width
is about 40cm. it was cleaned daily before providing the feed to the animals.__________
Exercise yard: there is an exercising yard beside the two house in which the cows are
made exercise after watering. The exercise yard is wide enough to hold about 60-70 head
of cows during exercising.__________________________________________________
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Date: ________________________
the farm
In addition to the dairy houses (cows house and growing house), there are also two
separate house used for different purpose. The labor house include office, drug storage,
laboratory, toilet and bathing room, feed storage house which is important for the storage
of thefeed._______________________________________________________________

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Date: ________________________
the farm
2. FARM ACTIVITY CONDUCTED________________________________________
2.1. Watering and Feeding_________________________________________________
2.1.1. Watering__________________________________________________________
Availability and source of water: the TDA dairy farm has sufficient, clean and fresh
pipeline water. There are generally 9 watering trough located beside the houses. The 5 of
them are rectangular with width of 1m x 4.42m and depth of 42cm and found around the
growing house while 4 of them are circular with diameter of 2.32m and depth of
42cm.each watering trough is cleaned twice per week (Monday and Thursday). There are
4container (Gape) which are directly connected to watering trough and they are cleaned
regularly.

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Date: ________________________
the farm
Watering schedule: the water is available according to the daily activity of the animals.
For lactating animals the water is available twice per day i.e. at 4:00 am in the morning
and at 10:00 pm in the afternoon. For heifer, dry off cow, calves and bull the water is
available once per day at suitable time.________________________________________
2.1.2. Feeding____________________________________________________________
The TDA dairy farm owns about 22 hectar of land in which above 70% land is used for
production of feed. The dairy farm give special attention to the feed of animals because
feeding is directly related to the yield or milk production.__________________________
Sources of feed: the sources of feed is mainly from the farm (about 60%) the remained
40% was purchased from the market. The farm produce feed like succulent roughage
(e.g. Elephant grass, alfalfa, sespania, natural grass, etc.) and dry roughage like hay,
straw such as teff, millet, wheat, barley straws. The farm also bought feed like dry
roughage (straw and hay) and concentrate (oil seed, wheat bran, barley bran etc.) from
market._________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
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Date: ________________________
the farm
Feeding program (system): the feeding program of TDA dairy farm is based on the
amount of production per cows and age of animals. Accordingly the following feeding
activities are conducted.____________________________________________________
A. Feeding of the calves: the calves are provided with 4-5L per day, half in the morning
and half in the afternoon. The calf is totally feed on milk for a week and then they are
gradually familiarized green fodder, concentrate and dry roughage. The amount of milk
provided for the calf is decreased as the age of the calf increase and the amount of green
fodder, dry fodder and concentrate on the other hand is increased. The green feeds are
supplied for the calves twice per day, after each milking. The following table indicate
feeding program of calf.____________________________________________________
Age in days Milk /colostrum in liter
1-3 4-5 colostrum
4-30 4
31-60 3
61-90 2
91-120 1

Official Sea
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Date: ________________________
the farm
B.Feeding of heifer: the heifer is mostly feed on hays. Sometimes they also leave the
barn and graze on the field. The heifers are sometimes provided with some amount of
concentrate.______________________________________________________________
C.Feeding of lactating cows: the TDA dairy farm gives especial attention to lactating
dairy cows, because its aim is to get high quantity of milk. The feed given for the
lactating cow is depending on production and maintenance. For maintenance the feed
given to the cow is determined by the cow’s body weight. The feed is given at 2.5% of
body weight per 24 hours. Out of this 70% is roughage and 30% is concentrate. For
production the concentrate is given on the basis of milk yield and body weight of the
cows. Generally 1Kg concentrates per 3L of milk per cow or by lactation period. For the
first lactation period (1-70 days) concentration is given at 3.2% of the body weight,
concentrate to roughage ratio is 60:40. For the second lactation period (71-160 days),
concentrate is given at 3.2% of the body weight; concentrate to roughage ratio is 40:60.
For the third lactation period (above 160 days), the concentrate is given at 3% of the body
weight, the concentrate to roughage ratio is 70:30. The wheat bran is the dominant
concentrate found in the farm and it is given twice per day, at night and in the morning
after milking of the cows. The amount of wheat bran given for each cow per day is given
as follows._______________________________________________________________
Official Seal
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Date: ________________________
the farm.
Cows Amount of milk (L)/day/cow Concentrate (Kg)

