Improving the reproductive performance of Egyptian buffalo cows by changing the management system
Introduction
Efficiency of reproduction is one of the most critical aspects of a profitable herd. To maximize her productive life, a buffalo cow must be bred within 80–90 days after parturition to produce a new calf and starts a new lactation every 13.0–13.5 months. Longer calving intervals in Egyptian buffaloes are mainly due to extended days open following parturition (El-Fouly et al., 1976), which can be attributed to irregular ovarian activity, weak expression of oestrus and poor oestrus detection (Khattab et al., 1990).
In order to detect more than 90% of the incidence of oestrus in a herd, cows should be observed carefully in the early hours of the morning, the late hours of the evening and at 4–5 h intervals during the day (Wattiaux, 1995). However, this frequency of heat detection involves more labor and increases production costs (El-Wardani and El-Asheeri, 2000). The presence of a bull is recommended to improve heat detection and increase pregnancy rate (Zicarelli et al., 1991). Moreover, heat detection may be facilitated by housing or yarding cows in groups to increase the chance of sexually active group formation and makes heat detection much easier (Wattiaux, 1995).
Enhancing the post-partum resumption of ovarian activity to shorten calving interval has been achieved by hormonal treatment (Aboul-Ela et al., 1985), introducing the male (Fike et al., 1996) or nutritional treatment (Abdalla, 1996). Suckling is an exteroceptive stimulus that plays a major role in governing reproductive cycles in female mammals (McNeilly, 1988). Little is known concerning the effect of different management practices on the reproductive performance of buffaloes. Therefore, the objective of this experiment was to study the influence of the presence of a fertile bull, housing system, allowance of grazing and length of suckling period on the post-partum ovarian activity in Egyptian buffalo cows.
Section snippets
Materials and methods
Sixty-four multiparous Egyptian buffalo cows, calved during early December and early January and raised at two experimental farms located in the same area and belonging to Faculty of Agriculture—Ain Shams University, were used in this study. All buffaloes were between the second and the sixth parity, weighing 450–480 kg and free from reproductive disorders. Average daily milk yield ranged from 5.0 to 6.5 kg per head. The animals in the first farm (n=32) were kept in a group with access to free
Results
The interval from calving to uterine involution was similar for both the groups of buffalo cows. However, the management system in the first farm (MS1) reduced (P<0.05) the interval from calving to first ovulation (29 days versus 43 days), first oestrus (39 days versus 59 days), conception (85 days versus 121 days) and next parturition (420 days versus 484 days) as compared to the management system in the second farm (MS2) (Table 1). Moreover, the percentage of post-partum cyclic animals and
Discussion
The post-partum intervals to either first ovulation or first oestrus were shorter in MS1 than in MS2 buffalo cows. In agreement with the present results, Hurnik and King (1975) reported that the post-partum interval to first oestrus was 34.5 days for free-stall and 56.6 days for tie-stall cows. However, longer intervals were reported by Abdou (2001) for Egyptian buffalo cows raised under tie-stall housing system with twice daily exposure to bull. The present results clearly indicate that
Conclusion
This study showed that silent ovulation is a common problem in buffalo cows even under good management. The continuous male–female interaction (through olfactory, visual, acoustic, tactile and pheromones) had a beneficial effect on the onset of post-partum cyclicity in buffaloes. Incorporation of continuous male presence into free-stall housing and additional grazing may optimize the overall reproductive performance of post-partum Egyptian buffalo cows. The present study confirmed that suckling
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