The aim of this study was to determine the fertility, herd life and milk yield characteristics of Simmental (SIM) cows of Austrian origin, which have increased the interest of cattle breeders in Türkiye in recent years. From the records of the farm between 2011 and 2021, the first calving age (FCA), calving interval (CI), herd life (HL), productive life (PL), lactation length (LL), lactation milk yield (LMY) and 305 days milk yield (305-dMY) were calculated. A total of 307 FCA, 619 CI, 212 HL and PL, 447 LL, 271 LMY and 497 305-dMY data were used. The means of FCA, CI, HL, PL, LL, LMY and 305-dMY for SIM cows were 842.35±5.30 days (28.1 months), 422.98±3.18 days, 75.48±1.72 months, 47.15±1.73 months, 363.52±3.52 days, 10,596±152 kg and 8647.0±58.0 kg, respectively. Based on the long FCA and CI averages of Austrian-origin SIM cattle, although it can be interpreted that there are some problems in terms of reproductive efficiency in the farm, finding long HL and PL and high milk yield, it can be said that the farm contributes to the increase of milk yield per cow by turning the negativity caused by the reproductive efficiency into an advantage.

The objective of this study was to determine the relationships between animal welfare scores (AWS) and milk production in dairy cattle. AWS traits on locomotion ability (LA), social interaction (SI), flooring (F), indoor conditions (IC) and stockmanship effect (SE) were scored by a 100 points scale in a total of 51 farms in Samsun region of Turkey. First lactation milk yield (FLMY) records of Brown Swiss and Simmental cows were used as milk production trait. All components were assessed by t-test to determine the effects of the welfare traits on FLMY. The overall mean of AWS was calculated to be 74.05±1.69, and therefore the farms were founded within a “suitable” class. It was estimated moderate correlations among the parameters except for AWS and SI, however, no statistically significant difference was estimated between AWS and FLMY of the cows. SE was revealed the most important factor on AWS of the farms. Finally, routine scoring cattle farms to decide their suitability for animal needs is advised to herd owners for managing rentable populations in the farms.

Crop and animal production constitute a large part of the people's livelihoods in Bayburt province. In addition, the province has become one of the important animal husbandry centers of the region due to the fact that it is a transit point between the Eastern Anatolia region and the Black Sea region. But the number of small farms in Bayburt province is still very large, and the number of farms that are members of grower organizations is quite small. In addition, the migration of the young population from villages leads to an increase in the average age of the population engaged in animal husbandry and a decrease in the number of animals that can be raised depending on the labor force. In this review, the general status of cattle and small ruminants livestock in Bayburt province was given and the level of livestock in Bayburt province was revealed with current data.

Lumpy skin disease is explained as a significant cattle disease affecting cattle of many parts of the world. An outbreak was experienced in different parts of Bangladesh including Barishal for the first time in the last quarter of 2019. This investigation was carried out to know the outbreak scenario of the disease in southern part of Bangladesh. A total of 726 cattle were included in this study covering 50 dairy farms of Barishal region from September 2019 to December 2019. Morbidity rate was found 21% (CI: 18-24%) and mortality was 1% (CI: 1-2%) in the outbreak area. Young animals (24%) and pregnant animals (70%) were significantly more susceptible compared to aged animals (17%) and non-pregnant animals (15%), respectively. Moreover, male and crossbred cattle were slightly more prone to the infection in comparison to their counterparts. About 45% of the affected animals showed nodular and remaining 55% had edematous lesions. Almost 90% of the affected animals were treated with NSAID followed by antibiotics, antihistaminic, steroid drugs and antiviral drugs where only 20% of the affected animals were treated by authorized veterinary personnel. This was the first epidemiological investigation in the mentioned outbreak area which may serve as a baseline for LSD research in the location needed for developing effective control strategy.

