Breeding efficiency, lifetime lactation and calving performance of Friesian-Boran crossbred cows at Cheffa farm, Ethiopia

Gebeyehu Goshu

Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, P. O. Box 34, Debre Zeit, Ethiopia
ggoshu2000@yahoo.com

Abstract

Records of 602 cows maintained at Cheffa farm from 1976 to 1997 were used to analyze the variables breeding efficiency, herd life, and effective productive herd life, number of parity completed, number of calves produced and lifetime milk yield. The fixed factors considered were four levels of Friesian inheritance, three levels of season of birth or calving, nine levels of parity and 21 levels of year. General Linear Model was used to estimate the effect of independent factors.

The overall mean for breeding efficiency was 66.3±0.49 and affected significantly (P<0.001) by all factors. The overall mean for herd life and effective productive herd life were 2858±57.3 and 1301±47.6 days, respectively. Level of Friesian inheritance and year of birth effected significantly (P<0.001) both traits. The overall mean for initiated parity and number of calves produced were 4.23±0.12 and 3.58±0.13, respectively and affected (P<0.001) by level of inheritance and birth year of the cow but not by season of birth. Lifetime milk yield was 12749±483kg and significantly affected (P<0.001) by level of inheritance and year of birth. Season of birth did not affect the trait significantly. The study showed that the F₁ and 3/4Friesian inheritance cows had performed better than 15/16 groups.

Breeding efficiency and lifetime productivity can be improved by placing efficient reproduction, feeding and health management at the farm.

Key words: Breeding efficiency, cattle, crossbreeds, herd life, season

Introduction

Ethiopia has the largest cattle population in Africa. Recent report (Belachew Hurissa and Jemberu Eshetu 2003) indicated that the cattle population is estimated at 42 million heads. However, productivity of indigenous cows is low and yield about 230 kg of milk per lactation (MoA 1997). Thus, per capita protein consumption from the cow milk is not more than 10 g/day (FAO 1996). Crossbreeding program has been started in the early 1970s with the view of increasing milk production at the national level.

The Cheffa farm was started its dairy activity in 1976 from different levels of Friesian inherited cows. A considerable amount of information has been collected on reproductive and productive performances of the dairy cows. The data were previously analyzed for status of brucellosis and abortion (Tariku Sintaro; 1994; Gebeyehu Goshu 1999) and for reproductive and lactation performances (Gebeyehu Goshu and Hegde 2003). However, profitability depends on herd life which in turn is affected by the breeding efficiency of cows at the farm. Longer herd life gives opportunity for voluntary culling and decreases replacement cost per lactation thus enable s a cow to achieve its maximum capacity of performance at maturity (Essal 1998; Enyew Nigussie et al 2000).

However, the breeding program at Cheffa farm was not evaluated for breeding efficiency, herd life, lifetime calf and milk production. Moreover, few reports have been made available on breeding efficiency (Kiwuwa et al 1983), longevity and calf crop production (Enyew Nigussie et al 2000; Gidey Yifter 2001) in Ethiopia. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to disclose additional evidences on the above traits and lifetime calf and milk production from crossbred cows maintained at Cheffa farm, Ethiopia.

Materials and methods

Study area

The study was conducted at Cheffa state farm situated at 10° 55¢ N latitude and 39° 47¢ E longitude at an altitude of 1490 m about 375 km northeast of Addis Ababa. It is part of the Borkana Plain which has an estimated area of 305250 ha (FAO 1987). The farm size for crop production and grazing is about 2278 ha. The seasons are short rainy (February to May); long rainy (June to September) and dry (October to January). The rainfall distribution is bimodal with an annual average of 960 mm of which 32% falls in the short rainy season. The average temperatures were 22°C (Gebeyehu Goshu 1999). The farm is adjacent to the Borkena River which drains in to the Awash River in the rift valley.

Herd management

The herd was established from Boran dams, pure Holstein-Friesian bulls and cows of various levels of Friesian inheritance. The farm had witnessed three management changes during the study period. The grazing area is about 400 ha. Hay was made from the natural pasture. Concentrate was prepared at the farm by mixing 30% maize, 68% noug (Guizotia abyssinica) cake, 1% bone meal and 1% salt. Vaccination against rinderpest, CBPP, anthrax, blackleg and foot and mouth disease were given. Animals were dewormed and treated for internal and external parasite, respectively. Animals in heat were detected from morning observation and breeding calendar. Mating was natural. Culling was mainly based on low milk production, poor reproductive rate and old age. Most management activities, however, were continued at irregular interval. As s result, cases of strongyl, fasciola, anaplasma, babesia and blackleg were common on clinical case-books especially during the main rainy season. Moreover, during the period between 1991 and 1993 the health care practices was not optimal for shortage of medicaments and absence of veterinarian.

