~ 18 ~ The Pharma Innovation Journal 2020; 9(4): 18-22 ISSN (E): 2277- 7695 ISSN (P): 2349-8242 NAAS Rating: 5.03 TPI 2020; 9(4): 18-22 © 2020 TPI www.thepharmajournal.com Received: 12-02-2020 Accepted: 14-03-2020 DN Gadhavi PG scholar, Department of Livestock Production and Management, Vanbandhu College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, N.A.U, Navsari, Gujarat, India LM Sorathiya Associate Professor and Incharge, PG Institute of Veterinary Education and Research, Kamdhenu University, Rajpur (Nava), Himatnagar, Gujarat, India AL Rathva PG scholar, Department of Livestock Production and Management, Vanbandhu College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, N.A.U, Navsari, Gujarat, India VR Patel Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Nuttrition, Vanbandhu College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, N.A.U, Navsari, Gujarat, India NM Patel PG scholar, Department of Livestock Production and Management, Vanbandhu College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, N.A.U, Navsari, Gujarat, India Corresponding Author: LM Sorathiya Associate Professor and Incharge, PG Institute of Veterinary Education and Research, Kamdhenu University, Rajpur (Nava), Himatnagar, Gujarat, India Study of prevailing healthcare management practices in specialized dairy farms DN Gadhavi, LM Sorathiya, AL Rathva, VR Patel and NM Patel Abstract A study was carried out to compare the feeding management practices of specialized dairy farms of north and south Gujarat. The data were collected from each ten specialized dairy farm each from north and south Gujarat. Analyzed data revealed all dairy farms were followed practice of vaccination. Around 30 per cent farms were not followed booster and subsequent dose of vaccine as per standard recommendation. Only 17.5 per cent of the dairy farms were followed deworming at regular interval. More than half dairy farms were providing rubber mat to their animals. Results are statistically similar for both the regions. Only few dairy farms (40%) were followed faecal sample testing for diagnosis of parasitic infestation in their animals. Keywords: Booster dose, deworming practice, ecto-parasites, vaccination Introduction Gujarat has four well established veterinary colleges along with several polytechnics to produce paravets. Animal husbandry department of state is also having veterinary dispensaries upto taluka and big village level. Most of clustered village is also having first aid veterinary clinic. Government has started mobile veterinary dispensary scheme for 10 villages in which veterinarians are posted. Cooperative dairies in most of the districts are also providing veterinary services since long back. Therefore, treatment to sick animals or other services should not problem for farmers or farms. Achieving profitability in specialized dairy farms is big challenge. They need to use scientific and modern feeding, breeding, treatment and management with possible farm mechanization. Now a day many areas in Gujarat having good numbers of specialized farms. Many such farm owners are claims themselves as most profitable farms, whereas, some are in closed due no nonpayment of installment to banks against loan. Therefore, it needs systemic study. Among 33 districts of Gujarat, from north Gujarat, Banaskantha and Sabarkantha districts and from south Gujarat, Bharuch, Surat and Navsari districts are known for milk production, specialized dairy farms adopting modern technologies, and established cooperative milk producers unions. The agro-climatic condition in both regions are quite different as north Gujarat has semi-arid to dry climate with less rainfall, whereas south Gujarat falls under medium to heavy rainfall zone. Specialized dairy farming in both regions needs to be understood considering its importance. However, not much work has been carried out about comparative aspects of health care management practices of dairy farmers from these regions, hence, present study was carried out. Materials and methods The dairy farms which contributed more than 50 per cent in total income of farm owners were considered specialized dairy farms. A list was prepared for all such farms in selected districts i.e. Surat, Navsari, Bharuch, Banaskantha and Sabarkantha which were having minimum 40 heads of either white cattle or buffalo. Sabarkantha districts were having 25 farms whereas Banaskantha has such 5 farms. From this both district 10 farms were selected randomly as a sample of north Gujarat. To study specialized farms in heavy to medium heavy rainfall zone, 10 specialized dairy farms were selected randomly from Surat, Bharuch and Navsari districts of south Gujarat from available 31 farms. The information pertaining to prevailing healthcare management practices was collected by interviewing respondents by using questionnaire method. Collected data were tabulated, analyzed using frequency and percentages and compared by chi-square test following Snedecor and Cochran (1994) [10] .