Crossbreed Dairy Cow Production, Feeding and Management practice at Gidole Town, south Ethiopia

Abstract

The study aimed to evaluate the production, feeding, and management techniques of Holstein Friesian (HF) crossbred dairy cows at Gidole town, south Ethiopia. Cross-sectional survey involving 60 households selected through systematic random sampling from a total of 150 households with crossbred HF dairy cows in the town. Chemical compositional analysis performed on key feed items collected from the study households. Data analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software. Average daily milk yield was 7.29±0.22 liters, while average lactation milk yield was 1727.73±9.57 liters. The average lactation length was 7.9±1.45 months. While 53.3% of households possessed crossbreed cows with a blood level of 50%, 43.3% had cows with a blood level of 50-75% and 3.3% had cows with a blood level beyond 75%. Crop residue, improved forages (desho, Guatemala, and elephant grass), enset, atella, and salt were the most important cattle feed resources. In the non-conventional diet, atella has the highest crude protein (CP) content (29.24%), followed by elephant grass (18.44%) and teff straw (6.34%). Despite its importance, feed availability remains a challenge in terms of both quality and quantity. To address this, the study recommends strong extension efforts focused on: promoting the use of concentrate feed, developing and utilizing improved forage options and treating crop residues to enhance their quality. Keywords: Crossbred dairy cow, Gidole, feed, feeding practices, milk production