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Tomato is a valuable vegetable that is rich in vitamins such as vitamin A, E, C, B and K, and also some of minerals such as phosphorus, iron, calcium, which are important for metabolic activities. Tomato pomace is a byproduct that produce in the tomato paste production. The composition of tomato pomace in terms of percentage of crude protein, crude fat, lycopene, beta-carotene, ascorbic acid, alpha-tocopherol, lycopene and beta-carotene are: 11%, 4.5%, 0.8 mg, 13. 0 mg, 1.73 mg, 0.07 mg and 281 and 24.3 mg per kg of dry matter respectively. The antioxidant capacity of tomato pomace is related to the substances in it, especially lycopene, which reduces the effect of reactive oxygen species and the destructive effects of these compounds on the cell membrane and mitochondrial structure. Tomato pomace has a high fiber content, which may have undesirable effects on broiler performance. This meta-analysis is a systematic review based on previous studies. The aim of this meta-analysis was to examine the effects of tomato pomace on growth performance and selected blood indices in broiler chickens.

In order to collect the required information, a comprehensive search was conducted among articles and thesis through Persian and Latin databases using keywords, tomato pomace, carcass efficiency, cholesterol, heterogeneity test. Studies (available data) in the field of using tomato pomace in Farsi and English were collected and categorized. The search was done in various databases, including PubMed, ISI Web of Science, Irandoc, etc. In the next step, the most frequently reported data from the reviewed articles that aligned with the research objectives were selected. The study area was refined by identifying the influencing factors and attributes relevant to the meta-analysis. The data were then coded, and after an initial review and removal of duplicates, a total of 12 studies were included in this meta-analysis. Among these, 9 comparisons were conducted for feed conversion ratio, 10 for feed consumption and body weight gain, and 4 for carcass characteristics and efficiency. Additionally, comparisons were made for the percentages of heart and liver, blood lipid levels, blood glucose levels, and total protein concentrations. Then the statistical analysis of the data was done in the CMI (CMA) software. Both fixed and random effects models were used to combine the effect size. To evaluate the publication basis, funnel plot and statistical tests on Tomato pomace were used.

The abdominal fat percentage (-0.354±1.44), heart percentage (-0.353±0.294), pancreas percentage (-0.504± 0.316), gall bladder percentage (-0.027± 0.961), glucose (-0.091± 0.331), LDL (-1.942±0.644), total protein (-1.505± 0.003), cholesterol concentration (-0.290±0.04), feed intake in starter (0.072± 0.531) were lowered when tomato pomace were added to the broiler diet. The effect of inclusion of tomato pomace on weight gain during the growth period, feed intake in all periods and FCR in the starter, grower, and finisher period, the blood concentration of triglyceride, glucose, and the percentage of abdominal fat, liver, heart, pancreas and gall bladder, also breast was not significantly affected by tomato pomace. Some researcher also reported that inclusion of tomato pomace to broiler diet did not effect on broiler performance however in the high levels of tomato pomace in broiler diet observed undesirable effects. Tomato pomace has some bioactive components such as alpha-tocopherol, lycopene, phenolic, organic acids, essential fatty acids, amino acid and vitamins. However, there is a higher concentration of crude fiber in tomato pomace.

Therefore, the findings of the present study show that application of tomato pomace has a significant effect on weight gain in the starter, total and finisher periods, FCR in the total and finisher period, total protein, cholesterol, HDL, LDL concentration. It is recommended that tomato pomace can be replaced the part to broiler diet.

