EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT COOLING TECHNIQUES ON DRAUGHT CAPACITY OF BUFFALO

Four male swamp buffaloes weighing $460.5{\pm}44.6kg$ were used to study the effects of different cooling techniques on draught capacity. Each animal carted an 882 kg load on the same asphalt road for one hour during four different time periods: 9:00-10:00 A.M., 10:30-11:30 A.M., 2:00-3:00 P.M. and 3:30-4:30 P.M. Simultaneously, all animals were subjected to five different treatments on five days of similar environmental conditions. In Treatment 1, animals were put stationary in a field and did no work; in Treatment 2, animals were worked without any cooling method; in Treatment 3, fifteen-minute wallow was allowed to animals prior to working; in Treatment 4, animals were covered with wetted jute bags while working, and in Treatment 5, two buckets of water were poured over the buffaloes' trunks just prior to working. The experiment was conducted from April to July 1989, when the weather was very hot. It was found that cooling methods and working times did not affect the draught efficiency of buffaloes during the one hour, but did affect physiological traits. The work load had a larger partial effect on physiological responses of buffalo other than respiration rate than did climatic variables except on the respiration rate of the buffaloes. One cooling technique that seemed to slow the increase of body temperature while working was covering the buffalo's back with wetted jute bags. Animals working at different times had significant differences in the increase of physiological traits except pulse rate.