EFFECT OF MICROCLIMATE ALTERATION DEVICES AND FEED ADDITIVE ON ADAPTABILITY INDICES IN MURRAH BUFFALOES

The present study was carried out on twenty four lactating Murrah buffaloes housed in four different groups (six in each group) viz. foggers (T1), fans (T2), fans and feed additive (T3) and control group (C). The adaptability indices studied were Temperature Humidity Index (THI), Iberia Heat Tolerance Coefficient (IHTC), Benezara Coefficient of Adaptability (BCA) and Dairy Search Index (DSI). THI was significantly (P<0.01) higher in C group of buffaloes followed by T2, T3 which were same and least in T1 group. IHTC was significantly (P<0.01) higher in T1 group of buffaloes followed by T3 and T2 which did not differ much and least in C group. BCA was significantly (P<0.01) higher in C group followed by T3, T2 and T1 group of buffaloes but BCA did not differ between T2, T3 and C group. DSI was significantly (P<0.01) higher in C group of buffaloes followed by T2, T3 and least in T1 group but T2 did not differ with T3 and C. IHTC was negatively (P<0.01) correlated with THI, BCA, DSI, RT, RR and PR, while THI, BCA and DSI were positively (P<0.01) correlated with each other and also with RT, RR and PR.