ESTIMATION OF THE DYNAMICS OF BODY CONDITION SCORE IN RELATION TO REPRODUCTIVE STATUS IN BUFFALOES
Keywords:
buffaloes, reproduction, service period, BCSAbstract
With the aim to assess the changes in body condition score (BCS) in relation to reproductive status, 46 Bulgarian Murrah buffaloes (13 heifers and 33 cows) were subjected to 14 monthly check sessions carried out by two evaluators. Scores for five skeletal check points (pins, sacrum, hooks, ribs, withers) were recorded using the 5-point scale developed by Todorov and Mitev (1993). The sets of individually averaged BCS data were processed with the software products LSMLMW and MIXMDL (Harvey, 1990), the overall operational model including the effects ear tag number, age, reproductive status, session (date), and evaluator. The ANOVA showed that reproductive status is a highly significant source of variance of BCS (F= 12.85, P<0.001). Compared to adult buffaloes, heifers were found to have higher dynamics of BCS, concerning the gain throughout gestation and the loss during lactation. Regardless of lactation stage, optimal conception was established to occur at reaching BCS~ 4. Rebreeding in peak lactation (averagely 68 d postpartum) in 30% of the buffaloes is associated with markedly less loss of BCS (0.20 points) in the peripartum, compared to those with moderate (112 d) and long (196 d) service period (0.44 points).
References
Герговска, Ж. И., Ю. Митев, Л. Йорданова, Ч. Митева, 1999. Определяне на загубата на жива маса след отелване чрез ОТС при крави за мляко, Сборник на X-та юбилейна научна сесия на Съюза на научните работници в Стара Загора, 3-4 Юни 1999 г., Стара Загора, том 1, Животновъдство, растениевъдство и ветеринарна медицина, стр. 59-64.
Тодоров, Н. А. и Ю. Е. Митев, 1993. Оценка телесното състояние на говедата. Издателство МИТ, Стара Загора, стр. 24.
Alapati, A., S.R. Kapa, S. Jeepalyam S.M.P. Rangappa and K.R. Yemireddy, 2010. Development of the body condition score system in Murrah buffaloes: validation through ultrasonic assessment of body fat reserves. J. Vet. Sci.,11 (1): 1–8.
Amer, H., 2008. Effect of body condition score and lactation number on selected reproductive parameters in lactating dairy cows. Global Veterinaria, 2 (3): 130-137.
Anitha, A., K. S. Rao, J. Suresh, P.R.S. Moorthy and Y.K. Reddy, 2011. Buffalo Bulletin, 30 (1): 79-99.
Baruselli, P. S., V. H. Barnabe, R. C. Barnabe, J. A. Visintin, J. R. Molero-Filho, R. Porto Filho, 2001. Effect of body condition score at calving on postpartum reproductive performances in buffalo. Buffalo J., 1: 53–65.
Campanile, G., C. De Filippo, R., Di Palo, W., Taccone, L., Zicarelli, 1998. Influence of dietary protein on urea levels in blood and milk of buffalo cows. Livest. Prod. Sci., 55: 135-143.
Campanile, G., G. Neglia, R. Di Palo, B. Gasparrini, C. Pacelli, M. J. D’occhio and L. Zicarelli, 2005. Relationship of body condition score and blood urea and ammonia to pregnancy in Italian Mediterranean buffaloes. Reprod. Nutr. Dev., 46: 57–62
Connor, H. C., P. L. Houghton, R. P. Lemnager, P.V. Malven, J. R. Parfet and G.E. Moss. 1990. Effect of dietary energy, body condition and calf ranoval on pituitary gonadotropins, gondotroph-releasing hormone (GnRH) and hypothalamic opioids in beef cattle. Domest. Anim. Endocrinol., 7: 403.
De Rosa, G., F. Napolitano, F. Grasso, C., Pacelli and A. Bordi, 2005. On the development of a monitoring scheme of buffalo at farm level. Ital. J. Anim. Sci., 4:115-125.
