|
Buffalo are highly productive animals and are able to perform even under very poor conditions of nutrition and management. However if they are provided with better conditions their productive efficiency could be improved. In this context several aspects need consideration, starting with housing, calf and heifer management, health care and information management.
In India most buffalo are reared in the backyard of the home, so much so that the buffalo is like a family member and is very well taken care of. The buffalo in turn has a close affinity for people. It is usually the lady of the house who takes care of these animals. The buffalo are tied up for the night in small shelters very close to the farmer’s house. The shelters are cleaned early in the morning and the buffalo are then fed concentrates: home-made mixes of oil cakes and wheat bran. The calf is allowed to suckle to stimulate milk let down. Buffalo are hand milked and towards the end of milking some milk is left behind for the calf, which is then allowed to suckle again. There is very little awareness of pre- and post-milking hygiene. The animals are then fed around eight to ten kg of green fodder and in seasons of scarcity they are fed the same quantity of wheat straw. Around 09:00 to 10:00 they are set free to go and drink water in the common village pound, and they wallow in these tanks. For a couple of hours during midday and the afternoon they are tied up under shady trees and are again fed eight to ten kg of forage. Towards evening they are again taken to the shelters, fed concentrates, milked and then fed some roughage towards the late evening.
In all the major cities of north India where large-scale buffalo production exists, owners of these farms have been in this business for the past two to three generations. In these organised dairy farms the routines are similar to the backyard farms, except the animals are not let out for wallowing. Usually one farm hand takes care of about ten buffalo. These animals are usually housed in tied up housing, in a head-to-head or tail-to-tail system, with a high raised manger in which the animals are fed. There would be a centrally located water trough where the animals are brought to drink water, and they will also be washed here once or twice a day. Animals are fed roughage two or three times a day and usually all the concentrate in the ration is fed twice a day during milking. The barns are washed and cleaned with water twice a day and manure is picked up and dumped into manure pits outside the barns. All these farm activities are very labour intensive.
Buffalo farms in cities like Mumbai have a perennial problem of limited space to house buffalo. Consequently non-lactating buffalo are seldom maintained at these farms. In Mumbai it is considered necessary for economic viability to average milk production of 8 kg per buffalo per day. All animals producing below 3 kg milk per day are examined for pregnancy status and all non-pregnant buffalo are sold off, usually for slaughter.
A few producers have salvage farms 100 to 150 km away: pregnant buffalo are transported and reared there until calving, after which they are transported back. Very little effort goes into identifying oestrus and improving conception rates. One buffalo bull is maintained for 30 to 40 buffalo and this bull is paraded among the buffalo twice a day to identify those in oestrus. As a consequence there is usually a 40 to 50% buffalo replacement rate. Most calves on these farms die, bringing calf mortality to an alarming 90%. Even apart from this the cost of production is very high. The demand for water, feed, fodder, and the removal of milk and dung from the farms results in a big influx of large and small trucks in and out of Mumbai. These trucks are estimated to require more than 100000 litres of fuel per day. A similar situation prevails in several other huge cities in India as well as in Pakistan.
In contrast to this some buffalo farmers have moved out of the cities and relocated in larger farms in rural areas, where they can produce fodder and make optimum use of manure, improving their profits by 30 to 40%. These farms have adapted improved technology in feeding and milking and they have also been able to bring down the replacement rate to about 10 to 15% while restricting calf mortality to around 10%.
Management of dairy buffalo in backyard farms in India
|
|
 |
|
Large-scale dairy buffalo production around major cities of India |
|
|
|
 |
|
Loose housing barn in Sangli, India |
|
|
|
 |
|
Tied up barn in Yavatmal, India |
|
Organised buffalo farm in Latina, Italy and in Vermont, USA.
Back to top
In developed dairy countries like Italy buffalo are usually maintained in loose housing barns. However in areas with an extremely cold winter climate, barns should be designed in such a way that all animals can be housed in heated enclosures. Barn layout is thoughtfully planned for milking, feeding and movement of animals. Since labour is scarce and expensive most of the farm activities are mechanised. In most farms total mixed rations are fed from a feed mixer wagon, and there are common water troughs in every enclosure. Animals are usually grouped based on their stage of lactation and fed based on their productivity. However there are several farms that practise individual concentrate feeding combined with in-parlour feeding, using the Alpro™ feeding systems very effectively. Several farms have low cost barns with a large paddock area that is able to be cleaned every month, using a tractor. Several other farms have installed hydraulic manure scrapers which clean barns twice a day.
