FEEDING MANAGEMENT OF

HIGH YIELDING BUFFALOES

IntroductionFeeding management of high yielding

buffaloes is of utmost importance and should be given proper consideration.

This is so because energy requirements of lactating animals for maintainence and growth is higher than dry animals.

If requirements not fulfilled there can be production loss.

Feeding of Buffaloes

RationIt is the feed offered for a given animal during a day of 24 hours.

The feed may be given at a time or in proportions at intervals.

Balanced Ration It is one that furnishes nutrients in such

proportions and amounts that it will properly nourish a given animal for 24 hours.

In addition,the required nutrients must be contained in the amount of dry matter(DM) the animal is able to consume in 24 hours period, otherwise the ration can’t be considered balanced.

Desired Characteristics of Ration

It should have highly digestible feed ingredients.

It should be balanced.It should be palatable.Evil smelling, musty, mouldy feeds should not

be given. If unpalatable, improve the palatibility by the addition of salt and molasses.

Variety of feeds in the ration makes it more palatable.

It should be fairly laxative.

Computation of ration

• Out of the total ration 1/3rd of the ration is concentrate and remaining 2/3rd is roughage.

• Out of total roughage , 1/3rd is green fodder and rest 2/3rd is dry fodder.

• If legumes are fed as green fodder, proportion of green fodder is reduced to 1/4th and remaining 3/4th is dry roughage.

Maintenance Ration

According to Thumb Rule For a buffalo, maintenance ration contains : Straw = 4-6kg

Conc.mix = 2kg

Extra Allowance For Milk Production

Additional amount of 1kg concentrate mixture for every 2kg of milk over and above the maintainence requirement.

Concentrate mixture contain 20% CP 65% TDN

0.5-0.7% Ca 0.3-0.4% P

In case of feeding high yielders with high plane of nutrition there is depression in the digestibility of feed.

To compensate for depression, 3% extra feed may be given for each 10 litres of milk produced above 20kg.

During the last trimester of gestation an additional amount of 90 to 130kg of DCP and 1 to 1.1kg TDN have to be provided to cattle and buffalo of 350-500kg body weight

Feeding of high yielding animals during early lactation

The rate of milk let down in the first 6 wks of lactation is so high that the secretion of nutrients into the milk exceeds the rate of uptake of nutrients from digestive tract.

The nutrient deficit is compensated by the diversion of nutrients from body reserves resulting in weight loss.

As appetite of animal decreases during early lactation ,so, high energy diets are to be formulated and Challenge Feeding has to be adopted.

Challenge Feeding

It starts 2 wks before the expected date of calving.

Feeding of concentrate mixture should be started initially @500g/day and increase it gradually to a level of 500-1000g/100kg b.w

It conditions the digestive system for increased quantity of feed to provide sufficient nutrient to initiate lactation on a higher plane

Feeding Standards

Ration formulation for 450 kg buffalo producing 10kg milk with 8% fat

In this example, the requirement of energy (TDN) couldn’t be fulfilled.

To overcome this situation, atleast 10kg extra green fodder should be supplied to meet the demand of energy requirements.

For every 10kg good quality green , 1kg concentrate can be cut from the conc. quota

For high yielding animals, 50-100g mineral mixture should be given daily in ration.

This will help to counter the deficiency of calcium in body which may otherwise cause milk fever.