EFFECT OF VITAMIN E AND MINERAL SUPPLEMENTATION DURING PERI-PARTUM PERIOD ON BCS, BODY WEIGHT AND CALF PERFORMANCE IN MURRAH BUFFALOES

The present study was conducted on twenty Murrah buffaloes 60 days prepartum and randomly assigned to two experimental groups with 10 animals in each group; Control group was provided 20% higher nutrients than Kearl's Feeding Standard and group 2 was provided 20% higher nutrients than Kearl's Feeding Standard along with vitamin E {(2000IU from 60 days prepartum to 30 days postpartum and 1500IU from 30 to 60 days postpartum) vitamin E 50% powder, Vet Chem} supplementation and 50 gm of commercial mineral mixture (Agrimin, Agrivet Farm Care Division) to meet the expected requirements of the minerals. Body condition score (BCS) increased upto parturition and thereafter decreased in both the groups. The prepartum and postpartum changes in body weights (BW) were not apparently marked to be reflected in BCS changes which were almost similar (0.12 vs 0.16 prepartum and 0.39 vs 0.35 postpartum). Calves born to mineral and vitamin E supplemented buffaloes performed well in terms of their birth weight, body weight gain upto 90 days and calf weight to dam weight ratio. However, the differences between the two groups were statistically not significant. It can be concluded that vitamin E and mineral supplementation during peripartum period improves the performance of Murrah buffalo and their calves.