Production performances of Murrah buffalo in tied up housing and in loose housing were studied, and the result proved beyond doubt that loose housing was more profitable, with increased yields (Jagatjit Singh et al., 1993). Giving the animals some protection from hot and cold seasons has provided some valuable information. In winter, curtains helped lactating buffalo to produce about 500gm more milk daily than animals kept in an open shed (Gill et al., 1975). A higher conception rate of 80% was obtained in animals given showers in addition to wallowing facilities. This may also prevent early calf mortality (Raizada and Pandey, 1972). In areas where loose housing cannot be practised buffalo should be tied up in a conventional half-walled shed through the daytime (after milking) from April to June. Over-herding of buffalo in the shed should be avoided, with a maximum 25 buffalo in a floor space of 25 ft x 50 ft. The animals should be let out into an open paddock or yard overnight, for exercise and to provide opportunity for natural breeding behaviour. They also need to be able to wallow for half an hour daily in clean water. Care should be taken to empty and disinfect the wallowing tanks at least once every weekday otherwise they can spread a variety of contagious diseases. With proper management buffalo farming is indeed profitable. By deciding at birth whether a calf should be a milk producer or not, proper care of the calves is easier and less costly. The farmer can then focus on the future milk producers and cull the others. No matter how good the genetic potential, no animal will perform well if it is not cared for and fed properly. Bull calves from high yielding dams can be kept at the farm for future breeding. They can also be sold to breeding stations for progeny testing.
As discussed, housing for water buffalo should protect against thermal stress – particularly from direct exposure to sun, heavy rains and cold weather. It must allow good ventilation. Housing may therefore be different in different areas of the world, due to differences in climate. But all housing should allow enough space for each buffalo. The outdoor yard should preferably be covered with grass or maybe concrete, in order to prevent it from becoming an unhygienic mud hole in rainy periods.
Buffalo may appear to be misplaced in a hot and humid environment as they are more or less dependent on water for their cooling. This is not entirely true. Buffalo protected from direct sunlight do very well even during hot and humid days, partly because of their ability to lose heat through the respiratory tract. But note that high milk production requires a high feed intake, and that leads to higher metabolic heat production. High yielding buffalo thus have a disadvantage over lower yielding animals, and need more cooling facilities. If buffalo are not provided with proper shelters, wallows or cool showers, their feed intake and growth rate declines, and there could even be loss of body weight. Water intake increases and in the case of lactating buffalo there could be a drop in milk production. There is also a marked reduction in fertility.
1. The feeding, watering and milking place should always give shade and protection from heavy rains, either by trees or by a roof.
2. Cool water either from a clean river or served in an earthen pit, helps the animals to maintain their temperature. Drinking bowls are used extensively for buffalo as an efficient way to provide clean, cool, fresh water at all times. Water troughs should always be placed in the shade.
3. A paddock with trees gives very cheap and effective protection from sun. However, the trees may need to be protected from the buffalo also.
4. In hot humid climates it is better not to have walls. Walls may lead to inadequate ventilation, favouring bacteria and mould growth which makes the stable unhygienic. To protect the interior from sunshine (or heavy rain), curtains made from straw, textile or other suitable material can be used.
5. If possible provide buffalo with a wallow. However, the wallow should be one with clean water and not far from the farm. Spending time walking in the sun to and from the wallow costs more than it saves.
6. Showering the buffalo with cool water for three minutes twice a day has proven to be an efficient way for them to get rid of excess heat.
7. In tied up systems it is advisable to provide partitions between buffalo. This helps to reduce the number of cases of teat trampling and other udder injuries. Partitions are also useful while milking buffalo with bucket milking machines or in a pipe-line milking system.
Back to top
The comfort or thermo neutral zone is described as the environmental temperature range in which no apparent demands are made upon physiological thermoregulatory mechanisms (Schein and Hafez, 1969). This temperature range is from 2 to 21°C for Bos taurus and 10 to 27°C for Bos indicus. But buffalo are more sensitive than cattle to direct solar radiation and high ambient temperatures. There are several reasons for this.
1. The dark body colour which absorbs heat well when the animals are exposed to sunlight.
2. The relatively fewer number of sweat glands per unit area of skin, which is unfavourable for high heat loss by sweating.
3. The thick epidermal layer of skin, which protects against heat loss by conduction and radiation.
|
|
|
|
Buffalo under a shower for cooling in Italy |
Cooling system at a buffalo farm in India |
Buffalo using the swinging cow brush.
Cattle have much more efficient thermoregulation mechanisms with their greater density of sweat glands which enable much more heat dissipation through sweating. In spite of their limitations buffalo adapt and thrive in hot and humid tropical and sub-tropical climates, principally due to the semi-aquatic behaviour by which a buffalo seeks water to immerse its body as a means of reducing the heat load (Mahadevan, 1992). Buffalo are known to have a higher water turnover rate than both Bos taurus and Bos indicus cattle (Siebert and MacFarlane, 1969). They are also less efficient users of water per unit of dry matter intake, have higher urine outputs and a lower percentage of kidney reabsorption of water (Moran et al., 1979).
Buffalo become more restless, nervous and aggressive during hot-dry and hot-humid climatic conditions. The percentage of restless, nervous and aggressive buffalo increases with increasing atmospheric temperature. During dry, hot and humid seasons almost all nervous and aggressive buffalo and more of the docile buffalo need oxytocin injections for milk letdown (Pathak, 1992). Buffalo seem to tolerate cold better than is commonly supposed. However, cold winds and rapid drops in temperature appear to have caused illness, pneumonia and even death (BSTID, 1981).
