Reproductive and growth performance of Fogera cattle and their F1 Friesian crosses at Metekel ranch, Ethiopia
2003
Adisu Bitew(Bure Agricultural Development Office, West Gojjam (Ethiopia)) | B. Prabhakar Hegede(Alemaya University, Dire Dawa (Ethiopia))
The study deals with the Fogera cattle and their F1 Friesian crosses at Metekel Cattle Breeding and Improvement Ranch based on data collected between 1989 and 1998 to evaluate their reproductive and growth performance. The age at first calving (AFC) varied significantly in relation to breed group and year of birth while season of birth had no significant effect. The AFC averaged 47.61 and 40.46 months for Fogera and F1 heifers, respectively. The calving interval (CI) of Fogera cows was significantly affected by the year, season of calving and parity of dam. The cows that calved in the long rainy season had shorter calving interval. The average CI of Fogera cows was found to be 559 days. The average gestation length (GL) of Fogera cows was 281.4 days. The effect of sire breed, year and season of calving were significant unlike the sex of calf and the parity of dam. The effect of sire breed, year and season of calving were significant unlike the sex of calf and the parity of dam. The cows mated to pure Fogera bulls carried their calves of 5.4 days longer than those cows artificially inseminated with Friesian semen. The mean body weights of Fogera and F1 calves were 22.45 kg and 24.92 kg at birth and 114.2 kg and 130.5 kg at weaning respectively. All the factors tested had significant effect on both the parameters with the exception of effect of the sex of calf on weaning weight. The average body weights of Fogera and F1 calves were 146.8 kg and 153.3 kg at one year and 188.9 kg and 214.1 kg at two years of age, respectively. At one year of age, only year of birth and at two years of age, both breed group and year of birth had significant effects
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