Productive and reproductive performances of smallholder West African shorthorn Lagune cattle herds under village conditions in Southern Benin.

The West African shorthorn Lagune cattle has long been incriminated as of low productivity and subjected to gradual replacement or indiscriminate crossbreeding with zebu breeds. But there are still insufficient studies reporting the productive and reproductive performances of this breed under village conditions. This study aimed to evaluate the productive and reproductive performances of the Lagune cattle herds kept under village conditions in two agroecological zones in Southern Benin. Sixteen herds (seven in the Oueme Valley zone and nine in the Pobe zone), chosen from a previous retrospective survey, were regularly visited on a bi-monthly basis between January 2018 and February 2019. At the first visit to each selected herd, all animals present were identified, their ages determined through their dentition, and their breeding history recorded. At each subsequent visit, information on calving, birth weights, herd entries and exits, disease incidence, and changes in the physiological status of the animals were recorded. In addition, all suckling calves from birth to 6 months of age were weighted and measured. The average age at first calving was 37.2 ± 3.5 months and varied from 3 to 4 years. With no significant variations between agroecological zones, the parturition rate, fertility rate, fecundity rate, and abortion rate were, respectively, 74.3% ± 10.7, 77.0% ± 12.0, 68.9% ± 9.1, and 2.7% ± 1.4. The overall annual mortality rate and perinatal mortality rate were 8.4% ± 3.1 and 7.3% ± 2.7, respectively. The annual offtake rate was 12.9% ± 4.3 and varied significantly (P ≤ 0.05) between zones. The average birth weight varied significantly (P ≤ 0.05) between sex and was 10.2 ± 0.7 kg and 10.8 ± 0.9 kg for female and male, respectively. The average daily body weight gain of calves, calculated over the period from birth to 6 months of age, was 160.5 ± 8.5 g/day. In addition to environmental conditions, individual farmers' management practices varied significantly among herds and probably influenced the recorded reproductive and productive performances. The estimates of reproductive parameters obtained in this study suggest a good reproductive ability of the Lagune breed which could be improved with better management conditions.