Galloso-Hernández Maykel A, Rodríguez-Estévez Vicente, Alvarez-Díaz Carlos A, Soca-Pérez Mildrey, Dublin Devon, Iglesias-Gómez Jesús, Simon Guelmes Leonel
Department of Animal Production, Universidad de Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain.
Department of Basic Sciences, UACA Universidad Técnica de Machala, El Oro, Ecuador.
Front Vet Sci. 2020 Jul 17;7:393. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2020.00393. eCollection 2020.
Buffaloes use wallowing behavior to release excess heat in tropical conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of silvopastoral systems in the feeding and thermoregulatory behavior of water buffaloes under moderate and intense heat stress. The behavior of water buffaloes was evaluated in two different production systems. The conventional system with Guinea grass () only, and the silvopastoral system with Guinea grass and trees. The relation between the frequency of animal activities and the length of time the animals engaged in each activity was measured during the day time (6:00-18:00 h) by visual observations at 10-min intervals. The results obtained suggest that buffaloes use tree shade to partially supplement wallowing. Feeding behavior increased under intense heat stress in the silvopastoral system indicating that it can be a promising alternative to improve the buffaloes rearing conditions in the tropics.
水牛利用打滚行为在热带环境中释放多余热量。本研究的目的是评估林牧系统对中度和重度热应激下水牛采食和体温调节行为的影响。在两种不同的生产系统中评估了水牛的行为。一种是仅种植几内亚草（）的传统系统，另一种是种植几内亚草和树木的林牧系统。通过在白天（6:00 - 18:00时）每隔10分钟进行一次目视观察，测量动物活动频率与动物进行每项活动的时长之间的关系。所得结果表明，水牛利用树荫来部分补充打滚行为。在林牧系统中，重度热应激下的采食行为增加，这表明它可能是改善热带地区水牛饲养条件的一种有前景的替代方式。
