Pregnancy depresses milk yield in Dairy Buffaloes

Abstract

This paper reports the decline in milk production of buffaloes after getting conceived. The experimental buffaloes were selected in NWF province of Pakistan. Complete milk yield records for 48 weeks of lactation were obtained for 465 pregnant and 179 nonpregnant buffaloes. Model-1 to 3 were used to find out the factors affecting milk yield reduction due to pregnancy. Model 4 was used to modulate milk yield reduction with the onset of pregnancy at medium sized private farms comprising lactation records of 40 buffaloes. The data indicate that post-conception reduction in milk yield was earlier in the buffaloes that conceived during 11-28 weeks of lactation, followed by those conceived during 29-36 and 37-48 weeks of lactation respectively. Noticeable reduction in milk yield was found during 3rd, 5th and 6th month of pregnancy in the animals conceiving at earlier, mid or later stages of lactation. Initially the milk yield in pregnant animals increased up to 2 months post-conception and then decreased at an almost constant rate. The reduction was visible after 5th week post-conception. The decline in milk with advancement pregnancy was slight up to a point which we declared as joining point; thereafter the decline was much greater

Breeding, Management and Environmental Issues at Peri-Urban Dairy Farms

“…Increase in BE was associated with an increase in lactation yield, confirming the earlier findings of Qureshi et al (2007) who reported that high yielding buffaloes were also efficient in fertility. However, after a certain level BE was reduced with further increase in production, indicating high priority of nutrients partitioning towards production than reproduction.…”

“…The decline in milk production of buffaloes after conception was investigated in a series of studies (Qureshi et al, 2007;Khan et al, 2009). The experimental buffaloes were selected in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan.…”

Feed supplementation prevents post-conception decline in milk progesterone concentrations associated with production stress in dairy buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis)

“…It leads to a decline in milk yield, which compels the farmers to keep the animals un-bred. Our group (Qureshi et al 2007) concluded that the onset of pregnancy in dairy buffaloes results in drastic decline in yield at an early stage and the high yielders are more sensitive.…”

Morphological and Structural Investigations of Egyptian Water Buffalo (Bubalus Bubalis) Sertoli Cells

“…Late onset puberty, lower numbers of ovarian follicles, ovarian quiescence, silent heat/silent estrous, variable ovulation timings, seasonal breeding, long postpartum anestrus and low conception rates [4][5][6] have all been highlighted as potential aggravating factors. Whilst optimised nutritional regimes and management regimes have helped fertility levels [7,8], pregnancy rates are routinely observed throughout the world at just 30-50% [1].…”

“…Studies carried out in 1990 and 1992 highlighted some of the features of the testis using transmission electron microscopy in buffalo from Japan and Malaysia [7,9] but studies using scanning electron microscopy have not been carried out and fertility has rapidly declined since these studies 27 and 25 years ago. Artificial insemination techniques have been used in an effort to increase fertility but despite advances in technology and increases in efficiency over the last few years, cryopreserved semen remains less fertile [10][11][12].…”