**4. Conclusion and recommendations**

334 A Bird's-Eye View of Veterinary Medicine

ct 3 524.30 0.5217 5809.68 0.0007\*\*\* 514.69 0.6677 158.45 0.8484 2796.13 0.1622 3032.60 0.0687

Table 3(b). Analysis of variance of On-farm Kiruhura, Ibanda and Sembabule Ankole, Boran

**all** 52.01 64.49 74.94 82.23 87.68 101.56 120.12 124.24 **Breed** Ankole 54.97 ± 2.69 85.77 ±6.89 118.75 ±9.85 87.79 ±6.13 95.94 ±9.90 132.33 ±8.92 143.66 ±8.69 137.74 ±10.72

**Sex** Female 57.10 ±1.53 82.04 ±4.87 96.95 ± 5.88 102.97 ±3.05 92.45 ±4.15 129.21 ±7.87 149.33 ±4.76 147.41 ±4.65

Table 4(a). Least Square Means (LSM ±STDERR) for live body weights of On farmKiruhura,

**Overall** 136.39 145.88 157.20 170.09 **Breed** Ankole 183.23 ±18.07 175.09 ±16.39 197.58 ±26.92

**Sex** Female 157.72 ±9.38 136.22 ±10.75 169.83 ±14.28 172.32 ±13.03

**Season** Dry 158.75 ±13.03 133.19 ±17.53 178.69 ±20.64 181.05 ±14.55

**Districts** Ibanda 153.22 ±13.51 138.32 ±15.62 152.99 ±17.05 172.06 ±17.05

Table 4(b). Least Square Means (LSM ±STDERR) for live body weights of On farm Kiruhura,

W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8

cross 54.09 ± 3.66 61.36 ± 4.35 68.35 ±9.12 91.04 ±7.44 90.56 ±5.83 113.11 ±8.21 105.49 ±10.93 116.85 ±7.67 Boran 69.38 ± 2.94 110.01 ±17.19 119.51 ±8.47 150.23 ± 6.05 156.71 ±22.11 233.66 ±9.27 215.16 ±11.17

cross 47.86 ± 1.10 59.78 ±2.63 66.15 ±4.65 76.14 ± 6.05 88.64 ±2.87 114.12 ±5.19 110.48 ±4.12 120.90 ±3.21

Male 56.05 ±2.04 76.42 ±6.30 89.43 ± 6.95 99.63 ±4.42 90.97 ±5.27 128.92 ±9.24 147.32 ±7.32 147.92 ±6.33

Dry 92.19 ±9.78 107.24 ±4.60 95.34 ±5.29 147.87 ±11.94 153.18 ±7.13 149.25 ±5.94 Wet 56.58 ±1.50 79.23 ±5.14 94.19 ±4.75 95.36 ±3.03 88.09 ±4.27 110.27 ±6.31 143.46 ±5.02 146.08 ±5.02

Ibanda 54.48 ± 2.49 75.57 ± 6.09 93.36 ±7.19 104.21 ±4.14 88.34 ±5.33 125.22 ±9.31 146.09 ±6.62 134.48 ±6.19 Kiruhura 56.86 ± 1.86 79.72 ± 6.16 98.53 ±6.67 103.16 ±4.27 94.82 ±5.35 140.96 ±8.76 152.09 ±6.46 155.60 ±6.35

ule 58.39 ± 1.67 82.41 ±4.99 87.68 ±6.12 96.54 ±4.17 91.98 ±4.27 121.02 ±7.75 146.77 ±6.07 152.91 ±5.29

W9 W10 W11 W12

Boran cross 141.27 ±14.34 101.89 ±19.07 171.90 ±25.35 171.18 ±25.36

Friesian cross 128.89 ±6.39 145.68 ±10.44 160.69 ±12.20 188.42 ±8.86

Male 144.55 ±12.48 147.57 ±19.53 162.77 ±19.97 199.12 ±18.48

Wet 143.52 ±8.66 150.59 ±12.69 153.89 ±14.61 190.39 ±15.33

Kiruhura 144.25 ±13.25 138.32 ±14.78 193.29 ±24.31 204.89 ±19.62 Sembabule 155.94 ±8.50 142.97 ±15.27 152.62 ±18.55 180.22 ±13.72

all 120.12 124.24 136.39 145.88 157.20 170.09

**Variance for live body weights (kg)**  W7 W8 W9 W10 W11 W12 Df MS P MS P MS P MS P MS P MS P Breed 3 43394.75 <.0001\*\*\* 18738.28 <.0001\*\*\* 5941.96 0.0123\*\* 3739.08 0.0140 249.60 0.6822 344.70 0.7232 Sex 1 67.89 0.7715 6.69 0.9257 1718.59 0.2481 446.099 0.4987 202.58 0.7122 2870.00 0.1073 Season 1 1604.24 0.1594 268.49 0.5548 2258.80 0.1861 1322.24 0.2462 2078.51 0.2411 686.45 0.4248

