IRANIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED ANIMAL SCIENCE
Year:2012 | Volume:2 | Issue:4|Papers Count:15

The objective of this study was to review the literature on sperm transport in the mare. During this process the sperm cells must reach the oviducts in order to fertilize the oocyte, but before reaching this site it must go through the uterus that is a hostile environment at this moment since there is an inflammatory reaction in this location that aims to eliminate excess spermatozoa and bacterial contaminants. Sperm cells can be observed 30 minutes after artificial insemination and remain in the uterine tubes for at least 24 hours. It was found that the sperm cells can be observed in 62.6% of the mares after insemination when using light microscopy, both in the uterine glands and the epithelium of the uterus. Uterine glands may act as a reservoir for sperm. After artificial insemination the number of mares with spermatozoa in the uterine epithelium, glands and utero-tubal junction decreases over time.

Research results and facts of indigenous sheep production were reviewed with the aim of delivering rele-vant information for the beneficiaries. The common production system used in Ethiopia was the extensive type, which was characterized by small flock sizes and the flock being periodically devastated by diseases. Some indigenous sheep groups of the country were characterized and their names were designated from their commonest niche areas. There are large variations in phenotypic characteristics of indigenous sheep in the country. Social cultures and beliefs of most of the community have been highly attached and attracted by these morphological variations of indigenous sheep in Ethiopia. Consequently, those sheep endowed with attractive coat-colors have always exceeded market values of their counterparts. There is also a genetic variation between and within sheep populations of the country. Moreover, there is also a generation response for selection. Although indigenous sheep producers have many opportunities, they have also many constraints that affect productivity. It can be concluded that breeding and improved production programs for the local sheep should incorporate the production objectives and trait preferences of the society. Presence of diversified phenotypic appearances of local sheep shows the genetic potential for improvement. Hence, this huge gene pool should be used for improvement through good management and traditional se-lection together with genomic technology.

Complex vertebral malformation (CVM) is an autosomal recessive hereditary disorder caused by a point mutation in position 559 in exon 4 of the SLC35A3 gene on chromosome 3 in Holstein dairy cattle. This mutation changes the function of uridine 5-diphosphate-N-acetylglucosamine transporter protein by the substitution of valine for phenylalanine at position 180 of this protein. The disease causes premature birth, aborted fetuses and stillborn calves. Latent recessiveenes in heterozygous individuals can be identified with high accuracy and repeatability using PCR-SSCP technique. In the present study, blood samples from two different cow populations, including 100 Holstein cows and 100 Guilan native cattle were randomly collected. Specific primers were used to amplify the 177-bp fragment of exon 4 of the SLC35A3 gene. No heterozygous genotype was detected in the studied samples. The Lack of carriers could be a consequence of the selection against the defective gene and preventative programs for entering mutant genes into the populations or very low frequency of this gene in these populations. However, there is a risk for increased genetic defects prevalence and it is necessary to develop screening programs to identify the defective gene.

This study investigated the effects of the dietary supplementation of Zizyphus mauritiana leaf meal (ZLM) on the performance of Yankasa lambs. Twenty five lambs aged between 6 and 8 months were randomly divided into five groups of five animals each in a completely randomized design to receive supplementary diets containing 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40% ZLM as replacement for cotton seed cake in concentrate supplement to a maize stover basal diet for a period of 120 days. Inclusion of ZLM in the supplement did not signifi-cantly (P>0.05) affect nutrient intake. There was a significant (P<0.05) depression on dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) digestibility, with 30 and or 40% increases in the level of ZLM inclusion in the supplementary diet. Feeding ZLM containing diets particularly at 30 and 40% levels significantly (P<0.05) influenced nitrogen utilization. Fecal nitrogen excretion significantly (P<0.05) increased with ZLM supplementation. Control (0%) and 10% level of in-clusion had similar and significantly (P<0.05) lower fecal N loss (14.30 and 14.94 g/d), followed by 20% (15.42 g/d), with T4 and T5 having significantly (P<0.05) higher fecal N loss (22.04 and 22.89 g/d). Uri-nary N loss was significantly higher (P<0.05) in lambs offered 0, 10 and 20% ZLM (10.88, 11.98 and 11.02, respectively) diets compared to 30% (10.06) and 40% (9.89) receiving higher levels of ZLM, which were significantly (P<0.05) lower. Nitrogen retention was highest in control (26.19), followed by 10 and 20% ZLM (24.42 and 24.14), which were similar and higher than 30 and 40% supplementations (17.15 and 15.97, respectively). Nitrogen retention as % of intake was highest (50.98%) in animals fed 0% and was least in 40% ZLM supplementation (32.75%). It was concluded that inclusion of ZLM in concentrate diet at 10-20% inclusion levels gave best result in terms of performance than when the leaf meal is included at higher levels to ram lambs.

