PERFORMANCE AND BEHAVIOUR OF FRESHLY CALVED BUFFALOES SUBJECTED TO STAGGERED INTEGRATION IN PAIRS INTO A GROUP OF LOOSE HOUSED LACTATING BUFFALOES
| dc.contributor.advisor | M. L. KAMBOJ | |
| dc.contributor.author | SUNITA DIDEL | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-08-21T06:24:06Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-08-21T06:24:06Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Buffaloes, being highly social animals, often face stress during regrouping due to changes in social hierarchy and agonistic interactions. To address this, the present investigation was carried out with the objectives of studying the effects of staggered entry of freshly calved buffaloes in pairs into an established group on their behaviour, social stability, productive performance and milk quality. For this study, a lactating herd of 70-80 Murrah buffaloes maintained together in a loose house was considered as a resident group of animals. In this resident group, 36 freshly buffaloes allotted at random to two groups were introduced 5 days post-partum spread over 6 months (from June, 23 to October, 2023) in order of their calving. The buffaloes in one group (n = 12) were directly introduced individually into the resident group of buffaloes as per existing farm practice (control, T0). The buffaloes in treatment (T1) group (n = 24 in 12 pairs) were introduced into the resident group in pairs in a staggered manner over 4 days. On day 1, 2 and 3 these buffaloes were kept in the resident group for 2, 4 and 8 hours respectively and were withdrawn afterwards and housed separately where they were provided similar conditions of feeding and housing for the rest of the time. On day 4, the buffaloes were fully integrated into the resident group. The data on the mean differences in behavioral, social stress, performance and milk quality parameters of the two groups of buffaloes recorded over 100 days post-partum were analysed by performing one-way analysis of variance in SSPS statistics 20. Results revealed that T1 buffaloes exhibited higher (P<0.05) daily feeding time (340.81±6.55 min/d) and rumination time (432.52±9.53min/d) compared to T0 (319.56±9.38; 390.66±15.04 min/d) respectively. Water drinking time was significantly greater (P<0.01) in T1 (13.46±0.57 min/d) than T0 (10.79±1.00 min/d). T1 also displayed increased (p<0.05) total lying time (611.09±6.11 min/day) compared to T0 (558.50±10.86 min/d). Conversely, T0 exhibited higher (P<0.05) standing time (881.50±10.86 min/d) and idle standing time (355±23.53 min/day) than T1 (828.93±6.10; 283.22±25.69 min/d) respectively. Agonistic interactions were significantly higher in T0 as compared to T1. Notably, there were no differences in the mean daily times spent on feeding, rumination, resting and number of agonistic interactions in the two groups of buffaloes after 3-4 weeks of introduction into the resident group indicating their social integration into the resident group. Additionally, T1 buffaloes demonstrated higher (p<0.05) daily milk yield (8.91 ±0.67 kg/d) and milk flow rate (0.977± 0.04 kg/min) compared to T0 (6.17±0.98 kg/day, 0.861±0.037 kg/min). Milk quality also favoured T1, showing lower (p<0.05) somatic cell counts (2.01±0.11 lakhs/ml) and higher fat percentage (6.82±0.17%) compared to T0 (2.58±0.13 lakhs/ml, 5.98±0.43%) respectively. Furthermore, plasma cortisol levels were significantly (p<0.05) lower in T1 (6.59±0.59 ng/ml), indicating reduced stress compared to T0 (12.21±0.80 ng/ml). In conclusion, staggered entry of freshly calved buffaloes in pairs positively influenced behaviour, social interactions, and productive performance. Gradual introduction in pairs resulted in improved behaviour, enhanced milk yield, better milk quality, and reduced stress compared to direct single integration into the resident herd. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810213480 | |
| dc.language.iso | English | |
| dc.pages | 89 p. | |
| dc.publisher | ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL | |
| dc.sub | Livestock Production and Management | |
| dc.theme | LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT | |
| dc.these.type | M.V.Sc. | |
| dc.title | PERFORMANCE AND BEHAVIOUR OF FRESHLY CALVED BUFFALOES SUBJECTED TO STAGGERED INTEGRATION IN PAIRS INTO A GROUP OF LOOSE HOUSED LACTATING BUFFALOES | |
| dc.type | Thesis |