فهرست مطالب ابوالفضل زالی

Selenium, as an essential dietary trace element, has an important biological role in the health and growth performance of cows and dairy cows. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of replacing mineral selenium supplement with nano selenium particles in the feeding of suckling calves and its impacts on the growth performance and skeletal structure of suckling calves. The number of 32 newborn Holstein calves with an average body weight of 37.85 ± 4.35 kg in the form of a completely randomized design with 4 treatments (eight calves in each treatment) for 83 days according to the supplemental consumption of milk or drinking water with sources different selenium were placed. Treatments include: 1) inorganic selenium: providing 0.3 mg of selenium per kilogram of dry matter with sodium selenite, 2) low level of nano selenium: providing 0.15 mg of selenium per kilogram of dry matter with nanoparticles prepared from selenium, 3) Medium level of nano-selenium: providing 0.3 mg of selenium per kilogram of dry matter with nanoparticles prepared from selenium, 4) High level of nano-selenium: providing 0.45 mg of selenium per kilogram of dry matter with nanoparticles prepared from selenium. . The results showed that supplementing milk with selenium nanoparticles did not affect the performance of calves during the pre-weaning period, but significantly improved it after weaning compared to calves fed sodium selenite. So the daily gain and feed efficiency in the second period increased secondarily (p < 0.01) and the medium level was the highest

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dietry cation-anion difference (DCAD) levels and crossbreeding on carcass characteristics of lambs. In this study, 30 Lori Bakhtiari and  first generation Lori Bakhtiari × Romanov × Pakistani lambs (50% Lori Bakhtiari, 25% Romanov, 25% Pakistani)  with an average age of 90±10 days and an average weight of 33±1.5 kg were divided into two groups of 15 lambs, each group was fed with a different level of DCAD. Carcass weight, carcass yield, viscera weight, cross-sectional area of Longissimus muscle and carcass length did not show any significant difference between purebred and crossbreds and also between diets. Crossbreeding also significantly increased the weight of valuable and salable carcass parts (P<0.05). However, according to our findings, no difference was observed in terms of weight of salable carcass parts between anionic and cationic treatmentsgenotype and DCAD did not have any significant effect on the composition of carcass fatty acids. The meat shear force of Lori Bakhtiari × Romanov × Pakistani lambs compare to Lori Bakhtiari  lambs and anionic diet compare to cationinc diet was lower (P<0.05). Lori Bakhtiari lambs had a higher mean in brightness index and Longissimus muscle redness than Lori Bakhtiari × Romanov × Pakistani lambs (P<0.05). Therefore, anionic diets and Crossbreeding can be considered as effective ways to increase the quality and crispiness of sheep meat.

In order to determine the effects of sodium acetate and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on dry matter consumed, feed digestibility, milk yield and milk fat profile, 33 Holstein cows several calving times during days 5-31 after calving in a completely randomized design with Three treatments and 11 replications were used. The experimental diets included 1- basic diet (control), 2- diet containing 300 gr of sodium acetate , 3- diet containing 100 gr of CLA. Daily dry matter intake and milk production, body weight and body condition score were measured at the beginning and end of the experiment. milk samples were taken at regular intervals to determine the amount of milk compounds. Also, on the last day, a sample was taken to determine the profile of fatty acids. Dry matter intake was not significant among dietary treatment (P>0.05). Milk production was increased by supplementing diets with sodium acetate (3.16 kg/d) and CLA (2.46 kg/d) compared to control treatment. CLA supplementing decreased milk fat content significantly and sodium acetate increased it. The yield and content of milk protein and lactose were not significantly different between the treatments. With the consumption of sodium acetate, the amount of milk fat and milk production increased, as probably the hypothesis that sodium acetate is lipogenic for adipose tissue was ignored and Acetate partition nutriunt toward milk fat production. CLA consumtion, negative energy balance did not change between as spared energy partition toward more milk yield. The use of CLA could be beneficial for the health of consumers by increasing the trans-10-cis-12 CLA isomer transfer to milk and reducing thrombogenic and atherogenic indicators.

