Natural Service

Artificial insemination is the technique in which semen with living sperms is collected from the male and introduced into female reproductive tract at proper time with the help of instruments. This has been found to result in a normal offspring. In this process, the semen is inseminated into the female by placing a portion of it either in a collected or diluted form into the cervix or uterus by mechanical methods at the proper time and under most hygienic conditions.

SYMPTONS OF HEAT
The various symptoms of heat in dairy animals are:
• The animal will be excited condition. The animal will be in restlessness and nervousness.
• The animal will be bellow frequency.
• The animal will reduce the intake of feed.
• Peculiar movement of limbo sacral region will be observed.

• The animals will standstill when other animal try to mount. This period is known as standing heat. This extends 14-16 hours.
• Frequent maturation (urination) will be observed.
• Congestion and hyperemia of membrane.
• Milk production will be slightly decreased.
• On Palpation uterus will be turgid and the cervix will be opened.

Artificial Insemination: ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES
Artificial insemination (A.I.) is deposition of semen into the female genital tract by means of instruments.

ADVANTAGES OF ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION
There are several advantages by artificial insemination over natural mating or servicing.

• There is no need of maintenance of breeding bull for a herd; hence the cost of maintenance of breeding bull is saved.
• It prevents the spread of certain diseases and sterility due to genital diseases. Eg: contagious abortion, vibriosis.
• By regular examination of semen after collection and frequent checking on fertility make early detection of interior males and better breeding efficiency is ensured.
• The progeny testing can be done at an early age.
• The semen of a desired size can be used even after the death of that particular sire.
• The semen collected can be taken to the urban areas or rural areas for insemination.
• It makes possible the mating of animals with great differences in size without injury to either of the animal.
• It is helpful to inseminate the animals that are refuse to stands or accept the male at the time of oestrum.
• It helps in maintaining the accurate breeding and cawing records.
• It increases the rate of conception.
• It helps in better record keeping.
• Old, heavy and injured sires can be used.

Disadvantages of A.I:

• Requires well-trained operations and special equipment.
• Requires more time than natural services.
• Necessitates the knowledge of the structure and function of reproduction on the part of operator.
• Improper cleaning of instruments and in sanitary conditions may lead to lower fertility.
• If the bull is not properly tested, the spreading of genital diseases will be increased.
• Market for bulls will be reduced, while that for superior bull is increased.

In ODF, Embryo transfer techniques (ETT) and cloning are prohibited.




In ODF, hormones are prohibited to induce ovulation and birth unless applied to individual animals for medical reasons and under veterinary supervision.


High capital intensive breeds like genetically engineered breeds are not allowed in organic farming systems

Genetically modified animals are animals that have been genetically modified for a variety of purposes including producing drugs, enhancing yields, increasing resistance to disease, etc. The vast majority of genetically modified animals are at the research stage while the number close to entering the market remains small.

Beginners (new dairy entrepreneurs) can procure 4 weeks old calves that have received colostrums and full milk diet, from conventional farms.


Importance of Colostrum feeding

• Colostrum is the first milk secreted after parturition.
• It contains large amount of Gama globulins which are anit-bodies produced by the cow against antigens encounter during her life including those against many disease producing organisms.
• Colostrums is highly fortified source of nutrient having 7 times the protein and twice the total solids of normal milk, thus it gives an early boost in portion and solid intake.
• It contain higher amount of minerals and vitamin A which are essential to combat disease. Ingestion of these through colostrums substantially increases the calf’s survivability.
• Absorption of these antibodies provides the calf with an umbrella of passive immunity.
• Colostrums give a laxative effect which is helpful in expulsion of muconium (first faeces).
• It will be highly useful to feed colostrum in the first 15-30 minutes followed by a second dose in approximately 10-12 hours.
• First ½ hour to 12 hours of life, calf should be given with colostrum of its 5-8 % of body weight. Then 2nd and 3rd day, it should be of 10% of its body weight.
• The excess colostrums can be stored by refrigeration and can be used to other calves or orphan calves.

Composition of Colostrum A maximum of 10 per cent breeding stock can be brought from the conventional farms annually under ODF.

Animal production records are mandatory under ODF.
Records must be kept on all feeding and health care practices for each animal or flock, and there must be a verifiable audition to trace any animal or flock back to the farm. This includes from where all animals were acquired, and some records on the conditions of the farm where animals were born and how they were raised. There are specific requirements for different livestock species. Producer must maintain adequate records to preserve the identity of all organically managed animals, edible and non-edible animal products produced in the operation.

How farmers collect data today?
There are numerous livestock record keeping tools that farmers can use to record their information, such as: record notes manually on note books; Spreadsheet, Computer and mobile applications. So, depending on what tool the farmer chooses to use, such tools must be able to provide information about what is happening on the farm and preserves farm records for current and future use. Keeping farm records is therefore a fundamental management tool that can reveal both strengths and weaknesses in farming activities.

Advantages of livestock record keeping
1. Aids in determining the inflow and outflow, in economics terms, of the farm.
2. Helps in setting proper pricing for animals which has to be sold at the auction.
3. Provide insights for designing better breeding plans.
4. Supports in overall farm management.
5. Assist in the formulation of economic feeding approaches in order to improve company’s production.
6. Track record of disease allows to discover unusual animal conditions.
7. Offers basis to evaluate and select the animals ready to be slaughtered.
8. Provide history of counteractive measures taken in the previous years in emergency situation, such as vaccines used to treat animals affected by diseases.
9. Provides a comparison between different year’s profit/loss allowing to set future objectives for the farm.
10. Useful to verify the effectiveness of the work carried out within the farm.
11. Useful to calculate approximately the cost of production.


Types of farm livestock record keeping and their uses.
1. Animal identification records: such as identification number, tag numbers,date of birth, sex, calving date, date of purchase, date of death etc.
2. Calving report: such as calf number, sex and date of birth and any other remarks (father and mother etc.).
3. Milk yield records: Records daily milk yield of each cow.
4. Growth records: Record the weight of animals at different periods.
5. Feeding records: Records the type and amount of feed available and given to animals with associated costs.
6. Health and treatment records: Record of diseased animals and their history, signs, identified disease, treatment and veterinarian information.
7. Breeding records: Records breeding practices on the farm including: failure and successful breeds.
8. Animal History records: Records all information related to individual animals on the farm.
9. Financial records: Records financial aspects of the farm (Sales, expenses, information about the price of milk, feed, vaccines etc.)