Browsing by Author "SINGH, PAWAN"
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ThesisItem Open Access EFFECT OF FEEDING AND SHELTER MANAGEMENT ON AGE AT FIRST EJACULATION IN MURRAH MALE BUFFALOES(ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL, 2020) PRASAD, CHIKKAGOUDARA KOTRESH; SINGH, PAWANThe present study was undertaken with the objective to evaluate the effect of dietary energy and Linseed on growth performance, age at first ejaculation, semen quality attributes and to study the behaviour, physiological responses, hormones and blood biochemicals of Murrah male buffaloes under different shelter management. A total of 30 Murrah buffalo male calves of 6- 8 months of age were selected and distributed randomly into five groups as T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5. Where, T1 (control) was provided with standard feeding (ICAR, 2013) under existing housing management. T2 with 10 % higher energy (HE) (through molasses) diet till attainment of age at first ejaculation under existing housing management. The male calves under T3 with 10 % HE till 12 months of age thereafter, supplemented with roasted linseed till attainment of age at first ejaculation under existing housing management. Similarly, group T4 was provided with 10 % HE and T5 with 10 % HE and roasted linseed under modified housing management. The bull calves under modified housing were provided with fans and high pressure foggers during summer and curtains during winter. The parameters viz. microclimatic condition of shed (THI), growth, digestibility, hormones and blood metabolites were recorded. The physiological values, skin temperatures and behavior was recorded to determine the effect of housing on animal’s thermal comfort. The age at first ejaculation (AFE) was observed and the semen quality parameters were analyzed. The results revealed that the average THI of modified house remained significantly (P<0.01) low during summer and higher in winter compared to the existing housing management. The overall average DMI, TDNI and CPI / 100 kg body weight was significantly (P<0.01) higher in treatment groups than T1. Whereas, the total water intake was significantly (P<0.01) higher among T1, T2, T3 than T4 and T5. The final body weight of bulls under T4 and T5 were significantly (P<0.01) higher than T1. Whereas, the body weights of bulls under T2 and T3 did not vary significantly from other groups. The ADG was significantly (P<0.01) higher in T5 compared to T1. The bulls under modified housing had significantly (P<0.01) lower physiological and skin temperature values and increased eating, ruminating and resting time. The concentration of serum IGF-1 and testosterone increased linearly with the increase in body weight however, these reached peak at puberty. The feeding and housing interventions influenced (P<0.05) the age at first ejaculation; the bulls under group T5 ejaculated at an early age (15.58 ± 0.41 m) followed by the T4 (16.98 ± 0.50 m), T3 (17.08 ± 0.26 m) and T2 (18.00 ± 0.42 m) however, the bulls under T1 reached AFE late (18.67 ± 0.64 m). The semen quality parameters (volume, concentration, motility, live %) were significantly (P<0.01) higher in T5 compared to other groups, however, bulls under T1 had significantly (P<0.01) lower quality compared to other groups. This study concluded that the Murrah buffalo males have the potential to grow faster, and can attain early puberty and AFE with better semen quality when provided with improved feeding and seasonal housing modifications.ThesisItem Open Access EFFECT OF HEAT STRESS AMELIORATION ON PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE OF MAGRA SHEEP UNDER ARID CLIMATIC CONDITION(ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL, 2020) KUMARI, SUSAVI; SINGH, PAWANSheep husbandry plays an important role in the economic sustenance and livelihood security of poor farmers in harsh climatic zones of the country. In Rajasthan, farmers rear their sheep mainly by extensive management system with no proper housing and depend on natural grazing as a source of nutrition without concentrate mixture supplement. In summer, high temperature and humidity, shortage of feed and water resources, and lack of proper scientific understanding about sheep rearing resulted to decreased performance of sheep in terms of their proper growth and production. Keeping these points in mind, the present research was conducted with two objectives, first was survey study and other was animal experimentation. In survey study, a preliminary survey was conducted in 3 villages, Kansar, Kotra and Jalawali under Network Project on Sheep Improvement of ARC-CSWRI, Bikaner. The data were collected from 90 farmers, 30 from each village revel that mostly farmers were involved in agriculture farming and livestock rearing system with high flock size between 50-100 sheep. And rely on grazing on community land and common water resources. Practice of vaccination was quite satisfactory but deworming was poor with empirical knowledge for treatment of sick animals. The animal experiment was carried out at ARC-CSWRI, Bikaner, Rajasthan. For this forty ewes along with their new born lamb are selected during summer season (April-June). And randomly categorized into 4 groups (T1 (control), T2, T3 and T4) 10 in each group. T1 - traditional shelter, T2 - improved shelter, T3 - traditional shelter and improved nutrition (@ 2 % of BW) and T4-improved shelter and improved nutrition (@ 2 % of BW) along