The aim of this study was to investigate the growth performance, water consuming pattern, digestibility, and carcass traits of Lori-Bakhtiari (LORI) and Romanov-Lori-Bakhtiari (CROSSbred) lambs under water restriction conditions. Twenty lambs (10 heads per genotype) with an average weight of 31±2.5 and an age of 8±2 months were used in four treatments with 5 replications in each in a completely randomized design with 2×2 factorial. Water-restricted (WR) lambs had free access to water for only one hour a day. All lambs were slaughtered after six weeks. Feed intake, daily weight gain and final weight were not affected by genotype and access to water, while water intake (p=0.001) and water to feed ratio (p=0.02) were significantly dropped with water restriction. Water-restricted lambs consumed almost 90 percent of their water intake in the first five minutes. Nutrients digestibility was not affected by the treatments, but the amount of fecal dry matter was significantly high in water restricted groups (p=0.03). Carcass weight and yield were not affected by the treatments, but the percentage and weight of tails in the CROSSbred lambs were lower (p≤0.0001), but part of this decrease was compensated by higher fat thickness (p=0.05) and visceral fat (p=0.03).  The overall results of this study showed that genotype and water restriction did not significantly affect growth performance, so CROSSbred lambs can be used in water restricted area.

The growing trend of production and consumption of goat milk and its products in the modern dairy industry requires improving milk production and composition by nutritional methods. Optimal imbalance of biodegradable and non-biodegradable protein in ruminants can limit microbial protein production, nitrogen utilization efficiency, fiber digestion, and access to optimal amino acid levels in the small intestine. Supplementation of protein sources with low degradability improves nitrogen utilization efficiency and optimal amino acid pattern at the surface of the small intestine. Microbial amino acids meet the animal's need if the animal is in a state of maintenance or minimal growth, while to achieve maximum growth or production the need must be met by non-biodegradable protein in the rumen. Maximum production requires sufficient amounts of essential amino acids, so to support the physiological and production needs of livestock, the use of protected amino acid supplements in the rumen is recommended. Protected amino acids lysine and methionine are more commonly known as milk-limiting amino acids, and methionine also plays a unique role as a starting amino acid in protein synthesis. This study was performed to evaluate the protected methionine and its effects on milk production and composition in Alpine dairy goats.

The experiment was performed in a completely randomized design with at least 15 replications per treatment, so that 45 Alpine lactating goats with 200 lactation days for 4 weeks, randomly were allocated for three experimental diets included: 1- Basal diet plus 2 g of commercially protected methionine 2- Control (basal diet without protected methionine) 3- Basal diet plus 2 g of protected methionine synthesized in vitro.

The results showed that methionine coating significantly reduced the degradability of methionine in the rumen (p <0.001). Also, the effect of experimental treatments on milk production and composition as well as blood parameters such as albumin, cholesterol, total protein, glucose and triglyceride was not significant in lactating goats (p> 0.05).

using protected methionine can significantly reduce the degradability of methionine in the rumen but may has no effect on milk production and composition as well as blood parameters in dairy goats at farm situation, Of course more studies and data are needed.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of sodium acetate and conjugated linoleic acid on dry matter intake, body weight, activity of liver enzymes and blood metabolites in fresh cows.

This study was performed to investigate the effect of sodium acetate and conjugated linoleic acid on dry matter intake, body weight, liver enzyme activity, milk production and blood metabolites in newborn cows. Materials and Methods In this study, 24 Holstein cows with an average initial weight of 601.47±13 kg and a body condition score of 3.64±0.21 were used for 25 days during days 5-30 postpartum. This experiment was performed in 3 treatments and 8 replications in a completely randomized design by comparing the means by the mean least squares method at a significance level of 0.05. Treatments include 1- control with a source of calcium salt of palm fat, 2- Diet containing 300 g of sodium acetate supplement, 3- Diet containing 100 g of conjugated linoleic acid supplement (50% cis-9 trans-11CLA, 50% trans-10 cis-12 CLA) was. Dry matter intake and milk production were recorded daily, body weight and body condition score at the beginning and end of the experiment. Blood samples were also taken on days 5, 7, 14, 20, 25. The cows were milked in three meals of morning, evening and night, and the record of each meal was recorded. In order to measure milk composition, milk samples were taken on days 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20 and 25 after calving.

