Major postpartum problems of dairy cows managed in small and medium scale production systems in Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia

A longitudinal study was conducted on post-partum reproductive problems in small and medium scale dairy production systems in Wolaita Sodo from October 2011 to May 2012. The objectives of the study were to identify the major clinically manifested postpartum problems, estimating the prevalence and investigating the potential risk factors related to the occurrence of postpartum problems of dairy cows in the area. From a total 634 dairy cow examined, 57(8.99%) cows had different types of partum and postpartum problems: abortion (0.63%), dystocia (0.79%), retained fetal membrane (3.36%), uterine prolapse (0.47%), milk-fever (1.42%) and metritis (2.84%). A significant difference was observed in the occurrence of postpartum problems among age groups of cows (P <0.05) and parity (P <0.05). Higher prevalence of postpartum problems was recorded in older (15.20%, CI=7.82-22.61) than the younger cows. The prevalence of postpartum problems was higher in cows with seven and more than seven parity (15.70%, CI=7.11-24.31) than those cows having less than seven parity. Dairy cows postpartum problems were found to be one of the major problems in Wolaita Sodo. To reduce the postpartum problems due attention should be given for proper herd or individual cow management, early identification and diagnosis of the reproductive problems and awareness creation for owners.