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Fortaleza Livestock Farm Technical Management
Roldan1, C; Agudelo, D2
fortalezacpr@gmail.com 1Fortaleza Livestock Farm,
2Lasallista University Corporation, Colombian Buffalo Breeders Association
Key words: quality, milking, nutrition, production
Background:
Buffalo milk production undergoes a series of administrative, economic, and technical factors that should be taken into consideration to procure a continuous improvement of the productive and economic parameters of the herd. Perhaps, factors affecting buffalo milk production the most are associated to the following aspects: genetics, feeding, management, and hygiene conditions of the animals. In this abstract we will briefly describe each one of these aspects in a buffalo herd devoted to milk production that also dedicates part of its efforts to male and female buffalo replacement for the enterprise or to be sold to other breeders.
Approach and Materials
Fortaleza enterprise has been devoted to breeding buffalos since 1999, having Murrah breed as its genetic base. It is based in Córdoba department, 10 kilometers away from the city of Montería. It is located 50 meters above sea level, has a flat topography, an average 38°C year-round temperature, 82% relative humidity, and 1,800 mm annual rainfall. The 250 hectare farm has 50 hectares dedicated to forage production to be supplied through the milking process in the form of resca (Manihot Esculenta yucca, fodder and tuber) or corn and hay bales (Zea Mayz and Dichanthium Aristatum) and the remaining 200 hectares are pasturelands sowed with Dichanthium Aristatum dedicated to cattle grazing following the Voisin method with 1 hectare fields for adult animals and ½ hectare fields for calves.
Buffalos are milked once a day (5:00 – 10:00 a.m.) in a 16-place and an 8-teat-cup milking room supported by the calves. Once the milking process is finished, buffalos and calves are taken to corrals (during drought periods) where fresh fodder, hay, and/or hay bales are provided until 4:00 p.m., when buffalos and calves are separated. Buffalos and calves are taken to different fields.
Due to space availability, in the farm there are just buffalos with over 270 days of gestation, lactating buffalos with their calves, and buffalo bulls. Buffalos without calves, fattening buffalos, and replacement buffalos graze in another farm located at Ciénaga de Oro (Córdoba). In both farms cattle are supplemented with 6% mineralized salt and water at will. Calves are supplemented with protein-enriched salt.
The sanitary plan and management care animals have is as follows: at birth, navel dipping, supply of colostrums and vermifuge, identification with a plate and a tattoo; the mother is checked to make sure there is no placental retention and calf acceptation. At birth, 1 cc Doramectine vermifuge is applied to calves, then, Albendazol and Levamisol are alternated every 30 days until calf weaning. Female calves are vaccinated against brucellosis when they are between three and seven months old. The herd is applied a foot-and-mouth-disease – aftosa – vaccine every six months following state regulated cycles. Buffalos that present with symptoms of hemoparasites are treated with Tripamidium and Vivedium in a preventive way.
The herd reproduction is performed by natural mount and some selected female buffalos are artificially inseminated. Female replacements are programmed when they weight over 350 kilograms and 15 days after calving, female buffalos are programmed to be mounted.
Results and Argument
The farm has a load capacity of 1.8 UGG units (1UGG [Great Livestock Unit] = 450 kilograms) represented in 200 calved buffalos, 40 buffalos without calves, 10 bulls, 12 bullocks, and 108 fattening female buffalos. The time when the farm is loaded the most is during the second semester of the year because 60% of calving happens then. This data contrasts with Paiva findings in 20051 of 3.5 UGG/ha with 0,6 calved buffalos /hectare reported by Simon (2008)2. In Colombia, FADEGAN3reports that the country’s load capacity with bovines is about 0.6 UGG, suggesting then, that under a good fodder management system, buffalos can increase herd productive capacity in Colombia.
Average milk production in the farm is about 6 liters per day per buffalo in contrast with official milk production for Córdoba department that is 2.09 liters per day per cow and the national average of 4.5 liters 3.
Buffalos have calved at about 2.5 years of age. Now, after having analyzed reproductive aspects like birth rate percentage, age at first calf and intervals between calving, data is 90%, 30 months, and 400 days, respectively, very superior to 54%, 42 months, and 675 days for the same characteristics had in the country for bovines.
Quality parameters represented in UFC, Colony Formation Units, is 26,000/ml, composition represented by fat, protein, lactose, total solids, and non-fat solids at 7.23%, 4.27%, 5.48%, 17.07%, and 9.85%, respectively. In some periods of the year, protein reaches peaks close to 5%.
For midterm and long-term, Fortaleza Livestock Farm has as an objective to be recognized for the high quality of its animals, for being a breeder of replacement male and female buffalos of high genetic merit, for having implemented hygiene, management, and nutritional strategies that allow having a continuous improvement of the productive and reproductive parameters.
References:
1. Paiva R. 2005. Economic comparison between bovines and buffalos for double purpose systems south of Maracaibo Lake. 9thPasture and Fodder Seminar, 2005.
2. Simón L. Galloso M. 2008. Productive Behavior Assessment of Water Buffalos in tree-planted lands and in gramineous plant monocultures. Pasture and Fodder, Vol 31, Number 2.
3. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Colombian Livestock Farmers’ Federation – FADEGAN, Colombian Agricultural and Livestock Sector Research Corporation – CORPOICA, Colombian National University, 2009. Agenda Prospectiva de Investigación y Desarrollo para la Cadena Cárnica Bovina en Colombia (Research and Development Prospective Agenda for the Bovine Meat Chain in Colombia) . Bogotá,, p. 256.
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