Buffalo Breeding

Booklet No. 591 Buffalo: BFS- 5

Contents Preface I. Introduction II. Growth Characteristics A Birth weight B. Growth rate C. Maturity D. Age at First Calving III. Breeding and Calving Seasons of Buffalo IV. Reproductive Efficiency of Water Buffalo V. Artificial Insemination VI. Progeny Testing in Buffalo Breeding VII. Conclusion Preface The domestic water buffalo, apart from being a farm animal, is a major source of milk and butter fat, besides meat and tractive energy. In order to improve them, systematic breeding is necessary. So far it has been a neglected aspect world wide. But now a lot of studies related to breeding are in progress. This booklet describes the main aspects of reproduction and breeding of buffaloes. Dr. K. T. Chandy, Agricultural & Environmental Education I . Introduction Buff'alo breeding; like any other branch of animal husbandry, is a enterpreneur in nature, and its success depends to a great extent on the understanding of the whole process of its reproduction and the various factors involved in it. The efficiency of the reproductive process in the water buffalo is linked up with a number of factors controlled by heredity and environment. Among these, its slow growth rate, delayed maturity, seasonality in breeding, higher age at first calving, longer calving intervals etc. are some of the major problems in buffalo breeding. A sound knowledge of the physiology of reproduction of the buffalo is essential for the farmer to have better control over these factors. II. Growth Characteristics The birth weight, growth rate and maturity of an animal are important parameters of the growth characteristics. The dirth of scientific data on these aspects of the water buffalo except its birth weight, constitutes a serious weakness in the breeding programmes. These characteristics have been discussed here with special reference to genetic and environmental factors which are causing variation in these characters. A. Birth weight The birth weight of water buffalo is higher than that of all domestic breeds of cattle except Friesian cattle. If we compare the birth weight of Egyptian, Indian and Pakistan buffaloes, the birth weight of Egyptian buffaloes is significantly higher than the those in the

Indian sub-continent. This clear dit1erence in birth weight between the breeds is mainly due to the difference in the genetic factors and different climatic conditions under which the breeding has been done. The birth weight of buffalo varies with respect of the sex of the calf and the calving sequence. The average birth weight of male buffalo is significantly higher than the female buffaloes. During subsequent calvings the birth weight of calves increases up to the fourth calving when the dams attain full maturity weight. In a study, birth weight of the male calves was found to increase in subsequent calvings and there were no significant increase in the weight of female calves. The average birth weight is found to be ranging between 27.3 to 33.2 kg. Table 1 provides the birth weights recorded at different places in India. Table 1: Birth weight of water buffalo Sl.No 1 Type of breed Indian Buffalo Place India Birth weight Male 29 kg Additional data Birth weight of male calves was heavier from first to later calvings with the increase in the weight of the dams

2 3

Aarey milk Colony, Bombay Military dams in Punjab, U.P NDRI Bangalore

27.3 kg (first lactation dams) Average for both sexes 30.7 kg Male 31.6 kg Female 29.8 kg Average for farm bred animals 33.2 kg Birth weight and age of dams were highly correlated Sex of the calf was found to have no influence on the birth wt.

B. Growth rate The growth rate of the domestic water buffalo is lower than that of cattle. It is a slow maturing animal and its growth continues till 10th year, although rate of growth is slower after the fifth year. The delayed maturity affects the age at first calving and ultimately the total productive life of the animal. But very little work and experiments have been done on this aspect. Due to lack of information regarding the growth rate of buffaloes, generally the growth rate of cattle are used as basis for buffaloes also. This is a serious drawback of buffalo breeding throughout the world. It is found that the average longivity and useful life of murrah buffaloes is 127 months and 83 months respectively: For increasing the longivity of buffaloes, it is very essential to reduce the age at first calving and the calving interval. Among the non-genetic factors, feeding aspect of buffaloes need attention. In India, there is a general neglect in the feeding of buffaloes during the early stages of their growth period which adversely affects their subsequent growth rate and delays their maturity.

