2019 Volume 17 Pages 2-7
Livestock production is one of the most important economic and social activities in agriculture in Afghanistan. The present study aims to survey the reproductive performance of crossbred cows to address any major constraints of their reproduction in Afghanistan. Body condition, reproductive disorders, and feeding schemes were surveyed in 144 cows of 7 dairy farms in Jalalabad city. In this survey, we found that 55.6% dairy cows had reproductive disorders, among them “anestrus” showed the highest percentage. Cows with a lower body condition score (BCS) showed a greater incidence of anestrus, with a significant difference in the occurrence of anestrus between BCS 1 and BCS 3. Further, cows fed with only straw tended to show lower BCS compared with animals fed with both straw and concentrates. In conclusion, the present study suggests that the low BCS of cows, which is possibly caused by a poor feeding scheme, is closely associated with a higher occurrence of anestrus in cows. The present study may contribute to proposing improvements in feeding schemes that may in turn increase the reproductive performance of crossbred cows in Afghanistan.