The results showed that the mean body weight, body condition score and dry matter intake were not significantly different between treatments. The concentration of non-esterified fatty acids was not affected by the treatments. Also, no significant differences were observed for triglycerides, cholesterol, albumin, total plasma protein and blood urea nitrogen between treatments. Plasma glucose concentration was significantly different between treatments (p<0.05), however, CLA and sodium acetate significantly increased and decreased compared to the control) (p<0.05. Sodium acetate significantly reduced the levels of aspartate aminotransferase and lactate dehydrogenase compared to control and CLA treatment (p<0.05). Daily milk, corrected milk production of 3.5% fat and milk fat percentage were significantly different between treatments, and sodium acetate and CLA treatments significantly increased and decreased milk fat percentage, respectively, compared to the control (0.05). Also, milk fat production increased with sodium acetate compared to control and decreased with CLA (p <0.05).

By consuming CLA due to the reduction of milk fat, the amount of blood glucose increased, as a result of which the intensity of the negative energy balance decreased, which in turn reduced the damage to the liver cells. Sodium acetate also improves energy levels, possibly due to the supply of acetate for milk fat synthesis. It can be concluded that adding sodium acetate is the best way to have a healthy liver along with increasing milk production and milk fat after birth.

This experiment was performed to investigate the effect of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids calcium salts (omega-3 and omega-9) on fattening performance, carcass traits and some blood biochemical properties of Lori Bakhtiari × Romanov male lambs.

49 male lambs with 29.97± 0.88 kg initial weight were divided into 7 equal groups, randomly. Lambs were fed individually with the following experimental diets: 1) Basal diet without fat powder (control), 2) Basal diet with fish oil calcium salts (2% of diet DM) for 90 days, 3) Basal diet with fish oil calcium salts (2% of diet DM) for 45 days, 4) Basal diet with olive oil calcium salts (2% of diet DM) for 90 days, 5) Basal diet with olive oil calcium salts (2% of diet DM) for 45 days, 6) Basal diet with saturated fat calcium salts (2% of diet DM) for 90 days and 7) Basal diet with saturated fat calcium salts (2% of diet DM) for 45 days. Daily feed intake of lambs was recorded and lambs body weight was measured weekly. At the end of the experiment, blood samples were taken from the jugular veins of the lambs. Then 28 lambs were weighed and slaughtered and were measured the weights of different parts of the lambs carcass.

Totally, feeding with calcium salts of fish oil, olive oil and saturated fats significantly increased daily weight gain and reduced the lambs feed conversion ratio compared to control group (p= 0.04). But had no significant effect on dry matter intake of the Lambs. Feeding with saturated and unsaturated calcium salts had no significant effect on serum glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. Serum high density lipoproteins (HDL) were higher among the fat treatments than control treatment, but no significant difference was observed between fat treatments. The level of serum low density lipoproteins (LDL) when using of unsaturated fatty acids for 45 and 90 days was significantly lower than the using of saturated fat and control (p= 0.01). Lambs treated with fat powder had higher carcass yields than the control group. Feeding on fish and olive oil calcium salts reduced abdominal fat and kidneys around fat of lambs (p= 0.03).

Totally, results of this study showed that diet supplementation with fish and olive unsaturated fatty acids calcium salts increases the fattening performance and productivity of lambs.

Crossbreeding of fat-tailed native sheep with well known high performance thin-tailed sheep is currently widely used as a rapid solution to enhance production and reproduction, and reduction of fat-tail of native sheep. Nevertheless, comparison studies about native and crossbred animal performance in different environment is necessary for sheep husbandry industry.

This study was performed in the summer using 20 Lori-Bakhtiari (Lori) and 20 Lori-Bakhtiari×Romanov (F1) (Cross) sheep with an average weight of 31.6±2.5 kg in eight treatment with five-repetition for each in a completely randomized design with 2×2×2 factorial array including breed (Lori and Cross), water (free water and water restriction), and food (free food and food restriction). Unrestricted animals had free access to water and food, while water-restricted animals had free access to water for only one hour a day, and food-restricted animals were fed only with 0.45 to 0.65 percent of their body weight. After six weeks of treatments, lambs slaughtered and carcass traits were measured.

