Effect on feeding behaviour under different housing and feeding systems in Murrah heifers.

The objective of this study was to analyze the differences in behavior between groups of buffalo heifers reared in loose vrs. barn housing systems and fed on green and hay fodder during the autumn and hot season, to supplement the information for guidance of farmers on how to better manage their animals, increase thermal comfort and improve the feed conversion efficiency with efficient feed utilization. Twenty female buffalo heifers of about 12- 15monthsage were selected from the buffalo herd under Buffalo Research Centre, Department of Livestock Production and Management, College of Animal Sciences, CCS Haryana Agricultural University (LUVAS), Hisar. The animals were divided into four groups of 5 each based upon their average body weight and age. The experiment was installed for a period of 120 days (February 1 to May 31)to compare the effect of two housing and two feeding systems which were comprised of 4 treatment groups viz.: T1:Conventional barn + Hay and Concentrate mixture, T2: Conventional barn + Seasonal green fodder and Concentrate mixture,T :Loose housing + Seasonal 3 green fodder & Concentrate mixture, T : Loose housing + Hay and Concentrate mixture. Ingestion, rumination and 4 resting time in day and total time was significantly (P<0.05)effected between the housing systems. Total ingestion and total resting time was significantly (P<0.05) different between the feeding systems, whereas the Night resting time varied significantly (P<0.05) between both the housing and feeding systems. It concludes that when buffalo heifers have access to Loose housing on HAYfeeding in a Semi-intensive system under the climatic conditions of Hisar as they eat and ruminate more intensely than animals reared in Closed barn system fed with Green fodder. Thus, heifers prefer loose houseswhich is recommended for the animals to shelter them from direct solar radiation to ensure animal comfort, improved feed utilization and better feed conversion efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]