Characteristics of foodstuffs and diets, and the quanti-qualitative milk parameters of Mediterranean buffaloes bred in Italy using the intensive system: An estimate of the nutritional requirements of buffalo herds lactating or dry

Abstract

The work concerned 20 buffalo farms situated in central Italy; these were divided in three categories: farms with low, intermediate and high milk yield (<8, 8–9, >9 kg/day). Samples of all forages (146) and feeds (134), used by the farms, were taken and analysed; the net energy was calculated and 258 lactating buffaloes were utilised for the experiment (≈20% were primiparae). The milk yield was controlled monthly as also was the number of somatic cells. In 2258 milk samples, protein (N×6.38), fat, pH and coagulation parameters were determined. To estimate the requirements of the lactating herd, regression equations were drawn up between the daily milk yield ( X) and the daily net energy, crude protein, carbohydrates both structural and non-structural ( Y) intake. The diets of the lactating buffaloes were administered ad libitum, a significant difference was evident relative to the energy level (0.82, 0.77, 0.73 Milk FU/kg DM; P<0.05) and protein values (134.78, 113.96, 101.40 g/kg DM; P<0.05) on farms of high, intermediate and low milk yield, respectively. The average daily intake of dry matter was 16.75 kg/head/day and significant differences resulted between farms of high and low milk yield (17.16 vs. 16.36 kg/head/day, P<0.05). Considering the average daily yield, a difference has been observed between categories (10.46, 8.21, 7.27 kg/head/day; P<0.01); the average value of milk protein was of 47.71 g/kg; significant differences emerged between the intermediate–high yield farms compared to those of low milk yield (47.97, 47.66 vs. 47.02 g/kg; P<0.01); the highest fat values were found on the high yield farms, statistically different to those of intermediate yield but not to those of low yield (88.29, 88.26 vs. 84.69 g/kg; P<0.01). The intermediate yield farms showed the highest somatic cell value (266.38 vs. 182.96, 193.22 n×1000/ml; P<0.01). Milk showing the best clotting ability was produced on the high yield farms ( A 30=49.42 mm, r=14.88 min, K 20=3.06 min). The requirements of dry buffalo herds were reported: dry matter intake of 10.61 kg/day, energy concentration of 0.63 Milk FU/kg DM and protein of 78.96 g/kg DM; for a milk yield which oscillates between 7 and 12 kg/day (average yield for the whole lactation period), the energy–protein concentrations vary from 0.74 to 0.89 Milk FU/kg DM and from 101.64 to 150.76 g/kg DM.