Food restriction has widely affected the measured traits in comparsion to water and breed and significantly reduced rectal temperature, respiratory rate, water intake, final weight, carcass weight, Carcass cuts and internal organ weight, fat-tail, visceral fat, total body fat, testis weight and volume (p≤0.01), while increased the water-to-feed ratio and carcass yield without fat-tail (p≤0.007). Water restriction had lesser effects and caused a significant increase in the difference between the maximum and minimum rectal temperature in each period (p<0.05), and decrease in water consumption (p=0.0001), but had no effect on other functional, physiological, and carcass traits. Crossbreeding also significantly reduced fat-tail and total carcass (p˂0.0001), and increased visceral fat, carcass yield without fat-tail, the proportion of carcass cuts, and testis weight and volume (p≤0.01), but had no effect on other traits.

In general, in normal food conditions (regardless the type of access to water) crossbreed animals performed better than Lori, but there is no differencess between them in severe food restriction. Therefore, it could be concluded that in all conditions F1 generation could make the carcass healthier and reduce the generation interval due to less carcass fat and faster maturation.

An experiment was performed to investigate the effects of using saturated and unsaturated fatty acids calcium salts on the production performance and some physiological traits of finishing lambs fattened under heat stress condition. Thirty-two cross bred Lori-BakhtiariÍRomanov lambs were randomly divided into 4 groups. Lambs were fed individually with the following experimental diets for 6 weeks (early July to mid-August): 1) Basal diet without supplemental fat (control), 2) Basal diet supplemented with 2% (on DM basis) of fish oil calcium salt, 3) Basal diet supplemented with 2% (on DM basis) of olive oil calcium salt and 4) Basal diet supplemented with 2% (on DM basis) of saturated fat calcium salt. Daily feed intake was recorded and lambs body weight was measured weekly. Rectal temperature and respiration rate were measured once per week. Using calcium salts of fish oil, olive oil and saturated fats in the diet significantly increased daily weight gain and reduced the lambs feed conversion ratio compared to control group (P≤ 0.05), but had no effect on dry matter intake of the Lambs. Regardless of fatty acid origin, supplementing lambs with calcium salts of fatty acids, reduced rectal temperature and respiration rate of lambs exposed to heat stress, compared to control group (P≤ 0.01). Also, using calcium salts of Fish oil, olive oil and saturated fat had no effect on DM, CP and EE digestibility, however, EE digestibility was higher in lambs consumed fat-supplemented diets than the control group. NDF digestibility was significantly higher in the control group lambs than the other groups. The results of this study showed that diet supplementation with calcium salts of unsaturated fatty acids of fish and olives and saturated fatty acids, improved the production performance of finishing lambs exposed to heat stress. No difference was detected between fat supplements with different fatty acid patterns, in this investigation.

The purpose of this study was to compare feedlot performance and carcass characteristics in Lori-bakhtiari and Romanov-Lori bakhtiari crossbred male lambs. In this opinion, 14 Lori bakhtiari and 14 Romanov- Lori bakhtiari male lambs were selected and their feedlot performance was studied in a completely random design during 100 days of trial. Lambs were fed by a total mixed ration (TMR) with forage to concentrate ratio of 30:70 in diets. Feed intake was recorded daily and the lambs were weighted monthly. At the end of the experiment, lambs were slaughtered and carcass analysis was done. The results of feedlot performances showed that crossbreeding had no significant effect on dry matter intake, final live weight, average daily gain and feed conversion ratio. Studying the carcass characteristics showed that crossbreeding had no significant effect on the warm carcass weight, empty rumen, lung and liver percent and carcass length (p>0.05), but the percent of heart, kidney and the internal fat weight were significantly affected by crossbreeding (p<0.05). The effect of genotype on the longissimus dorsi muscle area was significant also (p<0.05). Crossbreeding had a significant effect on the percentage of shank, round, brisket, flank and sirioin (P<0.05) and increased them. In general, although the effect of crossbreeding was not significant on the feedlot performance parameters, but improved the proportion of carcass components.

