| Livestock Research for Rural Development 27 (4) 2015 | Guide for preparation of papers | LRRD Newsletter | Citation of this paper |
The study was conducted on private urban and periurban dairy production systems around Holetta, Central Highland of Ethiopia, with the objective to assess the existing feed formulation and feeding of crossbred dairy cows in terms of nutrient supply in relation to the performances. Structured questionnaire and laboratory analysis for home-mixed concentrate were employed to generate data from a total of 60 dairy farms.
The average of home-mixed concentrates chemical composition for urban and periurban farm, respectively, were 209 and 224 g/kg dry matter (DM) of crude protein (CP), 3.85 and 5.28 g/kg DM calcium (Ca) and 10.6 and 9.74 g/kg DM of phosphorus (P). The nutrients supplied per kg of milk through home-mixed concentrates for urban and periurban crossbred dairy cows, respectively, were 92.6 and 93.5 g CP, 1.70 and 2.21 g Ca and 4.69 and 4.04 g P. The average daily milk yield (ADMY)/cow/day, calving interval(CI) and days open(DO) for urban and periurban farms, respectively, were 11.1 and 9.28 kg, 14.3 and 15.4 months, and 152 and 176 days. Significant variations in terms of nutrient supply through home-mixed concentrate between the production subsystems of the study site existed. Thus, big variations in nutrient supply and imbalances resulted in an apparently low performance of dairy animals in terms of ADMY, CI and DO as compared to what was expected.
Key words: calving interval, days open, home-mixed concentrates, milk yield, periurban, urban
The livestock sector has been contributing a considerable portion to the economy of Ethiopia, and still promising to rally round the economic development of the country. The total cattle population for the country is estimated to be about 53.99 million heads. Out of this total cattle population, the female cattle are about 55% and the estimated total cow milk produced in Ethiopia during the year 2012/13 is about 3.80 billion liters (CSA 2013). Dairy farming is expanding with crossbred high yielding cows in urban and periurban areas of Ethiopia.
Urban dairy systems in general are located in cities and/or towns for production and sale of fluid milk, with little or no land resources, using the available human and capital resources mostly for specialized dairy production under stall feeding conditions (Azage et al 2013). By virtue of their location, urban producers are not expected to have access to agricultural or pasture land, as the operation takes place within cities and as a result, they are forced to buy their feed (Zegeye 2003). Periurban dairy systems are located in rural areas or at the periphery of the urban which have relatively better access to urban centers in which dairy products are highly demanded (Azage et al 2013).
Urban and periurban dairy production systems are becoming important suppliers of milk and milk products to urban centers (Azage et al 2013) and contributing immensely towards filling the large demand-supply gap for milk and milk products in urban centers, where consumption of dairy products is remarkably high and they are the main suppliers of raw milk to processors of different scales (Zelalem et al 2011). However, this dairying is constrained by feed scarcity, both in terms of quantity and quality (Belay et al 2012). Reports have also shown that breed improvement will lead to an improvement in milk productivity of cattle ranging from 60 to 300% if accompanied by better feeding regimes (McDermott et al 2010).
Home-mixed concentrate mixtures are blended using locally available feed ingredients in various proportions with no awareness of their quality and impact of nutrient imbalances to productive and reproductive performances of crossbred dairy cows. Nutrient concentrations in feeds vary considerably, and not all nutrients in feeds are equally available to the animal (Adugna 2008). The usual practice by dairy producers to judge quality is mainly based on visual perceptions of mixed rations without laboratory based compositional confirmation (Land O'Lakes 2010). In urban and periurban dairy production systems, the success of dairy production in general and crossbreeding programs in particular needs to be monitored regularly by assessing the productive and reproductive performance under the existing management, feed formulation and feeding of dairy cows. Thus, this study was initiated with the aim to assess the existing feed formulation and feeding of crossbred dairy cows in terms of nutrient supply in relation to the performance.
The study was conducted on private urban and periurban dairy farms around Holetta, Ethiopia. The site is located at 9o 3’ N latitude and 38 o 30’ E longitud, about 30 km West of Addis Ababa along the main road to Ambo. The study area has an altitude of 2400 meters above sea level and receives an average annual rainfall of about 1000 mm. The mean minimum and maximum temperatures are 6 and 22oC, respectively. In this study, urban system constitutes those dairy farms, which are located within the boundary of Holetta town, whereas periurban system dairy farms are located outside of the town’s boundary (5 to 10 kilometers), produce milk and deliver to the town milk collectors.
Two production systems, urban and periurban, around Holetta area were considered for this study. Crossbred cows with any exotic blood level were used for the urban and periurban dairy system of the Holetta area. A reconnaissance survey was conducted in order to select specific dairy farmers and to get a general picture about the study sites. Based on the records available from the Dairy Union, there were about 596 dairy farmers, where 295 and 301 farmers were keeping crossbred cows in urban and periurban sites of Holetta, respectively. Considering 10% of the farms from each site, a total of 60 dairy farms (30 from each urban and periurban) were considered for questionnaire survey and home-mixed concentrate feed sampling.