High milk yield 25-30 6
Medium milk yield 8-13 3.5-4
Low milk yield 3.5-4 1.5-2
The equal amount of dry roughage is provided every day for all cows without variation
by lactation /milk yield.____________________________________________________
D.Feeding of dry off cows: the dry off cows are feed on medium amount of concentrate
and the roughage is provided without any limitation.______________________________
2.2. Milking, weighing, shearing, incubation, heat detection, etc__________________
2.2.1. Milking: there is no separate milking house and the cows are milked in the dairy
barn. The milking system is manual (hand milking). The cows are milked twice per day,
at 8:15-9:30 pm (in the afternoon) and 10:00-11:00 am (at night). Total of 8 persons (6
male and 2 females) are involved in the milking operation of the cows._______________
Official Seal
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Date: ________________________
the farm
The 5 peoples are milking the cows, 2 peoples are assist the milkers by transporting and
weighing of the milk while the other person is record the milk on the milk recording
format.__________________________________________________________________
Milking operation________________________________________________________
Before milking: hygienic condition of the house, cows, equipment, and personnel is
justified before starting milking of the cows. The floor is cleaned, the teat and udder of
the cows are washed and dried, all milking equipment (basket, towel, milk collector and
distributor) are washed and the milkers should keep their personal hygiene.___________
While milking: the cows are free from any stress, the aggressive cows are slightly
restrained, and the first stream of the milk was dropped into other equipment and
discarded. The cows are milked in the order of their ID number and the animal suspected
for mastitis is identified and milked finally. The milk is let down into clean milking pail
and it is measured immediately after milking and transferred into milk collection
material. The workers are washing their hand at interval by soup and water before
starting milking of the other cow._____________________________________________