In many countries of the world, the camel has played an important role in the lives of people in arid and semi-arid regions in terms of providing milk and meat products. Based on phenotypic characteristics, the camel has been adapted to the deserts from physiological, anatomical, and behavioral points of view. Due to limited water resources, the south Khorasan province of Iran has not been an appropriate geographical region for a great number of agricultural products. Weighing plays an important role in the management of camel breeding to adjust the nutritional needs and also the annual evaluation of the animals. One of the main challenges of camel breeding is the difficulty of recording and the lack of records due to the wild nature and also the large size, especially in adults. Due to the many difficulties and risks, camel breeders usually use various potential alternative tools such as apparent estimation or weighing tape to estimate the weight of camels at different ages. For farm animals, significant correlations between body measurements and body weight can be used as a tool to estimate the weight of animals through a mathematical equation. The main objective of this study was to compare the accuracy of artificial neural network (ANN) and multiple linear regression model (MLR) in estimating the body weight of a humped camel.
In the present study, the data of a total number of 177 one-humped camels in four groups  (including 1. 63 adult female Pakistani camels aged between 9 and 12 years, 2. 21 adult female Baluchi camels aged between 9 and 12 years, 3. 93 male and female camels less than 2 years of age of Pakistani and Baluchi breeds, and 4. total camels) collected at the South Khorasan camel breeding station in 2019 were used. Morphological characteristics of camels include: neck length, neck girth, hand length, foot length, shoulder height to the ground, hump height to the ground, hip height to the ground, chest girth, chest width, abdomen girth, hip width, tail length, breast height, and breast girth were measured. After measuring the body dimensions, the evaluated camels were weighed using a 1000 kg digital scale. To estimate the weight of camels from their body dimensions, the data were analyzed using the MLR model and ANN with the nnet package in R software. For ANN analysis, 80% of the data were considered for network training and 20% for testing. The accuracy of MLR and ANN for camel body weight estimation was compared using the coefficient of determination (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE).
The results of the MLR model showed that body dimensions of shoulder height to the ground, chest girth, abdominal girth, neck girth, and hand length had a significant effect on body weight (P<0.05). In the ANN model, chest girth, abdominal girth, and shoulder height to the ground were the most important variables in estimating the body weight of camels of the whole population. The MLR and ANN models had acceptable accuracy in weight estimation. However, compared to the MLR model, the ANN model had a higher R2 and a lower error in estimating the weight of camels. In the first group, R2 and RMSE were found to be 0.996 and 6.852, respectively, for ANN while the corresponding values were 0.979 and 22.955, respectively, for MLR.  In the second group, R2 and RMSE were found to be 0.995 and 3.525, respectively, for ANN while the corresponding values were 0.989 and 5.377, respectively, for MLR.  In the third group, R2 and RMSE were found to be 0.896 and 13.959, respectively, for ANN while the corresponding values were 0.849 and 17.549, respectively, for MLR. In the fourth group, R2 and RMSE were found to be 0.929 and 20.248, respectively, for ANN while the corresponding values were 0.903 and 38.505, respectively, for MLR. The results showed that ANN is more accurate compared to MLR in predicting the body weight of camels. 
In terms of goodness of fit (including R2 and RMSE), the results of the present research suggest that both MLR and ANN methods have high acceptable accuracy for predicting body weight in camels. ANN was more suitable compared to MLR, suggesting that it could be used to predict camel body weight. Furthermore, grouping the camels by age and breed could also lead to higher precision and lower prediction error.

The shape of lactation curve is unique for each cow and is affected by various genetic and non-genetic factors. Hence, its study in each cow and herd separately is important for making managerial decisions.

In order to study the factors affecting lactation curve in Holstein dairy cows, 271509 test day milk records (milking three times a day) of 30997 primiparous cows which calved in 79 herds in Mashhad city, from years 1993 to 2015 were used. The incomplete Gama function fitted to records, using NLIN procedure of SAS. Effect of herd, year, month and age at first calving, percent of Holstein gene, average mean of daily humidity, average mean of daily temperature, minimum and maximum temperature on lactation curve parameters were studied using GLM procedure of SAS. Also, correlations of lactation curve parameters with each other and with climatic parameters were calculated using CORR procedure of SAS.

In studied herds lactation period began with producing 16.76 Kg milk daily and on day 88th reached the peak with 34.44 Kg yield and persistency was 7.43. Herd, year, month and age of calving and percent of Holstein gene had significantly affected the lactation curve (P<0.01). The trend of changing the level of initial milk yield, days to peak milk yield and the lactation persistency, was increasing through the studied years. Among the climatic parameters only average mean of daily temperature had significant effect on some lactation curve parameters.

As genetic evaluation of dairy cattle moves toward the use of test day models, therefore investigating the factors affecting the shape of lactation curve in order to include them in the model and increase the accuracy of genetic parameters estimation is necessary.

 In dairy cows, milk yield changes over the lactation period. Lactation curve modelling could be of importance from nutritional management and genetic selection point of view. The trajectory shape of the lactation curve has inclining and declining slopes which determine total amount of milk yield during the lactation. A great number of linear and nonlinear mathematical models have been so far utilized to describe the shape of the lactation curve in dairy cows. Among the models, mechanistic functions are considered to be more accurate than empirical models in terms of taking account of biological mechanisms undertaken in mammary gland to produce milk. To our knowledge, no research has been carried out to use a complex mechanistic model for describing the lactation curve of Iranian dairy cows. Based on this, the present research aimed to apply a five-parameter nonlinear mechanistic model for mathematical description of the shape of the lactation curve in Iranian first-parity dairy cows.

Animal Breeding Centre of Iran provided the data used in this research. Initial data in separate files were merged and edited by the SPSS software. Final data comprised 5596039 milk test day records from 821153 first-parity cows distributed in 579 herds of 26 provinces over the country. The cows were the progeny of 7957 sires and 530394 dams and calved between 1996 and 2020. The cows were categorized into two groups based on the age of first calving: <=25 or >25 months. Also, two groups of cows were created based on the proportion of Holstein gene inheritance: <100% (grade cows) or 100% (pure Holstein cows). A five-parameter nonlinear mechanistic model was applied to mathematically describe the shape of the lactation curve. The fitted mechanistic model had five parameters including MSmax (maximum milk secretion potential of the lactation), GR (relative proliferation rate of secretory cell number during early lactation), MSLmax (maximum secretion loss), NOD (proportion of parenchyma cell dead at parturition), and DR (relative decline rate in cell number) which their estimates were obtained for different seasons and ages of calving, as well as different genotypes (grade and pure Holstein) using NLIN procedure of the SAS software. Based on the estimated parameters of the model in each year of calving, phenotypic trends were calculated using the SPSS software.