C. Maturity The sexual maturity of male and female buffaloes is attained in about 2-3 years depending on the type of breed management practice and feeding. The average age of buff aloe bull at first service is 3.5 years while the heifers come into heat at 2-2.5 years age. The oestrous cycle in river type of buffalo is around 21 days and the duration of heat varies from 2124 hours. In Indian buffaloes the average heat cycle length is 37 days and oestrous could be for 24 hours. In India generally river type butIaloes are more common. It has been observed that the onset of heat is not very pronounced and often it is difficult to detect. This is the main reason for the highest percentage of the conception failures during the first service. There is considerable scope for reducing the age of first conception by proper feeding and management practices particularly the careful checking of heat. D. Age at first calving The age at first calving on buffaloes is generally higher than that reported By proper feeding and management, the age at first calving can be reduced and at the same time the expenses in rearing heifers from birth to calving would also be reduced. Under average village conditions in India, the feeding of buffalo calves is very much neglected and as a result, their maturity is delayed and their age at first calving is 4-5 years which is higher than that of farm bred animals under proper feeding and management. Late maturity and delay in conception increase the age of the heifers at first calving and thereby raise their cost of feeding and management considerably and also affect their life time production adversely. The breeding of heifers at an earlier age will definitely reduce the age at first calving and increase the efficiency of life-time milk production. In the Indian sub-continent, the average age of buffalo heifers at first calving is 40 months with a range of 30-50 months. In mullah breed of river of type buffalo, the age at first calving is found to be 44 months (on an average). In Indian buffalo in Military Dairy Farms it is 42 months while at IARI Delhi it is found to be 45 months. The Bhadhawari type of buffalo takes 50 months. According to a study on the optimum age at first calving it was. found that the buffalo heifers calving between 42:48 months and producing more than 1800 kg milk in first lactation are most economical; Table 2 gives observation recorded at various places in India. Sl. No 1 2 3 Table 2: Age at first calving increase by one size Type, breed Place Age at 1st calving in months Range Average River type India 44.3 Murrah Indian buffalo India 30.42 Indian buffalo Terai state 41-51 45.7 (farm bred) farms, IVRI, Agr. College Agra; Military farms, IARI, Delhi Indian buffalo Military dairy 42 farms Murrah, Nili Military farms, 37.40 India Murrah Dist. 42

4 5 6

7 8 9

Murrah Murrah Murrah Farmbred buffaloes in organized dairy farms Murrah Bhadawari

Demonstration farm, Mathura Agri. Instt. Allahabad Liv. Res. Station, Mathura Military farms

40.441.98 -

43.4 42.31 37.1

10 11

Military dairy farms in India Livestock farm Bharari, Jhansi

40.6 50.7

Source: Fahimuddin M., 1986 III. Breeding and Calving Seasons of Buffalo Records indicate that India, the inter-regional difference in the reproductive trait of Indian water buffalo is very little. The breeding and corresponding calving seasons are almost same throughout India, the breeding season from September to February and the calving season from July to November. During this breeding period, the bulls have been found to be very active sexually and the quality and quantity of semen is very high particularly during winter (November to February). The buffalo cow show the maximum of ovarian activity and largest percentage of them conceive during this period. This holds the same for river as well as swamp buffaloes. There is a big gap in our knowledge concerning the biology of seasonal sexual periodicity in the domestic buffaloes. The existence of a biological mechanism which makes them sensitive to the breeding stimulus during a particular season of the year is well established, but the exact nature of the internal mechanism that controls seasonal responses is not known. The endocrine mechanism of any animal may be responsible for its seasonal sex periodicity. During the late autumn and early winter seasons average day length and daily temperature is associated with the sexual vigour of the animal. High environmental temperature above 23.6o C upsets the normal physiological functions of the buffaloes. High environmental temperature adversely affects spermatogenesis in the buffalo bulls and ovarian activities in the buffalo cows. It has been established that species evolved in the tropics and sub tropics do not respond to seasonal light stimuli and they appear to be sexually activated by decreasing day length and or developing temperature. Although the seasons are not so markedly differentiated in the tropics and the sub tropics like the temperate zone, there are some perceptible variations between seasons which become very much pronounced in the tropical and monsoon belts within these regions. And with this these narrow seasonal variations the buffalo responds sexually to seasonal influences which induce high or low intensity of sexual behaviour during a particular season of the year. In a study conducted on murrah buffaloes it was found that the conception rate was highly correlated with day length and rainfall. The rainfall may be indirectly correlated with the