Official Seal
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Date: ________________________
the farm
After milking: after completing the milking of the cows, the recorded milk is sieved into
the big container by sterilized and clean double layered whitish filter cloths. This
important to prevent presence of dirty material like hair, dung, dust, etc which was
contaminating the milk while milking operation. Finally the customers take the milk to
the market._______________________________________________________________
2.2.2. Weighing__________________________________________________________
Milk weighing: immediately after milking of each cow, the weight of the milk is taken in
the milk collecting and recording room which is found in the adult cows’ house,
separated by blockate. The milk is weighed by using sensitive balance with capacity of
measuring 50Kg and it is recorded on the basis of identification number of the cows.
Animal weighing: the animal is weighed by heart girth method. The animals are weighed
once per months. The average weight of each animal is given in the following table.____
Animals Weight in Kg
Calf 40-55
Heifer 250-300
Adult cow 350-450
Official Seal
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Date: ________________________
the farm
2.2.3. Heat detection
Heat detection is carried out by the sign that is shown by the animals. Such signs are
include: bellowing, smelling of other cows’ vulva, attempt to mount other cows, standing
when other cows are attempt to mount, reduction in milk yield and feed intake, clear
mucus discharge from the vulva, swollen and reddish vulvar mucus membrane, etc.
When those signs are shown by the cow, the animal attendant report such signs to animal
breeding section of the farm and the AI technician inseminate the cows which shows the
sign of heat.______________________________________________________________
Artificial insemination: at present the TDA dairy farm use only AI for breeding,
previously both natural and artificial insemination were used for breeding. The bull that
was used for natural breeding was dead in 2001, due to obstruction of the rumen by
plastic materials. The cows were inseminated artificially after 1hour of the first heat sign.
The source of semen is from Kaliti artificial insemination center. The heifers are
inseminated at the age of 18-24 months._______________________________________
Pregnancy diagnosis: the cows are diagnosed for conception after 40 days of artificial
insemination. Those cows that are not conceive pregnant was served again. The PD is
performed manually by pregnancy diagnosis technician___________________________
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Official Seal
Date: ________________________
the farm
Dry off the cows: the pregnant cows are dried off before two months of the nest
gestation/lactation period. The system of dry off the cow is by reducing milking of the
cow gradually and removing of the cow from cow’s house to that of growing dairy house.
2.3. Health care__________________________________________________________
The TDA dairy farm has its own veterinarian who is responsible for prepare care of the
health of the animals.______________________________________________________
Vaccination: vaccination is one of the health care program that the TDA dairy farm used
for control and prevention of common disease of the dairy cows. The cows of the farm is
vaccinate periodically against several disease like anthrax, blackleg, pasteurollosis, etc.
the vaccination schedule is given in the following table___________________________
Type of vaccine Interval Months Responsible body
Anthrax vaccine One per year June Veterinarian
Blackleg vaccine One per year June Veterinarian
Pasteurollosis Two per years June and January Veterinarian
vaccine
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Official Seal
Date: ________________________
the farm
Deworming: the regular deworming is performed by the farm for both internal and
external parasites. The use albendazole for every 3 months for deworming of internal
parasites and ectoper spray for every two weeks for deworming of internal parasites. The
deworming schedule is given in the following table______________________________
Chemicals/drug Infestation Schedule
Albendazole(2500mg) Internal parasitism Every 3 months/year
Ectoper spray External parasitism Every 2 weeks/year
Washing and disinfection program: the floor and the internal wall are washed by tap
water daily in the morning and the dung is immediately removed soon after defication.
The cows’ body is twice per week by water and soap. The milking equipment is properly
cleaned every time before and after use.________________________________________
2.4. Types of facilities/ equipment used_______________________________________
The TDA dairy farm has its own different types of facility/equipment which is important
for various activities performed in the farm. Some these equipment and facilities are
listed as follows.__________________________________________________________
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Official Seal
Date: ________________________
the farm
AI facility: semen gun, AI straw, gloves, catheter plunger, canister, liquid nitrogen
container, paraffin, etc._____________________________________________________
Drugs available: some drugs/chemicals, used for treatment, prevention and control of
animal diseases are available in the farm. Example, antibiotics (oxytetracycline, procaine
penicillin, penstrip, intra-uterine bolus, etc), antihelmantic (albendazole,
ivermectine,diminazaneaceturate and zonizole), antiseptics and disinfectant (savlon,
alcohol and iodine), vaccine (anthrax, LSD, blackleg, pasteurollosis vaccine) and others
like calcium borogluconate, 5% dextrose, multivitamins, GnRH analogue, mastitis
indicator paper,
etc._____________________________________________________________________
Veterinary equipment and other: different size syringe and needle, thermometer,
stomach tube, obstetrical cloth, dehorning wire, stethoscope, surgical blade, autoclave
brush, surgical suture, hoof trimmer, etc._______________________________________
Milking equipment: milking pail (basket made from plastic material), towel, digital
balance, milk collector container, gercan, refrigerator, etc._________________________
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Official Seal
Date: ________________________
the farm
2.5. Record Keeping
The TDA farm record/document every activities performed daily in the farm. This record
assist them to identify the productivity of the cows, feeding management, to select
animals for herd replacement and for reproductive management. The mainrecording
activity performed in the farm include, milk yield record( daily, weekly, monthly milk
record), health record, feeding record, breeding record, monthly body weight record and
history of individual heifer record.____________________________________________
Milk yield record: the daily milk yield is recorded per cow on the recording format and
the average weekly milk gain is then calculated. This gives information on the length of
lactation period of each cow.________________________________________________
Health record: this record gives full information about the history of vaccination and
diseases condition. Date of vaccination, types of vaccine, vaccinated animal, diagnosed
disease, type of drug, dose , route of administration, identification number of animals,
with drawl period, etc, were recorded on the recording format.______________________
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Official Seal