The results indicated that Iranian first-parity dairy cows reach to peak of milk production during the third month of the lactation curve. Based on standard deviation as well as coefficient of variation (CV) of milk test day milk records, maximum variation was observed in the last month of the lactation period. The findings also indicated that cows calved in autumn had the greatest MSmax and GR while cows calved in spring and summer had the lowest magnitude for these parameters (P<0.05). The minimum magnitude of MSLmax and NOD were detected for the cows calved in summer (P<0.05). Regarding the DR parameter of the model, cows calved in spring were observed to have a minimum value. Maximum MSmax, Gr, and DR values ​​were determined for cows calving up to 25 months of age, while maximum MSLmax and NOD values ​​were observed for cows of later ages (P<0.05). Compared to pure Holstein cows, grade cows had higher MSLmax and NOD values, but other parameters were found to be greater in the pure Holstein cows (P<0.05), suggesting that the maximum milk secretion potential during lactation in pure Holstein cows is expected to be higher than that of grade cows. Annual phenotypic change trends were found to be 0.376 kg/year (R2=0.9), 0.00009869 (R2=071), -0.146 kg/year (R2=0.59), -0.011 (R2=0.85), and 0.001 (R2=0.85) for MSmax, GR, MSLmax, NOD, and DR, respectively (P<0.0001).     

This study found that the parameters of the mechanistic model fitted to the milk test day records of Iranian primiparous dairy cows are significantly influenced by the age and season of calving as well as the genotype of the cow. Cows calving in summer are expected to have more persistency. Moreover, pure Holsteins are more persistent than grade cows. Positive and negative annual trends have been detected for MSmax and MSLmax parameters, respectively, during 1996-2020 indicating a favorable increase in maximum milk secretion potential of the lactation and also a favorable decrease in maximum secretion loss over that period.

The use of agricultural plants resistant to environmental stresses, such as fodder beet, is inevitable in water shortage conditions. Such products have high moisture, which makes it difficult to store them. Total mixed ration (TMR) silage can be a good solution for this problem. This research was carried out in order to evaluate the feasibility of using of using TMR silage containing 25 or 35% of fodder beet (DM basis) in the feeding of fattening lambs by in vitro and in vivo methods. 

In the in vitro experiment, diets containing two levels of fodder beet (25% and 35%, DM basis) were ensiled as TMR silage for 60 days and some important silage fermentation properties were evaluated. In the in vivo study, diet containing 25% fodder beet was used in the feeding of fattening lambs in two forms of TMR silage (60-days silage) and TMR for 70 days.

The amount of dry matter, crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber , water-soluble carbohydrates, crude fat and ash in the whole plant (aerial organ and root) of fodder beet were 17.1, 11.1, 35.9, 19.6, 50.1, 0.59 and 8.1 percent, respectively. Silage fermentation properties and aerobic stability were significantly affected by diet and time (P<0.05). Increasing the level of dietary fodder beet, decreased pH and concentrations of CP, true protein and starch of experimental silages. The pH value of silage containing 25% fodder beet on the 15th day and the pH value of silage containing 35% fodder beet on the ninth day of the aerobic stability test compared to the concentration on the first day of reopening suffered aerobic spoilage with an increase of half a unit (4.73 vs. 4.17 and 4.53 vs. 3.94, respectively) which indicates the weaker aerobic stability of silage containing 35% fodder beet. Lambs fed with TMR silage, consumed more (P<0.05) dry matter than the control group (1914.7 vs. 1756.9 g/day), and other performance indices did not show significant differences. The concentration of all blood parameters in the experimental lambs was in the normal range, which shows that the lambs did not suffer from metabolic problems or special complications by feeding the experimental diets.

Based on the results obtained from this research, feeding TMR silage containing 25% fodder beet caused better fermentation characteristics and aerobic stability compared to 35% level, and it seems that it can be used for feeding fattening lambs, without any adverse effect on performance and health.

Olive leaf extract (OLE) can be used as a rich source of antioxidants due to its polyphenol compounds. The purpose of this research was to measure the antioxidant activity and the effect of aqueous (AOLE) and alcoholic (HOLE) extracts of olive leaves on performance, quality characteristics of eggs, biochemical blood serum, hematology, and immune response of laying hens. This experiment was conducted with 440 high-line laying hens (25 weeks old) in the form of 11 experimental treatments, with 5 replications and each replication including 8 hens for three periods of 28 days in a completely randomized design with five levels of AOLE (200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000 mg/kg) and five levels of HOLE (200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000 mg/kg). The DPPH method was used to measure the antioxidant activity of the extract. Functional traits were measured periodically. Blood was taken from the wing vein for serum biochemical and hematological analysis. Injection of the Newcastle vaccine was performed on the 40th day of the experiment, and blood was taken from the wing vein seven days later. The results showed that birds receiving 1000 levels of AOLE and HOLE had the highest percentage of production compared to the control treatment. The highest number of white blood cells and heterophils and antibody titers against Newcastle virus were observed in birds treated with 1000 HOLE levels. In general, the use of 1000 mg/kg of aqueous and alcoholic extract of olive leaves improves the performance and quality of laying eggs.