determine effect of nutritional value of Melon husk (MH) and Palm oil slurry (POS) on quality of chevon obtained from West African Dwarf (WAD) goats fed finishing diets as follows: diet 1 (0% MH, 0% POS); diet 2 (50% MH, 0% POS); diet 3 (0% MH, 50% POS) and diet 4 (50% MH, 50% POS), along with Panicum maximum basal diet for all dietary treatment groups. After 60 days of feed-ing, eight goats (two goats per treatment) were slaughtered and muscles from the forelegs were used to pro-duce chevon sausages, respectively. Proximate composition, sensory evaluation, cooking and refrigerated weight losses of sausages were determined. All data generated were analyzed as a oneway analysis of vari-ance in a completely randomized design using SPSS statistical package. The study showed that values ob-tained for dry matter contents of the diets ranged from 89.53% to 89.81%. Cooking weight loss of the chevon sausages showed no significant (P>0.05) difference but refrigerated weight loss was lowest for sau-sages from goats fed diet 3 at 0.37%, with a high crude fat content of 13.30%. In conclusion, palm oil slurry reduced refrigerated weight loss in chevon sausage while organoleptic properties of chevon sausage, such as flavor, juiciness, saltiness e.t.c. were not influenced by dietary treatments.

A silage inoculant [Biomin® BioStabil Plus, BSP, a blend of Enterococcus faecium (DSM 3530), Lactoba-cillus brevis (DSM 19456) and Lactobacillus plantarum (DSM 19457)], was used on legume-grass silage [32% of dry matter (DM)] vs. an untreated control silage (CT). The material had mean crude protein (CP) and water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) concentrations of 174 and 88 g/kg, respectively. BSP resulted in significantly higher CP (159 vs. 149 g/kg DM; P<0.05) and digestible protein concentrations (117.8 vs. 108.9 g/kg DM; P<0.01). Inoculant increased fermentation rates, resulting in a significant decrease in pH (P<0.05) and a significant increase of total fermentation acids concentration (P<0.05), as well as higher quantity of lactic acid (P<0.01) and higher content of acetic acid compared to CT. Butyric acid and Ammo-nia N concentrations were significantly decreased (P<0.01) through the use of BSP. Dry matter (DM) losses were significantly lower (P<0.01) using BSP treated grass-legume silages. The digestible energy (P<0.01) and net energy lactation (P<0.05) were higher in the inoculated silage compared to the CT (2.1 and 1.25%, respectively). The inoculation of silage with BSP also improved stability. Twenty-four dairy cows were fed with both type of silages and their productivity response was evaluated over a 92-days feeding period. Animals were assigned to two treatments in a randomized-block design experiment. Silage was offered ad libitum to animals in both treatments and cows were supplemented with 4 kg DM of a commercial com-pound feed per day. The silage DM feed intake was higher in BSP (+6.5%), whereas the energy corrected milk (ECM) production for treated silages increased by 1.4 kg per cow per day. The milk fat and protein content were numerically higher in animals under the treatment with BSP and the efficiency of the conversion of feed-NEL into milk was significantly higher (P<0.05) in cows which were fed with the silage treated using BSP.

