Ponderal development from Murrah buffaloes raised on Brachiaria brizantha pasture in Center-West of S?o Paulo State, Brazil

摘要

> size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The weight performance data of Murrah buffaloes from de “Dairy Buffalo Production System” at Sao Paulo State University, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Botucatu-Brazil were analyzed. The weights were corrected at various age-standard and the model included the sex effects (S), month (M) and calf’s year (A) of birth, age of buffalo cow at calving (C) and S x M, S x A, S x C and M x A interactions. The adjusted means and respective estimated standard-errors for the studied characteristics were: born weight (PN): 37.71 ± 8.25kg; weight at 120 days (P120): 102.08 ± 16.27kg; weight at 240 days (P240): 169.84 ± 22.83kg; weight at 365 days (P365): 250.59 ± 25.12kg; weight at 550 days (P550): 326.13 ± 39.27kg and weight at 730 days (P730): 389.80 ± 31.26kg. There was sex effect (S) only for PN and P365, and males tended to be born heavier than females. The calf’s of birth (A) influenced on PN, P120, P240 and P730. Calves from buffalo cow of (C) 1 (3 years old or less) and of the class 6 (10 to 12 years) showed weights lighter and heavier, respectively. The fact that the class of the buffalo cow´s age does not exercise effect on P365, P550 and P730, suggests that, in commercial herds the substitution of non-pregnant buffaloes cow by pregnant heifers can be made, in spite of this practice to reduce the average of age of the breeding herd. Murrah buffaloes from dairy herd can be used for the meat production.