Reproductive Performance Evaluation of Holstein Friesian and Their Crosses with Boran Cattle Breeds in Ardaita Agricultural Technical Vocational Education Training College Dairy Farm, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

The study was conducted at Ardaita Agricultural Technical Vocational Education Training (ATVET) college dairy farm, to evaluate the reproductive performance of Holstein Friesian and its crosses with Boran cattle breeds. Data collected between 2000 and 2015 on reproductive traits (n=2632) were studied and analyzed using general linear model procedure. The overall estimated means for age at first service (AFS), age at first calving (AFC), calving interval (CI), days open (DO) and number of services per conception (NSC) were: 31.33 ± 0.44 months, 41.08 ± 0.44 months, 405.50 ± 3.32 days, 134.84 ± 3.51 days and 1.36 ± 0.03, respectively. Except age at first service, which is influenced by level of Holestien Friesian percentage, season of calving and level of Holestien Friesian percentage was not significant (P>0.05) on all reproductive traits. The traits calving interval and days open significantly (P<0.001) influenced by year of calving and parity. Season of birth (P<0.05) and year of birth (P<0.001) significantly influenced age at first service and age at first calving. Service per conception was significantly influenced by year of calving (P<0.001) only. Except number of service per conception, the result obtained for age at first service, age at first calving, days open and calving interval of Holstein Friesian and its crosses with Boran cows in the study area were below the standards set for commercial dairy farms. Therefore, consideration should be given to the farm to improve those genetic and non-genetic factors affected performance.