Raising Water Buffalo  For Beginners
                     Raising Water Buffalo
Water Buffalo Feeding Guide
Buffaloes are, like cattle, ruminants. This means that they utilize micro-organisms in the rumen to 
digest the feed. The feed eaten by ruminants are mainly of vegetable origin. The ruminant is an 
expert in converting cellulose and other fibrous materials into high quality milk and meat. Their 
digestive capacity is greater than the non-ruminant. Ruminants” chew the cud" e.g. regurgitate the 
food to the mouth and chew it several times, thus helping the breakdown.
The feed will enter the rumen compartment when swallowed by the animal. The rumen is an 
anaerobe environment, e.g. no oxygen is present. The feed is exposed to microbes such as bacteria, 
protozoa and fungi. These microbes attack the feed particles and by enzymatic action the 
components are broken down and used for their own metabolism, growth and propagation. 
The feed is masticated, regurgitated and exposed to microbes in the rumen. Large particles will 
become smaller and eventually be transported to the reticulum and further on. How long time a 
specific feed particle will stay in the rumen depends on size, palatability and fiber content of the 
feed. The buffalo has slower rumen movement than cattle, which leads to a slower rate of ingest 
outflow. The pH of the rumen content is similar to that of cattle, and it is affected in the same 
manner. Normal pH is between 6 and 7 depending on feed and time of feeding.
The components of the feed can be divided into protein, energy (carbohydrates), fat, minerals and 
water. The breakdown and utilization of the different feed components are reviewed below.The 
waste end products of the microbial attack are methane and carbon dioxide which are eructated. 
Volatile fatty acids (VFA) of which acetic, prop ionic and butyric acids are the predominant ones, 
are together with ammonia absorbed by the animal through the rumen wall, and transported via the 
blood to, e.g. the liver and udder where they serve as building material for chemical compounds 
such as glucose, protein and fat (see Figure 10). 
Ammonia can be utilized directly by the rumen microbes to synthesize proteins. To be correct, one 
is actually not feeding the buffalo, but its’ microbes. Ruminants are entirely dependent on the 
function of the rumen microbes. Therefore, it is important to keep the rumen environment healthy. 
The easiest and best way is to feed a high amount of good quality roughage and a smaller amount of 
good quality concentrate.
Protein
Almost all protein is attacked by the microbes and utilized in their metabolism and incorporated in 
the microbial mass. Microbial protein is of high quality and is absorbed as amino acids after being 
digested by gastric enzymes in the abomasums.
Ammonia which is absorbed by the rumen wall and transported by the blood to the liver, is 
converted to urea. In case of protein deficiency, urea can be utilized by the rumen microbes as a 
non-protein nitrogen source to build protein. In this way nitrogen is circulated and efficiently used 
by the animal.
Protein can be protected to withstand microbial attack. It is then called”by-pass protein”. By-pass 
protein is only degraded in the abomasums and small intestine where it undergoes enzymatic attack 
similar to that of mono-gastric animals. By-pass-protein is commercially available in some ready 
made concentrates and is usually given to high producers.
Carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are the predominant sources of energy for ruminants. Carbohydrates, or sugars, are 
the components of starch and fibers. Fiber is a common name for cell-wall components such as 
cellulose, hemi-cellulose and lignin. Starch can be degraded by animal gastric enzymes, whereas 
fibers cannot. Ruminants can utilize fibers to a larger extent than mono-gastric animals because of 
the ruminal microbes. However, lignin (wood-fiber) is not utilized. It is generally believed that 
buffaloes utilize fiber more efficiently than cattle do. The coefficient of digestion is 5-8% higher in 
buffaloes than in cattle.
Fat
Fat is not as such required in other than very small amounts for the ruminant. However, what ever 
fat is present in the feed undergoes microbial attack and degradation. Unsaturated fatty acids are 
hydrolyzed and thus saturated. This is one of the reasons for the milk and body fat of the ruminant 
to be of equal composition, largely independent of the type of feed given. If the fat can in some 
form be protected from ruminal degradation, and instead be utilized in the lower intestinal tract, it 
may be used as an additional energy source. However, it may then alter the milk fat composition 
unfavorably. Too much unprotected fat in the diet depresses the ability of the microbes to ferment 
fibers, thus influencing the energy utilization negatively.
Water Buffalo Management
Irrespective of breed, season or time of day, body temperature, respiration rate and pulse rate of 
buffalo in the shade is lower than that of cattle. These physiological differences often lead to buffalo 
being incorrectly considered to have a better heat regulatory mechanism.
Management methods to ameliorate adverse effects of physical environment.
Housing
Housing needs to be very simple, because the winter is mild and the rain fall medium, with severe 
heat in the summer. Such a climate calls for open structures allowing plenty of air movement to 
keep heat stress to a minimum. A system of loose housing is best for these conditions and also saves 
on labour. A system for a herd of 20 cows was devised at the National Dairy Research Institute 
Karnal. This consists of a roofed shed 40'x15' (about 12.5 m x 4.5 m), along the 40' length on one 
side is a 2.5' (0.75 m) wide manger, with a water trough at one end. The remaining 12' (3.75 m) of 
the 15 ft (4.5 m) covered space is concreted and slopes away from the manger. There is an open 
paved area behind measuring 40'x35' (12.5 m x 10.75m) surrounded by a 5' (1.5m) wall with a gate 
(Sundaresan 1973).
Wallowing and bathing
Water buffaloes like to wallow in fresh water in herds. In hot weather, perhaps due to their thick 
subcutaneous fat layer and less developed sweat glands, buffalo are more comfortable while 
wallowing. Even sprinkling of water or showering and splashing makes buffalo comfortable. 
Wallowing buffalo seek out rivers, ponds and other waters in groups of five to ten animals clustered 
together. When sufficient water is not available particularly in the summer months, they lie in the 
mud to keep their body cool.
Wallowing tanks should be provided on large farms and animals in small numbers should be 
washed or showered once or twice a day. Various thermal ameliorative measures that have been 
tried include wallowing, mud plastering, sprinkling, splashing, body wetting with small quantities 
of water and providing cool drinking water (Pandey and Raizada 1979). Simple body wetting two to 
three times during the hottest part of the day was found to keep buffalo in a reasonably comfortable 
condition as judged by their physiological reactions (Sastry and Tripathi 1988).
Summer sub-fertility
Despite the evidence of some intrinsic hormonal constraints in the buffalo (Madan 1987), the 
problem of long intercalving periods seems to be due to environmental factors, and can be 
controlled by the farmer (Sastry and Tripathi 1988). Bhat et al (1983) observed that buffalo cows 
continue to come in heat regularly in all months, the highest incidence being after a period of wet 
season feeding. 
However, conception rates at this time are lower due to poor semen quality of buffalo bulls. Buffalo 
protected from high ambient temperature and direct solar radiation, and with adequate nutrition, 
show higher reproductive performance (Acharya and Bhat 1989). Management practices involving 
provision of shade and application of water to the skin surface reducing the adverse effects of a hot 
environment and improving estral expressivity and thus reducing seasonality of breeding, should be 
adopted. In addition, low levels of nutrition appeared to increase the length of the oestrus cycle.
For More Information:
Visit Our Website: How To Raise Water Buffalo
Like Us On Facebook: How To Raise Water Buffalo
Follow Us On Twitter: How To Raise Water Buffalo
Subscribe On Youtube: How To Raise Water Buffalo
Join Us On Linkedin: How To Raise Water Buffalo