with 8 hr. grazing system common in all the 4 groups. The highest (P<0.01) body weight was recorded in group T4. T2 and T4 group had significantly (<0.01) lower pulse rate, rectal temperature, respiration rate and sweating rate though within normal physiological range. Hb and PCV (P<0.01) higher in T2 and T4, RBC and WBC were (P<0.01) higher in T4 and T1, respectively. Levels of serum glucose and cholesterol (P<0.01) increased in T2 and T4 and BUN highest in T3. Serum NEFA level was higher (P<0.01) in T1 and T2. HSP-70 conc. was higher T1 and T3. Triidothyronine and Thyroxine levels were decreases in T2 and T4. Cortisol and IL-6 conc. was (P<0.05) higher T1 and T2. Higher (P<0.01) milk yield with little improvement in composition was recorded in T3 and T4. Serum glucose, cholesterol level were increased by improved nutrition during summer season. Triidothyronine, thyroxine cortisol, HSP-70 and IL-6 can be used as biomarkers for heat stress. At the end, it appears that incorporation of both improved nutrition and improved shelter is a viable proposition for optimum sheep production.ThesisItem Open Access EFFECT OF MANAGEMENTAL ENRICHMENT ON COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE OF MURRAH BUFFALO CALVES(ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL, 2018) ADHIKARY, SUDIP; SINGH, PAWANThesisItem Open Access EFFECT OF MOTHER BONDED REARING ON GROWTH, HEALTH, BEHAVIOUR AND WELFARE OF MURRAH BUFFALO CALVES(ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL, 2021) JAMWAL, SHWETAMBRI; SINGH, PAWANMother-calf contact during early calfhood stage of rearing is not well practiced in commercial dairy farms. Deprivation of this bond with restricted or no contact of calf with its mother affects calf’s emotional state and welfare. To investigate the effect of mother bonded rearing on growth, health, behaviour and welfare of Murrah buffalo calves this research was carried out. For this, 24 Murrah buffalo calves immediately after birth were taken from LRC of ICAR-NDRI, Karnal, India. For this, 3 groups of mother-calf contacts of 8 calves each were formed, i.e Full Mother Contact (FMC), Restricted Mother Contact (RMC) and No Mother Contact (NMC). Calves of FMC group were kept with their dams for 0-5 days with free choice colostrum intake, after 5 days they were kept in contact with their dams for 24 hrs through fenceline and were allowed suckling during morning and evening milking. The calves of RMC were fed colostrum and milk during 0-5 days and thereafter in suckling were allowed during morning and evening milking, and were housed separately from their mothers. In NMC group, calves were separated immediately after birth from their mothers and fed colostrum and milk with bottle in morning and evening, throughout the experiment. Each calf was monitored for its growth, health, behavioural response during the experiment by daily observation and CCTV recording. The results showed, ADG of calves with FMC was higher (P<0.05) compared to RMC and FMC (0.61±0.06 vs. 0.53±0.06 vs. 0.51±0.08). Diarrhoea score was higher (P<0.05) in NMC (2.75±0.25) compared to FMC (1.50±0.18). EPG in faeces was higher (P<0.05) in NMC (141.60± 16.86) compared to FMC and RMC (29.10± 8.69, 45.80± 8.76) calves. Time (min) spent on cross-sucking and licking inanimate objects was more (P<0.05) in NMC followed by RMC and FMC. Cortisol level was lower (P<0.05) in FMC followed by RMC and NMC, IgG level was higher (P<0.05) in FMC followed by RMC and NMC calves (20.72±0.47 vs. 17.04±0.23 vs. 15.09±0.31). Response on exposure to novel object was better (P<0.05) in FMC followed by RMC and then NMC group. From this study it can be concluded that calves in fenceline contact with their mothers have performed better in growth, health, behavioural responses and coping ability compared to restricted and no mother contact. Therefore, buffalo calf should not be weaned/separated from its mother for better performance and welfare.ThesisItem Open Access EFFECT OF SEASON ON TESTICULAR TEMPERATURE, HORMONAL PROFILE AND SEMEN QUALITY IN MURRAH BUFFALO BULLS(ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL, 2021) SATPUTE, TEJESHWARI; SINGH, PAWANArtificial insemination has been proved as the most rapid and cost effective method to improve the productivity of livestock including buffaloes, as a result the demand for frozen semen of elite bull is increasing day by day in the country. The quality semen from high genetic merit bulls is imperative in improving the productivity of buffaloes. In tropical and sub-tropical regions heat stress is the major constraint for buffalo bull’s performance, which is contributed by number of factors like temperature, humidity, rainfall, photo-period etc. However, how heat stress affects buffalo bulls performance is not understood yet, therefore, the present study was planned to investigate the effect of season on testicular temperature, hormonal profile and semen quality in Murrah buffalo bulls. The experimental period was divided into three seasons- winter (15th December to 15th February), spring (16th February to 30th April) and summer (1st May to 30th June). For that 14 mature Murrah buffalo bulls of 3-4 yrs age were selected. Physiological responses and surface temperature (Infrared thermal imaging) at eye, forehead, flank, rump and scrotal surface were recorded during morning and afternoon hrs. Semen was collected twice a week and sexual behaviour was recorded at the time of collection. Semen quality