There was little study on basal metabolism of
swamp buffalo. However, Khan et al.10 reported that the
fasting heat production of Murrah buffalo was 286 kJ/
BWkg0.75, which was lower than that of crossbred cattle (341 kJ/BWkg0.75). The value of Murrah buffalo was
quite similar to the fasting heat production of swamp buffalo in the present study. Khan et al.10 concluded that the
ME requirement for maintenance of buffaloes was 451
kJ/BWkg0.75, which was lower than that recommended by
Ranjhan18 and Kearl9 as 510 and 523 kJ/BWkg0.75, respectively. The ratio of heat production during fasting to that
during feeding was 0.95 and 0.83, in Brahman cattle and
swamp buffalo, respectively, in the present study. As the
energy retentions during feeding were 45.1 and 63.1 kJ/
BWkg0.75 in cattle and buffalo, respectively, the energy
intake by both animals was slightly more than the maintenance. Thus, the ratio should be slightly lower than the
efficiency of utilization of ME for maintenance (Km).
According to the Agricultural Research Council3, Km was
expressed as 0.35q + 0.503, where q is metabolizability
of GE at maintenance. Therefore, the value, especially in
cattle, was considerably high. During the fasting period,
erection of hair and shivering was sometimes observed in
Brahman cattle, even at ambient temperature of about
30ºC. Fasting might have induced metabolic disorder in
Brahman cattle. The fasting HP may not be simply
applied for the basal metabolism in Brahman cattle.
Extrapolation of various data on energy retention against
ME intake would be a better procedure to obtain the basal
metabolism in Brahman cattle.