Murrah Buffalo Dairy Guide:
Introduction of Murrah Buffaloes:- In India, Dairy farming is one of the best and profitable business which provides the rural employment. When it comes to buffalo population, India has 55% of world buffalo population. As population growing day by day, it is essential to bring the best quality put from dairy farming. Usually buffaloes have multiple advantages when compared to cross-bred cows. As milk production is generating huge profits, even educated individuals along with other firms are getting into this business. Murrah buffalo is the most preferred choice of many dairy farmers in Indian dairy farm business. Murrah breed is also known as “Delhi”, “Kundi” and “Kali”. Pure-bred Murrah buffaloes are found in Punjab, Hisar, Rohtak, Gurgaon and Jind district of Haryana and Delhi and Western Uttar Pradesh. The Murrah buffalo is good milk producer. The bulls of Murrah are extensively used to upgrade the non-descript buffalo stock. Murrah buffaloes are originated in India and distributed in Azerbaijan, Brazil, Colombia, China, Ecuador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Venezuela.
Let us talk about the advantages and disadvantages of Murrah Buffaloes along with other information in the following write up. Equipment cost of project, subsidies, bank loans and others can be discussed in next article.
Advantages of Murrah Buffaloes:- The following are the advantages of Murrah Buffaloes.
- Murrah buffaloes can able to adopt any kind of climatic conditions in India. These are grown and reared in most of the states in India.
- Daily milk production is more in Murrah buffaloes. On an average Murrah Buffaloes give about 8-16 liters per day.
- The other big advantages these animals are, they are more disease resistant when compared to cross-bred cows.
- They can thrive on any crop residue in absence of concentrates during drought.
- As Buffalo milk contains more fat, and the milk price is more. This results in good returns.
Disadvantages of Murrah Buffaloes:- The following are disadvantages of Murrah buffaloes.
- Late maturity of heifers 25-32 months.
- Inter-calving period is more (12-16 months).
- Heat detection is little difficult in Murrah buffaloes (silent heat).
- Usually, Pure-bred buffaloes are not easily available as their number is less in the country.
- Murrah Buffaloes are vicious when compared to cross-bred cows.
Physical Character sticks of Murrah Buffaloes:- The following are the physical characteristics of Murrah breed buffaloes.
- Body of Murrah: Sound built, heavy and wedge shaped.
- Head of Murrah: Comparatively small.
- Face of Murrah: Comparatively long.
- Neck of Murrah : Comparatively long.
- Body of colour Murrah : Generally found in jet-black. However, there may be some buffaloes where white markings on face and leg are found but these are not preferred.
- Eyes of Murrah Buffalo: Should not be walled.
- Tail of Murrah Buffalo: Long reaching up to fetlock joint (2, 3, and 6) with black or white switch up to 8.0 inches (max).
- Horns of Murrah: Different from other breeds of buffaloes; short, tight, turning backward and upward and finally spirally curving inward. The horns should be somewhat flattened. As the age increases the horns get loosened slightly but spiral curves increases.
- Limbs of Murrah : Comparatively short.
- Skin of Murrah Buffalo: Soft, smooth with scanty hairs as compared to other buffalo breeds.
- Udder of Murrah Buffalo: Fully developed, drooping.
- Teats of Murrah Buffalo: Equally distributed over the udder but hind teats are longer than fore teats.
- Loin of Murrah Buffalo: Broader and sliding forward.
- Body of weight Murrah : The average body weight of males, 540-550 Kg and the females, 440-450 Kg.
- Height of Murrah : The average height at withers; male: 1.43 meter; female: 1.33 meter.
- Age at fist calving of Murrah Buffalo: 3 years.
- Inter-calving period of Murrah Buffalo: 400-500 days.
- Lactation period of Murrah Buffalo: 290-300 days. (with minimum of ~230 days recorded under top quality Murrah)
- Daily lactation of Murrah in peak period: 14 to 15 liters but up to 31.5 Kg milk production had also been recorded. The elite Murrah buffalo produces above 18-litter milk per day. A peak milk yield of 31.5 kg in a day has been recorded from a champion Murrah buffalo in the All India Milk Yield Competition conducted by the Government of India.
- Dry period of Murrah : About three months. But less than three may be there.
- Gestation period of Murrah Buffalo: 310-315 days (average).
Murrah Buffalo Price:- Price of Murrah buffalo depends on the age and lactation capacity/milking capacity and other factors. On an average, one can get these from Rs. 35,000 (Thirty five thousand to Rs 100,000 (one lakh).
Requirements and Care for Murrah Buffalo Dairy Farming:- Depending on number of buffaloes in dairy farm, one should have enough land for green fodder production to meet the daily feed requirement.
- For example, if you are planning for a dairy farm with 50 buffaloes, you should own at least 10 acres of land for growing green fodder.
- Shed/house should be free from any floods or water logged areas. The flooring of the house should be kept dry and clean.
- Calves should be handles carefully until 4 to 5 months old as the mortality rate is high at this stage.
- Timely vaccinations should be carried out to prevent from any disease outbreak.
- Animals should be washed frequently to keep them clean.
- Any sick buffaloes should be separated from the group.
Murrah Buffalo Feed Schedule Chart:-
Feeding Schedule for Murrah Buffalo breed (Kg):
Type of animal
Feeding during
Green Fodder
Dry Fodder
Concentrate
Murrah (7.5 to 8.5 liter milk per day)
Lactation days
25-30
4-5
3.5-4.0
Dry days
20-25
5-6
05.-1.0
Nutrient requirement of working bullocks:
Murrah Bull Body Weight (Kg)
Digestible Crude Protein (kg)
Total Digestible Nutrients (kg)
Normal work
(4 hours)
Heavy work
(8 hours)
Normal work
(4 hours)
Heavy work
(8 hours
300
0.228
0.242
3.07
3.90
350
0.255
0.278
3.57
4.51
400
0.284
0.288
4.01
5.03
450
0.308
0.336
4.41
5.61
Fodder Production:- Green fodder and Silage can be fed to the animals. In order to reduce the operational cost of dairy farm, grow your own forage and prepare silage from green fodder crops.
How to make Silage from Green Fodders: Read here.
Bottom Line:- Murrah Buffalo dairy farming is an excellent business for milk production. This breed is gaining popularity day by day and even distributed in other countries. Even it requires some capital for setting up this dairy, in long run it pays off and one can start getting huge profits by selling its milk.
For 50 Murrah Buffalo Project Report: Read here.
For Asia Agriculture Guide: Read here.