Pedigree and weight trait records belonging to 13633 Baluchi lambs descendent from 308 ram and 3747 dam which were collected in North-east animal breeding center from years 1989 to 2021 were used. Six univariate animal models with fixed (birth year, month, type, sex of lamb and age of dam) and different random effects were fitted to data. Effects of non-genetic factors on weight traits were investigated by Proc GLM of SAS software, and to estimate the variance components the Wombat software was used. All fixed effects had significant effect on the studied traits (P<0.001). Model with additive autosomal, sex linked, and additive maternal random with covariance between direct additive genetic and maternal genetic effect had the lowest AIC and was used for genetic analysis. For birth, weaning, 6, 9 month and yearling weight respectively additive autosomal heritability were 0.16, 0.34, 0.41, 0.49 and 0.56, additive sex-linked heritability were 0.004, 0, 0, 0.007 and 0.005 and maternal heritability were 0.34, 0.38, 0.32, 0.32 and 0.36. Results showed that sex-linked genes possibly have negligible and close to zero additive genetic effects on body weights at initial ages and in comparison, more noticeable effects on body weights at higher ages. In general, it is recommended to use an animal model for genetic analysis of growth traits in sheep, which is able to separate the total genetic variance into three autosomal, sex-dependent and maternal components in order to be more effective in genetic selection.

In this research, the effect of zinc and selenium synthesized from nano-mineralized probiotics was investigated on yield characteristics, egg quality characteristics, antioxidant status, and immune response of laying hens. A number of 576 high-line laying hens at the peak of production (from 25 to 37 weeks of age in three four-week periods) were used as a completely randomized design with a 3x3 factorial experiment with eight replications and eight birds per replication. Experimental treatments are 1. The control diet (without selenium and zinc), 2. Control diet + selenium chelate, 3. Control diet + zinc chelate, 4. Control diet + zinc synthesized from probiotics, 5. Control diet + selenium synthesized from probiotics, 6. Control diet + zinc chelate + selenium chelate, 7. Diet Control + zinc chelate + selenium synthesized from probiotic, 8. Control diet + zinc synthesized from probiotic + selenium chelate, 9. Control diet + zinc synthesized from probiotic + selenium synthesized from probiotic. The results showed that using zinc and selenium synthesized from probiotics increased production percentage, average egg weight, and improved feed conversion ratio (P<0.05). The serum concentration of cholesterol, triglyceride and malondialdehyde in chickens receiving probiotic zinc and selenium was the lowest. The serum HDL concentration and total antioxidant index were the highest compared to other treatments (P<0.05). In general conclusion, zinc and selenium synthesized from nano-mineralized probiotics have a better performance in laying hens.

In order to compare the performance of neural network with some mathematical functions for predicting of lactation curve of Iranian Holstein dairy cows, a total of 1,085,525 milk test day records from first-parity dairy cows calved during 1983-2012 were used. Fitting the lactation curve was performed by brnn package (for neural network) and also by some mathematical functions (including Wood, Wilmink, Ali-Schaeffer and Pollott-Gootwine) using R software based upon average milk yield, fat and protein percentage test day records. The criteria of AIC, BIC, RMSE and adjusted R2 were utilized to evaluate goodness of fit. The results showed that the Bayesian neural network (brnn) had a better fit than mathematical functions in describing the standard curve shape of Iranian Holstein dairy cows. Among the mathematical functions used for milk yield, Wilmink model had a better fit while for milk fat percentage and milk protein percentage, Ali-Schaeffer model showed a better fit performance. Therefore, it could be suggested that brnn is an appropriate option to be applied to fit the lactation curve of Iranian Holstein dairy cows.

In dairy cattle enterprise, there are several economic traits associated with productive and reproductive performance which milk yield is the main source of income for the herd keeper. Knowledge of lactation is considered a useful tool for management decision-making. Based on this, lactation curve modeling can be utilized as an appropriate guide for planning nutrition programs as well as genetic selection schemes. So far, main research has been focused on using raw (unadjusted) milk test day records to model the shape of the lactation curve by applying a variety of linear and non-linear mathematical models and a few research have been carried out to use adjusted milk test day records in terms of fat and protein percentages. The main objective of the present research was to compare lactation curve parameters of Iranian first-parity dairy cows among three types of milk test day records including raw milk (RM), fat-corrected milk (FCM), and energy-corrected milk (ECM).

