• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제19권5호
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• pp.645-650
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• 2006

Thirty early lactating Nili-Ravi buffaloes, six animals in each group, were used in a completely randomized design to examine the feeding value of 4% urea treated wheat straw (UTWS) ensiled with 6% or without acidified molasses. Five experimental diets were formulated. The control ration was balanced to contain 30% DM from UTWS ensiled without acidified molasses. The other four diets were formulated to have 30, 40, 50 and 60% DM from UTWS ensiled with 6% acidified molasses, respectively. Dry matter and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) intakes were higher in buffaloes fed diets containing UTWS ensiled with acidified molasses compared with those fed a diet containing UTWS ensiled without acidified molasses. Intake of DM was not significantly different in buffaloes fed diets containing varying levels of UTWS ensiled with acidified molasses. A similar trend was observed for crude protein (CP) intake. Apparent DM and NDF digestibilities were significantly higher in buffaloes fed diets containing UTWS ensiled with acidified molasses compared with those fed UTWS ensiled without acidified molasses. However, differences in DM and NDF digestibilities were non-significant across buffaloes fed diets containing varying levels of UTWS ensiled with acidified molasses. Milk yield (4% fat corrected) was significantly higher in buffaloes fed diets containing UTWS ensiled with acidified molasses than those fed a diet containing UTWS ensiled without acidified molasses. Milk yield was similar in buffaloes fed varying level of UTWS ensiled with acidified molasses. Milk CP, true protein, solid-not-fat and total solids were similar in buffaloes fed UTWS ensiled with or without acidified molasses. The UTWS ensiled with 6% acidified molasses can be included at up to 60% DM of lactating buffalo rations without any ill effect on productivity.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.176-180
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• 2006

This study was carried out to establish clipping interval of Pennisetum orientale (PO) and Panicum antidotale (PA) to get maximum biomass production with optimal nutritional value for Nili buffaloes. Two clipping intervals i.e. $CI_1$, and $CI_2$ (clipped after every one and two months, respectively) were studied for both grasses. The data on various parameters were compared with PO and PA each clipped at 4 months of age (control). Leaf to stem ratio in both PO and PA declined with increasing clipping interval. Concentration of dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM) increased (p<0.05) whereas crude protein contents decreased with increasing clipping interval in both grasses. Crude protein and dry herbage yields in PO and PA increased (p<0.05) with increasing clipping interval. The DM and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibilities of PO and PA in ruminally cannulated buffalo bulls decreased (p<0.05) due to more lignification with increasing clipping interval. Ruminal extent of digestion, rate of disappearance of DM and neutral detergent fiber of PO and PA decreased in buffaloes while ruminal lag time of these nutrients increased significantly (p<0.05) with increasing clipping interval. The results from the study imply that two month clipping interval for both PO and PA grasses favored higher biomass with greater nutritional value for Nili buffaloes and sustained grass vigor.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.340-346
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• 2010

Buffaloes usually maintain higher body condition and do not produce milk at the cost of their own body reserves under tropical conditions. The mobilization of body reserves for fulfilling the demands of lactation has been extensively studied in dairy cows while limited work is available on this aspect in dairy buffaloes. Therefore, the present study was conducted to examine variations in milk fatty acid profiles with body condition in Nili-Ravi buffaloes. A total of 24 Nili-Ravi buffaloes within 60 days after parturition, were selected from a private dairy farm in the district of Peshawar. All animals consumed the same diet during the experimental period. A total of 576 raw milk samples were collected for laboratory analysis. The study continued up to 6 months during 2008. Body condition score (BCS), milk yield and composition were recorded once a week. Means for milk fatty acid profile were compared for various levels of BCS. The mean milk yield and fat content were 9.28 kg/d and 5.36%, respectively. The total saturated fatty acids (SFA) were 64.22 g/100 g and the unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) were 35.79 g/100 g. Of the SFA the highest amount was recorded for $C_{16:0}$, followed by $C_{18:0}$, and $C_{14:0}$. The total sum of hypercholesterolemic fatty acids (HCFA, $C_{12:0}$, $C_{14:0}$ and $C_{16:0}$) was 43.33 g/100 g. The concentrations of UFA were greater for moderate BCS followed by poor and highest BCS while SFA showed the opposite trend. The correlation analysis showed that milk yield was negatively affected by BCS and milk fat positively affected, though non-significantly. The present study suggests that Nili-Ravi dairy buffaloes produce similar milk to dairy cows regarding availability of cardioprotective fatty acids, with the highest concentration of $C_{18:1\;cis-9}$. Two HCFA ($C_{12:0}$ and $C_{14:0}$) were associated with higher body condition. Buffaloes with moderate body condition yielded milk containing healthier fatty acids.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제22권8호
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• pp.1113-1116
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• 2009

