Assessment of Ixodid tick infestation with its impact on composition and milk production in livestock of Ballari province, Karnataka
Sneha Suma Hegde*
Department of Studies in Zoology, Vijayanagara Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Ballari-583104 (India) *Corresponding author: Dr. Sneha Suma Hegde, Assistant Professor, Department of Studies in Zoology, Vijayanagara Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Ballari-583104 Karnataka, India, Email: snehasuma@vskub.ac.in
ABSTRACT
A Survey was conducted for a period of 12 months from 2021 – 2022 to identify the major ectoparasitic infestation on cattle and buffaloes and to assess the impact of infestation on the production and composition of milk. Only milking animals were selected for the study. The infestation rate was divided in to three types with n=0-15 low infestation, n=20-45 moderate infestation and n ≥ 50 high infestation. Milk was collected in sterilised bottles from both infected and uninfected animals separately. Parameters such as Total solids, proteins, Fats, Ash, lactose, acidity and pH were analysed through automatic milk analyser kit. Milk yield of healthy cows and buffaloes was approximately 10±0.68 and 7±0.24 and the results of the present study revealed that the cattle breeds Holstein Friesian cross, Jersey cross when infected showed 0.5 litres decrease in milk production when compared to that of the uninfected ones. Whereas Sahiwal species showed a total of 1.0 litres decrease in milk production than that of the uninfected animals. Similarly the buffalo species such as Nagpuri, Murrah and Surti showed a total decrease of 0.5 litres of milk production when compared to the non-infested animals. Total solid concentration in healthy cows was recorded as 17.65% when compared to the infected cows the total solid composition was 23.03%. Similarly in uninfected buffaloes composition of Total solids was 16.08%, where as in infected buffaloes the concentration of Total solids 22.64%. From the above results, it can be concluded that tick infestation is responsible for the decline in milk composition and production in the cattle and buffaloes of Ballari region.