Effect of supplemented ration on some reproductive traits in Azeri Buffaloes of Iran

Reproduction efficiency is one of the most important factors for productivity and profitably of dairy animals. Late or delayed oestrus in buffalo heifers is one of the major factors limiting its overall productive and reproductive performance. Feeding and general management have been reported to improve reproduction efficiency of buffaloes. Reproduction is partly affected by nutrition supplementation. Thus the objective of this study was to investigate the effect of supplemented ration on some reproductive traits in Azeri buffaloes. One hundred and twenty female buffalo calves with 8 months age were randomly divided into four groups (30 calves in each group). Calves received I) traditional ration (TR) II) TR plus 0.5 kg concentrate III) TR plus 1 kg concentrate IV) TR plus 1.5 kg concentrates till the age at first estrous. There was no difference between initial weights of calves before the treatments. The reproductive traits considered were age at first oestrus, weight at first oestrus, number of oestruses before gestation, age at gestation, age at calving. Although there were no significant differences between the all studied traits among treatments, the supplementation in Group 4 improved the traits somehow; in particular, treatment 4 decreased by 70 days the age at calving compared to treatment 1. This indicates that the W. Azerbaijan buffaloes suffer a nutritional deficiency in their lifetime and that quality /quantity supplementation of ration can improve their reproductive performance

Effects of different levels of sunflower residue silage replacement with alfalfa hay on Azari male buffalo calves fattening performance

An experiment was conducted to study the effects of replacing alfalfa hay with different levels of sunflower residual silage (SRS) on fattening performance of Azari male buffalo calves. Thirty calves with 138.33 Kg of BW fed experimental diets in a completely randomized design with 5 groups and 6 replicates. The five groups (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) included 0 (control), 25, 50, 75 and 100 percent replacement of alfalfa hay with SRS, respectively in basal diet. The results showed that dry matter intake (DMI) was significantly different between the groups (p<0.05). The highest and the lowest DMI were shown at the groups 1 and 5, respectively, however there was no significant difference between the groups 2, 3, and 4 with control. Daily weight gain (DWG) was significantly different between the groups (p<0.05). Group 5 had significantly lower DWG than groups 1, 2 and 3, furthermore there were no significant difference between groups 1, 2, 3 and 4. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was significantly different among the groups (p<0.05). There was no significant difference among the groups 1, 2, 3 and 4. But these groups had significantly better FCR than the group 5. The best FCR was obtained for group3. It may conclude that alfalfa hay can be substituted with SRS at 50 % level with no negative effects on Azari male buffalo calves fattening performance

Comparing fattening performance of Azeri buffalo, native and crossbred (native* Holstein) male calves in west Azerbaijan - Iran

For economically fattening we should know the capacity of each species thus, the objective of this investigation was the Comparison buffalo, native and HN male calves fattening performance. Eighteen claves (six animals for each group) with an average body weight (BW) of 160 kg were fattened till 300 kg. Ration and other rearing conditions were the same. Animals were fed ad libitum. Feeds remaining were weighted every morning. Animals weighted monthly till the average of group reach to 300kg. Results showed that the average daily gain (ADG) of native, buffalo and HN calves in overall period were 641, 777 and 912 gr/day respectively and there was not significantly difference between them. The average feed consumption of native, buffalo and HN calves in overall period were 5.6, 5.3 and 6.3kg DM/day respectively and the differences were significant (p<0.01). The fed consumption ratio (FCR) of native, buffalo and HN calves in overall period was 8.3, 7.2 and 6.9 and this difference was not significant. The performances of buffalo calves were intermediate between those of the Native and HN calves in all traits. In conclusion, because of high potential in conversion of roughage, buffalo calves can be competition with other species and fattening of them may be economically