Evaluation of Fertility Parameters and Nutrition-Fertility Relationship in Dairy Cattle Farms in Ereğli District of Konya Province

In this study, 49 dairy farms (total cow number: 2234) in Ereğli district of Konya province were surveyed using a face-to-face questionnaire to obtain information about the dairy farms’ animal nutrition, care, and reproductive efficiency of dairy farms. The research material consisted of the data obtained from breeders through the questionnaire. The mean values of the calving interval and number of days open were 374.73 (days), and 95.61 (days), and the number of artificial inseminations and natural mating per pregnancy were 2.27 and 1.7 respectively. In our study, the mean duration of the first postpartum estrus was found to be 44.30 days and 71.42% of the dairy farms had estrus between 20-45 days. It was observed that 95.9% of the dairy cattle owners thought that the energy level of the ration, 85.7% of the protein level of the ration, and 73.5% of the vitamin-mineral supplementation were effective on fertility. It was observed that only 10.2% of dairy cattle owners used pasture for nutritional purposes and 89.8% of those who used pasture thought that pasture was inadequate. It is also observed that the breeders in the region are aware of the nutritional conditions. It is also observed that the dairy farmers in the area are aware of the nutritional conditions. In conclusion, it is observed that the dairy cattle farms in the Ereğli district of Konya province are not effective in terms of the reproductive parameters evaluated in the study. Also, these results regarding grazing clearly show that grazing is insufficient in terms of animal nutrition.