This study was carried out to investigate the fly count during different periods of the day during fly
season and to show the effect of fly annoyance on buffalo behaviour and milk production and to investigate
the efficacy of Butox ®, a commercially available fly repellent in reducing fly numbers. Five Egyptian adult
female buffalo cows,6 years old, were used in the study. Both fly count and fly avoidance behaviors were
recorded for two weeks before application of Butox ® and for the same period after application. Each animal was
observed for 10 min, 3 times a day to estimate the fly count per fore and hind legs and the frequency of
specified responses occurrence to fly annoyance. Milk production per individual buffalo was recorded for
2 weeks before and after the fly repellent application. The obtained results indicated that there was highly
significant differences in the fly count between non treated and treated buffalo cows with Butox ®. The mean
fly count was 13.48 and 3.22 fly/leg/min for the untreated and the treated animal , respectively. The highest fly
count was recorded at 12 at noon period of the day (11.77 fly/leg/ min), while the lowest fly count was recorded
at 8 am period of the day (4.91 fly/leg/min). There was highly significant difference in the fly count per minute
between the fore and hind legs of buffalo as it was 11.33 and 5.37 fly/min for the fore and hind legs,
respectively. There were highly significant differences ( p 0.001) in the performance of fly avoidance behaviour
between treated and non-treated buffaloes with Butox ®. The highest observed fly avoidance behaviour was
the skin twitching (30.44times/min) followed by tail switch (18.75/min) and ear flicking (16.54times/min) for the
non treated buffaloes, while the lowest observed fly avoidance were hind leg stamp (0.55times /min) followed
by head shaking (0.74times/min) and fore leg stamp (0.79/min) for the treated buffaloes. The highest avoidance
behaviour was that which was recorded at 12 at noon period of the day followed by at 4 PM period while the
lowest avoidance behaviour was that recorded at 8 AM period of the day.There was no significant difference
in the daily milk production between treated and non-treated buffaloes with the fly repellent. The daily milk yield
was 4.8 and 4.9 Liter/day for non-treated and treated buffaloes, respectively. It was concluded that
deltametherin application has a significant effect in reducing fly population landing on dairy buffaloes and
treated buffaloes with the fly repellent (deltametherin) displayed significantly fewer avoidance behaviour to fly
attack than non-treated buffaloes. Although, there was no significant effect of fly repellent application on daily
milk production, the reduced fly population on dairy buffaloes and the reduced performance of avoidance
behaviour in treated buffaloes has a good impact on welfare and health condition of dairy buffaloes. |