The objective of this study was to compare the follicular population during spontaneous and $PGF_2{\alpha}$ induced oestrous cycles in Nili-Ravi buffaloes. In Exp.1, (n = 13 oestrous cycles) follicular population was monitored using ultrasonography on alternate days. Buffaloes were monitored for ovarian follicles from day 0 (first oestrus) until next oestrus. These animals were observed for oestrus twice daily using a teaser bull. Of 12 oestrous cycles, 9 (75%) had two waves of follicular activity and only 3 (25%) had three waves during the oestrous cycle. The mean number of small, medium and large follicles among various days of the oestrous cycle between two and three waves of follicular development were not significantly different (p>0.05). In Exp. 2, follicular population 3 days before oestrus was compared in buffaloes undergoing spontaneous (n = 12 oestrous cycles) and $PGF_2{\alpha}$ induced (n = 6) luteolysis. The mean number of small and large follicles increased (p<0.05) and the number of medium follicles decreased (p<0.05) during the 3 days before oestrus in buffaloes undergoing induced luteolysis as compared to those with spontaneous luteolysis. These results showed that the mean number of small, medium and large follicles among various days of the oestrous cycle were similar between the two and three waves of follicular development, and three days before oestrous the number of small, medium and large follicles altered due to induced luteolysis on day 9, compared to those with spontaneous luteolysis.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제21권9호
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• pp.1303-1311
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• 2008

Twenty four early lactating Nili-Ravi buffaloes, eight in each group, were used in a Randomized Complete Block Design to evaluate the influence of varying ruminally degradable protein (RDP) to ruminally undegradable protein (RUP) ratio on feed intake, digestibility, N balance, milk yield and its composition, conception rate and days open. Three experimental diets were formulated to contain RDP:RUP of 50:50, 66:34 and 82:18 and were denoted as HRUP, MRUP and LRUP, respectively. Dry matter (DM) intake was higher (p<0.05) in buffaloes fed HRUP diet than in those fed MRUP and LRUP diets. Dry matter digestibility was higher (p<0.05) in buffaloes fed LRUP diet than in those fed HRUP and MRUP diets. Linear increase was observed in DM digestibility with increasing RDP:RUP while Neutral detergent fiber digestibility remained unaltered in buffaloes fed HRUP and MRUP diets, however, it was higher than in those fed LRUP diet. Crude protein digestibility remained unaltered across all treatments. Milk and 4 percent fat corrected milk (4% FCM) yield was higher (p<0.05) in buffaloes fed HRUP diet than those fed MRUP and LRUP diets. Linear decrease in milk yield was observed with increased RDP:RUP. Milk protein and fat yields were higher (p<0.05) in animals fed HRUP diet than those fed MRUP and LRUP diets. Milk protein percent in animals fed HRUP diet was higher than in those fed LRUP diet, whereas it did not differ with those fed MRUP diet. Percent of fat, total solids, solid not fat and lactose remained unaltered across all diets. Nitrogen balance was higher in buffaloes fed HRUP diet than in those fed other diets. Increasing the RDP:RUP resulted in a linear decrease in N balance. The blood urea nitrogen and milk urea nitrogen were lower (p<0.05) in buffaloes fed HRUP diet than those fed MRUP and LRUP diets. The blood pH remained unaltered across all treatments. Days open did not differ significantly. Conception rate was higher in buffaloes fed HRUP diet than those fed MRUP and LRUP diets. The findings of the present study indicate that feeding high (50% of the total crude protein) ruminally undegradable protein diet not only increased nutrient intake and milk yield but also improved conception rate in early lactating buffaloes.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제19권9호
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• pp.1234-1239
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• 2006

Murrah and NiliRavi are the important North Indian buffalo breeds occupying the prominent position of being the highest milk producers. These breeds are more or less similar at morphological as well as physiological levels. The technique of RAPD-PCR was applied in the present study to identify a battery of suitable random primers to detect genetic polymorphism, elucidation of the genetic structure and rapid assessment of the differences in the genetic composition of these two breeds. A total of 50 random primers were screened in 24 animals each of Murrah and NiliRavi buffaloes to generate RAPD patterns. Of these, 26 (52%) primers amplified the buffalo genome generating 263 reproducible bands. The number of polymorphic bands for the 26 chosen RAPD primers varied from 3 (OPG 06 and B4) to 26 (OPJ 04) with an average of 10.1 bands per primer and size range of 0.2 to 3.2 kb. DNA was also pooled and analyzed to search for population specific markers. Two breed specific RAPD alleles were observed in each of Murrah (OPA02 and OPG16) and NiliRavi (OPG09) DNA pools. RAPD profiles revealed that 11 (4.2%) bands were common to all the 48 individuals of Murrah and NiliRavi buffaloes. Pair-wise band sharing calculated among the individual animals indicated considerable homogeneity of individuals within the breeds. Within breed, band sharing values were relatively greater than those of interbreed values. The low genetic distance (Nei's) value (0.109) estimated in this study is in accordance with the origin and geographical distribution of these breeds. The RAPD analysis indicated high level of genetic similarity between these two important North Indian buffalo breeds.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.70-74
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• 1997

Data on 2,571 lactation records of Nili-Ravi buffaloes from four institutional herds and four field recording centers were analyzed under an animal model to see the effect of season definition on the error variance of the fitted model. Herd-year-season(HYS) was the main fixed effect along with permanent environment, breeding value and residuals as the random effects. All known relationships among the animals were considered. The error variance differed for various HYS combinations. It was minimum when then months were not grouped into seasons. The four or Five season scenarios were better than the two season scenarios. The average number of lactations represented in a HYS combination varied widely from 6 to 28. Very few subclasses for a given HYS combination warrants the use of fewer seasons for animal model evaluation of buffaloes.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제12권7호
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• pp.1025-1030
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• 1999