Seed coat crude extracts of white-coloured ITA-256, white and brown-coloured TVS-716, deep brown-coloured IT-90K and light brown-coloured Ife brown cowpea varieties were analyzed for the presence and amount of total phenol, tannin and flavonoid content. Crude extracts of the cowpea varieties were analyzed for antioxidant activity using the Thiobarbituric Acid (TBA) assay. The seed coat extracts were added separately to 200 g of minced broiler meat sample at the rate of 0.05% of the weight of the meat and their effect compared to that of the synthetic antioxidant, butylated hydroxyl anisole (BHA) added to the meat at the rate of 0.05%. Each sample was divided into 16 parts of 12.5 g each. Eight of these were cooked while the other 8 parts were left raw. Antioxidant effect of the seed coat extracts was determined during refrigerated storage of raw and cooked minced broiler meat. All the cowpea varieties studied except TVS-716 contained phenol, tannin and flavonoids. TVS-716 contained only phenol and tannin. Seed coats extract from Ife brown contained higher levels of total phenol, tannin and flavonoids than the corresponding samples of IT-90K, ITA-256 and TVS-716. IT-90K had higher tannin content than ITA-256 and TVS-716 but its phenol and flavonoids content are not significantly different (P>0.05) from that of ITA-256. TBA assay shows that all the additives and BHA were able to reduce lipid oxidation in broiler meat. This was shown by lower TBARS values in broiler meat samples with added additives compared to the control samples (meat without additives). Seed coat extracts of Ife brown, ITA-256 and IT-90k reduce lipid oxidation more than BHA in raw broiler meat samples but are less potent than BHA in cooked meat samples. Seed coat extracts of Ife brown was more effective than other cowpea varieties in reducing lipid oxidation in both cooked and raw meat samples. The antioxidant potential of IT-90K was not significantly different (P>0.05) from that of ITA-256 while TVS-716 exhibited the least antioxidant potency.

Reproductive performance was evaluated in non-lactating crossbred ewes to which were administered the exogenous GnRH and PMSG. The ewes were randomly allocated in three treatment groups (n=40). After accurate detection of estrus and 2 hours prior to mating, 2.5 mL of distilled water and 2.5 mL of GnRH were injected intramuscular to each ewe of the first (control) and second group, respectively. In the third group, the ewes were pretreated with CIDR for 14 days and received 400 IU PMSG at the time of with-drawal of the CIDR. After injection of PMSG, fixed-time artificial insemination was performed with 0.5 mL of fresh diluted semen. No significant differences were observed in term of the pregnancy, lambing, and fecundity rates between ewes treated with GnRH and control group (87.5, 97.5, and 1.114% vs. 75, 82.5, and 1.1%, respectively). Twining rate was higher in the ewes treated with GnRH than synchrony or control groups (18.18, 4, and 6.5% respectively, P<0.05). In the artificially inseminated group, pregnancy, lambing and fecundity rates were 77.5, 62.5, and 0.81%, respectively. In conclusion, the results showed that treatment of ewes with GnRH at time of estrus and prior to mating, improved the conception and twining birth rates. Also injection of PMSG after CIDR removal caused an increase in efficiency of fertility rate and shorter breeding period.

A polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) test was performed to investigate the allele frequencies of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF1 and IGF2 genes) in 90 broiler chickens. A 793 bp fragment of IGF1 gene and 1146 bp fragment of IGF2 gene were amplified and digested with HinfI and Hsp92II restriction enzymes, respectively. Two types of alleles of A and B and three types of genotypes of AA, AB and BB were observed in both genes. The results indicated predominant B-allele (0.85) was higher for IGF1 but A-allele (0.5611) IGF2in the broiler population.

The effect of genotype and sex of Nigerian indigenous chickens (dwarf, Fulani ecotypes, neck, frizzle and normal feathered) on blood serum electrolytes and biochemical parameters were investigated using 40 chickens. The collected data were subjected to analysis via a 2 way ANOVA. The results revealed serum levels of sodium, potassium, chloride, uric acid, glucose, total protein, creatinin, albumin and globulin were 145.23±27.18 mmoi/L, 8.05±2.39 mmoi/L, 106.33±11.27 mmoi/L, 3.57±1.47 mg/mL, 44.87±17.57 mg/dL, 72.20±8.42 g/L, 74.50±12.98 mmoi/L, 38.30±4.84 g/L and 33.30±5.95 g/L respectively. Creatinin in the female birds was significantly higher than in males (P<0.05). The serum chloride, potassium, globulin, glu-cose and uric acid were also significantly different across the genotype. Serum chloride and glucose were higher in dwarf chickens, whilst potassium was higher in neck chickens and higher globulin levels were observed in frizzle chickens compared to the other four genotypes. The study revealed a significant effect of sex on creatinin and genotype on various physiological characters of Nigerian indigenous chicken.

