Morphometric and haematological parameters in Italian Mediterranean Buffaloes finished with different diets

Abstract

Twenty four weaned male buffalo calves where randomly divided in two groups: group 1 fed unifeed of corn silage, hay, maize meal and soybean meal until slaughter, and group 2 fed the same diet until they reached 325 kg of body weight, then fed alfalfa hay, maize meal, soybean meal and ruminal buffer. The animals were slaughtered once reached 420 kg of body weight. At the beginning of the trial the groups were homogeneous as for age and body weight as for somatic measures, while all along the study, group 1 proved to have higher body length and width of pelvis. Group 1, moreover, reached the slaughter weight at an earlier time (496 days) than Group 2 (516 days). Regarding the haematological profile, in the second period, group 1 evidenced higher blood cortisol and lower total protein and γ globulins levels.