Reproductive performance of crossbred dairy cows in Eastern Lowlands of Ethiopia

摘要

Astudywasconductedtoassessreproductiveperformancesof304crossbred(HolsteinFriesianxZebu)dairycowskeptinsmall(SSDP),medium(MSDP)andlargescaledairyproduction(LSDP)systemsinEasternlowlandofEthiopia.nbsp;Theoverallmeanageatfirstservice(AFS)andatfirstcalving(AFC)acrossallproductionsystemswere25.6(n=283)and36.2(n=210)months,respectively.TheAFSandAFCweresignificantlylonger(P#8804;0.05)intheMSDPthanintheSSDPandLSDPsystems.Theoverallmeanintervalsfromcalvingtofirstservice(CFSI)andfromcalvingtoconception(CCI)were162.5(n=149)and218.5(n=108)days,respectively.ThecrossbredcowsunderSSDPmanagementsystemhadshorter(P#8804;0.05)CFSIandCCIthanthosemanagedunderMSDPandLSDP.TheCFSIandCCIwerethelongest(P#8804;0.05)forthefirstandbeyond6thparitiesascomparedto2nd,3rdand4thparities.Themeancalvinginterval(CI)acrossallproductionsystemswas17.8(n=155)months.CowsmanagedunderSSDPsystemhadsignificantlyshorter(P#8804;0.05)CIascomparedtocowsmanagedunderMSDPandLSDP.Theoverallpregnancy,calvingandconceptiontofirstservicerateswere72.8%,63.4%and45.9%,respectivelywithnosignificantdifference(P#8805;0.05)amongproductionsystems.nbsp;Inconclusion,crossbredcowsundertheSSDPmanagementsystemshadbetterreproductiveperformancefollowedbycowsinLSDP.Developingfeedresource,effectivereproductivehealthmanagementandreliableAIservicecouldbemanagementoptionstomitigatesomeoftheprevailingproblems.