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of thyroid gland activity modulation (Hyper or hypo-thyroidism) on energy utilization in broiler chickens. Two hundred and forty one-day-old Cobb broiler chicks were distributed into three dietary metabolizable energy (ME) treatment groups (80 chicks each). The control group (E0) was fed basal diet (3150 kcal/kg diet), the second group (E1) was fed low ME diet (3000, kcal/kg diet) with different thyroidal treatments and the third group (E2) was fed very low ME diet (2850 kcal/kg diet) with thyroidal treatments. Thyroidal treatments were applied at the beginning of the 2nd week, where (T0) was a control treatment; two hyperthyroidism groups induced by administration of Eltroxin (T1) or calcium iodide (T2), and hypothyroidism group induced by carbimazole administration (T3). Results showed that plasma thyroidal hormones (T3, T4) concentrations and their ratio T3 / T4 showed considerable changes related to thyroidal treatments. Plasma glucagon (G) level was significantly increased while insulin (I) level and I / G ratio were significantly decreased as affected by lowenergy diets. Carbimazole administration group had the lowest plasma insulin level and I / G ratio compared to other treatments. Moreover, calcium iodide significantly increased adenosine triphosphate (ATP), Total adenylate (TA) and phosphate potential (PP) while carbimazole significantly decreased adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and adenosine monophosphate (AMP). Histological examination of thyroid gland sections reflect the beneficial use of calcium iodide (CaI) as a safe additive without hazards effect on thyroid gland histology. Results suggested that calcium iodide could be used to maximize the utilization of lowenergy diets, via its modulating action of thyroid gland activity.

A total of 280 unsexed broiler chicks, 21 days-old and weighing 580 g on average were randomly distributed into 28 experimental units of 10 birds each. Seven experimental diets containing respectively 0% (T0 control), 20% raw cowpeas (T1), 20% raw cowpeas + 0.2% of Canarium charcoal (T2), 20% raw cowpeas + 0.2% maize cob charcoal (T3), 20% cooked cowpeas (T4), 20% cooked cowpeas + 0.2% Canarium char-coal (T5) and 20% cooked cowpeas + 0.2% maize cob charcoal (T6) were each fed to 4 experimental units in a completely randomised design. The T3 and T6 rations containing respectively raw and cooked cowpeas supplemented with maize cob charcoal were the most consumed (P<0.05). Birds fed T1 with raw cowpea (1287g) and T2 fed with raw cowpea supplemented with Canarium charcoal (1280 g) recorded the lowest weight gain, with the control birds (1536 g) and birds fed T6 containing cooked cowpea supplemented with maize cob charcoal (1490 g) recording the highest body weight gain. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was sig-nificantly poorer (P<0.05) for the birds fed raw cowpea supplemented with Canarium charcoal (3.23), those on the control diet without cowpea recorded the best FCR (2.74). There was no significant difference among treatment groups for carcass yield and the lowest (P<0.05) liver and pancreas relative weight re-corded for the birds on the cooked cowpea supplemented with charcoals diets was not significantly different from that of control birds. The lowest gizzard relative weight was recorded with control birds as compared with all other groups. The intestine density (weight/length) was significantly lower (P<0.05) with raw cow-pea supplemented with Canarium charcoal (0.19 g/cm), and the highest recorded with cooked cowpea (0.27 g/cm) and control diet (0.25 g/cm).