Data collection and analysis

Animals were individually identified by their tag number. The records of pedigree, breeding and lactation were available for generating the required information. Data collected during the period from 1976 to 1997 on different levels of Friesian x Boran crossbred cows were used. The coefficient of breeding efficiency for each cow was estimated using the formula:
BE= [396*(N-1)+960]/(age in days at each successive calving)

Where:
BE is breeding efficiency;
(N-1) is the number of calving interval in N generations and
'396' is the upper limit of desirable calving interval in days and
'960' is the lower limit of age at first calving in days.
The limits given were taken as optimum values for the reproductive traits considered.

A total of 602 cows with 1558 records were used for the analysis of breeding efficiency. Herd life(HL), effective productive herd life (EPHL), number of parity initiated (NPR), number of calves produced (NCP), and lifetime milk yield (LMY) were studied from 401 cows' records that had complete birth and disposal dates. Number of parity was taken as the sum of initiated lactations for each cow. Herd life (longevity) was calculated from the difference of disposal and birth dates. Since productive herd life (longevity less age at first calving) does not reflect the length of idle time of the cow after first calving, effective productive herd life (EPHL) was introduced. It was estimated by multiplying the number of calves born per cow by 365 days. Fixed effects studied were breed groups (F₁, 3/4, 7/8 and 15/16), parity of cow (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), season of birth or calving of cow (short rainy, main rainy, dry) and year (22) from 1976 to 1997. The following General Linear Model (GLM) of Minitab (1994) was used to analyze the data.

Y_ijklm= m+B_i+P_j+S_k+R_l+ (BS)_ik+e_ijkl,

Where:

Y_{ijkl =} dependentvariables (BE, HL, EPHL, NPR, NCP, LMY);
m = mean;
B_i = the effect of the i^th breed group of the cow;
P_j = the effect of the j^th parity of the i^th cow;
S_k = effect of the k^th season of birth or conception;
R_l= effect of the l^th year of birth or calving;
(BS)_ik= interaction effect of breed groups by season of calving; and,
e_ijkl= random error associated with Y_ijklobservation.

Linear contrasts of least squares means were computed to detect the significance of differences (P<0.05) within groups for all characters where the difference was significant in the analysis of variance.

Results

The overall mean of breeding efficiency was 66.3±0.49%. Breed group significantly (P<0.001) affected the estimate (Table 1).

The F₁ and 3/4 crosses were efficient by about 6% than 7/8 and 15/16 groups. Parity affected (P<0.001) breeding efficiency and the estimate for the first two parities were the least. Season of calving had also influenced (P<0.001) the breeding efficiency. Cows that calved in the short rainy season had the highest efficiency than those calved in the long rainy season (70.8% vs. 64.7%). Breed group´season of conception was significant (P<0.01) and F₁ had the highest efficiency in all seasons (Table 2).

Year of calving had significant (P<0.001) effect on BE. The overall breeding efficiency was improving for the first nine years then after declines slowly (Figure 1).

The overall least squares means for HL, EPHL, NPR, NCP and LMY are presented in Table 3.

Level of Friesian inheritance significantly (P<0.001) affected herd life, number of calf produced and lifetime milk yield. The F₁ and 3/4 crosses stayed in the farm for 2.1 and 1.6 more years than the 7/8 and 15/16 groups, respectively. Moreover, they had about twice productive herd life than the 7/8 and 15/16 genotypes. The average number of calves produced was 3.58±0.13 compared to the initiated parity of 4.23±0.12. Hence there is about 0.65 calves loss over the lifetime of the cow. The overall lifetime milk produced was 12749±483 kg. The 7/8 and 15/16 genetic groups produced only 62% and 52% of the farm average lifetime milk yield, respectively. Herd life, EPHL, NL, NCP and LMY were affected (P<0.001) by year of birth but not by season of birth.

