MILK YIELD PERFORMANCE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH BODY CONDITION SCORE AND NUTRIENT INTAKE OF CROSSBRED DAIRY COWS IN GONDAR TOWN

Abstract

Dairy production in Gondar town is dominated by rearing crossbred cows, but the productivity of crossbred dairy cows in the town is relatively low because feeding practices and management systems contribute to poor performances of dairy cattle owned by farmers. There was a concern that farmers are not aware of the feed quality, feeding practice, and impact of nutrient imbalances on the performances of animals. This may induce very high or very poor body conditions which both affect milk yield. The study was therefore conducted with the general objective of Milk yield performance and its relationship with body condition score and nutrient intake of crossbred dairy Cows in Gondar town. A structured questionnaire was employed to generate data from a total of 90 dairy farms followed by 21 days of monitoring of selected farms. For the monitoring study, 9 farms and 4 lactating cows from each farm were randomly selected. The common dairy cow feeds identified in the study area were: pasture, crop residues, agro-industrial by-products, and non-conventional feed. Based on laboratory analysis, the overall mean of home-mixed concentrates nutrient contents, was 156.8±18.2 g/kg DM of crude protein, 772.2±56.4 TDN% /kg DM, 4.7±1.7 g/kg DM calcium, and 6.8±16 g/kg DM of phosphorus were differed significantly (P<0.05)across the production subsystems. The overall mean nutrient supply per TDMI per day of milk yield through home-mixed concentrates were 1093.8±376.9 g/kg DMI of crude protein, 4472.11±1499 TDN g/kg DMI, 37.5±1.7 g/kg DMI calcium, and 38.19±16 g/kg DMI of phosphorus and varied significantly (P<0.05)across the selected farm of the study area. The monitoring results showed that the average daily milk yield was 13.09±4.05liters/day more than the data got from survey data the average daily milk yield, 10.17±3.43 liters/day obtained from survey data. Moreover, the results showed homemade feed preparation affected the productivity of cows in the study area and feeding practice variability based on feed availability and season of the study area. Conclusions were made on milk yield affected by body condition scores and nutrients available in homemade feed preparation and to increase dairy cows' milk yields there needs to be an urgent intervention on feeding system, feed preparation, fodder conservation, and silage making for a dairy cow in the study area