The initial data set was provided by the Animal Breeding Center and Promotion of Animal Products of Iran. Editing of the data was carried out by FOXPRO and Excel software based on some criteria such as age at first calving (was set to be in the range of 18-48 months), minimum (3 kg), and maximum (99.9 kg) of RM. There were a minimum of five test day records for each cow during the lactation period. Final data consisted of a total number of 1,902,071 milk test day records belonging to 226,255 first-parity cows (progeny of 5,094 sires and 178,390 dams) distributed in 797 herds and calved during 1996-2015 were utilized. For a mathematical description of the shape of the lactation curve, Wood’s incomplete gamma function was used. The function has three parameters including parameter a (associated with initial milk yield), parameter b (associated with the inclining slope of the lactation), and parameter c (associated with the declining slope of the lactation). Wood's function was fitted to the records of RM, FCM, and ECM of individual cows using SAS software. Based on the estimated parameters, lactation characteristics including peak time (PT), peak yield (PY), and persistency (Per) were subsequently calculated for each cow. Estimated parameters and calculated lactation characteristics were then subjected to a fixed linear model in which the effects of herd, year of calving, the season of calving, age at first calving, genotype group (grade or purebred Holstein), type of milk test day record (RM, FCM or ECM) along with some two-way interactions were included.  

The results showed that FCM had the greatest parameter a as compared with RM and ECM (P<0.0001). The greatest magnitude of the parameters b and c were found for RM (P<0.0001). Later PT and higher Per were observed for ECM (P<0.0001), while the highest PY was detected for RM (P<0.0001). For all types of records, minimum and maximum PY were observed for the cows calving in the spring and autumn seasons, respectively. Later PT was observed for ECM in all calving seasons except autumn. As compared to RM and FCM, cows calved in spring and summer had the highest persistency based on ECM while cows calved in autumn and winter were found to have more persistence based upon RM compared with FCM and ECM. The least-square means of peak time (PT) in grade cows were found to be 77.74, 69.5, and 79.85 d for RM, FCM, and ECM, respectively, while the corresponding figures for purebred Holstein cows were 80.27, 72.89, and 83.15 d, respectively. In grade cows, least-square means of peak time (PY) were found to be 32.02, 29.23, and 30.70 kg for RM, FCM, and ECM, respectively, while the corresponding figures for purebred Holstein cows were 32.51, 29.56, and 31.14 kg, respectively. For both purebred Holstein and grade cows, minimum and maximum persistency (Per) were obtained for FCM and ECM, respectively, which were significantly different from each other (P<0.001). For RM, FCM, and ECM, annual change trends of PT were found to be 2.132, 2.306, and 2.293 d, respectively, while the corresponding figures for PY were 0.408, 0.369, and 0.395 kg, respectively, and for Per were 0.037, 0.036, and 0.035, respectively. All trends were statistically significant (P<0.0001).

The finding of the present research revealed that purebred Holsteins reach the peak time later than grade cows which is an appropriate characteristic of the lactation curve. Based upon energy-corrected milk yield, peak time as well as persistency was found to be greater than those for raw milk and fat-corrected milk yields. Therefore, the use of energy-corrected milk yield could be suggested to be applied as different experimental nutritional treatments are to be compared in terms of the persistency of the cows. All lactation characteristics of Iranian dairy cows were found to be changed favorably over time.

The worldwide population growth leads to an increase in livestock production that along with the challenges caused by climate change and water scarcity highlights the importance of raising resistance livestock such as camels. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of partial and total replacement of dietary alfalfa with camelthorn. Total 18 fattening Sandi growing dromedary camels (9 to 10 months old with an average initial weight of 115±7.7 kg) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental treatments in a completely randomized design, with 6 replicates for each treatment. Experimental diets included: 1- control diet (without camelthorn), 2- diets containing 25% camelthorn, and 3- diets containing 50% camelthorn (dry matter basis). The feed intake was recorded daily and the animals were weighed monthly (on days 0, 30, 60, 90, and 150 of the experiment). The results showed that dry matter intake was increased with increasing camelthorn inclusion in the diet (P ≤ 0.05). Although, the average daily gain was reduced in the diet containing 50% DM camelthorn (P ≤ 0.05), but no significant difference was observed between the treatment containing 25% DM camelthorn and control. Feed cost per kilogram weight gain and profit per kilogram of weight gain tended to increase (P = 0.01) with increasing the inclusion of camelthorn in the diet. Overall, the findings of this study showed that feeding camels with camelthorn up to 50% of dietary DM, not only did not have severe deleterious effects on growth performance, but also reduced the production costs.

The aim of this study was to identify the effect of ambient temperature and daily milk yield on reproduction efficiency in Holstein cattle. Data was consisted test-day records of first-parity Holstein cows together with their reproduction performance belonged to a dairy cattle herd in Isfahan. Daily of meteorological data, maximum and minimum temperature, relative humidity and rainfall were also used. Dairy cows were grouped according to the average of daily milk yield to four groups: low (average of 21.68 Kg), medium downward (average of 26.54), medium upward (average of 29.91) and high (average of 34.89). Data were grouped according to the daily average temperature to four groups: 4.30°c, 11.84°c, 20.06°c and 27.42°c; in average for the group 1 to 4 respectively. Results showed that insemination year and month, daily milk yield, age at insemination, interaction between milk yield and age at insemination and interaction between age at insemination and daily temperature, significantly affect the number of artificial insemination (AI) for successful pregnancy (p<0.0001). The months January, February and March had maximum number of AI and April and September had minimum of AI. Pregnancy rate for the cows with the age of first insemination under 30 months, with high daily milk production (average 34.89 kg) and under high daily temperature (27°c) is more desirable rather than others. Better reproductive performance of cows with high milk production, possibly related to considering of better conditions such as management, nutrition, healthy cares, housing and etc to this group of dairy cattle in the farms.

