Livestock Production Research Institute, Bahadurnagar (Okara), Pakistan
Online published on 20 January, 2012.
The productive and reproductive performance of buffalo heifers raised on green fodder in combination with concentrate mixture @ 1 per cent of body weight (group A) and green fodder alone (group B) was studied. The mean age at maturity was 748.65 ± 19.28 and 993.10 ± 48.35 d in groups A and B, respectively, and this difference in age was significant (P < 0.01). The age at first conception and first calving was also significant (P < 0.05), and the respective values for these periods were 1041.00 ± 8.29 and 1352.17 ± 30.86 d for group A and 1202.14 ± 65.66 and 1508.85 ± 54.96 d for group B. The average liveweight for these three traits were 392.60 ± 10.42, 487.11 ± 16.08 and 556.47 ± 18.41 kg in group A and 362.00 ± 16.27, 425.71 ± 16.08 and 538.92 ± 12.27 kg in group B. Significant (P < 0.05) difference was only observed in liveweight at first conception.
The total milk yield and 305 d lactation yield was 1992.25 ± 174.27 and 1836.75 ± 130.78 kg and 1557.21 ± 160.50 and 1484.50 ± 140.14 kg in groups A and B, respectively. The lactation length was 310.31 ± 18.24 and 259.35 ± 20.12 d in the respective groups. The average peak yield which was 10.40 ± 0.50 and 9.40 ± 0.54 kg in groups A and B, respectively, was attained at 49.40 ± 4.00 and 52.60 ± 6.90 d, respectively.
The fat and solids-not-fat contents in milk were 6.37 ± 0.02 and 6.36 ± 0.03 per cent and 8.85 ± 0.12 and 8.81 ± 0.07 per cent in groups A and B, respectively. The group differences in all these productive traits were statistically non-significant. This study shows that the age at maturity, first conception and first calving in buffalo heifers could be significantly reduced when fed on concentrate mixture for few months before onset of puberty.