Structured questionnaires were developed and pre-tested for the survey work. Cross-sectional survey was conducted across the dairy farms from November, 2013 to February, 2014. Data were gathered on the formulation and feeding home-mixed concentrates, and productive and reproductive performances of crossbred dairy cows (average daily milk yield, calving interval and days open).
Home-mixed concentrate samples were collected from each farm and sealed in plastic bags for chemical analysis. Chemical analysis of the samples was performed at Holetta Agricultural Research Center’s Laboratory. Dry matter (DM) and ash contents of feed samples were determined by oven drying at 105ºC overnight and by igniting in a muffle furnace at 600ºC for 6 hours, respectively (AOAC 1990). Nitrogen content was determined by the Kjeldahl method and crude protein (CP) was calculated as N*6.25 (McDonald et al 2010). Calcium (Ca) content of the feeds was analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer according to Perkin (1982), and phosphorus (P) content was determined according to AOAC (1990). Nutrients supplied per milk yield through home-mixed concentrate were estimated from the total amount of concentrate offered per cow/day and dividing by the milk produced by the respective cow/day and multiplying with their respective DM and nutrient concentrations according to McDonald et al (2010).
The data were analyzed using Statistical Analysis System software (SAS 2004). General Linear Model (GLM) procedure of SAS was employed to analyze the effect of classification variables.
The average crude protein (CP) content per kg of dry matter (DM) of home-mixed concentrate was lower in urban than peri-urban dairy farms (Table 1). The average calcium (Ca) concentration per kg of DM of the home-mixed concentrate was higher in urban than in peri-urban farms. On the contrary, phosphorous (P) concentration of the home-mixed concentrate was higher in urban than in peri-urban dairy farms.
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Table 1. Mean values for chemical composition of home-mixed concentrate in urban and periurban dairy farms around Holetta |
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|
Chemical compositions |
Urban |
Peri-urban |
SEM |
p |
|
DM, g/kg |
902 |
910 |
1.14 |
0.001 |
|
Ash, g/kg |
94.9 |
99.7 |
2.47 |
0.180 |
|
CP, g/kg DM |
209 |
224 |
3.81 |
0.004 |
|
Ca, g/kg DM |
3.85 |
5.26 |
0.25 |
0.001 |
|
P, g/kg DM |
10.6 |
9.74 |
0.21 |
0.008 |
The high CP and Ca, and low P concentration found in periurban dairy farms in this study might be attributed to low proportions of oil seed cakes which relatively contain higher Ca and CP and lower P than flour mill byproducts (Adugna 2008). Besides farmers have no standards to blend individual feed ingredients in the mixtures. The quantities of individual feed ingredients included in the home-mixed concentrate seemed to depend on their relative availability rather than on the farmers’ conscious desire to supply better quality and balanced concentrate mixture to their cows (Mesfin et al 2013).
Higher amounts of home-mixed concentrate per kg of milk were observed in urban as compared to periurban dairy farms (Table 2). This might be due to farmers in urban areas having better information on feeding of milking cows than peri-urban farmers.
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Table 2: Farmers’ home-mixed concentrate feeding levels and nutrient supplied per milk yield (MY) in urban and periurban of Holetta |
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|
Item |
Urban(n=30) |
Periurban(n=30) |
SEM |
p |
|
Feeding level, kg/kg MY |
0.49 |
0.46 |
0.01 |
0.010 |
|
CP, g/kg MY |
92.6 |
93.5 |
2.89 |
0.061 |
|
Ca, g/kg MY |
1.70 |
2.21 |
0.11 |
0.002 |
|
P, g/kg MY |
4.69 |
4.04 |
0.13 |
0.001 |
The average CP supplied were 92.6 and 93.5 g/kg of milk supply in urban and periurban farms were observed, respectively. Thus the supply of CP per day through the concentrate mixture regardless of CP supply through the basal feed was considerably higher than the recommended 860 g/day for a standard cow, 500 kg weight and 40 g butterfat, producing 10 kg of milk per day (ARC 1994). This clearly indicates that the protein supply through the home-mixed concentrate could be fulfilled; even it was over the cow’s CP requirement per day regardless of the CP fed through the basal diet. Thus, any protein not required by the cow is excreted in the urine as urinary urea, a consequence of urea nitrogen recycling and the removal by the kidney of any urea not recognized by the animal as necessary for rumen function (Lock and Van Amburgh 2012). Increasing dietary protein concentration above the requirement reduced the daily and cumulative energy balance according to Law et al (2009).
