Reproductive Performances and Management Effects on Productions of Indigenous Dairy Cows Raised at Char Areas in Northern Bangladesh

Abstract

The study was conducted to assess the existing reproductive performances and the effect of nutritional supplementation on productions of indigenous cows in Char areas (remote river Jamuna sand islands) in northern part of Bangladesh from October 2009 to March 2010. The study also projected the frequency and determinants of long calving interval (LCI), retention of foetal membrane (RFM), dystocia (D), and abortion (A) in indigenous cattle and explored production trends. Fifty seven dairy households (average breedable cows = 2, range 1 to 3) were visited and data on reproductive, breeding and management histories were collected and statistically analyzed. Overall, 125 breedable indigenous cows were observed to be alive at different stages. The mean (±SE) calving interval were 492 ± 15days and the interval between calving and the initiation of ovarian activity were 143 ± 6.7 days. Birth rate was 53.7 per 100 cows year, with birth been reported to occur in all over of the year. Of the 87 cows that were reported to have calved more than once in their lifetime, 6(6.9%) and 5(5.7%) were associated with abortion and dystocia, respectively. Eight (9.2%) of the animals suffered RFM. All cows were dewormed and supplemented with vitamin-mineral premixes. The body weight of 125 cows and the milk yield of 71 lactating cows were recorded. The mean (± SD) body weight and daily milk yields of the cows during initial and end of veterinary interventions were 121.1 ± 21.0 kg, 1.5 ± 0.1 litres; 165.0 ± 14.0kg and 2.3 ± 0.02 litres, respectively. After productive veterinary interventions, there was an apparent effect of improved health on body weight gain (80g/cow/day) and the average milk yield increased from 1.5 to 2.3 litre/cow. It was concluded that, the present estimate of LCI, birth rate, prevalence of peripartum disorders attributes as the indicators of poor reproductive performances of cows and the productive veterinary health care services improved the general health and production status of the dairy cows in char areas.