International Journal of
Livestock Production

  • Abbreviation: Int. J. Livest. Prod.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 2141-2448
  • DOI: 10.5897/IJLP
  • Start Year: 2009
  • Published Articles: 290

Article in Press

Reproductive Performance and Associated Health Problems at Alagae Dairy Farm, Central Ethiopia

Solomon Mekuria, Tajebe Jerjero, Abayneh Acha

  •  Received: 25 October 2019
  •  Accepted: 29 October 2019
Study was conducted between November 2015 and March 2016 at Alage dairy farm. the objective of study was to evaluate ten years record and the current status of dairy farm A total of 370 cow’s record and 105 monitored dairy cows’ were used for the study. The overall mean of 27.68±6.48 age at first service (AFS), 37.8±6.88 age at first calving(AFC), 16.36±5.2 calving interval (CI), 6.93±4.79months of days open(DO), 10.32±2.84 months lactation length(LL), 1.38±0.54 number of services per conception(NSC) and average daily milk yield of 8.22±2.2 liters/day/cow were observed in dairy farm. Average daily milk yield had a significant difference (p<0.05) between Holstein and their crosses. Reproductive performance was not significantly different between 10 years evaluation and current status using Mann Whitney U – test. Similar health problems like abortion, dystocia, metritis, repeat breeder, retained fetal membrane, mastitis and pre-weaning calf mortality observed in both recorded data and monitored cows. Physical damege and infectious diseases were common the farm. In conclusion, this study revealed that the reproductive performance of the dairy farm was below the acceptable standard. Therefore, appropriate measures should be implemented on Alage dairy farm in order to leverage the existing poor reproductive performance of the farm.

Keywords: Dairy cow; Health problem; Reproductive Performance; Alage; Ethiopia