conception rate through its effects on the growth of vegetation. The level of nutrition has been identified as an important factor on controlling reproduction of all animals. Among the climatic factor only. the effects of temperature and humidity are known from a limited number of experiments in India. There is a need of research and investigation on the factors responsible for the seasonal sex periodicity on the domestic water buffaloes and to find out suitable husbandry practices for extending its breeding period and thereby to maintain the supply of milk for a greater part of the year than at present. The breeding and calving seasons of water buffalo is seen in table 3. Table 3: Breeding and calving seasons of water buffalo Sl .N o 1 2 Type, breed River type Indian buffalo Indian village buffalo Indian (murra h) Country, place Breeding and calving season and other features of seasonal sex periodicity in buffalo Buffaloes show a distinct seasonal sex periodicity Govt. farms, India Insemination figs. Of 13,620 villages in Coimbatore District, India Animal genetics section, Livestock Res. Station, Mathura, North India Hissar, Haryana, N.India India Indian Vet. Res. Inst. Izatnagar, N.India A.I Centres in U.P, N. India Military dairy farms, N.India Breeding period with the maximum number of buffalo cows coming into heat: Oct to Feb. the peak month being October. Approx. 61.7% of the calvings take place between July to November Peak period of heat Oct to Feb

5 6 7

Indian (murra h) Indian buffalo Indian buffalo Indian (murra h) Indian buffalo

Buffalo cows were observed to indicate seasonal sexperiodicity in respect of oestrus and conception; the period with highest oestrus frequency (62.8%) was Oct to Feb with peak in Dec. and this period coincided with higher conception rate, during the period April to Sept. with comparatively longer days and higher intensity of the sun, ovarian activity appears to be adversely affected. Bulls were least active sexually during humid season in respect of semen ejaculation and output Definite seasonal periodicity in calving was observed: 79.5% of the buffalo cows calved during July to Nov., the minimum (1.8%) during April Most calving occurred during the period June to December Marked seasonal variation in the quality of the buffalo semen was observed: the quality was best during the period Sept to Oct. which corresponds with the maximum ovarian activity in the she-buffaloes Sexual vigour of the he-buffalo was strongly associated with season, the period Aug. to Feb. was the best when 89% of the bulls were sexually very active. They were least active during hot months April to June A definite breeding cycle was observed in buffaloes: the largest percentage (50% approx.) of conceptions in first

10

(murra h mainly) Indian (murra h)

and second calving females took place during Oct. to Dec Agri. College, Kanpur, N.India Definite seasonal periodicity was observed in the number of services performed: approx. 82% of the services took place during Sept to Jan, Nov. having the highest number of services. The distribution of services according to season is given below: winter (Dec to Feb) 34.2% spring (March to May) 9.5% autumn (Sept. to Nov) 54.1% summer (June to Aug) 2.2%. Highest calving period: July to November The number of animal in oestrus was highest (33.6%) in winter and lowest (15.4%) in summer 65% of the inseminations performed during October to February Maximum number of calving took place during August to December Buffaloes show a seasonal sex-periodicity

11 12 13

Indian (murra h) Indian (murra h) Indian (surati) Indian (murra h)

14

Definite seasonal periodicity in respect of insemination services was observed: the highest percentage (82%) of inseminations was performed during Sept to Jan; 905 of the animals calved during July to December Source: Fahimuddin M, 1986

Andhra Pradesh, S.India Assam vet. College, E.India Poona Agri. College, Maharashtra, India Livestock farm, Chakganjaria, U.P, N.India

