ASSESSMENT OF MAJOR REPRODUCTIVE DISORDERS OF DAIRY CATTLE IN URBAN AND PERI URBAN AREAS OF DHAKA IN BANGLADESH

Abstract

Executive Summary The study, which combined questionnaire and observational methods, was carried out in the urban and periurban areas of Dhaka with the aim of identifying the prevalence of the most serious reproductive health issues in dairy cattle that were chosen between November 2022 and April 2023. Reproductive diseases and disorders can lead to economic losses in terms of reduced fertility in dairy cows. We examine in a total of 2430 dairy cows from 150 small (<10 dairy cows) and large scale (>10 dairy cows) dairy farms. During the study, 21.51% cows were found to be affected with reproductive diseases and disorders. Twenty reproductive diseases or disorders were diagnosed. Among them, anoestrus (6.79%), mastitis (3.66%), repeat breeding (3.20%), metritis (2.34%), retained placenta (1.31%) and poor heat detection (1.06%) were common reproductive problems. Anoestrus in dairy cows was commonly seen in animals with low body condition score (on BCS ≤ 2) than that with fair (2.5) and good (≥3-3.5) BCS. Taken together, reproductive diseases and disorders need to be well addressed to gain the optimum productivity from dairy farms.