The current study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary supplementing of condensed molasses soluble (Vinasse) in heat stressed midlactatingHolstein cows on milk yield and composition, apparent nutrient digestibility and economical parameters. The experiment was performed by84 Holstein lactating dairy cows (DIM: 155±25; MY: 32±3) in a completely randomized design with three treatments 1) basal diet without vinous(control), 2) diet containing 5% of vinasse (2.2 kg/head/day) and 3) diet containing 10% 0f vinasse (4.4 kg/head/day). The study was conducted in thesummer season with a temperature -humidity index of 75.1. The experiment lasted for 25 days (15 days for adaptation and 10 days for sampling). Drymatter intake of the treatment fed a 10% vinasse supplemented diet was higher than the other treatments (P<0.05). Dry matter and NDF digestibilitycoefficients were increased by increasing the level of vinasse in the diets, compared to the control (P<0.05). The economical index of income overfeed cost was the highest for the diet containing 5% of vinasse. Totally, regarding to the chemical composition of the vinasse and its beneficial impactson the performance of the cows under heat stress, using 5% of dry matter vinasse supplementation (2.2 kg wet weight/day or 1.1 kg dry matter/day)can improve nutrient digestibility and reduce feed costs without any adverse effects on dry matter intake.

In recent years, toxic and chemical effluents from agricultural and industrial activities have entered into surface waters without considering environmental considerations, which has caused water pollution, contamination of river sediments and many environmental hazards. In this study, the concentration of four heavy metals of arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) in water and sediments of Haraz River in Mazandaran province was investigated using Contamination Factor (CF), Pollution Load Index (PLI) and Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo). The results showed that the concentration ranges of arsenic (AS), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) in water are 3.03- 3.99, 2.55-3.92, 1.94-2.42, and 3.96-5.3 mg/lit, and in sediment are  2.12-5.15, 29.91-32.71, 1.02-1.03, and 6.62-9.46 mg/kg, respectively. The concentration of heavy metals in downstream sites (S7 and S8) were higher than the standard drinking water, due to the disposal of waste, untreated effluents from various industries and excessive agricultural activities. The pollution load index (PLI) of  heavy metals in sediment samples was in low and medium pollution level and the Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo) in sediment samples was in the level of no and medium pollution. This study suggests a continuous monitoring of heavy metals in water, sediments and other aquatic biomasses, which is crucial in Haraz River to ensure the environmental safety adjacent to the river.

The experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of different ratio of palmitic acid to stearic acid in dairy cows diet. Total of 8 dairy cows (parity of 3.2 ± 0.6, milk yield of 40±3 kg/d and DIM of 56± 13) were randomly used in a 4×4 Latin square design over a 21-day experimental period. The experimental diets include different ratio of fat supplements were: 1-control diet 100P (100% palmitic acid), 2- 33S67P diet (33% stearic and 67% palmitic acid), 3-67S33P diet (67% stearic and 33% palmitic acid) and 4-100S diet (100% stearic acid). Individual dry matter intake and 3x milk production recorded at the last week of each period. Nutrients digestibility measured during 3 days of last week of experiment by collecting fecal from rectum before morning milking. The blood samples at d 19 taken from tail vein were used for metabolites and hormones analyze. The results showed that dry matter intake, digestibility of DM, fat, protein, NDF, milk and ECM yield, milk protein and lactose yield and percentage were not affected by different ratio of palmitic acid to stearic acid.  Replacing palmitic acid with stearic acid caused   decrease in FCM, fat percentage and fat/protein ratio (p<0.05). The concentration of plasma NEFA tended to be higher in cows fed 33S67P compared to 67S33P and 100S diets (p=0.07). In conclusion, present results showed that increasing diet stearic acid level led to decrease in milk fat and lactose percentage, without effects on milk yield efficiency.

