A Clinical Study of Anestrus Buffaloes in Southern Nepal

Abstract

Abstract. Anestrus is one of the most important reproductive disorders in dairy buffaloes. The clinical features of anestrus in buffaloes, however, have not been well described. The objectives of this study were to describe the causes of anestrus in buffaloes and their reproductive performance after treatment under field conditions in southern Nepal. Of 135 anestrus buffalo cows, 61.4% had true anestrus with ovarian dysfunction and 33.3% had silent ovulation. In 111 buffalo heifers, 76.6% were in true anestrus and 18.9% had silent ovulation. The duration of anestrus after calving was longer than 6 months in 83% of buffalo cows and 61.5% of the buffalo cows had durations longer than 10 months. The interval between the last breeding and diagnosis of anestrus was more than 5 months in 67.4% of cows and heifers. Treatment of anestrus with prostaglandin F2α in cows and heifers with a corpus luteum resulted in higher pregnancy rates within one (P<0.01) and two months (P<0.05) after treatment as compared with treatment with a vitamin/mineral mixture. Buffalo cows and heifers with inactive ovaries bearing a dominant follicle were also successfully treated with gonadotropin releasing hormone, resulting in higher pregnancy rate within one month after treatment (P<0.05). In conclusion, the predominant cause of anestrus in dairy buffaloes in this region was true anestrus with inactive ovaries, and the duration of anestrus after calving as well as breeding was extremely long. Routine reproductive examination and adequate hormone treatment may improve the reproductive performance of these buffaloes. . There are 4.269 million buffaloes (2.7%) distributed in all the ecological regions (4% in the high hills, 54% in the mid hills and 42% in the Terai region) of Nepal [3]. Buffaloes play a prominent role in overall social development by maintaining a sustainable food producing system and power for agricultural operations in developing countries whose agricultural populations comprise 60-80% of their total populations [4][5][6]. About a million buffaloes in lactation contribute 70% of the total milk production and 65% of the meat production in Nepal [7]. In spite of the expansion of buffalo farming with remarkable potentialities, productivity remains poor [8], largely due to insufficient improvement in management techniques and inadequate genetic selection for productivity [9].Reproductive efficiency is the primary factor affecting productivity. The average herd size of buffalo farmers in Chitwan in the southern region of Nepal is approximately 7.5, with a range of between three and 12 including buffalo cows, heifers and calves. Buffaloes are mated naturally. When cows are in estrus, the animals are brought to a male buffalo for mating. Although information on reproductive performance in buffaloes in Nepal or this region is not available, it is generally believed that buffaloes have severe reproductive problems. Among the various causes of infertility, anestrus and repeat breeding are the two major reproductive disorders [10,11]. H...

Anestrus in Cattle and Buffalo: Indian Perspective

“…It can be achieved by providing adequate ration during pre-and postpartum period. The supplementation of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in feed appeared to be promising in restoration of cyclicity (Baldi et al, 2000;Anita et al, 2003;Koley and Biswas, 2004;Selvaraju 2009;Sah and Nakao, 2010;Kumar, 2012).…”

Effects of Treatment for Anestrus in Water Buffaloes with PGF_2α and GnRH in Comparison with Vitamin-Mineral Supplement, and Some Factors Influencing Treatment Effects

“…Anestrus is the most important cause of poor reproductive performance in buffaloes [6, 10, 13, 24]. It is also a big reproductive problem in modern dairy cow production worldwide [18, 21].…”

“…For many marginal buffalo farms, infertility camps which are organized once a year or at a longer interval mainly by district livestock offices, veterinary schools, dairy cooperatives and some other organizations are the occasions to have their buffaloes examined and treated by veterinarians. Anestrus buffaloes are conventionally treated with vitamin-mineral mixture (Vit-M) supplements with the variable effects [24]. Several methods of estrus and ovulation induction using hormones have been recently developed in buffaloes for treating anestrus and improving reproductive efficiency [2, 7, 20, 27].…”

“…A number of studies have reported that buffaloes with a CL respond well to PGF 2α treatment [5, 9, 11, 22, 24]. It has also been reported that a mid-cycle CL in cyclic buffaloes is sensitive to PGF 2α [12], and efficacy of PGF 2α in buffalo cow is dependent upon CL size before treatment [3].…”

“…On the other hand, there have been a few, if any, reports on the comparison in effect of treatment for anestrus with CL between PGF 2α -treated and Vit-M-treated buffaloes. One report from Nepal [24] showed that treatment of anestrus buffaloes with a CL using PGF 2α resulted in higher pregnancy rates within one month after treatment than treatment with a Vit-M supplement. Since the benefit of treatment with PGF 2α is apparent, a long-standing practice using Vit-M supplement should be replaced by an injection of PGF 2α after examining the ovaries for the CL.…”