author(s)
SK Joshi, TK Mohanty, A Kumaresan and M Bhakat

abstract
The present study was conducted on the Murrah buffaloes maintained at Livestock Research Centre of National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal. The animals were classified into two groups viz. group I and group II basing on the lactation number as there were some morphological changes in the udder and teats of buffaloes with increasing lactations. In group I, animals up to 3^rd lactation were there, whereas the animals from 4^th to 5^th lactation were included in group II. There were 20 buffaloes under group I and 30 buffaloes under group II. It was confirmed that the mean daily feeding time of buffaloes during the reference day in heifer, primipara, pluripara and overall of buffaloes was 191.97±3.43, 262.55±3.61, 212.88±4.11 and 222.47±4.43 min, respectively. The mean night feeding time of buffaloes during the reference day was 64.72±1.85, 100.95±3.29, 77.68±6.18 and 82.64±4.18 min for heifer, primipara, pluripara and overall buffaloes, respectively. The total feeding time (min) in Murrah buffaloes decreased significantly (P<0.05) on the day of estrus (160.66±3.95) compared to that during the reference period (222.47±4.43). The total drinking time was decreased significantly (P<0.05) one day before estrus by 37.86%, 31.32% and 31.70% for primipara, pluripara and overall buffaloes, respectively compared to the day of reference. Further, the feeding time (r=0.252, p=0.779) was found to be positively correlated with estrogen concentration.