MODELING AND MANAGEMENT OF POST-CONCEPTION DECLINE IN MILK YIELD OF DAIRY BUFFALOES - S. Khan; M. S. Qureshi; M. Younas Rafiullah; M. Inam (Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences, 2012)
Dairy buffalo farmers in Pakistan avoid postpartum rebreeding due to fear in milk yield decline. Under the present study reduction in milk yield due to pregnancy was worked out using 23 pregnant and 17 non–pregnant buffaloes under field conditions and the decline was managed through feed supplementation treatments. The treatments provided were Pregnant with traditional ration (PRT), pregnant with supplemented ration (PRS) and non pregnant with traditional ration (NPRT). The animals were categorized into high milk yielder (HMY), medium milk yielder (MMY) and low milk yielder (LMY), producing 66-75, 56-65, and 46-55 liters/wk, respectively. Milk production was recorded up to 23rd week post-conception. The reduction in milk yield became significant on 7th week post-conception. The line JP8 model gave good fit (R2 = 0.9527). In the high yielder, the predicted reduction was highest (-4.48 liters/wk) than moderate and low yielder (-2.37 and -0.94 liters/wk). In the high yielder the decline in milk yield post-conception was highest in PRT, moderate in PRS and the least in NPRT treatment. In the MMY buffaloes the supplementation support to milk yield was smaller than the higher yielders. In LMY buffaloes the decline was highest in PRT than the other two treatments. It may be concluded that the onset of pregnancy in dairy buffaloes results in a drastic decline in milk yield at an early stage and the high yielder are more sensitive. An animal becoming pregnant, if supplemented at the rate of 1 kg/2 liters of milk will retain milk yield for a longer duration post-conception.
Keywords: journal article; Milk yield; pregnancy; nutrition; dairy buffalo