Kuldeep K. Verma

Water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is the mainstay of milk production in Asian countries including India. However, the hot climate of the country remains the biggest bottleneck to exploit the potential of this species. Therefore, a study was conducted to assess the effect of heat ameliorative measures on microclimate, thermal comfort, and behavior of Murrah buffalo heifers during summer. Buffalo heifers (n = 24) between the age of 15 and 20 months with a mean body weight of 363.75 ± 11.27 kg were randomly grouped into four treatments based on their age and body weight. The heifers kept in the shed without any cooling served as CON (control), while the animals of group CJ were tied with a cooling jacket. The buffalo heifers of the CJF group were subjected to the cooling jacket with forced air ventilation, whereas the intermittent (10 min at 2-h intervals) sprinkling followed by forced air ventilation was practiced in group SF between 900 and 1800 h throughout the experiment. The microclimatic variables were low in the sheds of groups CJ, CJF, and SF than the CON. The physiological responses such as rectal temperature, skin temperature, respiration rate, and pulse rate were reduced in groups CJ, CJF, and SF than the CON at 1400 h. The serum cortisol was less in the CJF and SF than those of CON group. The animals of the CJ, CJF, and SF groups spent more time for feeding and rumination with less frequent longer bouts. The extended periods of lying followed by shorter standing and idling were observed in groups CJ, CJF, and SF when compared with the CON. It may be therefore concluded that cooling jacket and intermittent sprinkling in combination with forced air ventilation might be helpful in improving the micro-environment, thermal comfort, and behavior of buffalo heifers particularly under tropical climates during summer.

The present experiment was conducted on 288-day-old unsexed broiler chicks to evaluate the effect of dietary feed additives viz. neem leaf meal (NLM) and citric acid (CA) on carcass characteristics, visceral and lymphoid organs, and gut health in broiler chickens. The chicks were randomly distributed into 6 dietary groups of 48 birds per group, each having 4 replicates (12 birds per replicate) in a randomized block design. The birds were fed on a standard diet without any supplementation control (T0); and with supplementation of NLM 2.5 g/kg of feed (T1); CA 15 g/kg of feed (T2); CA 25 g/kg of feed (T3); NLM 2.5 g + CA 15 g/kg of feed (T4); NLM 2.5 g + CA 25 g/kg of feed (T5). Eight birds from each treatment (2 per replicate) were randomly selected for slaughter and collection of samples and microbial study at day 42. The yield of the carcass, cut-up parts, and visceral organs, and length of the small intestine revealed comparable values without any adverse effect in the groups. The caecal E. coli population reduced significantly (P<0.05) in treatments T2 and T3 as compared to T0. The lower (P<0.05) caecal pH was observed in groups T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5 than T0. It can be concluded that feeding CA at 15 g and 25 g/kg of feed improved gut health without any adverse effect on the carcass and internal organs. Hence, supplementation of CA at two dietary levels i.e. 15 g and 25 g per kg of feed could be an alternative to produce healthy chickens.

Effect of dietary supplementation of neem leaf meal and citric acid on growth performance and cost economics of broiler chickens An experiment was conducted to study the effect of dietary supplementation of neem leaf meal (NLM) and citric acid (CA) on growth performance and cost economics of broilers. A total of 288 day-old chicks were randomly allocated into 6 dietary groups. The birds were fed on standard diets as per (BIS, 2007) without any supplementation control (T₀); and with supplementation of NLM 2.5 g/kg (T₁); CA 15 g/kg (T₂); CA 25 g/kg (T₃); NLM 2.5 g + CA 15 g/kg (T₄); NLM 2.5 g + CA 25 g/kg of feed (T₅). The results showed that final body weight (BW) was significantly (P2, whereas BW at 4^th week reduced significantly (P5 when compared to T₀. Feed intake reduced significantly (P3 and T₅ than T₀during the finisher phase. Although better (Pth week however, the overall mean did not differ significantly among the groups. The profit per bird as well as per kg live weight was higher in group T₁ followed by T₂ as compared to T₀. Hence, it is concluded that NLM and CA can be safely incorporated in broiler diets separately at the inclusion level of 2.5 g and 15 g per kg of feed.

