Studies on seasonal effect of calving on reproduction and production traits of Murrah buffaloes

Effect of four seasons of calving i.e.,- Winter, Summer, Rainy and Autumn on service period ,dry period, lactation period and lactation milk yield of Murrah buffaloes was studied. Overall mean service period was recorded to be 110.68 3.27 (days). Longest service period was recorded in winter calvers i.e. 165.59 9.67 (days) and shortest service period 98.43 4.62 (days) in rainy season calvers. The effect of season of calving on service period was found to be highly significant. The overall mean dry period was 136.16 3.29 (days). The longest and shortest dry periods were recorded to be 156.86 9.59 (days) and 131.07 4.70 (days) in winter and rainy season calvers, respectively. The effect of season of calving on dry period was found to be non significant. Overall lactation period was 296.58 4.15 (days). Longest lactation period were recorded to be 323.63 13.47 (days) in summer and shortest lactation period recorded 2835.99 (days) rainy calvers. The effect of season of calving on lactation period was found to be significant. Overall lactation milk yield was 1582.62 32.47 (litres). Maximum and minimum lactation milk yield were 1735.04 105.47 (litres) and 1514.26 91.96 (litres) in summer and winter calvers, respectively. The effect of season of calving on lactation milk yield was found to be non significant in Murrah buffaloes.