Investigation of the relationship between exotic blood percentage in cattle and its influence on both milk production and susceptibility to common livestock diseases across F1 and F2 generations in Bangladesh

Crossbreeding in dairy cattle has recently become of increased interest. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the impact of crossbreeding on both the physical attributes and milk production capacity of crossbred cattle in Bangladesh. Data from 847 crossbred Holstein cattle were used to estimate the genetic effects on average milk yield. Besides, the history of 5 certain disease conditions was also collected. F1 and F2 generations were categorized by the percentage of sire blood they had and then the data were analyzed to find the point at which genetic contribution leads to the most productivity. The mean production and impact of breeding sires’ blood percentage were measured through statistical tests like ANOVA, Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The result showed that in both F1 and F2 generations, maximum lactation yield was found in 0.9375% Holstein Friesian sires’ blood group (1265.3333 ± 15.36436 L and 1597.1803 ± 217.02733 L respectively). For the two generations, the results indicate a highly significant effect of blood percentage on overall milk production, though certain diseases were not significantly associated. The results also revealed that as the amount of local breed blood increased, the amount of milk produced consistently decreased indicating the importance of keeping the amount of exotic blood between 75% and 93.75%. In conclusion, productive performance of crossbred cattle relies heavily on strategic breeding programs and the fast crossbreeding had a thoughtful impact on milk production in the study area.