Abstract:
The study was conducted in Sendafa district of Oromia special zone surrounding Addis
Ababa with the aim of evaluating the productive and reproductive performances of
crossbred dairy cows in urban and peri-urban areas of Sendafa town, Oromia, Ethiopia.
Six kebeles were purposively selected for this study. The study had two parts survey and
monitoring study. 156 respondents which had crossbred dairy cows were selected for the
survey study. For the monitoring study, a total of 24 dairy farms and from which 180
crossbred dairy cows (60 cows from large scale, 60 cows from medium scale and 60 cows
from small scale) that had different genotypes (25%, 50%, 75% and >75%) and parity
were purposively selected. Milk collection centres were the major (73.1%) market where
the farmers sold their raw milk. The prices of raw milk per litre were high in local café
and hotel market and low price in milk collection centre. Reduction of milk yield (50.6%)
and weight loss of animals (34%) were the effects of poor-quality feed and feed shortages
on the dairy animals. Shortage of animal feed, high cost of concentrate feed, and water
scarcity were the main problems in the area. Natural mating and AI service were
practiced in the area. Low milk yield and infertility were the main reason why most
farmers culled their dairy animals. Average age at first service of crossbred dairy cows in
large, medium and small-scale dairy farms in urban and per-urban were 323.0±46.7 and
319.0±45.9 days’ respectively. The mean numbers of service per conception of crossbred
dairy cows in urban and per-urban were 1.6± 0.6 and 1.6±0.8 respectively. The averages
days open of crossbreed dairy cows in urban and per-urban were 124.9±23.5, and
142±23.0 days and the average calving intervals in the large, medium and small-scale
farms in urban and per-urban were 16.1±1.6 and 15.7±1.7 months, respectively For the
monitoring study results, Average daily milk yield for 25%, 50%, 75% and >75%,
genotypes of crossbred dairy cows in urban were 7.2±1.0, 8.9±1.2, 11.5±2.4 and 12.7±2.3
litres per day with an overall 10.1±1.7 litres of milk per day per cows. In per urbanaverage
daily milk yield for 25%, 50%, 75% and >75% were 7.8±1.1, 8.3±0.9, 11.2±2.0 and 13.0±2.6
litres per day with an overall 10.4±1.9 litres of milk per day per cows. The overall average
lactation lengths of crossbred dairy cows in large, medium and small-scale dairy farms in
urban and per-urban were 323.0±46.7 and 319.0±45.9 days’ respectively. Generally, the
result of this study shows that animal feed cost, shortage of animal feed, shortages of land
and water were the major challenges in the study areas. Repeated breeding was also the