Discussion

The overall breeding efficiency (66.3%) obtained in the current study is much lower than the findings (95%) of Kiwuwa et al (1983) for the various Friesian inheritance cows at Asella farm in Ethiopia. The lower efficiency at Cheffa indicates that the general herd management was not optimum for the genetic expressions of the different breed groups. Level of abortion rates and length of calving intervals might have contributed to the low breeding efficiency of crossbred cows at the farm. Earlier reports (Gebeyehu Goshu,1999; Gebeyehu Goshu and Hegde 2003) for the same farm showed that the average abortion rate and calving interval were 17.5% and 450 days, respectively. Cows with 7/8 and 15/16 Friesian inheritance aborted at a higher rate (29%) and required longer interval (about 474 days). Furthermore, it was reported that F₁ cows required less length of age at first calving, calving interval and days open (Mekonnen Hailemariam and Goshu Mekonnen 1987; Enyew Nigussie et al 2000; Yohannes Afework et al 2001; Gebeyehu Goshu and Hegde 2003) and fewer number of services (Mekonnen Hailemariam et al 1993; Moges Dereje and Baars 1997). This might have contributed to the higher breeding efficiency of these cows.

Breeding efficiency in the early parities was poor. This age related difference in reproductive performance might be due to delayed resumption of ovarian activity after calving. In young animals requirement of nutrients for continued growth and lactation place additional demand on the animal which may influence conception. Similar pattern of age related difference was reported by Kiwuwa et al (1983) and Enyew Nigussie et al (2000). The improved breeding efficiency of cows after the fourth parity might be due to the culling out of repeat breeding cows.

Cows calved in the short rainy season had high breeding efficiency. Shortage of feeds in the dry season and the high incidence of parasites and infectious disease in the long rainy season might have contributed to the lower efficiency of cows in these seasons (Gebeyehu Goshu and Hegde 2003). Moreover, the low efficiency of the 7/8 and 15/16 Friesian inheritance groups in Tables 1 and 2 show their inability to cope with the feed and health conditions prevailed in these seasons. A different seasonal effect was observed by Gidey Yifter (2001) for the Fogera cattle in Ethiopia that cows served in the dry and short rainy season had low reproductive rate (87.5%) than those served in the long rainy season (93.5%). The general decline of breeding efficiency during the study period (Figure 1) could be due to the variability of rainfall and deterioration of management in feed, health and reproduction. Several reports (Kiwuwa et al 1983; Enyew Nigussie et al 2000; Yohannes Afework et al 2001 et al 2001) showed that there was inconsistency of management from year to year in the farms considered.

Herd life of cows affects the profitability of dairy farms. The overall mean of 2858 days (7.9 years) obtained in this study is slightly higher than the estimates of 6.4 years for Maure and Peul breeds in Mali (ILCA 1978), 5.3 years for grade Boran cattle in Tanzania (Trail et al 1985), 6.02 years for crossbred cows in Ethiopia (Enyew Nigussie et al 2000) but lower than the 9.6 years for Fogera cattle (Gidey Yifter 2001) and the 11-13 years for indigenous cows (Mukasa-Mugerwa et al1989) in Ethiopia.

The significant (P<0.001) effect of breed groups on herd life of cows as depicted in Table 3 is in agreement with the previous reports (Kumar and Reddy 1989; Vaccaro 1990; Thorpe et al 1994). Kumar and Reddy (1989) working on Karan Swiss and Karan Fries cattle observed a longer herd life for F₁ breed groups and suggested that this may be due to the higher heterosis effect exhibited by the first crosses. Vaccaro (1990) reported longer herd life for 1/2 to 5/8 European crossbreeds. Similarly, Sahota and Gill (1991) noted a longer herd life of about 9.5 years for F₁ Friesian x Sahiwal crosses as compared to cows with 62.5 and 75% Friesian inheritance. Thorpe et al (1994) showed that Ayrshire with Sahiwal stabilized crosses had long productive days than the inter se mating in the lowland tropics of Kenya. Shorter lifetime for 7/8 and 15/16 groups in this study could be associated to the involuntary culling of these cows due to repeat breeding (Gebeyehu Goshu 1999). Herd life in the dairy herd is not only affected by genetic makeup and the health status of the cow. Cruickshank et al (2002) investigated the relationship of herd life with linear type traits in the American Guernsey herds. They reported a genetic correlation of herd life with body size from -0.10 to -0.29, with feet and leg traits from -0.10 to 0.06 and with udder traits from -0.09 to 0.24. Establishment of type correlation under Ethiopian condition will benefit farmers involved in dairy production.

