Vol. 8, Issue 1 (2019)

Author(s):
S Kothandaraman, R John Christy, A Varadarajan and R Gnanasekar

Abstract:
The field trial was aimed to evaluate the efficacy of probiotic and immunomodulator in alleviating the heat stress in buffaloes during summer season and to subsequently augment milk production. Sixty multifarious buffaloes were divided into three uniform groups (T1, T2 and T3) of 20 each. Group T1 served as control, group T2 was supplemented with probiotic (10 gm/day/buffalo) and group T3 were fed with probiotic (10 gm/day/buffalo) along with herbal immunomodulator (50ml/day/buffalo) for a period of five months, March to July where the ambient temperature is relatively high. With increase in temperature, T1 group of buffaloes manifested a reduction in milk yield. In group T2, supplementation of probiotics alone resulted in maintenance of milk yield with a slight increase pattern. In group T3, supplementation of both probiotics and immunomodulators proved to be effective in increasing the milk production of the lactating buffaloes. The average milk production in group T3 was significantly higher than T2 and T1. The results showed a significant effect of heat stress on daily milk yield. This field study clearly indicated that the supplementation of both probiotic and immunomodulator during summer season was effective in alleviation of heat stress and enhancement of milk yield in lactating buffaloes.