Phenotypic Description And Productive Performance Of Tarime Zebu Cattle In Tanzania

On-farm survey and characterization of Tarime zebu cattle was carried out to describe their phenotypic characteristics, reproductive performance and adaptive qualities. Data on physical characteristics were collected through onsite observation of 626 animals. Data on reproductive and lactation performances were collected through individual interview of 120 farmers from six villages using a structured questionnaire. Body measurements (body weight, wither height, body length and heart girth) were obtained by measuring 84 animals. The coat colour of most animals was brown (14.2%), fawn (13.4%) or brown mixed with other colours (21.4%). In most animals muzzles were brown (71.4%), hooves were grey (73.8%), naval flap was either absent (69%) or small (28.6%) and the dewlap was medium in size (83.3%). The majority of Tarime zebu cattle had small udder size (92.3%), small front quarter size (61.5%) and medium sized teats (80.8%). The estimated average live weights of mature cattle were 292 ± 32, 319 ± 35 and 249 ±.23 kg for entire males, castrates and females, respectively. Average age at first calving and calving interval were 4.3 ± 3.3 years and 17.6 ± 5.1 months, respectively. Average lactation length was 8.2 ± 2.3 months and average daily milk yield for the whole lactation period was 1.4 ± 0.6 litres. Most farmers reported that Tarime zebu cattle were tolerant to diseases (80.5%) and drought (75.8%), had good grazing ability (34.2%) and were better draught animals (24.2%). It is concluded that Tarime zebu cattle are preferred to pure and crossbred dairy breeds because of their ability to withstand diseases and adverse environmental conditions. Tanzania Veterinary Journal Vol. 25 (1) 2008: pp. 60-74