The present study was aimed to evaluate temporal changes in milk fatty acids and antioxidants of Saanen goat in response to berberine (BBR) supplementation during the transition period. Twenty-four primiparous Saanen dairy goats were used from 21 days before predicted parturition to 21 days after kidding. Experimental treatments were included: 1) control (without BBR supplement), 2) control + 1 g/d BBR, 3) control + 2 g/d BBR and 4) control + 4 g/d BBR. Body condition score (BCS) and body weight (BW) of individual goats were measured on days -21, -14, -7, 0, 7, 14 and 21 relative to parturition. Also, milk samples were harvested at days 0, 7, 14 and 21 following parturition. The results showed that dry matter intake (DMI), BCS and milk yield were increased with supplementation of 2 and 4 g/d BBR (P≤0.05). Milk lactose was also enhanced with increased BBR ingestion (P≤0.05). BBR consumption caused changes in milk fatty acids (FAs) profile in accordance with the energy balance. By supplementing 2 and 4 g/d BBR in transition goats, the level of de novo FAs were increased and free fatty acids (FFAs) were decreased (P≤0.05). BBR supplementation was also associated with a decrease in C18:1n9 fatty acid. The level of milk malondialdehyde (MDA) in goats supplemented with 2 and 4 g/d BBR was also decreased (P≤0.05). The total antioxidant capacity (TAC) as well as the level of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) enzymes in the milk of goats fed 2 and 4 g/d BBR was higher than the control (P≤0.05). In summary, these results showed that BBR supplementation as a new therapeutic strategy in transition period could improve lactation performance, energy balance, and milk antioxidant indicators.

This study was done to investigate the effect of pomegranate peel extract on growth performance, blood biochemical indices, intestinal morphology and meat quality of broiler fed diet-contained soybean oil. 120 male broilers were used in the form of a completely randomized design with 3 treatments, 4 repetitions and 10 chicks. Experimental diets were three levels of zero, 300 and 600 mg/kg of pomegranate peel extract (PPE). Pomegranate peel extract had no effect on performance traits including feed intake, body weight and feed conversion ratio at starter and finisher phases, but in the grower period, the levels of 300 and 600 PPE reduced feed intake (from 928 to 777 g) and feed conversion ratio (from 1.77 to 1.31; P <0.05) compare to control. The breast percentage increased from 19.78 in control to 21.95 at the level of 600 PPE and the percentage of abdominal fat decreased from 1.93 in control to 1.27 at the level of 600 PPE (P <0.05). The PPE at levels of 600 reduced concentration of cholesterol (183.68 to 137.15 mg/dl) and LDL (95.63 to 32.93 mg/dl) and the enzyme activity of aspartate dehydrogenase (263.8 to 204.28) compare to control. The villus height (from 1026.88 to 1155.12) and the villus height to crypt depth ratio (5.04 to 5.6) were higher at the 600 PPE compared to the control. The concentration of Malondialdehyde in meat decreased at 15 and 30 days after slaughter with an increase in PPE compared to control.

The main aim of the present research was the genetic analysis of the first lactation milk yield trait and evaluation of the impact of selection for milk on the phenotype of age at first calving in Iranian dairy cows using quantile regression. Lactation milk records of 327190 first parity cows (progeny of 5260 sires and 235172 dams) in 637 herds (in 15 provinces) and calved between 2007 and 2015 were utilized. Genetic analysis was carried out with the use of an animal model. In the model, fixed effects of the province, herd, year and month of calving, covariates of lactation length, age at first calving, percentage of Holstein gene, as well as the random effect of the cow were included. The model was fitted on the data using the DMU package. Regression of age at first calving on predicted breeding value was fitted through a quantile regression model. The findings revealed that the heritability of lactation milk yield was equal to 0.276. Annual genetic gain in grade and Holstein purebred were found to be 17.352 (R2=0.913) and 23.398 (R2=0.962) Kg, respectively (P<0.0001). All estimated regression coefficients were negative in different percentiles of age at first calving and ranged between -0.0009 and -0.0344 (month per Kg) which indicates that the influence of genetic potential of cows for milk yield on different parts of calving age distribution is not the same.

Analysis of technical efficiency of broiler production farms is necessary for optimal and economical use of available resources. The aim of this study was to measure and compare the technical efficiency of broiler production farms in Birjand and Darmian counties. The sample size was determined using Cochran's formula and the required data collected by completing a questionnaire from 201 active meat poultry units in Birjand and Darmian counties by random sampling method. Comprehensive Data Analysis (DEA) method used to analyze the data. The results showed that the average technical efficiency of poultry farmers in Birjand and Darmian counties was 93 and 88%, respectively, assuming a fixed return to the scale, and 95 and 93%, respectively, assuming variable returns to the scale, which is a statistically significant difference(p<0/05). Also, the capacity to improve production and efficiency in poultry farms in Darmian county is more than Birjand county and is estimated to be 11.7 and 7%, respectively. The average scale efficiency and technical efficiency (in both fixed and variable returns) of poultry units in Birjand county is more than Darmian county, which on the one hand indicates better management of resource use in poultry units of Birjand and on the other hand shows the potential to increase production and efficiency of poultry units in darmian. Therefore, without changing the production technology and by promoting technical and managerial factors from the most efficient poultry units to low efficiency poultry units, the gap between broiler poultry units in Darmian and Birjand can be reduced.