**Source**

Distri-

Over-

**Over-**

**Season** 

**Districts** 

Boran

Friesian

Sembab

and Friesian crosses from 7-12 months of age

**Effect Live body weights (kg)** 

Ibanda and Sembabule Ankole, Boran and Friesian crosses

Ibanda and Sembabule Ankole, Boran and Friesian crosses

**Effect Live body weights (kg)** 

Boran 144.89 ±32.93

The study concludes that the factors that affect growth performance among on-station and on-farm cattle breeds include: breed, sex of the animal and seasonal variation. The study revealed that twinning in cattle was a rare occurrence. The study demonstrated that Boran cattle performed much better than the rest of other breeds in terms of growth followed by Ankole, Friesian cross and Boran cross respectively. It was found that the performance of cattle breeds did not vary significantly (p>0.005) among the different geographical areas of Mbarara, Kiruhura, Ibanda and Sembabule except months six (p<005) and months eight (p<0.05). The genotypes of the breeds were very important in performance evaluations. It was however noted that, husbandry practices related to feeding, deworming, spraying, mineral supplementation and other disease control measures were paramount in promoting the full potential of the breeds. Other important factors to consider included environmental conditions e.g. temperature, humidity etc. The study recommended genetic characterisation of the cattle breeds. Guidelines for appropriate Ankole and Friesian breeding and management practices developed and disseminated.

## **5. Acknowledgement**

The following are acknowledged for their contributions in getting this work done. National Agriculture Research Organization (NARO) for funding this field based research activities. The farmers contributed immensely by availing cattle to be used in the research study and willingly accepting to cooperate during the data gathering process which most times was strenuous. Extension workers from Kiruhura, Ibanda and Sembabule districts are applauded.

#### **6. References**

Anonymous (1981). Dairy cattle. Retrieved from

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn

Asimwe L and Kifaro G C 2007. Effect of breed, season, year and parity on reproductive performance of dairy cattle under smallholder production system in Bukoba district, Tanzania. Livestock Research for Rural Development. Volume 19, article #152 Retrieved June 30, 2010 from

http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd19/10/asim1952.htm


**18** 

*Spain* 

**Clinical Approach to the** 

and Guillermo Vizuete Calero

*University of Cordoba,* 

**Repeat Breeder Cow Syndrome** 

Dairy cattle production requires great intensification, which has been demonstrated to affect negatively on the reproduction. One calf by cow and year is the reproductive objective in these animals. It means that cows must get pregnant after AI, maintain the pregnancy, have parturition after 270 days approx., and wait for a period of 40-50 days to be successfully inseminated again. Nevertheless, this is not always attained and cows must be reinseminated during several consecutive cycles. In this context appears the Repeat Breeder Cow syndrome (RBC), comprising a heterogeneous group of subfertile cows, without anatomical abnormalities nor infections, that exhibit a variety of reproductive disturbances in a consistent pattern during the course of 3 or more consecutive estrous cycles of normal duration (17-25 days). Any of these disturbances may affect the delicate interplay of estrous behavior, hormone patterns, and ovarian dynamics, which in synchrony with the uterine functions finally determines the outcome of mating or artificial insemination (AI) (Bage et al., 2002). Epidemiological studies of RBC prevalence have shown disparate results, ranging from a 5% described by Ayalon (1984) in Jordan, to a 36% observed by Zambrano et al. (1982) in Cuba. Nevertheless, considering the great demands on dairy cow production (which ideally requires obtaining a calf per cow per year), RBC has an important impact on

Beef cattle reared under extensive system usually have a deficient data record, and then it is difficult to identify this syndrome. In this case cows are considered as RBC when they do not get pregnant after being exposed to bulls during the established reproductive periods. The bull-cow interaction usually ranges from 45 to 90 days, although sometimes it lasts 6 months or it may also be permanent. Few reports on RBC exist in beef cattle (Maurer &

In contrast with dairy cows, to obtain a high reproductive efficiency in beef cattle, it is necessary to get a calving interval of 365 days and an overall calving rate of 95% (Duffy et al., 2004). The cow should get pregnant around day 85 after parturition. But how many cows

**1. Introduction** 

**1.1 Importance of RBC in dairy cattle** 

dairy cattle economics (Figure 1).

**1.2 Importance of RBC in beef cattle** 

Echternkamp, 1985; Ferreira et al., 2008).

Carlos C. Perez-Marin, Laura Molina Moreno