Lack of water resources is one of the biggest and most difficult environmental issues that is increasing rapidly in Iran. Given the scarcity of water resources in the Haraz Basin, this paper develops a system dynamics (SD) model for water resources carrying capacity (WRCC) and analyzes the balance between water supply and demand. For analysis of three scenarios to simulate WRCC from 2010 to 2030 Trahyshd and total water demand and the output value of secondary products as criteria for the study were selected WRCC Haraz basin. The results showed that the capacity to carry water resources in the Haraz Basin can not meet the demand for socio-economic development in the coming years and the third scenario can effectively compensate for water shortages. Accordingly, in order to ensure the sustainable use of water resources, water conservation policies should be greatly increased.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro effect of coating soybean meal and canola meal with different fat sources on ruminal degradability and intestinal digestibility, as well as, the in vivo digestibility. For this purpose, calcium salt of omega-3, calcium salts of unsaturated fatty acids and prilled fat were used for coating. To determine ruminal degradability, three lactating Holsteins cows fitted with rumen fistulas were used and ruminal degradability and intestinal digestibility of dry matter and crude protein were measured. In the in vivo experiment, 40 Holstein cows were randomly assigned to five treatments (control, full fat soybean, soybean-omega3, soybean-ca salt and soybean-prilled fat). The results of the present study showed that coating soybean meal and canola meal with different fats reduced the degradability of dry matter and protein in the rumen and increased their digestibility in the intestine (p <0.0001). It was also shown that protection of soybean meal with prilled fat and calcium salts of unsaturated fatty acids was better than omega 3, but coating of canola meal with calcium salt and omega 3 fats was better than prilled fat (p <0.05). The results of in vitro experiment showed that omega-3 coated soybean meal had the highest digestibility (p=0.009). It can be concluded that coating protein meal with fat will transfer protein digestion from rumen to intestine and thus increase the RUP portion of protein meal.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of reducing dietary ratio of omega-6/omega-3 essential fatty acid (EFA) on dry matter intake, yield and milk composition, ovarian performance and blood concentrations of estradiol and progesterone using 24 multiparous Holstein cows. Experimental treatments including different n-6 to n-3 EFA ratio; namely, 2.5, 4.5, or 6.5 parts of n-6 to 1 part of n-3 EFA. Dry matter intake and milk yield of cows were recorded daily. Also, body condition score and milk composition were recorded and ovarian activity was monitored by transrectal ultrasound scanning. Dry matter intake and milk composition were not affected by treatments. Daily milk yield was significantly higher in low and medium n- 6/n-3 FA ratio diets in comparison to high diet (P<0.05). Cows assigned to high n-6/n-3 FA ratio diet had greater plasma Haptoglobin concentrations compared to other diets (P<0.05). Results indicated that number of large follicles was greater in medium diet than high diet (P<0.05). Progestrone concentration was significantly decrease in high diet treatment (P<0.05). Results of this study indicate that modulating dietary n-6/n-3 FA ratio could lead to a higher milk yield and improve ovarian performance in fresh cows.

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of the replacement of corn silage with barley silage on high producing dairy cow performance. Thirty six high-producing (57.3±3.9kg/d) dairy cow in mid-lactation (93±7 DIM) were assigned to one of three experimental treatments including (1) no barley silage (BS) and 30% corn silage (CS), (2) 10% BS and 20% CS, and (3) 20% BS and 10 % CS in the TMR over two 24-day periods. The results showed that replacement of corn silage with barley silage linearly increased fat corrected milk (FCM; P=0.04), fat yield (P=0.04) and fat corrected milk production efficiency (P=0.01). There was also a tendency for linear increase in milk fat percentage (P=0.08), and linear decrease in milk lactose percentage (P=0.05). Ruminal acetate proportion and pH increased with increasing barley silage and propionate proportion decreased. Increasing barley silage resulted in linear increase in dry matter, organic matter and neutral detergent fiber digestibility (NDF; P<0.05). This study showed that replacing corn silage with barley silage could be considered as a successful strategy to improve performance and forage provisions of high-producing dairy cows.

