Studies on seasonal effect of calving on reproduction and production traits of Murrah buffaloes
The effect of various seasons (winter, summer, rainy and autumn) of calving on service period, dry period, lactation period and lactation milk yield of Murrah buffaloes was studied. The study reveals that the overall mean service period was recorded 110.68 ± 3.27 (days). However, the longest service period was recorded in winter calvers 165.59 ± 9.67 (days), whereas shortest service period was 98.43 ± 4.62 (days) in rainy season calvers. The effect of season of calving on service period was to be highly significant. The overall mean dry period was 136.16 ± 3.29 (days). The longest and smallest dry periods were recorded 156.86 ± 9.59 (days) and 131.07 ± 4.70 (days) in winter and rainy season calvers, respectively. The effect of season of calving on dry period was non-significant. The overall lactation period was 296.58 ± 4.15 (days). Further, the study also indicated that longest lactation period were recorded as 323.63 ± 13.47 (days) in summer while shortest lactation period was recorded 283±5.99 (days) rainy calvers. The effect of season of calving on lactation period was significant. The maximum and minimum lactation milk yield were 1735.04 ± 105.47 (litres) and 1514.26 ± 91.96 (litres) in summer and winter calvers, respectively. The effect of season of calving on lactation milk yield was non-significant in Murrah buffaloes.