Effects of challenge feedinhg on the milk yield and its composition in high yielding buffaloes Bhat A.S.1,2, Parmar O.S.1, Gill R.S.1 1Department of Animal Sciences, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, (Punjab) 2Division of Livestock Production & Management, Cattle Research Station, S.K. University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Shuhama, Srinagar, (J&K) Abstract An experiment was conducted on 18 healthy pregnant high yielding buffaloes (2000–2500 L potential) maintained at PAU dairy farm, Ludhiana. The animals were randomly divided into 3 groups (6 each) on basis of their body weight, previous lactation yield and parity; and provided normal pregnancy allowances of 2 kg (Tc) and challenge-fed (T1 = 3 kg & T2 = 4 kg), in addition to maintenance ration during 3 weeks pre-partum period. Post-partum feeding levels were kept uniform. The buffaloes were hand-milked scientifically in milking parlor. Milk samples were analyzed for milk fat, solid- not-fat (SNF), lactose and total solids. Buffaloes in T1 & T2 groups produced 3–5% more milk during 150 days lactation than control and showed higher peak yield (13.91 & 14.06 v/s 13.58), persistency (1.42 & 1.49 v/s 1.39) and extra net profit of Rs. 3.20 and 3.79 d−1 buffalo−1, respectively. Similarly, yields of different milk components were non-significant. The challenge-fed buffaloes excelled in nutrients body gains. The feeding schedule of T2 group comparatively faired well amongst the 2 challenge-fed groups and thereby stands recommended. Top Key words Buffaloes, challenge feeding, milk component, pre-partum feeding. Top |