Fifth one Nili-Ravi dairy buffaloes in their last two months of gestation, were selected in NWFP Pakistan. Rectal palpation was carried out fortnightly, until the occurrence of first estrus. Ovulation was confirmed per rectum and milk progesterone levels (MPL). Body condition score (BCS)was recorded weekly. Milk samples were collected weekly for MPL and blood samples fortnightly for metabolites analysis. Milk yield was recorded and samples were collected for milk fat. The buffaloes calving during the normal breeding season (NBS, August to January)had short (p<0.01) postpartum estrus interval of $55.95{\pm}4.90$ days versus $91.15{\pm}11.61 $ days in the buffaloes calving during the low breeding season (LBS, February to July). MPL in the LBS calvers remained lower than NBS calves (p<0.01). The incidence of silent ovulation was higher during LBS as compared to NBS (70.6% versus 29.4%). MPL showed a pattern opposite to atmospheric temperature. In NBS calvers serum glucose levels were higher (p<0.01) and magnesium levels were lower (p<0.01) than LBS calvers. Higher serum urea was found in summer and spring than that autumn and winter (p<0.05). The reproductive performance in buffaloes calving in the LBS coincided with a low BCS (p<0.01). Fat corrected milk production (FCM) was higher in NBS than LBS (p<0.01) calvers.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제20권5호
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• pp.661-668
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• 2007

Data on 1,037 Nili-Ravi buffaloes from four institutional herds were used to study lifetime milk yield, herd life, productive life and breeding efficiency. A general linear model was used to study the environmental effects while an animal model having herd, year of birth and age at first calving (as covariate) along with random animal effect was used to estimate breeding values. The lifetime milk yield, herd life, productive life and breeding efficiency averaged $7,723{\pm}164$ kg, $3,990{\pm}41$ days, $1,061{\pm}19$ days and 64 percent, respectively. All the traits were significantly (p<0.01) affected by the year of birth and herd of calving, while the herd life was also affected (p<0.01) by the age at first calving. The heritabilities for lifetime milk yield, herd life, productive life and breeding efficiency were $0.093{\pm}0.056$, $0.001{\pm}0.055$, $0.144{\pm}0.079$ and 0.001, respectively. The definition for productive life, where each lactation gets credit upto 10 months had slightly better heritability and may be preferred over the definition where no limit is placed on lactation length. The genetic correlation between productive life and lifetime milk yield was low but high between productive life and herd life. The selection for productive life will increase herd life while lifetime milk yield will also improve. The overall phenotypic trend during the period under the study was negative for lifetime milk yield (-280 kg/year), herd life (-93 days), productive life (-42 days/year) and breeding efficiency (-0.36 percent/year), whereas the genetic trend was positive for lifetime milk yield (+15 kg/year) and productive life (+4 days/year).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.86-93
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• 2004

Sixteen early lactating Nili-Ravi buffaloes, four animals in each group, were used in a Completely Randomized Design to evaluate the effect of varying levels of both ruminally protected fat and urea treated corncobs ensiled with or without corn steep liquor (CSL) on feed intake, digestibility and milk production and its composition. Four experimental diets were formulated. The control (C) diet was balanced to contain 0% fat and 35% urea treated corncobs ensiled with 0% CSL. The low fat (LF), medium fat (MF) and high fat (HF) diets had 45, 55 and 65% urea treated corncobs ensiled with 9% CSL and 2, 4 and 6% ruminally protected fat, respectively. Dry matter, crude protein (CP) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) intakes by buffaloes remained similar across all treatments. However, DM and NDF as a percent of body weight and digestible DM intakes were higher in HF diet when compared to C, LF and MF diets. Digestible NDF intakes were also significantly higher in HF diet as compared to all other diets. The intakes of ADF and digestible ADF were higher in MF and HF than C and LF diets. The significant variation in digestible DM, ADF and NDF intakes may be attributed to the ammoniation of corncobs along with CSL that caused significant changes in the degradability and digestibility of the diets. Ether extract and digestible EE intakes differed significantly (p<0.05) among all treatments. Intakes of EE were the highest in animals fed HF diet, which was because of added fat. Apparent DM digestibility was the highest in animals C diet and was the lowest in those fed LF diet. Neutral detergent fiber and ADF digestibilities were higher in animals fed diets containing urea treated corncobs ensiled with 9% CSL when compared to those fed diets containing urea treated corncobs ensiled without CSL. Apparent digestibility of CP was noted highest (71.47%) in animals fed HF diet when compared to those fed MF (67.75%), LF (67.04%) and C (65.39%) diets. Milk yield (4% FCM) was the higher in buffaloes fed HF, MF and LF diets than those fed C diet. These results indicated that increasing levels both of fat and urea treated corncobs ensiled with CSL elevated the negative effects of poor quality fibrous feed on milk production by buffaloes.