Hunde D., Mészáros G., Dessie T., Assefa G., Tadesse M., Sölkner J.
Holetta Agricultural Research Center, P. O. Box 31, Holetta, Ethiopia; University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria; Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, Gregor Mendel str. 33, Vienna, Austria; International Livestock Research Institute, P. O. Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Hunde, D., Holetta Agricultural Research Center, P. O. Box 31, Holetta, Ethiopia; Mészáros, G., University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria, Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, Gregor Mendel str. 33, Vienna, Austria; Dessie, T., International Livestock Research Institute, P. O. Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Assefa, G., Holetta Agricultural Research Center, P. O. Box 31, Holetta, Ethiopia; Tadesse, M., Holetta Agricultural Research Center, P. O. Box 31, Holetta, Ethiopia; Sölkner, J., University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
The reproductive and productive performances of dairy cows are essential for the profitability of dairy farmers. The aim of this study was to determine milk yield and reproductive performance of pure Jersey dairy cattle at Adea Berga Dairy Research Center in the central highlands of Ethiopia. General linear model was used to estimate the effect of fixed factors. Overall 3015 performance records were used. The least squares mean of reproductive performances were 30 months for age at first calving, 497 days for calving interval and 2 for number of services per conception. The least square mean of lactation milk yield was 2155 kg in 336 days lactation length. The influence of birth year and birth season were significant on age at first calving (P<0.001). Lactation milk yield, lactation length, calving interval and number of services per conception were significantly affected by year and parity (P<0.001). However, calving season did not have significant influence on calving interval and lactation milk (p>0.05). The results indicate that Jersey cows under the particular management of Adea Berga Farm produced reasonable amounts of milk. The value of age at first calving (30 months) recorded for a Jersey cow in this study was promising. The feeding and animal health intervention is essential to reduce the environmental stress. Since the farm is being used as genetic pool to recruit bulls for crossbreeding activities, better breeding schemes should be designed for further improvement of reproductive and productive performances of Jersey cattle. © 2015 Fundacion CIPAV. All rights reserved.