Vol. 7, Issue 4 (2018)

Author(s):
V Santhosh Kumar, R Prasanna Kumar, CH Harikrishna and M Sahithya Rani

Abstract:
Heat stress is a major problem causing economic losses to the dairy farmers. It causes hyperthermia and at its most severe form can lead to death. More commonly, heat stress reduces feed intake, milk yield, milk constituents, growth rate and reproductive function in livestock.It has a direct effect on breeding efficiency of female buffalo and reduces the intensity and duration of oestrus. Buffaloes fails to exhibit oestrus as a result of ovarian inactivity during summer. High environmental temperature causes hyper prolactinaemia, suppressing the secretion of gonadotrophins, which leads to an alteration in ovarian steroidogenesis. Heat stress also affects folliculogenesis, oocyte quality, Lactation length, calving interval, milk constituents and milk yield. Advances in management (i.e.,Cooling systems) have alleviated some of the negative impact of heat stress on buffaloes. In this review an attempt has been made to know the effect of heat stress and to discuss their impact on buffaloes.