Improving the reproductive performance of Egyptian buffalo cows by changing the management system

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Abstract

The objective of the present study was to determine the possibility to improve the reproductive performance of buffalo cows through the continuous exposure to bull with grazing and free-stall housing management. Sixty-four Egyptian multiparous buffalo cows raised under two different management systems in two farms were used in this study. The cows in the first farm (management system 1, MS1) were loose—housed in a free-stall yard, grazed for 4 h per day, suckled their calves for 2–3 months and were continuously exposed to a fertile bull. The cows in the second farm (management system 2, MS2 ) were confined in an open-fronted tie-stall shed, not grazed, suckled their calves for only 7 days and were exposed to a fertile bull twice per day (30 min per session). All the cows were fed a diet of green berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum), rice straw and concentrates to meet their maintenance and production requirements. The cows during both the treatments were milked twice per day after weaning. The cows in both groups were between the second and the sixth parity, weighed 450–480 kg and had average daily milk yields of 5.0–6.0 kg. In each farm, cows were visually checked twice daily at 07:00 and 17:00 h for the signs of oestrus and animals proved standing heat were naturally mated. Rectal palpation was used to monitor uterine involution and for pregnancy diagnosis. Blood was sampled twice per week from 7 to 150 days post-partum for serum progesterone assay.

The results revealed that post-partum intervals to each of first ovulation, first oestrus, conception and next parturition were significantly (P<0.05) shorter in MS1 group than in MS2 group. In the meantime, MS1 increased (P<0.01) the conception and calving rates by 21 and 25%, respectively compared to MS2. Percentages of post-partum cyclic animals and animals exhibiting ovulatory oestrus were greater (P<0.01) in MS1 group than in MS2 group. However, the percentage of animals cycling before day 60 post-partum was significantly (P<0.01) lower in MS1 group than in MS2 group (13% versus 28%). By day 120 post-partum, only 63% of the buffaloes were cycling in MS2 group versus 94% in MS1 group.

Percentage of silent ovulation was insignificantly higher in MS2 group (34%) than in MS1 group (25%). However, the percentage of false oestrus was higher (P<0.01) in MS1 group than in MS2 group (16% versus 3%). In addition, percentage of short ovulatory cycles (15–17 days) was greater (P<0.01) in MS1 group than in MS2 group, whereas percentage of long ovulatory cycle (25–28 days) was higher (P<0.01) in MS2 group than in MS1 group. It was concluded that continuous exposure of buffalo cows to a fertile bull with grazing management under free-stall housing system enhances resumption of post-partum ovarian activity and improves conception and calving rates.

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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