Effects of some managerial factors on postpartum reproduction in buffaloes and goats
Perera, B.M.; Kuruwita, V.Y.; Mohan, V.; Chandratilake, D.; Karunaratne, A.M.
Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica. Supplementum 83: 91-99
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0065-1699 PMID: 3202077 Document Number: 318845
The effects of restricted (twice a day) and unrestricted (ad lib.) suckling on postpartum ovarian activity and conception was studied in indigenous (Lanka) buffaloes at two locations contrasting climatic and nutritional conditions, using rectal palpation, measurement of progesterone in blood, and recording of mating and calvings. Animals managed under less favourable conditions (long periods of drought, native grasses) had extended periods of postpartum acyclicity (> 240 days), with no significant differences between groups subjected to different suckling regimes. In contrast, animals managed under more favorable conditions (shorter drought periods, improved grasses) resumed cyclic activity between 60 to 240 days (mean 135 dyas) after calving. At this location, all animals under restricted suckling had commenced ovarian activity by 90 days, whereas only 20 per cent of the animals under unrestricted suckling had done so by this time. In goats, the effects of weaning the kids at 60, 90 or 120 days, and introduction of stud males at 90 or 120 days after kidding of postpartum ovarian activity and conception were studied by recording breeding data and measuring progesterone in blood. Early weaning had a slight (non significant) effect of shortening the postpartum interval to conception, while early introduction of studs had a significant (P < 0.05) effect. Both species, when kept with intact males, showed a variety of patterns in their postpartum progesterone profile. Some conceived at the first elevation of progesterone, while others had one or more cycles of short or normal duration prior to conception.