Genetic and Managerial Factors Affecting the Conception Rate of Cows in Rajshahi City Corporation Area of Bangladesh

Abstract

Given the significant economic importance of getting cows pregnant, we investigated the factors affecting the conception rate of cows in Rajshahi City in this study. As we know, when the sperm fertilizes the egg, this is the moment we call conception. The number of dams that actually give birth compared to the number of dams that have been served or exposed to the sire is traditionally understood to be the conception rate. There have been many management and environmental factors, such as nutrition, metabolic disorders, reproductive health, heat detection, insemination practices, and climate, which can result in significant differences in conception rates. In terms of the effect of herd size on cow’s conception, we observed that herd with >30 cows had the highest (71.12%) conception rate (P<0.001), while the overall conception rate was 60.28%. Private farms showed higher conception (66.68%) than NGO-led ones (22%). Farmers having higher (>3 years) experience managed better conception rate (62.34%) in their farms. Cows under good housing management showed better conception (65.65%) than poorly or on-averagely maintained ones. Cows that were given good quality feed showed better conception (66.82%) compared to those provided with medium to poor quality feed; likewise, cows supplied with good quality fodder performed better regarding CR (63.68%). Cows that were under regular deworming resulted better (63.90%) conception rate compared to irregularly (55%) or no-dewormed (22.22%) groups. Regarding the effects of breed on CR we noticed that Friesian crossed showed better conception (75.13%) than local (50%) and Sahiwal crossed (40%). About the effect of age, 4-6 years old cows showed a better conception rate (68.88%), and in terms of parity 3rd one revealed highest conception rate (84.26%). We noticed frozen semen performed better (62.43%) than liquid ones (57.24%) and the govt. supplied semen resulted in better CR (65%). Heat detection through mounting resulted in a better conception rate (68.08%) than bellowing (67.14%) and vaginal discharge (52.57%), and service around 12-18 hours of Heat showed the highest conception rate (76.32%). In terms of the effect of methods of pregnancy detection on conception rate we noticed that by observing the clinical signs, we can better confirm conception (70.69%) compared with rectal palpation (38.14%). Under various limitations, we carried out our experiment; our findings are striking; however, further studies are needed to go more in-depth into it