Abstract

Ethiopia's dairy production system is predominantly extensive, with poor cattle performance constrained by a variety of factors such as poor genetics, low reproductive performance, and poor quality of feed, among others. So far, little work aimed at increasing dairy production has been undertaken. The objective of the study was to characterize the zoo-technical performance of indigenous dairy cows under small holder farmer management system. The study was undertaken in Hawella-Tulla district, Sidama Region; Sothern Ethiopia from November 2020 to March 2021. From three peasant associations (PA), 180 smallholder dairy farmers who owned local cows were selected using a simple random selection technique. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The majority of farmers (75%) practiced in mixed crop-livestock farming primarily produce milk for income generation. Farmers hold an average of 1.95±0.063 local lactating cows. The productive performance of the indigenous cow mean of daily milk yield was 1.53±0.09 liters and 6.5±0.89 months of lactation length. The mean age at first service (AFS) was 38.5 ± 2.71 months, Age at first calving (AFC) was 45.3±2.82 months, calving interval (CI) was 20.08±0.9 months, and number of services per conception (NSPC) was 2.5 ±0.63. It can be concluded that the zoo-technical performance of local cows was very low. Therefore, planned technical and institutional intervention to improve the feeding system, provide better health management, genetic improvement of local breeds through crossbreeding and synchronization should be carried out for the betterment performance of local cows.