THE PHILIPPINE WATER BUFFALO

Twenty-four yearling carabaos with average live weight of
238.38 kg were raised on Themeda grassland at a stocking
rate of 0.33 a.u./ha for the entire year to define the growth
pattern under range conditions. The effect of season on the
nutritional status of the grassland was reflected in the growth
pattern of the grazing animals. During the dry season, the
carabaos lost 6.32 kg/head which were, however,
compensated during the subsequent rainy season. On the
average, a grazing head had an average daily gain of 0.20
kg/head. Changes in live weight highly correlated with
changes in both heart girth (r=0.98) and body weight
(r=0.98). The live weight can be estimated from the heart
girth and the body height values using the equation X=(Y –
47.44)/0.0066 or from the body length values (tail base to
point of shoulder) using the equation X=(Z – 32.17)/0.0367.
Keywords: growth pattern, themeda grassland, yearling
carabaos
*Abstracts of Completed Researches, 1981-1986, (1987).
PCRDC-PCARRD, CLSU, Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. Also in
Abstracts of Water Buffalo Researches in the Philippines 1981-
1995 (1996) PCC-DA. p. 140. Also in Annotated Bibliography
on Philippine Biodiversity: Livestock and Poultry
(Agrobiodiversity) 1949-1997, Carabaos (2002) p. 240
B-34
GROWTH PATTERN OF CARABAO UNDER RANGE
CONDITIONS*
A. R. Santiago, Student, DAS-CA, CLSU
L. C. Cruz, Professor, DAS-CAS, CLSU and Project Leader, PCRDC-
PCARRD, CLSU
S. S. Bumagat, Instructor, DAS-CA, CLSU
Twenty-four (24) yearling carabaos, eighteen (18) females,
six (6) males, were used in this study to determine the
growth pattern of carabaos raised under range condition.
Statistical analysis indicated highly significant relationship
between live weight and heart girth (r=0.98). Significant
relationships were also noted between live weight and
body height (r=0.93); between live weight and body length
from tail base to poll and body length from tail base to
shoulder (r=0.84) growth parameters from the rainy season
although female calves had faster rate of growth that the
male calves. Nutrition of the animals as influenced by the
season significantly affected the growth rate. The rate of
growth was low during the dry season and gradually
increased towards the rainy season. Supplemental feeding
during pasture stress also helped in meeting the
requirements for growth of the animals.
Keywords: growth pattern, yearling carabaos
*Abstracts of Completed Researches 1981-1986, (1987).
60
ABSTRACT OF RESEARCHES ON
THE PHILIPPINE WATER BUFFALO
PCRDC at CLSU, Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. Also in Abstracts
of Water Buffalo Researches in the Philippines 1981-1995.
1996. PCC-DA. p. 141. Also in Annotated Bibliography
on Philippine Biodiversity: Livestock and Poultry
(Agrobiodiversity) 1949-1997, Carabaos (2002) p. 155
B-35
GENETIC EVALUATION OF PHILIPPINE CARABAO
(PC), MURRAH BUFFALO (MB) AND THE PC X
MURRAH AND PC X NILI-RAVI HYBRIDS*
N. P. Shrestha, Ph.D. Student, IAS-CA, UPLB
B. A. Parker, Professor, IAS-CA, UPLB
Evaluation of production performances (growth, reproduction
and milk production) of PCs and their hybrids at different
locations, and estimation of genetic and phenotypic
parameters for carabaos are the major objectives of the
study. A total of 794 animals from the herds of different
PCRDC stations, namely, CSU, CLSU, UPLB, La
Carlota Stock Farm, Ubay Stock Farm and CMU were
used in the study. The data for milk production and
reproduction were taken from UPLB and CLSU while
body weights and measurements were collected from the
different PCRDC centers. The statistical methods
described by Harvey (1960) were used to analyze the
data with
the SAS (1985) GLM procedure. Based on least square
means of body weight, body length and heart girth, carbaos
had significantly lighter body weight, lower body height
and smaller heart girth than the Phil-Murrah, Phil-Ravi and
Murrah. A prediction equation for each genotype was
developed for determining body weight and heart girth from
age. The heritability estimates of body weight from birth to
36 months ranged from 0.31 + 0.3 to 0.69 + 0.38 (36 mo.);
body height ranged from 0.16 + 0.16 (12 mo.) to 0.58 +
0.24 (24 mo.); heart girth followed the pattern of body
weight; and no trend for body length. The repeatability
estimates for lactation yield, lactation length, calving interval
and daily milk yield average were 0.32 + 0.06; 0.18 +
0.06; 0.25 + 0.06; and 0.33 + 0.06, respectively. The
inverse polynomial model is best fit to describe the lactation
curve in all the four genotypes. All estimates of BWs for all
ages for all genotypes were significant. The carabo weighed
significantly lower at all ages from birth to 129 months of
age. There were no difference between Phil-Ravi and
Phil-Murrah for BW from birth to 115 months of age. The
non-linear models described the growth better than the
earlier linearized non-linear models. The Gompertz equation
model seems to describe the growth better but was not
good for predicting birth weights. The growth curve of the
carabao was at the lower level of growth while that of Phil-