Effects of challenge feedinhg on the milk yield and its composition in high yielding buffaloes

An experiment was conducted on 18 healthy pregnant high yielding buffaloes (2000–2500 L potential) maintained at PAU dairy farm, Ludhiana. The animals were randomly divided into 3 groups (6 each) on basis of their body weight, previous lactation yield and parity; and provided normal pregnancy allowances of 2 kg (T_c) and challenge-fed (T₁ = 3 kg & T₂ = 4 kg), in addition to maintenance ration during 3 weeks pre-partum period. Post-partum feeding levels were kept uniform. The buffaloes were hand-milked scientifically in milking parlor. Milk samples were analyzed for milk fat, solid- not-fat (SNF), lactose and total solids. Buffaloes in T₁ & T₂ groups produced 3–5% more milk during 150 days lactation than control and showed higher peak yield (13.91 & 14.06 v/s 13.58), persistency (1.42 & 1.49 v/s 1.39) and extra net profit of Rs. 3.20 and 3.79 d⁻¹ buffalo⁻¹, respectively. Similarly, yields of different milk components were non-significant. The challenge-fed buffaloes excelled in nutrients body gains. The feeding schedule of T₂ group comparatively faired well amongst the 2 challenge-fed groups and thereby stands recommended.