Effect of intensive or extensive systems on buffalo heifers performances: blood metabolite values
Blood nutritional indicators were measured on twenty-six prepubertal 8- mo-old buffalo heifers, weighing a mean of 134 kg to determine the effect of different feeding and management systems. Animals were randomly assigned to an intensive feeding (n=13; IF group) or to a pasture system plus hay (n=13...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2010-02-01
|
| Series: | Italian Journal of Animal Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.aspajournal.it/index.php/ijas/article/view/1246 |
| Summary: | Blood nutritional indicators were measured on twenty-six prepubertal 8- mo-old buffalo heifers, weighing a mean of 134 kg to determine the effect of different feeding and management systems. Animals were randomly assigned to an intensive feeding (n=13; IF group) or to a pasture system plus hay (n=13; PS group), according to weight and age. Measurements of live weight and blood collection began on day 0 (=date of onset of trial).The heifers were weighed monthly, up to puberty, to evaluate the growth rate and blood samples were withdrawn every three months to assay the concentrations of blood metabolites. Significantly higher (P<0.001) gains were obtained by IF system (870 g/d) than PS one (620 g/d) but the mean age at puberty was quite the same in both groups (599 d vs 610 d, respectively). Treatments significantly affected, across the whole experimental period, the concentrations of glucose (mean value = 4.02 vs 3.47 mmol/L, respectively in IF vs PS group ), NEFA (0.22 vs 0.30 mmol/L), urea (4.05 vs 10.28 mmol/L), LDH (1294.2 vs 1946.2 U/L), Ast (109.9 vs 146.24 U/L) and Alt (39.9 vs 56.2 U/L). The other metabolites substantially remained unaffected (P>0.05). |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1594-4077 1828-051X |