Abstract:
The objective of this study was to evaluate the productive and reproductive performance of Jersey
cattle in the National Livestock Development Board farm Dayagama, Sri Lanka. The records on productive traits
viz. lactation milk yield, birth weight, lactation length and calving interval and reproductive traits viz. age at first
calving, number of service per conception, calving to service period, days open, gestation length and dry
period were collected from 131 Jersey cows in the farm for the period of 1999 - 2011. The data were analyzed
using SAS (Version 8.0). The overall least squares means of lactation milk yield, lactation length, birth weight
and calving interval were 2235±776Kg, 323.78±91.02days, 20.97±2.35kg and 447.73±142.88 days, respectively.
The overall means of age at first calving, calving to service period, days open, gestation length and dry period
were 41±10 months, 92±66 days, 156±123 days, 276±12 days and 120±122 days, respectively. The number of
services per conception, rate of abortion and still birth were 2.1±1.29, 3.96% and 5.4%, respectively. The study
reveals that the values for total milk yield, birth weight, lactation length and number of services per conception
falls within the average values observed in other tropical countries. However values for calving interval, age
at first calving, calving to service period and days open were higher than the optimum values recommended
to maintain reproductive efficiency. It could be concluded that the factors influencing each trait identified in
the current study could be used to improve the performance of Jersey cattle in Dayagama farm.