Rivers are recognized as the most important water supply resources in various sectors, including agriculture water, drinking water, and industrial water. Over recent years, however, urban, industrial, and agricultural sewage have mostly been discharged into rivers. Taking into account that rivers have a limited capacity for toleration of pollutants, river water quality assessment is indispensable. In the present study, three water quality indicators namely the National Sanitation Foundation Water Quality Index (NSFWQI), River Pollution Index (RPI), and Weighted Arithmetic Water Quality Index (WAWQI) were used to assess the quality of Garmarood River water.  Sampling was performed at 3 stations along the river during summer and winter of 2019. A variety of parameters namely DO, temperature, BOD, fecal coliform, turbidity, TSS, pH, NH3-N, and phosphate were measured to calculate NSFWQI and RPI indices. The parameters used to measure WAWQI, included TS, NO3-, chloride, total hardness, SO42-, Mg, turbidity, pH, and Ca. The results obtained from analysis of the above-mentioned parameters showed that the value of NSFWQI, RPI, and WAWQI indices fall within the 50.66-75.6, 2.25-5.5 and 48.33-55.92 ranges. The results obtained from all 3 indices are indicative of relatively high quality of water at station 1 and poor quality of water at stations 2 and 3.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of feed bunk space and forage particle size on feed intake and nutrient digestibility in growing Holstein female calves. Fourty Holstein female calves with an average age of 8-12 months (295.6 ± 32.8 kg) were used in a 2×2 factorial change-over design (with four treatments, four periods and four stalls), in which 10 calves were allocated to each stall. The current experiment lasted 4 months as one month allocated to each period. The experimental treatments were included: 1) 24 cm of feed bunk space and average forage particle size of 4.6 mm (24/fine); 2) 24 cm of feed bunk space and average forage particle size of 7.1 mm (24/coarse); 3) 48 cm of feed bunk space and average forage particle size of 4.6 mm (48/fine); 4) 48 cm of feed bunk space and average forage particle size of 7.1 mm (48/coarse). The results of this study showed that the apparent digestibilities of DM, CP and NDF for the 48/Coarse treatment was the highest, the treatment of 24/Coarse had an intermediate state, and for the treatment of 48/fine and 24/fine were the lowest. Also, apparent digestibilities of DM, CP and NDF were higher for treatments including coarse forage particles than treatments with fine forage particle size. Finally, it seems that feeding growing Holstein heifers with diets containing coarse forage particle size could result in better nutrient digestibility.

In order to study the effect of Cu supplement on performance of Mahabadi kids, fourteen castrated Mahabadi male kids with average weight of 21±2 Kg were used in this experiment as a completely random design with 2 treatments and 7 replications (7 kids in each treatments). Treatments included control (without Cu supplement) and Cu treatment (100 mg Cu supplement/d). The kids were fed two times daily (h 6:00 and 18) during 90 days by a diet contained 70% concentrate and 30% forage. Cu supplement was fed as top dress in Cu treatment. Daily feed intake and Body weight were recorded daily and every 2 weeks respectively. Determination of Blood parameters were done by bleeding in day 90 of trial and nutrient digestibility were done by feacal sampling during days 85-90. At the end of trial the kids were slaughtered and carcass parameters and carcass tissue components were determined. The results showed the use of copper supplement at high levels in diets of Mahabadi kids hadn’t significant effect on average daily gain (P> 0.05). Apparent nutrient digestibility and blood metabolite concentration including triglycerides, cholesterol and glucose were not affected by Cu supplement (P> 0.05). Based on the current experiment results, the use of Cu supplement in the ration of castrated Mahabadi male kids (100 mg Cu supplement/d) had no negative effect on performance and carcass characteristics of Mahabadi male kids and they were capable to endure this level in the ration.

The aim was to determine the effect of different dietary n-6/n-3 fatty acid (FA) ratio during the postpartum period on plasma haptoglobin, metabolic profile, and insulin resistance in Holstein dairy cows. 24 multiparous cows were randomly assigned to three treatments with a ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3: 2.5 to 1 (low ratio); 4.5 to 1 (average ratio); and 6.5 to 1 (high ratio) were distributed. Blood samples were collected on d 7, 14, 28, 42, 56 and 70 postpartum to determine blood metabolites and haptoglobin concentrations. Intravenous glucose tolerance tests and insulin challenges were performed on d 28 and 42 of experiment. Plasma concentrations of haptoglobin were significantly higher in the cows fed with high ratio than the other two treatments. The 42-day postpartum results of insulin challenge test indicates that the change in the ratio of fatty acids to moderate treatment causes an increase in the clearance rate and a decrease in the area under the curve of the insulin. The results of this study indicate that the moderate ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids in dairy cows decreases insulin resistance by reducing inflammatory factors.