In this study, fertility and milk yield characteristics of Simmental (SIM) and Red-Holstein (RH) cattle raised in a private dairy farm in Aydın province were determined. For fertility traits, days open (DO), calving interval (CI), gestation length (GL) and number of inseminations per pregnancy (NIPP), for milk yield traits lactation length (LL), lactation milk yield (LMY), 305-days milk yield (305-dMY), peak time (PT) and peak milk yield (PMY) were determined. The means of DO, CI, GL and NIPP of RH and SIM breeds were 109.44±5.66 d and 96.06±3.51 d, 389.16±5.70 d and 380.37±3.54 d, 279.71±0.469 d and 284.94±0.303 d, 1.88±0.099 and 1.85±0.065; the means of LL, LMY, 305-dMY, PT and PMY were 333.00±5.405 d and 322.72±3.233 d, 8235.32±148.099 kg and 7357.03±88.122 kg, 7628.78±109.148 kg and 6938.09±64.945 kg, 46.55±2.196 d and 44.46±1.218 d, and 34.68±0.567 kg and 31.47±0.314 kg, respectively. Although, significant fertility and milk yield differences were obtained between the breeds, the favorable performances of both SIM and RH breeds in terms of all features, considered as the environmental factors such as management-feeding-housing-herd management provided to animals in the farm were also suitable.

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is known as the causative agent of enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL), which is a worldwide distributed disease and has also been detected in marketed beef and dairy products. BLV causes significant economic losses due to the loss of milk and yield or the slaughter of animals without adequate development. It has been reported in epidemiological studies that this infection is common in Türkiye, especially in the western provinces. There is no data on the possible presence or prevalence of BLV infection and its seroepidemiology in Muş province. The aim of this study is to determine the possible presence and prevalence of the infection, its role in yield losses, and to obtain epidemiological data on cattle farming in the Muş district. For this purpose, 300 blood serum samples were collected from cattle aged six months and older in the province of Muş and its different districts. The blood serum samples taken were tested for the presence of BLV-specific antibodies by agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) and competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (C-ELISA) methods. As a result of the study, all of the controlled districts were evaluated as negative in the AGID and C-ELISA tests for the presence of BLV-specific antibodies. In conclusion, for the first time, it was demonstrated that cattle farming in the Muş province were BLV-free during the sampling period. Although BLV seropositivity was not detected in the tested animals, it is emphasized that the control of infection and eradication program should not be ignored.

The aim of this study was to determine the milk quality characteristics of Simmental (SIM) cows of Austrian origin, which have increased the interest of breeders in Türkiye in recent years. For this aim, the milk analysis results of a farm located in Menemen County, İzmir/Türkiye from 2012 to 2021 were used. Milk fat (MF, %), protein (MP, %), lactose (ML, %), total dry matter (TDM, %) contents and somatic cell count (SCC, cell/ml) were determined. In order to determine the current situation, milk samples were taken from the cows (90 heads) in August 2021, and in addition to the above milk components, the solid non-fat (SNF) and freezing point (FP) were determined. The effects of sampling season, calving month, lactation month, sampling season x calving month and sampling season x lactation month interactions were found to be statistically significant for all traits (P<0.05). Parity and calving month effects on Log10SCC were also detected to be statistically significant (P<0.05). The mean MF, MP, ML, TDM, FP and SCC of SIM cattle were 3.71±0.018%, 3.42±0.009%, 4.63±0.009%, 12.49±0.03, -0.535±0.003oC and 5.14±0.01 (138.038 cells/ml), respectively. It was concluded that the milk components of Austrian-origin SIM cattle are not very different from the Holstein-Friesian (HF) breed, however, in the low SCC average for many years, besides the important contribution of the measures taken against mastitis in the farm, the resistance against mastitis may be higher in this genotype. This situation is thought to be the reason why breeders in Türkiye prefer Austrian-origin SIM cattle in addition to high milk yield and carcass weight.

