Transportation, Adaptive and Productive Performance of Transported Buffalo Herd in New Environment

Abstract

The study was carried out in El-Nobarya Station, Beheira Governorate and El-Nataf El-Kadeem Station, Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate. Twenty-two buffalo cows were included in the experiment. Animals were transported\d to El-Nobarya station to establish a buffalo herd in this station.The experiment included two stages, the first stage aimed to study the effect of transportation and the second stage aimed to study the effect of acclimatization in El-Nobarya station. Meteorological data were collected and recorded including air temperature (AT, °C), relative humidity (RH, %) and wind speed (WS, Km/hr.), from which temperature humidity index (THI) was calculated. The following physiological and hematological parameters were recorded: rectal temperature (RT, °C), respiration rate (RR, r/min), hemoglobin (Hb, g/dl), hematocrit value (Ht, %) and differential counts of leukocyte types; Neutrophils (Ne), Lymphocytes (Ly), Eosinophils (Eo), Monocytes (Mo) and Basophils (Ba). Meanwhile productive traits included dam weight at calving (DW, KG), birth weight of calves (BW, Kg), weaning weight of calves (WW, KG), calving interval period (CI, day), lactation period (LP, day), total milk yield (TMY, Kg) and persistency (PE, %).The present work was conducted to compare between physiological and productive performance of buffaloes before and after transportation. The main obtained results are: the decrease in THI and increase in WS were the main meteorological factors affecting physiological performance for animals. The high difference between animal body temperature and house temperature in El-Nobarya had been ameliorated by the effect of low THI and high WS. Transportation influenced significantly physiological (RR and RT) and hematological parameters. It increased significantly RR, RT, Ne and Mo and decreased significantly Ht, Hb, Ly and Eo after sustainability of animals. However, productive traits of the first season after transportation was better than before transportation except TMY due to better managerial and environmental conditions. Buffaloes can acclimatized to transportation stress during the first season as no significant differences were found between physiological and productive traits between the four season after transportation except milk yield and milk curve persistency which require three seasons to come back to pre-transportation levels. It could be concluded that buffaloes under conditions in El-Nobarya were better than those in El-Nataf El-Kadeem due to better environmental conditions (lower THI and higher WS) and management.

Association between Egyptian calves performance and growth hormone and IGF-1 levels under different housing types

“…In contrast, calves belong to WS type with high heat stress recorded the lowest reproductive parameters. These results are in accordance with many previous studies (Mohamed et al, 2017;Ibrahim et al, 2018;Omran and Hamdon, 2018;Omran et al, 2019).…”

“…THI index still the best indicator for stress under natural environmental conditions. Additionally, any improvement in THI would be ideally beneficial as a basis for the continuous development of biological responses and the representation of the consequences of primary factors in energy exchange (Omran and Hamdon, 2018).…”

Buffaloes and climatic change: mitigation and adaptation

“…They also added that, if the skin surface temperature is below 35 °C, the temperature gradient between the core and skin is large enough for the animals to effectively use all routes of heat exchange. This agreement with Omran and Hamdon (2018). Shafie and Omran (2018) reported that buffalo under two different thermal artificial conditions had the total number of hair per cm2 (449.50 and 915.00 in a lab) (A at 40°C) and lab (B at 25°C), respectively.…”

“…The significance of the increase of the respiration rater RRr/min under heat stress is that it enables the animals to dissipate the excess of body heat by vaporizing more moisture in the expired air, which accounts for about 30 % of the total heat dissipation HD°C (Omran et al,2017 and2019c, e). The processes of conduction convection and radiation are all dependent on a thermal gradient, thus as air temperature rises towards body temperature the thermal gradient is reduced and heat dispersion is less effective, in addition, the non-evaporative cooling will shift to evaporative cooling when the ambient temperature is equal or above body temperature as described by Khalifa (2003) & Omran and Hamdon (2018). The shade reduced death losses to 33 % and production losses of surviving cows to 50 % for cows without shadow (Hahn, 1981).…”

Impact of Housing Patterns on Physiological and Production Performance for Egyptian Buffaloes and Cows in Nile Valley

“…Since, the processes of conduction convection and radiation are all dependent on thermal gradient, thus as air temperature rises towards body temperature the thermal gradient is reduced and heat dispersion is less effective, in addition the non-evaporative cooling will shift to evaporative cooling when ambient temperature equal or above body temperature as described by Khalifa (2003) and Omran and Hamdon (2018). The RR a good measures of core temperature and has been used by many investigators to detect the response of animal to the environmental conditions (air temperature & relative humidity).Also the significance of the increase of the respiration rate under heat stress is that it enables the animals to dissipate the excess of body heat by vaporizing more moisture in the expired air, which accounts for about 30 % of the total heat dissipation (Kundu andBhatnagar, 1980 andOmran et.…”