Physical attributes of feeds and Feed bunk space can affect feeding behavior of replacement heifers. The distribution of particle size can affect feed intake, feeding behavior, and feed sorting. Research on adult dairy cattle has focused on preventing rumen acidosis by varying particle size, but less work has focused on rations for replacement heifers. On the other side, the trend in the dairy industry has been toward fewer but larger herds and a concurrent change toward group feeding and handling in the larger herds. Where herds are expanded within existing facilities, competition at the feed bunk could increase. Ad libitum feeding of complete feeds reduces this competition between lactating cattle. However, ad libitum feeding of replacement yearling heifers could result in wasted feed, overeating, and fatty infiltration of the mammary gland with a reduction in future production. The objective of this study was to evaluate the interaction effect of feed bunk space and forage particle size on growth and performance of Holstein female calves. This experiment was performed on 40 Holstein female calves with an average age of 8-12 months and an average weight of 295.6 ± 32.8 kg in a factorial design with four treatments, four periods and four stall, in which 10 calves were allocated to each stall. The length of each experimental period was 25 days and the calves were group fed in this experiment. The diets were isoenergetic and isonitrogenous. The only difference between diets was related to the forage particle size (alfalfa and straw). Treatments included: 1) treatment with 24 cm of feed bunk space and average forage particle size of 3 cm (24/fine); 2) treatment with 24 cm of feed bunk space and average forage particle size of 6 cm (24/coarse); 3) treatment with 48 cm of feed bunk space and average forage particle size of 3 cm (48/fine); 4) treatment with 48 cm of feed bunk space and average forage particle size of 6 cm (48/coarse). Sampling from feed and feeder was carried out at 15, 17, 19, and 21 days in each period. The dry matter intake of each stall was also carried out on days 15, 17, 19 and 21 in order to determine the intensity of feed consumption at 2, 4, 6, 8 hour after morning feed delivery, as the feed in the feed bunk was weighed and then returned to the feed bunk and the amount of feed consumed by every stall and for each calf was also calculated. To determine dry matter, collected samples was dried by placing them in an oven at 65-70 ° C for 48 hours (AOAC, 1990). Then the feed intake and intake intensity at different hours were corrected based on dry matter. Results of the current study confirmed the synchronize of feed consumption behavior in growing calves, which during the first 2 hours after feed delivery, calves consumed about 50-45% of the daily intake of dry matter. Also, about 90-80% of the dry matter was consumed within the first 8 hours after the feed delivery, and in the next 16 hours only 10-20% of the feed intake occurred. The results for the main effects showed that feed bunk space has no effect on daily gain, dry matter, and feed intake, while the forage particle size affected both of dry matter intake and feed conversion ratio (P <0.05), so that the feed conversion ratio was significantly higher for the treatments with fine forage particle size in comparison with treatments with coarse forage particle size (9.75 vs. 8.52). Also, daily dry matter intake for treatments with fine forage particle size was higher compared with the treatments with coarse forage particle size (7.93 vs. 7.65 kg/day/calf). Also, the amount of daily dry matter was higher for treatments with fine forage particles compared to treatments with coarse forage particles, but this higher consumption was not necessarily equal to higher daily gain. Also, there were not any significant differences between treatments containing fine forage particles and treatments with coarse forage particles for average daily gain. Finally,particle size in the growing Holstein female calves can be used as a means of controlling the dry matter and to economize the feed cost in this group of livestock. Considering the importance of controlling the dry matter intake of replacement calves, it can be stated that regarding the high proportions of forage to concentrate in growing female calves, forage particle size can be used as a management solution for controlling the dry matter intake and growth of this group of livestock. Therefore, supply of diets containing coarse forage particle size can help to economize the cost of replacing calves.