Chief EditorPradeep K. Sharma
Print ISSN 0253-1496
Online ISSN 0976-0741
NAAS Rating 4.84
Early Growth and Reproductive Performance of Crossbred Dairy Cattle in Ethiopia: A Review
Submitted10-07-2023|
Accepted08-12-2023|
First Online 10-01-2024|
The economy of livestock production largely depends upon the early growth and reproductive efficiency of the animals. This review was conducted to generate the database about the early growth and reproductive traits of crossbred cattle such as birth weight (BW), age at first service (AFS) and age at first calving (AFC) under Ethiopian conditions. The effort was made to collect and discuss all the published materials in the required areas in order to provide piece of information pertaining to early growth and reproductive traits of crossbred dairy cattle. In order to achieve the best early growth and reproductive performance in dairy animals, it is concluded that management system improvement, including effective heat detection and timely insemination, better health management, genetic improvement of crossbreeding and supplementation of good quality and quantity feed resources, is necessary.
Ethiopia is one of the developing countries in Africa known with a huge livestock population. The estimated total cattle population for the country is about 70 million constituting of 44% males and 56% females and the proportion of indigenous breed is 97.4% hybrid and exotic breeds are about 2.3% and 0.31%, respectively (CSA, 2020/2021). The dairy industry in Ethiopia is still not well developed compared to east African countries like Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda (Hunduma, 2013).
Cattle’s total productivity and adaptation efficiency are heavily reliant on their reproductive success in a particular environment. Reproduction is an indication of reproductive efficiency and the pace of genetic advancement in both selection and crossbreeding programs, notably in dairy production systems.
Reproductive characteristics are critical variables in dairy production profitability (Fikre et al., 2007). Female reproductive performance is one of the most significant factors in cattle production. AFS and AFC can be used to evaluate reproductive performance. According to Tadesse (2014), a cow’s reproductive efficacy impacts its lifetime production. The first calving signifies the beginning of a cow’s productive life and is directly tied to generation interval. Therefore, the objective of this review was focused on reviewing and generating compiled information on early growth and reproductive performance of crossbred dairy cattle in Ethiopia.
Growth performance of crossbred dairy cattle
Birth weight
The birth weight performance of crossbred dairy cattle was evaluated by researchers under different agroclimatic conditions as well as managemental systems. The birth weight reported weights Jersey (J) × Horro (HO) at BARC (Bako Agricultural Research center) and Holstein Friesian (HF) × Fogera (FO) crossbred cattle at ALRC (Andassa Livestock Research Center), 19.1 kg and 23.5 kg (Habtamu Abera et al., 2012; Addisu Bitew et al., 2010), respectively. It is also assessed with different genotypes utilising data obtained from ranch and research centre since evaluating performance on farm data is challenging due to a lack of record keeping and unknown blood level/genotype of handled/reared animals.
The research conducted at Metekel Cattle Breeding Improvement Ranch for 50, 75 and 87.5% HF × Fogera was 24.58±0.10, 26.56±0.26 and 26.45±0.73 kg, respectively (Belay Zeleke, 2014). Based on the reports on Aynalem Haile et al., (2011) the performance of birth weight for 50, 62.5, 75, 87.5% HF × Boran crossbred were 26±0.15, 29.2±0.36, 31.1±0.28 and 31.4±0.27 kg, respectively. In both Boran and Fogera crosses, the performance of the herd increase as blood level increases. The birth weight performances of different crossbred dairy cattle are presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Birth weight for crossbred dairy cattle with different genetic group in Ethiopia.
Reproductive performance traits
The lifetime productivity of a cow is influenced by its reproductive performance traits. Dessalegn et al., (2016) summarized that poor management of dairy cattle was the most probable factor adversely affecting the reproductive performance of cross breed cattle. Efficient heat detection and timely insemination, better health management, genetic improvement of crossbreeding, supplementing of good quality feed resources are required for optimal reproduction performance.
Age at first service (AFS)
Age at first service (AFS) is the age at which heifers attain optimum body condition and sexual maturity for accepting service for the first time. The higher age at first service resulted from the low level of management and poor feeding of calves and heifers at the earlier stages, which consequently had reduced growth rate and delayed puberty (Dessalegn et al., 2016) (Table 2).
Table 2: Age at first service of crossbred dairy cows with different genetic group in Ethiopia.
Age at first calving (AFC)
Age at first calving is the age at which heifers calve for the first time. First calving also marks the beginning of a cow’s productive life. Age at first calving is closely related to generation interval and, therefore, influences response to selection (Abdel Rahman and Alemam, 2008) (Table 3).
Table 3: Age at first calving of crossbred dairy cows with different genetic group in Ethiopia.
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