The gestation period of different types of buffaloes is given in table 4. which reveals that the gestation period of India buffaloes is of intermediate duration. Table 4: Gestation Period Sl.No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 B 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Type, breed River type River buffaloes Indian (Surati) (Buffalo) (Murrah) South Indian buffaloes: Farm bred Purchased Indian (Murrah) Buffaloes (Farm bred) Country, place India S. India Gestation length in days 317 300 310-314 304 313 314-320 305 302 310 312 + 0.3 304.9 307 308.1 + 9.6

India Hissar, Punjab, India India Military dairy farms, India Military dairy farms,

8 9 10

(Murrah) (Murrah)

N.India Agri. Univ. Pantnagar, N.India Agri. N. India Assam Vet. College, E. India

311.3 Range (28756) 305.49 + 3.45

Source: Fahimuddin M. 1986 The calving interval is the period between two consecutive calvings and its two components are the service period and the gestation period. Among the reproductive traits calving interval is the most important criterion. Table 5 gives the calving intervals in different types of buffaloes. Table 5: Calving interval in water butfalo Sl.No A 1 Type, breed River type Indian buffalo Country, place Calving interval in days Range Average 401-473 400-465 428.6 to 634.8 327-1062 541 441 419 407 454 420 + 88 442 444 455 513.4 461 + 10.2 626 485.2 542.5 + 44.9 520.6 425 + 49

Rural areas in seven breeding tracts, India 2 Indian (Murrah) Murrah breeding tract (rural) 3 Indian (murrah) Military dairy farms in India 4 Purchased 5 Indian (farm bred) Military dairy farms, India 6 Indian buffalo India 7 Indian (murrah) Agri. Inst., Allahabad, N.India 8 Indian buffalo India 9 Indian (murrah) Terai state farm, U.P. N.India 10 Indian (murrah) Govt. livestock, Hissar, Haryana, N. India 11 Indian buffalo Aarey milk colony, India 12 Indian (murrah) Philippines 13 14 15 16 Alabang stock farm, Philippines Source: Fahimuddin M. 1986

The period between calving and conception is known as the service period and its length is dependent on post partum oestrus and the actual conception requiring one, two or more services. The post partum oestrus and the service period in water buffaloes wise given in table 6 and table 7.

Table 6: Post-partum oestrus in the water buffalo Sl.No A 1 2 3 Type, breed River type Indian (murrah) Country, place India Livestock Res. Sta. U.P. Agri. Univ. N. India Philippines Average post-partum oestrus in days 87 115 185 + 13.65 49.6 (range 45-53)

Lactation is an integral part of the reproductive cycle. In Indian conditions the average lactation period is 280-300 days depending on the breed and level of management. If the animals are not bred in time after parturition. They continue to give milk till 800-400 days. The wide variations in lactation yield and its length indicate that there is considerable scope for the improvement of buffaloes by proper feeding, breeding and management. Table 7: Service period in water buffaloes Sl. No A 1 2 3 4 5 6 Type, breed River type River buffalo Indian (murrah) Indian buffalo Indian buffalo Indian (murrah) Indian buffalo Country, place Service period in days (avg) 42 143.9+5.5 117 (for first four calvings)

201+11.3 173.9+6.2 202+8 India 149.36+7.4 Source: Fahimuddin M. 1986

U.P Coll. Of Vety. And A.H., Mathura India Vet. Res. Inst., Izatnagar (U.P) India NDRI, Bangalore

IV. Reproductive Efficiency of Water Buffalo The reproductive efficiency of farm animals which denotes the maximum effective use of their reproductive capacity, is of considerable practical and economic significance to farmers. Fertility and regularity of breeding is of high importance and these two characteristics are associated with the vital problems of buffalo rearing. Although the fertility of the buffalo male and female has a genetic basis, the difference in their overall reproductive efficiency to a large extent can be attributed to managerial practices, particularly feeding and general care. Lack of sufficient data on the fertility and associated traits is enabling the farmers to involve the regular breeding practices. From the practical point of view the improper diagnosis of oestrus is one of the main causes of low fertility in buffalo cows. As already mentioned silent heats, embryonic mortality and infertile services adversely affect its fertility. The average number of services per conception in water buffaloes ranges from 1.5 to 2.0 in India.

