Feed Resources, Productivity of Crossbred Dairy Cows and Microbial Quality of Buttermilk in Damot Pulasa District, Southern Ethiopia

This study was conducted to assess feed resources, the productivity of crossbred dairy cows, and microbial quality of buttermilk. Multistage purposive and random sampling techniques were used for study. The district was stratified into two locations based on the distance from the district town as, location close to district town (≤ 5 km) and location far from district town > 5 km). Three kebeles from each location making a total of six representative kebeles were considered for the study. Households having at least three crossbred cattle were identified and listed in each kebeles and finally 100 respondent households (50 from each location) were randomly selected from the list. Data on cattle herd composition, feeds and feeding, productivity of cows, milk microbial quality and dairy production constraints was collected. Twenty‐five buttermilk samples were randomly taken from the household level (15) and at the open market (10) for quality evaluation. The major available feed resources in the study area were natural pasture, crop residues, and non‐conventional feed resources, ranked first, second, and third, respectively. Feeding practices included grazing with supplementation (69.0%) and stall feeding (31.0%). Age at first service, age at first calving, calving interval, days open, lactation length, and daily milk yield were 32.62 ± 3.81, 42.06 ± 3.83, 16.27 ± 1.86, 6.63 ± 1.86, 9.01 ± 1.35 and 4.32 ± 0.9, respectively. The milk yield of crossbred dairy cows in the residential areas close to the town is much higher than that of those far away. Total bacterial count, entrobacterecea, yeast, mold, and pH were 6.26 ± 1.19, 4.42 ± 0.66, 5.01 ± 0.78 and 4.33 ± 0.25 respectively. Buttermilk samples obtained from the open market had significantly higher Entrobacteriaceae counts than samples collected from households. Buttermilk collected was subjected to bacterial contamination and does not meet the requirements of milk and dairy product quality standards. Feed shortages and land shortages are the major constraints that hinder the productivity of crossbred dairy cows. Awareness creation and strict quality control are recommended to protect the public health of the consumers. Farmers should be advised to practice feed conservation and to use marginal lands for forage production.