A Study on Relationship between Body Condition Score (BCS) and Milk Yield, Fat and Solids-Not-Fat Percent in Murrah Graded Buffaloes under Field Conditions

Abstract

The present experiment was a study on the relationship of Body Condition Score with milk yield, fat and solids-not-fat percent in murrah graded buffaloes under field conditions. In this murrah graded buffaloes from different commercial farms of Guntur and Krishna districts were selected. Total of 150 murrah graded buffaloes of different parities (1st to 6th parities) were selected. Various parameters like BCS, related to average milk yield, fat per cent, SNF per cent was taken into consideration for the present study and a correlated study of BCS and the milk yield was studied. The selected animals were divided into four groups based on BCS as 2.5-2.99, 3.0-3.49, 3.5-3.99, 4.0-4.49. The mean BCS values of 2.5-2.99, 3.0-3.49, 3.5-3.99, 4.0-4.49 were 2.62, 3.25, 3.56 and 4.25 respectively. Highest milk yield was recorded in second month of lactation and lowest in first month of lactation with 9.445±0.15 and 6.18±0.08 kg per day, respectively. The buffaloes with BCS 4.0-4.49 yielded higher milk yield when compared to other groups. Highest fat and SNF percent was observed in the animals with BCS 4.0-4.49 when compared with others. The BCS had showed high positive correlation with SNF (0.44) and milk yield (0.41).