A study on the effect of certain summer management practises on lactating Murrah buffalo indicate that there is a definite increase in yield of about 20 to 25% by providing cooled drinking water and showering the animals during the afternoons (Radadia et al., 1980). A distinct improvement in the summer breeding of buffalo following managerial changes in farm practises has been reported (Roy et al., 1968). A higher conception rate, of 80%, was obtained in animals given showers in addition to wallowing facilities. Showers may prevent early embryonic mortality. This study further established that there is no quiescence of reproduction rhythm during summer. Buffalo heifers whose age at puberty coincides with onset of summer can also be located in heat and can conceive during summer (Raizada and Pandey, 1972). Resting animals under a tree instead of the hot sun could also prevent pre-natal mortality.
Back to top
The shelter should protect the animals from rain, snow and strong wind. It may be a simple construction with a roof and three walls. This system will allow the buffalo to go outside to graze when the weather allows it. There should be a feeding area inside the shelter in case of several days with bad weather. A separate heated milking area is advisable. Dry and clean bedding is important in cold weather to maintain animal health. In places with an extremely cold climate such as in Caucasia and the Balkans, with several winter months with a temperature below freezing, a heated barn may be necessary.
|
Calves should be kept in individual pens for the first month. The pens should be easy to keep clean, with shelter from direct sunlight, rain, snow and draught. Keeping the calves in separate pens makes it easier to check what they eat, that they are growing properly, and to detect illnesses. Also, naval suckling is avoided and diseases are less likely to spread. The calves should have access to fresh and clean water at all times. |
Individual pens are recommended for young buffalo calves. |
Preferably, the buckets for milk and water should be outside the pen, in a steady holder within easy reach for the calf, but so the calves cannot splash liquid on the bedding. Humid bedding will facilitate growth of germs and parasites. The pen should contain a holder for hay and concentrate. These holders should be placed above the ground so that the calf cannot step or defecate in them.
Buffalo should be checked daily for injuries and illnesses. Wounds and open sores are a perfect growing place for all kinds of bacteria. It is easy to keep control over milking buffalo since they are studied closely twice a day. But apart from looking at the udder at milking the farmer or milker should observe the whole animal. Heifers, calves and bulls should be checked too, not just milking animals.
Lameness and large injuries are easier to detect than small scratches. Lameness can be caused by injuries in the hooves and legs as well as back pains. Touch the animal carefully all over the body, to locate the injury.
Large as well as small injuries must be taken care of. Bleeding sores may require veterinary attention although this is quite rare. Wounds should be carefully cleaned, and the best way is to use clean water and mild soap. Cleaning should be done very gently with clean hands and cloths. Chemicals such as ethanol and iodine might hurt. Never attend to wounds during milking! It is best to take the animal to a sick box or undisturbed area to attend to any wounds.
Looking at the faeces is an easy way to detect internal defects. This is easy in the milking place when one pail of faeces can be related to one buffalo. If the faeces look different from usual, the milker/farmer should be observant. If the buffalo is not eating properly or otherwise seems dull and unfit it might be a sign of some kind of illness.
Buffalo enjoying shade trees.
If an animal has some or all of the above mentioned symptoms it is advisable to measure the rectal temperature. Normal rectal temperature is 38º to 39ºC. If it is above that, the animal may have some sort of infection and a veterinarian should be called. The quicker a wound or an infection is taken care of, the less likely the risk of more buffalo becoming ill.
In the tropics and subtropics, parasites, ticks and mosquitoes can be a big problem. Internal parasites may cause malfunction of the digestive tract and thereby decrease feed utilization. Ticks and mosquitoes cause discomfort and damage to the skin that in turn can lead to inflammatory processes.
Chemicals and drugs to fight parasites should be used both to prevent disease and to treat it. A disadvantage with chemicals and drugs is that they often leave traces in the milk. Some may be harmless and undetectable, yet others may influence processing of the milk and/or leave traces dangerous for human consumption.
Chemicals against parasites should be sprayed on the animals. Care must be taken not to spray in the eyes or genital area. The chemical should be applied with a sponge on the face and around the genitals. Dip baths, which are used for sheep, are most unsuitable for buffalo. The buffalo will see the dip baths as wallows and this has at least two disadvantages:
1. They may enjoy wallowing in the dip, and be difficult to get out. This prolonged immersion in the dip may harm their skin.
2. Buffalo natural behaviour is to defecate in their wallow, which would make the dip bath extremely unhygienic.
There are a number of vaccines available for common diseases. Most vaccination programmes are more efficient if applied to young calves, with boosters given at regular intervals. This is further evidence of the advantage of recruiting calves at the farm. Buffalo are sensitive to the same diseases as cattle. Diseases strike harder on animals in poor condition. In order to protect the animals, they should be properly vaccinated and de-wormed at regular intervals. It is important to include all animals at the farm in a veterinary control programme in order to minimize risks of disease outbreaks. In Italy, all controlled animals are checked at six month intervals for tuberculosis, brucellosis and leukosis. Infected animals are immediately taken out of production and culled.
Back to top
|