This study was intended to evaluate the nutritional value, antioxidant activity and digestibility coefficients of Pistacia atlantica seed and meal. The gas production experiment and batch culture degradability test were carried out to investigate the effects of Pistacia atlantica seed and meal on microbial fermentation characteristics, kinetics of gas production, methane and carbon dioxide production, t0.5, and lag time. Also, the calculated parameters e.g. microbial protein, molar proportion of volatile fatty acids, metabolizable energy (ME), short chain fatty acid (SCFA) and organic matter digestibility (OMD %), were evaluated for different treatments. The parameters were analyzed through the completely randomized design with repeated measurements. In this experiment, there was a significant difference in chemical composition (P <0.05). Although no significant difference was observed with respect to phenolic compounds, the amount of condensed tannin in seed was higher than that of meal (P <0.0001). Pistacia atlantica meal had the highest gas production rate (P <0.008). The number of moles of methane produced in 24 hours of incubation had a significant difference between the experimental treatments. Compared to meal, Pistacia atlantica seed had the lowest amount of methane produced (P <0.001). The total concentration of volatile fatty acids in seed decreased. The highest microbial mass was observed in seed (P <0.0003). The separation coefficient in the seed and meal were 6.48 and 2.92, respectively. Research shows that Pistacia atlantica seed and meal have a relatively good digestive potential and can be used in the diet of ruminants if properly planned.

Introduction:

products such as sugar beet pulp and various types of brans are rich sources of fibers, each with different percentages of soluble and insoluble fibers. Ostrich (Struthio camelus) has a long rectum (about 8 meters) that occupies about 57 % of the length of its gastrointestinal tract, but in the broiler chicken the rectum is only about 3 % of gut tract. The microorganisms in the ostrich's large intestine can digest 38% of cellulose and 68% of hemicellulose. The dietary fiber is divided into two types of water-soluble and water-insoluble. The water-insoluble fibers are including cellulose, lignin and a part of hemicellulose. Due to the higher passage rate of the digestive tract, they are less fermentable than soluble fibers. Water-soluble fibers are mainly including pectin, gum, and mucilage. Soluble fibers reduce the contact of enzymes with digesta, due to increase viscosity, thereby reducing digestion and absorption of nutrients in the gastrointestinal tract. Due to the fact that the effect of soluble and insoluble fibers in the digestive tract is different from each other and so far no research has been done on the effect of fiber source in ostriches. This study was aimed to determine the nutritional value and digestibility of nutrients of diets containing two fiber sources soluble and insoluble in ostrich chicks.     

Materials and Methods :

In order to evaluate the feasibility of using the higher levels of soluble and insoluble fibers in ostrich’s diet, this experiment was undertaken using 30 ostrich chicks in a completely randomize design with 5 treatments and 6 replicates in each treatments (one bird in each replicate) in three periods; prestarter (1- 2 months), starter (2- 4 months) and grower (4-6 months). The experimental treatments were as follows: 1-Control diet with standard fiber level, 2- Treatment contains 2% more soluble fiber than control (sugar beet pulp as the source of soluble fiber), 3- Treatment contains 4% more soluble fiber than control (Sugar beet pulp as a source of soluble fiber), 4- Treatment contains 2% more insoluble fiber than control (wheat bran as a source of insoluble fiber) and 5- Treatment contains 4% more insoluble fiber than control (wheat bran as a source of insoluble fiber). A total 30 ostrich chicks were reared at an average weight of 3082± 202.37 grams in cages. In order to determine the digestibility of nutrients, AME and AMEn, the total excreta were collected. Nutrients contents of feed and excreta were measured according to AOAC (1997) methods. The raw energy of feed and excreta was measured by the calorimeter bomb apparatus. Megazim kit was used to measure the total dietary fiber (AOAC Official Method 991.43). The amount of soluble fiber was calculated by subtracting the insoluble fiber from total dietary fiber. Data were analyzed using SAS software (2002) using mixed procedure for repeated measurements with a significance level of 0.05 by Tukey Cramer method.

