Reproductive performances of crossbred dairy cattle at Holetta Agricultural Research Center

Abstract

Reproductive traits are critical for production, herd replacement and overall profitability of dairy farming. This study was intended to evaluate the reproductive performances of crossbred dairy cattle at Holetta agricultural research center dairy farm. A total of 7538 (779 AFS, 788 AFC, 1735 CI, 1704 DO and 2532 NSC) crossbred dairy cattle performance records collected during 40 years were used for the study. The fixed effects used in the data analysis were birth and calving period, birth and calving season, parity and genetic group. The General linear models were used for statistical analysis of data. The overall least square means for age at first service (AFS), age at first calving (AFC), calving interval (CI), days open (DO) and number of service per conception (NSC) were 26.8 months, 37.4 months, 476 days, 197 days and 1.8, respectively. Result of fixed effect analysis revealed that period and genetic group caused variation (p<0.001) on reproductive traits. Similarly, CI and DO were influenced by parity and season. Among the genetic groups, 50% F1 (Borena x Holstein Friesian) genetic group showed better reproductive performance (reached early for first service, calved early, shorter CI and DO). Therefore, from the result of this study, it can be noted that improving feeding, health and other husbandry practices are essential for further genetic enhancement of this herd.