The number of calving performance (3.58) in this study is lower than the 5.4 calves reported for Kenana cattle (Saeed et al 1987) but closer to the findings of Thorpe et al (1994) and Enyew Nigussie et al (2000) who reported about 3.2 and 3.2 calves for Friesian crosses in Kenya and Ethiopia, respectively. The loss of 0.65 calves during the lifetime of the cow could be related to brucellosis (Tariku Sintaro 1994), anplasmosis and presence of abortifecient plants in the grazing field (Gebebyehu Goshu 1999). This however requires further work on pastureland and reproductive management. The decrease of number of calves produced with the increase in exotic blood level is in agreement to the reports of Vaccaro (1990) and Ababu Dekeba et al (2004). Vaccaro (1990) estimated 7.9, 5.2 and 3.4 lactations per cow lifetime of crossbreds with 1/2, 5/8 and 3/4 proportions of European breeding, respectively. Similarly, a recent survey of smallholder farmers in Ethiopia showed that the 50%, 75% and 87.5% Holstein Friesians on the average produced 4.7, 3.4 and 2.0 calves, respectively (Ababu Dekeba et al 2004).

The average lifetime milk yield in the present study is higher than the findings of Thorpe et al (1994) for the Sahiwal with Ayreshire crosses or their inter se mating. In the current study the higher grades initiated fewer lactation hence yielded less during the lifetime (Table 3). Longer age at first calving and calving interval required by these cows contributed to the low lifetime lactation performance. Thus, improvement of performance demands application of efficient heat detection and growth management of the replacement heifers. The non significant effect of season of birth of the cow on HL, EPHL, NPR, NCP and LMY indicates the necessity of placing efficient feeding and health management system during the subsequent growth and lactation periods. Similar finding was reported by Thorpe et al (1994). The decline of HL and LMY during the study periods (Figures 2 and 3) were because of change in management and unprecedented death of the lactating cows.

Conclusions

This study showed that F₁ and 3/4 Friesian inherited cows performed better for all variables considered. This calls for stabilizing the blood level of dairy cows to the maximum of 3/4 Friesian inheritance. The declining breeding efficiency during the long rainy seasons strongly suggests the need for improvement of the health care practices. The present low reproduction efficiency indicates the necessity of decreasing age at first calving and intercalving period through improved heat detection and feeding management. The loss of 0.65 calves during the lifetime of the cow showed the need for strong efforts in reproduction management. Moreover, investigation of the association between linear type traits and herd life will warrant the profitability of the farm.

Ackowledgments

The author expresses gratitude to the experts and management unit of Cheffa farm for their unreserved cooperation during data collection. He also would like to thank Dr. Fikre Lobango for providing the statistical software and Mr. Ashenafi Mengistu for his valuable comments.

References

Ababu Dekeba, Workneh Ayalew and Hegde B P 2004 Observations on the performance of crossbred dairy cattle in smallholder herds in Degem district, Ethiopia. In: Farm Animal Biodiversity in Ethiopia: Status and Prospect. Proceedings of the 11^th annual conference of the Ethiopian Society of Animal Production (ESAP). 28-30 August 2003, ESAP, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 209-214.

Belachew Hurrissa and Jemberu Eshetu 2004 Challenges and opportunities of livestock marketing in Ethiopia. In: Challenges and Opportunities of Livestock Marketing in Ethiopia. Proceedings of the 10^th annual conference of the Ethiopian Society of Animal Production (ESAP). 21-23 August 2003, ESAP, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 1-13.

Cruickshank J, Weigel K A, Dentine M R and Kirkpatrick B W 2002 Indirect prediction of herd life in Guernesey dairy cattle. Journal of Dairy Science 85:1307-1313.

Enyew Nigussie, Bränäng E and Rottmann O J 2000 Reproductive performance and herd life of crossbred dairy cattle with different levels of European inheritance in Ethiopia. In; Livestock Production and the Environment: Implication for Livelihoods. Proceedings of the 7^th annual conference of the Ethiopian Society of Animal Production (ESAP). 26-27 May 1999, ESAP, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 65-74.