parameters were evaluated two times during peak of each season. Blood for hormone estimation was collected on the day of semen collection. Data so generated was analysed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) using SPSS software. The results showed that the ambient temperature and THI was higher during summer season as compared to winter and spring. The rectal temperature (°C) and respiration rate in morning and afternoon hours was least during winter and higher (p<0.05) in summer season. Body surface temperature (eye, Forehead, flank and Rump region) showed difference (p<0.05) among seasons, being lowest in winter and highest in summer. The testicular temperature gradient (°C) was higher (p<0.05) in the morning during spring season than summer season. Activity of thyroid gland in terms of T3, T4 and TSH concentration was lower (p<0.05) in summer as compared to winter and spring season. Conversely, testosterone concentration was higher in summer season; however, cortisol concentration did not vary significantly among seasons. The bulls have shown short reaction time and higher libido score during spring season as compared to other seasons. Higher (p<0.05) values of sperm concentration, mass motility, individual motility and HOST reacted spermatozoa was obtained in spring and lowest during summer except for acrosome integrity. So from this study, it can be concluded that the season has significantly influenced the physiological and endocrinological responses, sexual behavior and overall semen quality of Murrah buffalo bulls.ThesisItem Open Access STUDIES ON COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR AND ITS EFFECT ON PERFORMANCE OF MURRAH BUFFALO CALVES(ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL, 2019) RAJASHREE RATH; SINGH, PAWANThe present research was designed to explore the cognitive performance of Murrah buffalo calves in a Y-maze discrimination task to examine the effect to weaning and housing. For this study, 24 Murrah buffalo calves were selected at birth and randomly allotted to four groups (six calves each) comprising of SG group (restricted suckling and group housed), SI group (restricted suckling and individually housed), WG group (weaned at birth and group housed) and WI group (weaned at birth and individually housed) for a period of six months. All the calves were trained with bottle feeding from first day of birth. The SG and SI group of calves had access to their mothers for 2 hours each in morning and evening milking shifts for let-down of milk (restricted suckling). However, they were fed milk only from bottles. At five weeks of age, cognitive ability of the buffalo calves was assessed in a Y- maze task, where the calves were trained to visually discriminate between two colours--white versus black--in a reward punishment task. Initially, they were rewarded with milk in a hidden feeding bottle if they chose white colour and punished with an empty bottle if they chose black colour. The calves were thought to successfully learn the task if they chose white colour 80% of the times in three consecutive sessions. After they learnt the initial task, now the reward-punishment task was reversed. They were now rewarded with milk if they chose black colour and punished with no milk if they chose white colour. The training sessions with 12 trials per session were performed twice daily during morning and evening milk feeding time. The memory of the calves was assessed after 2 months. During initial learning all the calves took more or less equal number of sessions to learn the task however, differed significantly during reversal learning. The SG group performed the best among all groups in view of their superior cognitive ability (7.5±0.48 sessions, P<0.05 and 92.01±0.28 % memory retention) which was positively correlated with growth (r=0.833, P<0.05) and immunity (r=0.892, P<0.05). Conversely, WI group performed the poorest on all the above parameters across the groups taking maximum number of sessions to learn the reversal task (12±0.70), made more wrong choices (P<0.01) and took maximum time (8.96 ±0.22 seconds, P<0.001) in decision making to reach the choice in Y-maze. The WG group was found to be second best group in view of their cognitive performance (8±0.76 sessions) and memory retention (92.07±0.27 %), however, it was found to exhibit more cross-sucking behaviour, reduced growth, had weak immunity and remained emotionally stressful. The SI group was found to be inferior to SG and WG groups in terms of fearfulness to novel objects taking longer latency time (163.73±44.55 seconds, P<0.01) and showed less exploratory behaviour (2.40±0.41 seconds, P<0.01) inside the maze, but was superior than WI group in terms of cognitive performance (9±0.87 sessions), memory retention (90.01±0.31%), growth and immunity. Irrespective of housing conditions the WG and WI groups exhibited more number (P<0.001) of ear posture changes at the decision making point of the maze. The female calves were cognitively superior in terms of exhibiting quicker decision making capability (7.46±0.18 vs. 8.32±0.21 seconds, P<0.001) as compared to male calves. This study provides evidence for the first time that, weaning and individual housing of buffalo calves in early stage of life impairs learning and cognitive abilities, thus making them less behavioural flexible to adapt to changes. Ear postures can be used as a promising non-invasive technique for welfare assessment in buffaloes in future.