Feed Resources, Feeding Practice, and Performance of Crossbred Dairy Cows in Wondogenet District, Southern Ethiopia

Assessment on feed resources, feeding practice, and reproductive and productive performance of crossbred dairy cows was carried out in Wondogenet District. Multistage purposive and random sampling methods were used to select kebeles and respondent households. The results indicate that the major available feeds in the study area are natural pasture, crop residues, and improved forage. About 51% of respondents practice stall feeding for their crossbred dairy cattle. Seasonality (20.3%), scarcity (26.4%), cost (37.6%), and lack of awareness on improved feeding (15.7%) are feed‐associated constraints in the study area. Average age at first service (AFS), age at first calving (AFC), days open (DO), calving interval (CI), and number of service per conception (NSC) were 26.41 ± 5.35, 36.125 ± 5.4, 6.98 ± 2.87, 16.7 ± 3.2, and 1.93 ± 0.99, respectively. Lactation length (LL) in months, lactation milk yield (LMY), and daily milk yield (DMY) were 10.43 ± 1.73, 2084.9 ± 88.19, and 6.71 ± 1.92, respectively. Similarly, weaning age (WA) and age feed start (AFS) of new born calves were 4.46 ± 1.5 and 3.25 ± 0.905, respectively. Awareness on improved feed management and feeding practices should be created for households ultimately to improve productivity of cows.