Immune Functions and Metabolic Status of Growing Buffalo Calves

Buffaloes are the backbone of the Indian dairy industry, where they contribute about 54.5% of the total milk production (Economic survey, Govt. of India 2008- 2009). Though anatomically the buffaloes are very similar to cattle, they are physiologically different in many aspects including early embryonic loss and high neonatal mortality (Banerjee, 1998) causing a heavy drain on economics of livestock production. A survey of 28 livestock farms spread in 14 states of the country depicted mortality rate of 27.03% in calves, 7.49% in young stock and 5.13% in adult bull (Rathore, 1998). Acharya (1988) reported 29.1% and 38.85% mortality in cattle and buffalo calves up to 3 months of age respectively. Ramakrishna (2007) reported higher mortality rates (51.8%) in buffalo calves below one month of age in Andhra Pradesh. Thus, higher neonatal morbidity and mortality are the major cause of economic loss in livestock production.