The objective of this study was to evaluate the sugarcane silage in relation to chemical composition, pH, total losses, aerobic stability, in vitro digestibility of dry matter (IVDDM) and effective degradability (ED) of bovine and buffaloes under the following treatments (on a dry matter (DM) basis): sugarcane silage control (control), with addition of 3.3% urea; with addition of Lactobacillus buchneri (inoculate); with inoculate + 3.3% urea; with inoculate + 25.0% soybean hull, and with inoculate + 25.0% cassava byproduct meal. […]

The effects of fat sources on intake, nutrient digestibility and plasma urea nitrogen were evaluated in lactating water buffalo. Twelve females were randomly distributed into four treatments: without additional lipid, soybean grain, soybean oil and cottonseed. The experimental period was 84 days, with four 21-day periods (14 days for diet adaptation and 7 for collection). Diets were offered ad libitum, twice daily, as total mixed ration. At the collecting period, samples of food and surpluses were weighed and collected for […]

This study was aimed at calculating the economic values for milk (MY), fat (FY) and protein (PY) yields for a dairy buffalo production system in São Paulo State. The performance, revenues and costs were estimated based on a bio-economic model developed for a herd of dairy buffaloes raised in a grazing system, with roughage supply during the dry season and concentrate throughout the year. Economic values were calculated from the marginal difference of annual profit resulting from the increase of […]

This study aimed to estimate genetic and phenotypic parameters and trends for adjusted 305 days milk yield of Murrah buffaloes, which were born from 1982 to 2003. Variance components, genetic parameters and breeding values were obtained using the MTDFREML program. Genetic trends were estimated by regression of breeding values on birth year of the animals by two methodologies: 1) linear regression and 2) articulated polynomial regression using a spline smoothing function. Heritability and repeatability estimates were 0.20 and 0.36, respectively. […]

This trial was conducted to study the production and biological efficiency of 48 buffaloes averaging 18 months of age and initial body weight of 330 kg finished in feedlot. Sixteen animals from each of the following breeds were used: Murrah (MUR), Jafarabadi (JAF), and Mediterranean (MED). Within each genetic group, four animals (references) were randomly assigned to initial slaughter in order to determine empty body weight (EBW) and initial carcass. The remaining 12 animals from each genetic group were randomly […]

This work was conducted to study the quantitative carcass traits of 36 buffaloes (12 Murrah – MUR, 12 Jafarabadi – JAF and 12 Mediterranean – MED) averaging 18 months old and initial body weight (BW) of 330 kg finished in feedlot. Twelve animals of each genetic group were randomly assigned to three sub-groups (four animals) and distributed to the following treatments: Maturity 1 – slaughter weight at 400 kg of BW, Maturity 2 – slaughter weight at 450 kg of […]

The objective of this work was to study the effect of recombinant bovine somatotropin (bST) utilization on milk production from Murrah buffaloes. Twenty eight multiparous Murrah buffaloes were used and divided into two homogeneous groups of 14 animals, receiving the following treatments: Group 1 ¾ Control (salt solution) and Group 2 ¾ 500 mg of bST/head every 14 days during 7 months. Buffaloes treated with bST presented increase of 48.52%, 32.80% and 32.80% on total milk yield, adjusted to 4% […]

Fifteen growing buffaloes of the Mediterranean breed were fed in feedlot for aproximately 140 days with the objective to evaluate three different levels of energy ingested on carcass characteristics. The animals were slaughtered when they reached body weight above 450 kg. The average body weight was 465 kg +/- 16.29 kg. The average metabolizable energy intake estimated for the three treatments were: 18.23, 19.54 and 21.74 Mcal/animal/day. There were no significant differences among treatments in the hot and cold dressing […]

The objective of this study was to evaluate milk yield and some physico-chemical characteristics of milk from Mediterranean buffalo cows raised in western São Paulo. A total of 1438 observations was collected from 152 lactations that occurred from 1985 to 1995, at the Experimental Station of Andradina. The data were analyzed by means of the GLM procedure of SAS. The statistical model for milk production had month and lactation as fixed effects. The model for chemical constituents included milk yield […]