title: Effect of pre-partum prilled fat supplementation on feed intake, energy balance and milk production in Murrah buffaloes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effect of pre-partum prilled fat feeding on dry matter intake (DMI), energy balance and milk production in Murrah buffaloes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Advance pregnant Murrah buffaloes were either received a dietary supplement of prilled fat at 100 g/day for 35 days pre-partum and at 150 g/day for 95 days post-partum (supplemented group [SG]) or did not receive fat supplement (control group [CG]). DMI and the yields of milk and milk component were measured. A body condition score (BCS) was recorded. Energy balance and gross feed efficiency (GFE) were calculated. DMI and BCS were recorded and milk yield (MY), fat, protein, lactose, solid not fat, energy balance were measured. The fat corrected milk yield was calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The DMI was non-significant between groups and periods of study. BCS of buffaloes improved in the SG than CG (p<0.01). The energy intake in terms of total digestible nutrients (TDN%), TDN intake, digestible energy (DE), metabolizable energy/kg of milk, DE of milk, net energy, and GFE were higher (p<0.01) in SG during post-partum period. Crude protein intake was statistically similar in both the groups. MY was higher (p<0.01) in SG than in CG during 95 days of early lactation. Milk fat, fat corrected MY was higher (p<0.01) in SG however protein, lactose and solid not fat content did not varied between the groups. The feed efficiency of the SG was higher (p<0.01) than the CG during the post-partum period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was inferred that prilled fat supplementation augments energy balance and milk production in transition Murrah buffaloes.
authors.affiliation: Division of Dairy Cattle Physiology, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana, India.
authors.forename: Shikha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Division of Dairy Cattle Physiology, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana, India.
authors.forename: Mahendra
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Division of Dairy Cattle Physiology, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana, India.
authors.forename: Ashwani Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.affiliation: Division of Dairy Cattle Physiology, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana, India.
authors.forename: Sunita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thakur
keywords: body condition score; buffaloes; dry matter intake; energy balance; milk yield; prilled fat