Early Growth and Reproductive Performance of Crossbred Dairy Cattle in Ethiopia: A Review

Abstract

The economy of livestock production largely depends upon the early growth and reproductive efficiency of the animals. This review was conducted to generate the database about the early growth and reproductive traits of crossbred cattle such as birth weight (BW), age at first service (AFS) and age at first calving (AFC) under Ethiopian conditions. The effort was made to collect and discuss all the published materials in the required areas in order to provide piece of information pertaining to early growth and reproductive traits of crossbred dairy cattle. In order to achieve the best early growth and reproductive performance in dairy animals, it is concluded that management system improvement, including effective heat detection and timely insemination, better health management, genetic improvement of crossbreeding and supplementation of good quality and quantity feed resources, is necessary.