De Rosa, G., F. Grasso, C. Pacelli, F. Napolitano, C. Winckler, 2009. The welfare of dairy buffalo. Ital. J.Anim. Sci.,. 8 (Suppl. 1): 103-116.
Devkota, B., T. P. Bohara and N. Yamagishi, 2012. Seasonal variation of anestrus conditions in buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) in southern Nepal. Asian J. Anim. Vet. Adv., 7 (9): 910-914.
Earle, D. F., 1976. A guide to scoring dairy cow condition. J. Agric. (Victoria), 74: 228-231.
Edmonson, A. J., I. J. Lean, L. D. Weaver, T. Farver and G. Webster, 1989. Body condition scoring chart for Holstein Dairy Cows. J. Dairy Sci., 72: 68-78.
Gillund, P., O. Reksen, Y. T. Gröhn, and K. Karlberg, 2001. Body condition related to ketosis and reproductive performance in Norvegian dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci., 84: 1390-1396.
Harvey, W. R., 1990. User’s Guide for LSMLMW and MIXMDL, Mixed Model Least Squares and Maximum Likelihood Computer Program, PC version 2. Ohio State University, Columbus, pp. 91.
Jefferies, B. C., 1961. Body condition scoring and its use in management. Tasmanian Journal of Agriculture, 32: 19-26.
Kapa, S. R. and A. Alapati, 2013. Body Condition Score (BCS) system in Murrah buffaloes. Buffalo Bulletin, 32 (Special Issue 2): 1290-1298.
Lake, S. L., E. J. Scholljegerdes, R. L. Atkinson, V. Nayigihugu, S. I. Paisley, D. C. Rule, G. E. Moss, T. J. Robinson and B. W. Hess, 2005. Body condition score at parturition and postpartum supplemental fat effects on cow and calf performance. J. Anim. Sci., 83: 2908-2917.
Lowman, B. G., N. Scott, S. Sommerville, 1976. Condition scoring of cattle. Revised edition. Bulletin No. 6. East of Scotland College of Agriculture ed., Edinburgh, Scotland.
Mirza, R. H., K. Javed, M. Abdullah and T. N. Pasha, 2013. Genetic and non genetic factors affecting body condition score in Nili Ravi buffaloes and its correlation with milk yield. Journal of Animal & Plant Sciences, 23 (6): 1486-1490.
Morrow, D. A., 1976. Fat cow syndrome. J. Dairy Sci., 59: 1625-1629.
Mushtaq, A., M. S. Qureshi, S. Khan, G. Habib, Z. A. Swati and S. U. Rahman, 2012. Body condition score as a marker of milk yield and composition in dairy animals. Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences, 22 (3 Suppl.): 169-173.
Qureshi, M. S., G. Habib, H. A. Samad, L. A. Lodhi and R. H. Usmani, 1999. Study of factors leading to seasonality of reproduction in dairy buffaloes. II. Non-nutritional factors. Asian-Aus. J. Anim. Sci., 12 (7): 1025-1030.
Qureshi, M. S., G. Habib, H. A. Samad, M. M. Siddiqui, N. Ahmad and M. Syed, 2002. Reproduction-Nutrition Relationship in Dairy Buffaloes. I. Effect of Intake of Protein, Energy and Blood Metabolites Levels. Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci., 15 (3) : 330-339.
Rasby, R. J., R. P. Wattemann, P. G. Harms, K. S. Lusby and J. J. Wagner, 1991. GnRH in the infundibular stalk-median eminence is related to percentage body fat in carcasses of beef cows. J. Anim. Sci., 69(5): 2073-2080.
Rasby, R. J., R. P. Wattemann, R. D. Geisert, J. J. Wagner and K. S. Lusby, 1992. Influence of nutrition and body condition on pituitary, ovarian, and thyroid function of nonlactating beef cows. Domest. Anim. Endocrinol., 9 (1): 71-76.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2015 Bulgarian Journal of Animal Husbandry
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