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The aim was to study the associated factors and extent of short lactations in Sahiwal cattle maintained under organized herd. The present study was conducted on Sahiwal cattle (n=530), utilizing 1724 lactation records with respect to lactation length (LL), spread over a period of 15 years (1997-2011), maintained at Livestock Research Center, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal. Observations of LL were analyzed by descriptive statistical analysis in order to know the extent of short lactation of animals in the herd. Paternal Half sib method was used to estimate the genetic parameters, i.e., heritability, genetic, and phenotypic correlation. The influence of various non-genetic factors (season of calving, the period of calving, parity, type of calving, and season of drying) on LL was studied by least squares analysis of variance technique. The least squares means for LL was found to be 215.83±3.08 days. Only 32.48% of total lactation records were fell in the range of 251-350 days of LL, while more than three-fourth (76%) of total observations were failed to reach the standard level of 305 milking days. LL class ranges from 251 to 300 days accommodated maximum number of observations (19.2%). The heritability estimate of LL was 0.22±0.07. Positive correlations were found between LL and service period, LL and 305 or less days milk yield, LL and calving interval; whereas dry period was negatively correlated with the LL. The least squares analysis had shown that LL was significantly (p<0.01) influenced by the period of calving, type of calving, and season of drying. Significantly higher LL (276.50±7.21 days) was found in animals calved in the first period than those calved in other periods. The cows dried during summer season had the shortest LL (188.48±7.68 days) as compared to other seasons. Present findings regarding short lactations occurrence may be alarming for the indigenous herd, demanding comprehensive study with the larger data set. Since LL was influenced by various environmental factors suggesting better managerial tools, besides special attention on the milch animals going to dry during the summer season.

The present investigation studied the effect of short-term cooling around the time of artificial insemination (AI) on body temperature, plasma cortisol and conception rate (CR) in Murrah buffalo heifers. Buffalo heifers (n = 25) were divided into two groups i.e. control group (n = 9) and short-term cooling group (n = 16). In both the groups, estrus synchronization using ovsynch protocol and fixed time AI was carried out. Heifers in short-term cooling group were kept in a specially designed air condition room from 3 h before to 3 h after AI. Blood samples were collected for estimation of cortisol and progesterone and rectal and vaginal temperatures were measured before 3 h of AI, at the time of AI and after 3 h of AI. At the time of AI and after 3 h of AI, both rectal and vaginal temperatures were significantly (P < 0.05) lower in heifers subjected to short-term cooling compared to control group. After 3 h of AI, cortisol levels were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in control group (5.023 ± 0.74 ng/ml) compared to short-term cooling group (1.061 ± 0.99 ng/ml). A trend of higher CR was observed in short-term cooling group compared to control group (68.75 vs. 33.33%, P = 0.087). It may be inferred that short-term cooling reduced the stress at the time of AI and improved the CR in Murrah buffalo heifers during hot-humid season.

In dairy bovines, estrus detection is the key determinant of the herd fertility. However, owing to silent heat in buffaloes, it is difficult to detect estrus at proper time which in turn affects the estrus detection efficiency and reduces conception rate. Further, it is not clear whether the buffaloes during different parities have differential expression of estrus behaviour. Therefore, the present study was designed to study the behavioural signs of estrus expressed by Murrah buffaloes (n= 94) belonging to different parities. Estrus detection was done by parading teaser bulls (4 times bull parading in a day), heat expectancy chart and visual observation of behavioural signs of estrus. The study revealed significantly (P< 0.05) higher bellowing/vocalization behaviour in primiparous (77.27%) and pluriparous buffaloes (72.88%) than heifers (38.46%). Micturition behaviour was significantly (P< 0.05) more pronounced in pluriparous (93.22%) and primiparous buffaloes (90.91%) as compared to heifers (69.23%). In pluriparous and primiparous buffaloes, tail raising behaviour during estrus was also expressed by higher(P< 0.05) proportion of buffaloes (96.61 and 90.91%, respectively) as compared to heifers (76.92%). However, there were no differences in tumefaction of vulval lips, reddening of vulval mucus membrane characteristics, standing to be mounted behaviour, chin resting and Flehmen reaction among pluriparous, primiparous and heifer buffalos. These results indicated that intensity of bellowing/vocalization, micturition and tail raising behaviours during estrus were poorly expressed in heifers and more focussed attention is needed to detect buffalo heifers in estrus.