Changing climatic conditions and growing population size lead take precautions against potential risks. Researchers who study in the agricultural field, including animal production, focus on finding out variants and breeds resistant to diseases and environmental stress. Detecting gene regions that affect resistance to diseases and environmental stress might increase the performance of the selection in favor of these traits. Due to these reasons in this study, five Turkish native cattle breeds were investigated for SNPs belonging to TLR2, NOD2, and IFNγ (using EcoRV, BsaHI ve HphI enzymes, respectively) reported to be associated with paratuberculosis previously. In total, 169 animals were analyzed from Native Southern Yellow (NSY= 29), East Anatolian Red (EAR=35), Anatolian Grey (AG=36), South Anatolian Red (SAR=34), and Native Black (NB=35). The genotype and allele frequencies were calculated with the PopGene32 program, and Khi square test was performed to determine whether the populations were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE). While at TLR2- EcoRV and NOD2- BsaHI loci, two alleles (A and C, C and T, respectively), IFNγ- HphI locus was found to be monomorphic for the G allele. For TLR2- EcoRV locus, the C allele was found as predominant except NB breed, and the C allele was predominant for all breeds at NOD2- BsaHI locus. However, in all breeds, NOD2- BsaHI locus was at HWE, for TLR2- EcoRV NSY and SAR breeds showed derivation from HWE.

This study was carried out in the central county of Ağrı Province in order to reveal the cattle feeding habits of cattle breeders. For this purpose, data were obtained by conducting a face-to-face survey with 400 dairy cattle owners of the enterprises in the county. According to the results obtained from this study, it was determined that 91.5% of the breeders produced their forage crops. It was also found out that barley, alfalfa, and sainfoin were the most produced plants in these enterprises. However, the production of the corn silage, which is an important source of roughage for dairy cattle, was performed at a very low level (1.2%). Dry hay (93.5%) took first place among the roughage sources used in these enterprises, and it was followed by alfalfa hay (61.5%) and wheat-barley straw (28.0%). Corn silage was used at a low level (7.8%) in the cattle enterprises. It was determined that cattle breeders in the central county of Ağrı province were deficient in terms of some information about cattle feeding practices. It was also demonstrated that it was necessary to increase the usage and production of corn silage as forage crops and to implement rational animal feeding practices in place of the old traditional animal feeding habits. Therefore, cattle breeders in the central county of Ağrı province should be involved in technical training programs about the cattle feeding and forage planting. As result of the courses given to the cattle breeders, their technical information about cattle nutrition and preparation of ration would be updated. For this purpose, it is also recommended that agricultural extension service should be boosted to increase the education level and awareness of the cattle breeders in the rural areas.

In this study, the milk quality characteristics of Simmental (SIM) and Red-Holstein (RH) breeds raised in a private farm in Aydın were determined. As milk quality properties, the percentages of protein (MPC), lactose (MLC), non-fat dry matter (NFDMC), total dry matter (TDMC), casein (MCC) contents and also milk urea nitrogen (MUN), oleic acid (OA), beta-hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA) and somatic cell count (SCC) were determined. The averages of MPC, MLC, NFDMC, TDMC, MCC, MUN, OA, BHBA and Log10SCC belonging to RH and SIM breeds are 3.38 ± 0.021% and 3.40 ± 0.015%, 4.86 ± 0.028% and 4.81 ± 0.019%, 9.09 ± 0.037 and 9.09 ± 0.025, 11.18 ± 0.069 and 11.23 ± 0.048, 2.50 ± 0.020 and 2.44 ± 0.014, 12.07 ± 0.200 mg / dl and 12.28 ± 0.138 mg / dl, 0.258 ± 0.0095 g / 100 g and 0.255 ± 0.0065 g / 100 g, 0.284 ± 0.138 mmol / L and 0.269 ± 0.0093 mmol / L, and 5.417 ± 0.0173 (261216 cells / ml) and 5.401 ± 0.0118 (251768 cells / ml) were found, respectively. The breed did not differ significantly in milk quality characteristics, except for MCC. The lower SCC level in milk and the suitable level of MUN for both breeds shows that the factors such as maintenance-feeding-housing-herd management in the farm were optimal in this herd.