Low Ca level (1.70 g/kg MY) was fed in the urban dairy farms as compared to peri-urban. Low Ca level prolongs calving duration and has a detrimental effect on placenta expulsion and uterine involution, which finally impair postpartum fertility in the cows (Rukkwamsuk 2011).
Feeding a calcium-deficient diet may delay uterine involution (Funston 2007). High amount of P supply was found in urban dairy farms. This implies a 10 kg milk producing cow in this study site might be supplied more than 40 g per day through the concentrates which is higher than the recommended 28 g/day for cows producing 10 kg/day (ARC 1994) regardless of the P supplied through the basal diet. High P intakes along with low Ca intakes also depress fertility (Funston 2007).
The estimated average daily milk yield (ADMY), calving intervals (CI) and days open (DO) are presented in.
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Table 3: Average daily milk yield, calving interval and days open of crossbred dairy cows around Holetta |
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|
Traits |
Urban(n=30) |
Periurban(n=30) |
SEM |
p |
|
ADMY, kg/cow/day |
11.1 |
9.28 |
0.48 |
0.009 |
|
CI, months |
14.3 |
15.4 |
0.28 |
0.006 |
|
DO, days |
152 |
176 |
7.10 |
0.018 |
The ADMY was lower in periurban farms than in urban farms (Table 3). The difference could be attributed to relatively higher protein supply through home-mixed concentrate in periurban farms compared to the urban dairy farms. Consequently, additional energy costs of detoxifying ammonia from protein possibly led to a greater reliance on body energy stores for milk production (Thatcher et al 2008). The present result in ADMY is comparable to Azage et al (2013) who reported the ADMY for crossbred dairy cows in urban (10.2-15.9 kg/cow/day) and periurban (9.5 kg/cow/day) systems. However, it is lower than 15.5 kg/day/cow in urban and 13.7 kg/day/cow secondary town dairy production systems in Adama milkshed reported by Nigusu and Yoseph (2014). The low ADMY in this study might be due to poor nutrient supply and feeding practices of the dairy cows. Poor nutrient supplies and feeding practices are major factors that determine the productive and reproductive performances of dairy cows (Ahmed et al 2004).
Longer CI was observed in periurban areas than in the urban farms. The longer CI in periurban farms might be due to relatively poor feeding practices and nutrient supplies. Thus, poor feeding practices, adversely, affected the synthesis and secretion of hormones responsible for ovarian follicular development and function leading to extended CI in these cows (Thatcher et al 2008). The average CI in this study was comparable to 420 and 459 days for urban and periurban zones of Gondar, North Western Ethiopia, respectively, reported by Niraj et al (2014). The marked increment in length of average CI form urban (14.3 months) to periurban (15.4 months) is in line with the report of Gebrekidan et al (2012) who found the similar trend, however, with longer CI for crossbred dairy cows, which increased from 15.9 months in urban to 19.7 months in periurban Central Zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Similar trends and comparable figures to the current study were also reported from Gondar Town; 420 days in urban and 459 days in periurban (Niraj et al 2014).
Differences in length of DO between the production system existed which increased from urban to periurban dairy farms. This might be due to poor nutritional status and excess protein fed to cows through the home-mixed concentrate in periurban dairy farms. Over-feeding of protein leading to high levels of ammonia or urea may impair maturation of oocytes and subsequent fertilization or maturation of developing embryos (Yugal et al 2013). Excess feeding of protein could have detrimental effects on re-establishment of the ovarian cycle postpartum as well as adverse alterations in the oviductal and uterine environment of the developing embryo (Thatcher et al 2008). The present value of DO was longer than that reported for crossbred cows (2.47 months in urban and 3.33 months in periurban areas) in Gondar Town (Nibret 2012). Overfeeding protein during the breeding season and early gestation, particularly if the rumen receives an inadequate supply of energy may be associated with decreased fertility (Dunn and Moss 1992). Reduction in fertility may result from reduced uterine pH during the luteal phase of the estrous cycle in cattle fed high levels of degradable protein (Yugal et al 2013).
The amount of crude protein and phosphorous fed to crossbred dairy cows through home-mixed concentrates were above the requirement for the observed milk output. Formulation and feeding of home-mixed concentrates to crossbred dairy cows is the most important factor that determines the productive and reproductive performances of dairy cows. Thus, it is concluded that big variation in nutrient supply and imbalances in home-mixed concentrates resulting in an apparently low performance of dairy animals that induces low milk yield, long calving interval and delayed days open as compared to what were expected from the cows. In order to make dairy cows to produce up to their maximum genetic potentials much emphasis should be given with respect to balancing the nutrient supply with the nutrient required of the animal’s special attention should be given to the limiting nutrients in major feed ingredients.
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Received 14 February 2015; Accepted 13 March 2015; Published 1 April 2015