The conception rate is influenced by the season of service, age of the sire and dam, level of nutrition etc. Heifers calving for the first time usually require more services for conception than older animals. Using the formula breeding efficiency can be estimated according to the local conditions. Breeding efficiency according to modified formula is as follows. [n(365) + 1040]100 Breeding efficiency = ----------------------------Ac + C1 j Where n = the number of calving intervals Ac = the age at first calving in days C1 = the sum of calving intervals in days and the figure 1040 is optimum age at first calving in days. V. Artificial Insemination The coverage of buffaloes under the artificial insemination service is increasing in all the developing countries. Its coverage as well as its effectiveness can be enhanced by the development of an easy and practical method of heat and pregnancy diagnosis; proper processing, storage and transport of semen, the use of proven bulls and the improvement on the technique of insemination. In comparison to cattle, the buffalo presents no specific problems for the application of the technique of artificial insemination. In India, it is generally believed that the keeping quality of the buffalo semen is lower than that of the bull semen and the research on the keeping quality of buffalo semen, its storage and techniques of artificial insemination is in progress in India. It is observed that sub functioning of ovaries, persistent corpus luteum, silent heat etc. are the common problems found in Indian buffaloes. During the main breeding season, the subfunctioning of the ovaries is rather rare, but silent heats are observed. These main reproductive disorders mainly arise out of the abnormalities of their heats which as responsible for delayed service causing longer calving intervals. Therefore, suitable methods of the diagnosis of heat and pregnancy treatment of temporary sterility cases and their successful insemination appear to be very essential. For securing higher percentage of conception with the artificial insemination, it is essential to improve the technique of insemination and the quality of the diluted semen with additives called bio-stimulators etc. increase the uterine con-tractions for assisting the transport of semen. The Russian workers have designed an apparatus to measure the electrical resistance of the vaginal mucosa. Incase of cow the optimum time for insemination is when the resistance is between 100 to 250 ohms. But for field use the technique of deep freeze buffalo semen has been developed in India. The National Dairy Research Institute has done a good deal of work on dilution and preservation of buffalo semen. Now artificial insemination with frozen semen provides good scope for upgrading local buffaloes on a large scale, but the paucity of bulls of high genetic merit (specially proven one) is the major constraint in this work. The spermatozoa of the buffalo bull are morphologically different from those of the cattle bull which are shorter and narrower. The average measurement is as follows: head length is 8 microns and breadth is 5 microns mid pIace length is 15.5 microns and tail length 55 microns. The normal color of the semen is opaque, milky white like that of a cattle bull. The semen

volume per ejaculate increase in the buffalo from 2- 7 years of age and its concentration per ml varies from 200 to 2000 million as reported by various workers in India. The average semen volume for Indian buffalo is 2-3 cc per ejaculation and while murrah buffalo it is 4 cc. Broadly, the anatomy of the reproductive organs and physiology of reproduction of buffalo is similar in many ways as that of cattle. But to achieve the best results in the buffalo some modifications are required in the techniques used. Some of this salient features of difference relating to animal, seminology and techniques are given below. a. The buffalo bull can be trained more easily than cattle for donating semen for artificial insemination. b. The buffalo bull is less choosy concerning the teaser and quickly mounts an unoestrous female and even a male buffalo in their service rate. c. Temperature required for artificial vagina is 39o C as against 41C for cattle. d. Massage technique for semen collection required longer period for effective results. e. Electro-ejaculation from the buffalo is still in the experimental stage and although it has achieved success to some extent, still some more research has to be carried out in this regard. f. The head of the buffalo spermatozoa is more rectangular than that of cattle spermatozoa. g. Volume, sperm concentration, initial motility are generally lower in the buffalo and as it is already mentioned the semen from healthy buffalo bulls is milky white with a light shade of blue. Cattle semen has got a yellowish tinge. h. Semen dilutors suitable for cattle like egg yolk, phosphate (EYP) buffer are not at all suitable for buffalo. Higher fertility was resulted with a new diluent called "kampschmidt's glucose sodium biocarbonate egg yolk extender". Another highly encouraging buffalo dilutor has been developed by the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal and known as citric acid whey (CAW). In Pakistan the studies suggested the use of homogenized milk as a diluent for buffalo semen and study conducted at Indian Veterinary Research Institute reveals that among 102 animals conceived 66%, 22%, 5% and 6% animals became pregnant by the first, second, third and fourth inseminations respectively. The average number of inseminations required per conception was 1.56. Fertility was ascertained by rectal palpitation and by calving results. A conception rate of 72% is not common in buffaloes bred by artificial insemination. Another outstanding technique in the field of buffalo breeding is multiple ovulation embryo technology. Under the Indo-US project the fundamental and applied research on embryo transfer technology has also been taken up in collaboration with Indian Veterinary Research Institute, National Dairy Research Institute, Punjab Agricultural University etc. One buffalo embryo transfer centre has also been established by the Indian Dairy Development Board at the Sabarmati Ashram Goshala, Bidaj, Gujarat. The frozen semen and the embryo transfer technologies have opened up immense possibilities for improving the productivity of the neglected farm animals in the buffalo breeding. VI. Progeny Testing in Buffalo Breeding