Date: ________________________
the farm
Breeding record: number of pregnant animal, lactating cows, insemination date,
pregnancy diagnoses, expected/actual calving date, weight at birth, sex, etc was recorded
properly by the farm._______________________________________________________
2.6. Common Diseases and Predisposing Factors______________________________
The common diseases manifested in the TDA dairy farm include, milk fever, mastitis,
fasciolosis, lameness, repeated breeding, lumpy skin diseases, colibacilosis, arthritis,
retained placenta and bloat.__________________________________________________
Milk fever is most common productive and old cows. The predisposing factor of the milk
fever include feeding high amount of alfalfa during the dry period, excessive loss of
calcium in colostrum and milk and impairment of calcium from intestine at parturition.
Mastitis is mostly observed in the aged and highly productive cows. The predisposing
factor include poor hygienic, uncleaned bedding material, use of the same towel for
different cows for washing and drying of the teat during milking operation, the fault
performed during dry off the cow, etc._________________________________________
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Official Seal

Date: ________________________
the farm
Bloat is very common when the cow is feed on legumes that have high percentage of
soltable protein (e.g. alfalfa). The predisposing factor is improper feed management, for
example feeding of the cow with legumes dominant pastures before feeding of the dry
roughage.________________________________________________________________
Fasciolosis is common in heifer because they sometimes leave the house and graze on the
field. The predisposing factor includes improper feeding and watering management of the
heifer.__________________________________________________________________
Lameness and arthritis these are commonly manifested in dairy cows because the floor is
made from concrete and it may slippery or highly grooved which affect the locomatory
system of the animals. But the TDA dairy farm floor is not slippery rather it is grooved
due to the oldness of the house and slightly unsuitable for the cows._________________
Repeated breeding is not great problem but it occur occasionally due to improper heat
detection and untimely AI services.___________________________________________
Colibacilosis this is also occur occasionally in the farm due to unhygienic condition of
the house and feeding. E.g. uncleaning bedding material, feed trough, manger, etc.______
22
Official Seal
Date: ________________________
the farm
2.7. Market Area of the Farm______________________________________________
Currently the TDA dairy farm has no marketing problem because, there are second
customer who take the milk from the farm and distribute to the Mekelle city. Two
persons are take the whole milk and distribute it to different café, restaurant, hotel, etc.
the farm sell the liter of milk to 10.55ETB i.e. 10.55birr/liter. The farm also sell the bull
calf, aged and unproductive cows. The bull calf is removed from the farm after weaned
and its selling price is about 600ETB. The farm cull the animalwith different problem
like chronic mastitis, low milk yield, repeat breeder and aged cows which are certified for
such problem. The prices of culled cow is not fixed and depends on the condition of the
animals and the market.____________________________________________________
2.8. General Constraint of the Farm_________________________________________
Feeding problem: the source and availability of the feed is the major problem of the farm.
The seasonal variation is the greater factor influencing the availability of the feed.______
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Official Seal

Date: ________________________
the farm
Financial problem: the expensiveness of the animal feed and dairy equipment is other
major problem of the dairy farm which need high amount of finance. Due to financial
problem the milk processing machine is not found in the TDA dairy farm and the milking
operation is performed by hand.______________________________________________
Marketing problem: during long fasting months and two days per week, the demand of
milk and milk product by the society is low and the prices of milk per liter of milk is
therefore decreases.________________________________________________________
Diseases problem: there are also some disease which are constraint to the development of
the farm, by reducing production, cost of treatment and vaccination, control and
prevention of the diseases.__________________________________________________
Official Seal
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Date: ________________________
the farm
Land problem: the TDA farm has no problem of land because the farm has wide area of
arable land used for development of forage and other crops.________________________
2.9. Other Activity of the Farm_____________________________________________
The other activities performed in the TDA dairy farm other than milk production is
include bee production, cropping, and education.________________________________

Official Seal
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Farm practice record form

Name of extern student: AberaNegessesignature _ date ___________

Name of extern student: AberaNegessesignature _ date ___________

Name of extern student: AberaNegessesignature _ date ___________

Cows Amount of milk (L)/day/cow Concentrate (Kg)

Name of extern student: AberaNegessesignature _ date ___________

Name of extern student: AberaNegessesignature _ date ___________

Name of extern student: AberaNegessesignature _ date ___________

Farm practice record form

Farm practice record form

Farm practice record form

Name of extern student: AberaNegessesignature _ date ___________

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