Abstract:
Dairy cattle production is an integral part of the farming system in Telo district which lacks information on dairy
cattle husbandry practices and major constraints. Thus, this study was conducted with the aim of assessing the husbandry
practices and major constraints of smallholder farmers in Telo districts. Cross-sectional study design was used to collect data
from randomly sampled 156 households (33 from Urban and 123 from Rural) using questionnaires, farm visit and group
discussion. The average number of dairy cattle were 7, the higher (P<0.05) cattle number found in rural than in urban. About
67.3% and 66.9% of cows and calves were housed sharing the same house with family house respectively. The main source of
feed were grazing on natural pasture on the grazing area of individual owned 71.2% (rural), combination of rented and
individual owned10.3% (rural) and only rented 18.6% (urban) respectively. Majority (78.8%) of respondents were producing
crops like wheat, barley, teff and maize. But the ones supplementing their cows with crop residues were only 13.8%. The
majority (67.3%) of smallholders used water from river for their dairy cattle. Access to modern animal health services was
significantly (p<0.05) different between rural (mixed crop-livestock) and urban smallholders. The reported disease was
Anthrax, black leg, diarrhea, parasite, bloating and cough. Most smallholders relay on traditional healers or on their own skill
to treat their sick dairy cattle. Male calves suckle relatively longer period than female. The major constraints hindering dairy
cattle production was shortage of grazing land, disease and low productivity on their decreasing orders of importance. Crop
and livestock production systems were not complementing each other therefore; there should be resource control over with
improved dairy management system.
