Relationship of temperament with oestrous behaviour, resumption of ovarian cyclicity and milk yield in post-partum Murrah buffaloes.

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the relationship of temperament with oestrus, resumption of ovarian cyclicity and milk yield in post-partum buffaloes. For this study, 102 post-partum Murrah buffaloes were observed for temperament in open paddock and during milking. Based on the temperament score (1-5 score), they were classified into docile, slightly restless, restless, aggressive and nervous. Oestrous behaviour was monitored twice daily in all the buffaloes along with milk yield (weekly), body weight (BW) and body condition score (BCS) at day 0, 30, 60 and 90 post-partum. Based on the temperament score, the number of buffaloes classified as docile, slightly restless, restless and aggressive was 37 (36.27%), 28 (27.45%), 30 (29.41%) and 7 (6.86%), respectively, but none under nervous category. Number of buffaloes resuming cyclicity in various temperaments groups were as follows: docile (n=35; 94.59%), slightly restless (n=22; 78.57%), restless (n=20; 66.67%) and aggressive (n=7; 85.71%). Temperament was not correlated (p=.128; r=-.152) with oestrous behaviour. But, temperament was correlated (p<.0001; r=.384) with the resumption of cyclicity as docile and slightly restless buffaloes resumed cyclicity (p<.0016) earlier. Temperament of buffaloes was weakly correlated (p=.0017; r=-.306) with milk production with higher (p<.0358) total milk yield in docile (1022±23.75kg) and slightly restless buffaloes (948±35.86kg) as compared to other temperament groups. In summary, temperament of post-partum buffaloes was related with resumption of ovarian cyclicity and milk yield, but not oestrous behaviour.