Abstract
A cross-sectional study by employing a questionnaire survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of major reproductive disorders in dairy cattle and its associated risk factors in and around Bale Robe town from November 2016 to April 2017. Out of 384 dairy cows which were under investigation, 254 (66.15%) had encountered at least one of the reproductive disorders. The major reproductive disorders recorded with high prevalence in the present study included mastitis (20.57%), repeat breeder (17.71%), retained fetal membrane (6.51%), uterine and vaginal prolapse (5.47%), and abortion (4.1%), whereas reproductive problems with lower incidence rate included dystocia, anestrus, hypocalcaemia, uterine discharge, and stillbirth accounting 3.91%, 1.82%, 1.30%, 1.04%, and 0.78%, respectively. The overall incidence of reproductive disorders in this study showed statistical significance (p < 0.05) with respect to body condition, age of the animals, production system, and mating system. However, this finding indicated that occurrence of reproductive problems shows statistical insignificance compared to breed, parity, and hygiene of the farm. The prevalence of reproductive disorders in extensive management system (91.02%) was higher than intensive (64.58%) and semi-intensive (57.61%) management systems and also more in local breed (67.93%) than crossbreed (62.29%). However, the prevalence based on parity was higher in primiparous (71.05%) than pluriparous (64.07%) cows. In general, it is recommended that improvement in management system, proper selection of bull and appropriate timing of AI for breeding system, accurate heat detection, routine and periodical examination of cows, balanced feeding, and hygienic condition should be corrected to minimize the incidence of reproductive health disorders and associated risk factors in the study area.
Highlights
According to CSA, 2015, the country has 56.71 million heads of genetically diverse cattle with 11.38 million milk cows
In order to improve the reproductive performance, understanding the reproductive disorders has been considered as practical solution. erefore, the major objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of existing reproductive disorders and determine the associated risk factors of the problem of dairy cattle in the study area
Out of the total examined dairy cows, 66.15% (n 254) were found to be affected with at least one of the reproductive health problems, which means the overall finding showed that nearly two of three cows were observed with clinically manifested reproductive disorders. e prevalence of major reproductive disorders reported in this study is in agreement with prevalence of 67.7% reported by Haile et al [13]. e prevalence in this study is higher than that of studies conducted by Haile et al [8], Dawit and Ahmed [14], and Ayana and Gudeta [15] who reported overall prevalence of 43.07%, 40.25%, and 35.2% of major reproductive problems, respectively
Summary
According to CSA, 2015, the country has 56.71 million heads of genetically diverse cattle with 11.38 million milk cows. E livestock sector contributes about 10–12% of the total national Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and 15% of export earnings. Livestock contributes almost 60–70% of the livelihoods of Ethiopian population by producing a total of 3.07 billion liters of milk annually [1]. Production of livestock has been considered as a major economic sector and still to be continued in the future in most part of the world. Dairy sector development in small holder farming system is one of the key strategic important areas for addressing food security and improved livelihood in developing countries in Ethiopia [2]. Dairy cattle play a great role in reducing poverty by alleviating economic crisis of the world and generating regular income to the small holder dairy farms [3]
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