Physiological responses and growth performance of buffalo and Friesian calves under chronic severe heat stress
Abstract: Four Egyptian buffalo calves weighed 165-168 kg (BC) and 4 Friesian calves (FC) weighed 138-150 kg both aged 9 mo. At the start were used to study growth performance, thermo-respiratory responses, hematological and hormonal reactions, water and feed intake under chronic heat stress conditions (HS). Average of studied traits were estimated at 4 different stages of growth period (9, 12, 15 and 18 months of age). Results revealed higher daily weight gain in FC than BC in all stages, elevated trend of respiration rate (RR) for both BC and FC reaching maximum at 15th month of age. Values of RR in FC were significantly (P <0.05) greater than that of BC. No noticeable changes were found in rectal temperature (RT) of both species throughout the growth period. With advancement of calf age, BC exhibited a slight decrease in hematocrit (Ht) values, while FC showed a slight increase in this concept. No change was detected in estimates of heamoglobin (Hb) of BC or red blood cells (RBCs) for both species due to age advancement. Values of RBCs were higher (P <0.05) in BC compared with FC. An opposite trend was observed for white blood cells (WBCs). Increased percent of neutrophils (Ne), neutrophilsllymphocytes (Ne/Ly) and monocytes (Mo) was observed in all stages of growth for FC than BC.
Water intake (WI) increased linearly by FC throughout growth period. Both species maintained their requirement per unit of metabolic body weight (MBW) denoting that WI seems to be related to MBW. Although concentrate intake of FC was relatively higher than that of BC, both species increased their intake along the growth period to keep their requirement almost at stable level per unit of MBW.
Concentrations of triiodothyronine (TJ) in FC were lower than BC in all stages of growth while concentration of thyroxine (T4) was higher in FC than BC. A significant (P<0.01) correlation coefficient was positively observed between T4 and MBW in FC at 1 year of age concomitant with a significant correlation coefficient between T3 and MBW in FC. No clear relation was observed between the thyroid hormones and MBW in BC.
Keywords: Buffalo calves, Friesian, calves, Heat stress, Growth, Hematology, T3, T4, Feed and water intake.
Publication year 2011
Pages 1-13
Availability location معهد بحوث الانتاج الحيوانى-شارع نادى الصيد- الدقى- الجيزة
Availability number
Organization Name
serial title Proc. of the 4tb Animal Wealth Research Conf. in the Middle East & North Africa Foreign Agricultural Relations (FAR), Egypt,
Author(s) from ARC
External authors (outside ARC)
    جمال عاشور جامعة القاهرة
    محمد محمود الشافعى جامعة القاهرة
Agris Categories Animal physiology - Nutrition
AGROVOC
TERMS		 Blood. Calves. Feed intake. Growth. Heat stress.
Proposed Agrovoc water intake;T3;T4;Friesian;Buffalo calves;
Publication Type Conference/Workshop
↑