The aim of the present study was to investigate the possibility of improving egg lipids and fatty acids com-position of laying hens through inclusion of olive cake plus barley malt rootlets in the diets. Seventy, 54-week-old, Lohman laying hens were fed for a 12 weeks laying period on 3 iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous diets contained 0 (control), 28.5 g olive cake (OC) + 25.5 g barley malt rootlets (BMR), 28.5 g OC + 51.1 g BMR, 57.0 g OC + 25.5 g BMR or 57.0 g OC + 51.1 g BMR per kg. All the tested diets decreased plasma cholesterol (P<0.05) and triglycerides (TG) (P<0.001) and yolk concentrations (P<0.0001) of total lipids, TG, cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins and phospholipids. Inclusion of OC plus BMR in the diets at 28.5 g OC + 25.5 g BMR, 28.5 g OC + 51.1 g BMR, 57.0 g OC + 25.5 g BMR or 57.0 g OC + 51.1 g BMR per kg decreased concentration of total saturated fatty acids (SFA) of egg yolk by 22.4, 50.1, 58.5 and 55.4%, respectively and increased total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (2.4, 1.4, 2.1 and 1.2 fold, respectively) and total n-6 PUFA (2.5, 1.9, 2.7 and 1.9 fold, respectively). Total monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) were decreased by 8.1% with dietary 28.5 g OC + 25.5 g BMR per kg diet, while it was increased by 105, 93.4 and 128.5% with dietary 28.5 g OC + 51.1 g BMR, 57.0 g OC + 25.5 g BMR and 57.0 g OC + 51.1 g BMR per kg, respectively. To feed laying hens with rations that contained 28.5 g OC + 25.5 g BMR, 28.5 g OC + 51.1 g BMR and 57.0 g OC + 25.5 g BMR per kg diet increased yolk concentrations of total n-3 PUFA (217, 4.9 and 57.5%, respectively), while ration with 57 g OC + 51.1 g BMR per kg on the diet de-creased it by 56.5% compared to the control. It is concluded that inclusion of OC at rate of 28.5 or 57.0 g/kg on the diet in combination with BMR at rate of 25.5 or 51.1g BMR g/kg on the diet of laying hens decreased cholesterol and SFA with great increases I n MUFA and moderate increases in n-3 PUFA in egg yolk lipids.

The study was conducted to determine the effects of turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) egg weight on certain egg traits and hatching performance. A total of 178 turkey eggs comprising of three different egg weight groups below 60 g (G I), 61 to 69 g (G II) and above 70 g (G III) were used for this study. Average egg weight (g), egg length (cm), egg breadth (cm) and egg volume (cm3) values increased with increasing egg weight. There was a significant (P<0.01) difference in egg traits between egg weight groups except shape index. Percentage of infertile eggs and embryonic mortalities were decreased whereas percentage of dead in shell, total egg hatchability, fertile egg hatchability, fertility and poult hatched weight values were increased as weight of egg increased. Results of higher hatching performance was obtained for eggs that weighed above 71 g and were statistically significant (P<0.01) from eggs that weighed between 60-69 g and below 60 g. It is concluded that turkey eggs that weigh above 70 g would be suitable for setting to obtain better reproductive performance followed by medium sized turkey eggs (6-69 g) and small sized turkey eggs weighed below 60 g.

A study was conducted at five villages of Dzongu, North Sikkim in India to identify various constraints faced by the farmers during poultry production. Selection of respondents of poultry farmers was done on the basis of Simple Random Techniques. The data were collected from each respondent through structured questionnaire as well as self observations. The study indicated that the input (82.25%), economical (74.60%), veterinary / health service (73.50%) and market (63.5%) constraints / problems were the most serious constraints as it was ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively. Non availability of day old chicks, lack of feed supply, improper housing facility, high price rate of day old chick, lack of technical knowledge, non-availability of medicines and vaccines, poor government support for credit facility (soft loan) to farm-ers were the most important constraints perceived by the poultry farmers of Dzongu area. The study also pointed some suggestions for improving the poultry production in Dzongu. Introduction of improved dual purpose birds, providing credit and health care facilities and establishment of market can bring a significant improvement in sustainable poultry production in Dzongu area, North Sikkim.