The selection of breeding stock on the basis of dam's performance and type and certain level of milk yield, is almost an universal practice. But a selection index which includes milk yield, butter fat percentage, age at first calving and calving interval is the best measure for selecting the breeding stock. The preparation of such an index needs detailed study of the phenotypic and genotypic correlations between these characters. Such investigations can be taken up by the universities, research stations and other concerned departments. Simple and practical selection index are to be developed. The progeny test in the only accurate and effective method of selection. But its application in tropics and sub tropics pose several difficulties which are as follows. a. Lack of simple and practical method of progeny testing. Simple progeny testing is to be evolved to suit to the tropics and sub tropics. Even though, the records of dames and daughters are available, the farmers especially the breeders are finding difficult to make use of the data for assessing the breeding performance of their herd sires. These difficulties are very genuine because several important considerations arise out of progeny testing of herd sire. Firstly, due allowance must be given to the varied environmental conditions under which the off springs are born. We may try to penalize the inheritance of the parents unnecessarily for such environmental differences like season of calving, level of feeding, standard of management etc. Therefore it is essential to standardize the lactation records for seasonal variations to standard environmental condition. Secondly due allowances must be made for the variation at the age of daughter and dame. Thirdly, we process little information about the minimum number of daughters required for accurately assessing the breeding worth of a sire. The objective should be to test the maximum number of bulls with the minimum number of daughter consistent with a fairly high degree of accuracy. Fourthly, there is little information on the level of milk production at which a sire can be regarded as proven. There is a need of research on all these aspects of progeny testing on water buffaloes under tropical and subtropical conditions. h. Long sire daughter interval Due to slow and late maturity of buffaloes, generally the sire progeny interval is very large. Every effort should be made through improved management and feeding practices to shorten the generation interval which will increase the genetic gain per year. Majority of the buffalo bulls would be dead by the time the records of their daughter are available for assessing their genetic worth. Eight to tell years is the minimum interval. But a small number of buffalo bulls can survive beyond this age and retains a fair degree of fertility. These bulls between the age of 8-10 years provide us an opportunity for assessing their transmitting meet. With the help of progeny testing, it will be possible to locate a few outstanding sires which should be artificially mated to the maximum number of buffalo cow in selected herds. The cows of these sires form high producing dams which should be saved and reared for upgrading village herds. C. Lack of herd recording Herd recording is the main basis for progeny testing. Herd recording practice is confined to only government and other large dairy farmers and research institutions. In order to ensure proper maintenance of the records, the organizations should be well equipped with staff. These records help in improving the productivity of local breeds of buffaloes. VII. Conclusion A considerable gap exists between the availability of and the need of superior buffalo bulls. Therefore every effort should be made through artificial insemination to increase the

number of superior breeding males for accelerating the pace of improvement in water buffalo. To ensure these measures, it is necessary to use sires of known breeding merit as far as possible. The application of artificial insemination to buffalo. %%%%%%%%%%