Essal A 1998 Longevity in dairy breeding: A review. Livestock Production Science 57:79-89.

FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization) 1987 Assistance to Land Use Planning, Ethiopia: Land Evaluation and Recommendation for Land Use Planning in the Borkana Study Area. Technical Report 18. FAO, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization) 1996 Production Year Book. Volume 50. Rome, Italy.

Gebeyehu Goshu 1999 Reproductive and productive performances of Freisian-Boran crossbred cows at Cheffa state farm, Wollo, Ethiopia. M.Sc thesis. Alemaya University of Agriculture, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.

Gebeyehu Goshu and Hegde B P 2003 Age at first calving, calving interval and milk yield performance of Friesian-Boran crossbred cattle at Cheffa state farm, Wollo, Ethiopia. Bulletin of Health and Production in Africa. 51:190-197.

Gidey Yifter 2001 Assessment of calf crop productivity and total herd life of Fogera cows at Andasa ranch in northwestern Ethiopia. MSc thesis. Alemaya University, Alemay, Ethiopia.

Hailemariam M, Banjaw K, Gebremeskel T and Ketema H 1993 Productivity of Boran cattle and their Friesian crosses at Abernossa ranch, rift valley of Ethiopia. I. Reproductive performance and preweaning mortality. Tropical Animal Health and Production 25:239-248.

ILCA (International Livestock Centre for Africa) 1978 Evaluation of productivities of Maure and Peul cattle breeds at the Sahelian Station, Niano, Mali. ILCA Monograph 1. ILCA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Kiwuwa G H, Trail J C M, Kurtu M Y, Getachew W, Anderson M F and Durkin J 1983 Crossbred dairy cattle productivity in Arsi region, Ethiopia. ILCA Research Report 11. International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Kumar S and Reddy K M 1989 Herd life and productive life among Karan Swiss and Karan Fries cattle. Indian Journal of Dairy Science 42:277-279.

Mekonnen Hailemariam and Goshu Mekonnen 1987 Reproductive performance of Fogera cattle and their Friesian crosses. Ethiopian Journal of Agricultural Science 9(2): 95-114.

Minitab 1994 Minitab Statistical Software Company. State College. Minitab Inc.

MoA (Ministry of Agriculture) 1997 The National Livestock Development Project. Project Document. MoA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Moges Dereje and Baars R M T 1998 Long-term evaluation of milk production and reproductive performance of dairy cattle at Alemaya. In: Women and Animal Production. Proceedings of the 6^th annual conference of the Ethiopian Society of Animal Production (ESAP). 14-15 May 1998, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 176-183.

Mukasa-Mugerwa E, Tadesse Tessema and Ephrem Bekele 1989 The productivity of indigenous Ethiopian highland cattle. Tropical Animal Health and Production 20:120.

Saeed A M, Ward P N, Light D, Durkin J W and Wilson R T 1987 Characterization of Kenana cattle at Um Banein, Sudan. ILCA Research Report 16. International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Sahota R S and Gill G S 1991 Relative performance off lifetime milk production and reproduction efficiency traits in different grades of crossbreeds. Indian Journal of Dairy Science 43:171-173.

Tariku Sintaro 1994 The impact of brucellosis on productivity in an improved dairy herd of Cheffa state farm, Ethiopia. M.Sc thesis. Institute of Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Konigsweg 67, Berlin, Germany.

Thorpe W, Morris C A and Kang'Ethe P 1994 Crossbreeding of Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, and Sahiwal cattle for Annual and lifetime milk yield in the lowland tropics of Kenya. Journal of Dairy Science 77: 2415-2427.

Trail J C M, Sones K, Jibbo J M C, Durkins J, Light D E and Murray M 1985 Productivity of Borana cattle maintained by chemoprophylaxis under trypanosomosis risk. ILCA Research Report 9. International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Vaccaro L P 1990 Survival of European dairy breeds and their crosses with zebu in the tropics. Animal Breeding Abstracts Report 58: 476-474.

Yohannes Afework, Azage Tegegne and Tesfu Kassa 2001 Reproductive performance of crossbred dairy cows at Asella Livestock Research Station, Arsi, Ethiopia. Ethiopian Journal of Animal Production 1: 1-12.

Received 11 March 2005; Accepted 30 May 2005; Published 1 July 2005

Go to top

---