AIM To investigate the effect of pre-partum prilled fat feeding on dry matter intake (DMI), energy balance and milk production in Murrah buffaloes. MATERIALS AND METHODS Advance pregnant Murrah buffaloes were either received a dietary supplement of prilled fat at 100 g/day for 35 days pre-partum and at 150 g/day for 95 days post-partum (supplemented group [SG]) or did not receive fat suppleme...

This study compared the effects of two levels of crude protein (CP) fed during late gestation on the performance, blood metabolites, and ovarian activity of Holstein cows. One-hundred and six cows (42 primigravid and 64 multiparous) 32 d before calving were divided into two groups and fed diets containing moderate (12.7% CP, 36% rumen undegradable protein, (RUP) or high (14.7% CP, 40% RUP) prot...

The objective of this study was to estimate genetic effects for the muscle hypertrophy mutation (mh) of the myostatin gene for conventional milk production traits and for milk fatty acid composition in dual-purpose Belgian Blue dairy cows. For the present study, only cows from a single herd, in which genotype frequencies were as balanced as possible (0.266 for +/+, 0.523 for mh/+, and 0.211 for...

STATs are a group of transcription factors that mediate actions of a variety of peptide hormones and cytokines within target cells (for example, prolactin and growth hormone). Therefore, STAT5A gene is a candidate marker for quantitative traits in farm animals with respect to milk production traits. In this study the STAT5A/AvaI polymorphism was investigated with PCR-RFLP in a sample of 233 Ita...

In New Zealand (NZ) herd testing is done for milk, fat, protein and somatic cell count (SCC). Currently, routine genetic evaluation is done for milk, fat and protein yields but not for SCC. A new system has been developed to calculate SCC breeding values (BVs) for the dairy industry. The current evaluation of milk, fat and protein involves combining herd test results to predict a 270-day yield ...

The livestock sector in Pakistan occupies a unique position in the national agenda of economic development. The current study was conducted to evaluate a heat stress mitigation strategy through different feeding times on the performance i.e. milk yield, milk composition and physiochemical properties of milk in dairy cattle during the summer season. Twenty Holstein Friesian cows (HF) were random...

Some production parameters of seropositive cows (age, first calving age, 305 day mature equivalent last milk yield production, lifetime mature equivalent milk yield production, lifetime total milk production, lifetime total milking period, lifetime monthly milk production, lifetime daily milk production, lifetime total days of milking, number of inseminations per pregnancy (for last pregnancy),...

An experiment was carried out on 10 advance pregnant Murrah buffaloes to determine the role of hormones in milk secretion around parturition. Experimental animals were administered with a single injection of bromocryptine, @ 100 μg/kg BW, for 5 days before expected calving, whereas control group buffaloes were injected with placebo injections. Blood samples collected before parturition (-5,-4,-...