Performance of crossbred dairy cattle under commercial farming conditions in the Chattogram district, Bangladesh

Abstract

The study was conducted in 10 different farms under 6 upazilas, i.e., Hathazari, Patiya, Anwara, Boalkhali, Bakalia and Patenga of Chattogram district. The records of 50 crossbred dairy cattle (CDC) were collected for two crossbred dairy breeds, i.e., Holstein Friesian × Jersey (HF × J) and Holstein Friesian × Local (HF × L) from March to June 2019. Farms having ≥50 CDC with complete records of each cattle were selected for the study purpose. Results indicated that the genotype, supply of green roughage and concentrate, and feeding of CDC immediate before milking had significant (p<0.001) positive linear effect on average daily milk yield (ADMY). Supply of green roughage and concentrate had further positive quadratic and cubic effects (p<0.001) on ADMY. Postpartum period quadratically influenced the ADMY (p<0.05) although linear and cubic effects were nil (p>0.05). Parity and genotype had significant (p<0.05) positive effect on lactation period of the CDC. Among the HF × J crossbreds, 75%+25% genotypes resulted in greater milk yield than the others. Similarly, the 87.5% + 12.5% HF × L produced more milk than the other genotypes. However, the farm type, housing systems, grass type, milking system, parity, service per conception, lactation period, age at puberty, age at first calving, and the dry period had no effect (p>0.05) on ADMY in the CDC. Overall, HF × J performed better than the HF × L. It was concluded that both HF × J and HF × L crossbreds were well adapted under medium-scale commercial farming conditions of Bangladesh.