Vol. 11, Special Issue 7 (2022)

Author(s):
Cherryl D Miranda, AKS Tomar, Gyanendra Singh, Hari Om Pandey, Pratik R Wankhede and RK Rajkumar

Abstract:
The objective was to study body condition score (BCS) and its changes during peripartum period in Murrah buffaloes and the effect of pre-partum BCS on production parameters. For the study 68 advance pregnant Murrah buffaloes as per the availability from February to December, 2019 and body condition scores were recorded from 35 days before calving up to 90 days post-partum at weekly intervals. The obtained data of BCS prior to calving was used to classify buffaloes into groups (1.≤ 3.5 BCS and 2.>3.5 BCS). The highest BCS was found during a week prior to calving and then followed a steep reduction in BCS during calving in both the BCS groups. BCS change was significantly different between the two groups during pre-partum than the post-partum stage. The BCS loss was found to be pronounced in buffaloes with >3.5BCS and the total BCS loss at the end of 91 days post partum differed significantly between >3.5 BCS and ≤3.5 BCS buffaloes with mean values 0.56±0.10 and 0.02±0.09, respectively. Peak yield, 90 days milk yield, previous lactation milk yield, previous 305 days milk yield and previous lactation length were higher in ≤ 3.5 BCS buffaloes but means of both groups did not differ significantly hence pre-calving BCS did not show any effect on these parameters. Negative non-significant phenotypic correlation has been observed between BCS and 90DMY, PY and days to attain peak yield.