12/27/2023 0 Comments Average age of water buffalo![]() The water buffalo's gestation period is about one month longer and is more variable than that of cattle. It is estimated that some 100,000 buffaloes are now being artificially inseminated. Overall conception rates of 70-80 percent are obtained. Deep-frozen semen is now available and its use is spreading. In India, artificial insemination of water buffaloes began in the late 1950s. In one set of pregnancy diagnoses in northern Australia, the buffalo's conception rate (81 percent) was higher than that of the Brahman crossbreeds (70 percent) they were with. ![]() Many matings take place at night and are therefore unobserved. However, when buffalo cows are well fed, they come into estrus and will breed in any season. It may also be caused by heat stress, in either males or females, which results in a low breeding rate during the hot season. This seems to be largely due to changes in nutrition. Unclean surroundings, poor nutrition, and poor management, cause a high death rate among calves this also contributes to the buffalo's often low reproductive rate. Determination of when a cow is in estrus is difficult because often the animal shows few outward signs of "heat." This increases the chances of missing a cycle, especially for artificial insemination. Although these are exceptions to the normal observations in Asia, where buffaloes seem to breed more slowly than cattle, they do demonstrate the buffalo's potential for improved breeding.Įstrus in buffalo cows usually lasts about 24 hours, but duration varies and may range from 11 to 72 hours. ![]() Similar observations have been made in Florida, Trinidad, the Brazilian Amazon, Venezuela, and elsewhere. The age at first calving of more than 60 nutritionally poor buffaloes was 38 months in one herd and 45 months for Brahman cross cattle). Under these stressful conditions the buffalo calves also reached sexual maturity earlier and the buffaloes had a higher calving percentage and a shorter calving interval because they came back into estrus more quickly than cattle(Information supplied by J. In the hot, humid Sepik Plains in northern Papua New Guinea it was noticed that female buffaloes (Swamp breed) came into estrus even while they were losing weight because of inadequate nutrition, whereas cattle did not. In trials in Queensland, Australia, and in Papua New Guinea buffaloes produced more calves over a 3-year period than the cattle tested with them. Research at Punjab Agricultural University shows that buffalo heifers can be bred when they weigh over 270 kg and manifest estrus).Most animals in the Punjab Agricultural University River buffalo herd calved before 35 months, one at 28.3 months.! In one Venezuelan herd almost all heifers 20-24 months old were pregnant virtually all calved before age 38 months, most by 30 months, and one at age 23 months. These researchers at Ain Shams University recommend mating heifers when they weigh 365 kg no matter what their age. Because of nutritional uncertainties, El Ashry and his colleagues believe that body weight is a better indicator of sexual preparedness than age is. At the Ain Shams University in Egypt a well-fed Egyptian buffalo herd of several hundred animals has an average age at first calving of 27 months, 22 days(Information supplied by M. The water buffalo also can calve at an age comparable to that of cattle. In the herd at Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, India, 11 River buffalo heifers showed estrus at ages less than 18.5 months and a few came into heat when less than 15 months old. In northern Australia Swamp females have conceived even as early as 14 months of age and feral buffaloes routinely conceive at 16 months of age. Without reasonable nutrition the animals cannot reach puberty as early in life or reproduce as regularly as their physiology or genetic capability would normally allow.Īctually, adequately nourished buffaloes reach puberty at about the same age as cattle, as early as 18 months of age in buffalo bulls. The water buffalo has a reputation for being a sluggish breeder, but the average animal is so poorly fed that its reproductive performance is unrepresentative of its capabilities.
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