Mortality pattern in an organized herd of Surti buffaloes of south Gujarat

Abstract

A retrospective study on mortality pattern in an organized herd of Surti buffaloes maintained at Livestock
Research Station, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat was carried out using information on
strength at risk, mortality in different groups and causes of mortality over a period of ten years (2005-
2014). Data were collected, analyzed and effect of various risk factors’ (year, sex, age and season on
mortality and causes of mortalities) were studied. Overall mortality over the period of ten years was 2.83
percent. The year-wise mortality varied between 0.87 to 4.61 percent. Comparatively higher mortalities
were observed in males (3.48%) than females (2.45%). The highest mortality was observed in the age
group below one month (6.74%) followed by 1-3 months (2.97%), 6-12 months (1.47%) and 3-6 months
(1.31%) age group. The overall mortality in the age group above one year including adults was only 2.32
percent. The mortalities were the highest in monsoon season (4.49%) followed by winter (2.26%) and least
in summer (1.97%) season. The overall effect of year, age group and season on mortality percent were
highly significant whereas, the effect of sex was non-significant. Of 113 deaths, pneumonia (23.89%) was
the prime cause of mortality followed by deaths due to diarrhoea (15.93%), debility (15.93%), septicemia
(15.04%), accidental deaths (9.74%), blood protozoan infections (6.20%), snake bite (5.30%) and others
(7.98%). Infectious causes were the common causes of deaths in calves below one year compared to
animals above one year indicated improvement in management practices for calves below one year of age.
As mortality rates in Surti buffaloes were significantly higher in calves aged below three months during
monsoon season. Therefore, the higher mortality rates in calves aged below three months during monsoon
season observed in the present study indicates that the care and management of younger buffalo calves
need to be intensified during rainy and early winter seasons due to vulnerability to inclement weather and
infectious diseases in their early life.