Cattle husbandry practices management adopted by dairy farmers in Eastern semi-arid region of Algeria: A study of Setif Area

This study was conducted in Eastern semi-arid region of Setif (Algeria). 63 dairy cattle farmers were surveyed through personal interview using a well-structured questionnaire to collect the information about cattle husbandry practices followed in the study area. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics performed with SPSS software (version 19). The results revealed that the majority of farmers (68.85%) rely on family labor and 31.15 per cent use wage labor. As for the age group, operators aged between 21 and 35 represent the highest proportion (74.6%) and 21.1 per cent of the population aged between 36 and 50 years. On the other hand, chiefs over the age of 51 represent only 4.3 per cent. The free stall housing is the mode most practiced by the majority of farmers surveyed (59.01%) versus 40.99 per cent are practicing the stanchion stable system. The majority of respondents (90.16%) fed readymade concentrate to their animals followed by home prepared concentrate (9.84%). Artificial insemination is used by 19.67 per cent of farmers surveyed; the majority uses the natural service for breeding their animals. Pregnancy diagnosis is followed by all surveyed farmers but it was done by a qualified veterinarian. Calving interval was 12 months for all farmers surveyed. The majority of cattle farmers (96.82%) are calf producers-fatteners. The fattened calves and culled cows are main categories of cattle made in market for slaughtering.