Results and Discussion:

 Data showed that fiber source had no effect on nutrient digestibility. Ostrich rectum is longer than its small intestine (the rectum occupies 57% of the digestive tract and small intestine occupies 29% of the digestive tract) and a good place to ferment the plant fibers. Fiber digestive bacteria such as fibrobacter succinogenes and ruminococcus flavafaciens in ostrich's ceca and other fermenter bacteria in the ostrich's rectum enable it to have the proper ability to utilize fiber sources. Since the beginning of the experiment was from the age of one month, ostrich chicks had sufficient ability to use different fiber sources. The difference in the rate of digestive contents through the consumption of soluble or insoluble fiber sources had no significant effect on digestibility of nutrients. Soluble and insoluble fibers digestibility and ash digestibility increased with ageing (p < 0.0001). As birds age increase the bacterial activity increase in the rectum and ceca. There was no significant difference in AME in treatments that had more soluble fiber compared with the control group, but AME and AMEn increased significantly with increasing insoluble fiber compared to treatments that had more soluble fiber (p < 0.0001). Which is probably related to the effect of insoluble fiber in the small intestine. Insoluble fiber diets improve the efficiency of nutrients utilization due to increasing the villi height to crypt depth ratio, therefore increased AME and AMEn. The differences in AME and AMEn with consumption of insoluble fiber source in comparison with other treatments are related to the greater effect of different fiber sources on the small intestine. Insoluble fiber decreases the viscosity of digestive contents and increases the effect of digestive enzymes secreted from intestinal cells (such as alpha amylase) and improve the digestion of starch and other nutrients and increase the energy obtaining from the diet by the ostriches. AMEn significantly increased with aging that may due to the increase of the activity of older birds, increase the energy required for maintenance and activity and hence more consumption of energy by the bird. The microbial population of the cecum and colon of the ostrich (from 3 weeks onwards) is similar to the rumen, which has the ability to ferment the fiber and produce volatile fatty acids, which these volatile fatty acids provide part of the metabolizable energy.

Conclusion :

According to the results of this study, a suitable range for soluble and insoluble fibers in ostriches diets from one to two months old were suggested to be 7.5 to 11.5 percent and 16 to 20 percent, at the age of 2 to 4 months 7.6 to 11.6 percent and 20 to 24 percent and at the age of 4 to 6 months 8.25 to 12.25 percent and 25.5 to 29.5 percent, respectively.

Inbreeding, which has been defined as the mating between relative animals, leads to increase homozygous genotypes and decrease heterozygous genotypes in a population. As a result, the progenies of such mating are inbred (Wakchaure and Genguly 2015). Reduction of the traits associated with physiological efficiency and reproductive potential are the most important impacts of inbreeding in the farm animals (Filho et al. 2015, Fleming et al. 2018). Traits in livestock have different heritabilities suggesting that they are not influenced by inbreeding in a similar pattern and that although animals’ fitness is generally deteriorated; the magnitude of inbreeding depends on the type of the trait (Roff 1998; Derose and Roff, 1999, Wright et al. 2008, Mikkelsen et al. 2010). Until now, all studies regarding effects of inbreeding on productive and reproductive traits of dairy cows have been focused on using the statistical models in which inbreeding coefficient was included as covariable (Behmaram et al. 2017) or as the classified variable (Amirzadeh 2012). As inbreeding coefficient is defined as a covariable in the model, only a regression coefficient is estimated describing average changes of the trait per increasing / decreasing inbreeding coefficient. As a matter of fact, inbreeding may unequally influence the shape of distribution of the trait. Based on this assumption, this research aimed to estimate inbreeding effects on some productive and reproductive traits of Iranian dairy cows using Quantile regression statistical method.     

The data set was provided by Animal Breeding Centre, Iran. Foxpro (version 2.6) and UEStudio (version 09) software were utilized for editing initial data. Final data consisted of 580,802 records belonging to 580,802 first-parity cows distributed in 1,185 herds (over 20 provinces of the country) and calved between years 1991 and 2015. The traits under consideration were lactation milk yield (TMILK), 305d, 2X milk yield (MILK3052X), average daily milk yield (ADM), lactation length (LL), and age at the first calving (AFC). The average of the traits in the final data set was 9,447 Kg, 7,792 Kg, 30 Kg, 315 d and 25.6 m, respectively. Holstein gene percentage (HGP) of the cows in the pedigree file was set to be in the range of 50 to 100 and AFC of the cows was set to be between 18 and 48 months. Inbreeding coefficient (IC) of individual animals was calculated by CFC software (Sargolzaei et al. 2006). Fitting a series of the Quantile regression models was conducted with the use of SAS (version 9.4) software. Quantile regression, which was introduced by Koenker and Bassett (1978), extends the regression model to conditional quantiles of the response variable, such as the 90th percentile. Quantile regression is particularly useful when the rate of change in the conditional Quantile, expressed by the regression coefficients, depends on the Quantile (Chen 2005). In all the models used in this research, fixed effects of province, year and month of calving, as well as linear co-variables of HGP, IC and AFC (except of the model for AFC as the trait) were included. For TMILK, lactation length was also included as linear co-variable. Moreover, in addition to the quantile models and for the sake of estimating usual regression coefficient, general linear model (GLM) was also fitted for each trait in which a single regression coefficient of the trait on IC was defined. Ordinary least-squares regression can be used to estimate conditional percentiles by making a distributional assumption such as normality for the error term in the model. The main advantage of Quantile regression over ordinary least-squares regression is its flexibility for modeling data with heterogeneous conditional distributions (Chen 2005).      

Based upon the analysis of main pedigree file, the total number of animals was 1,941,871 (16,169 sires and 895,376 dams) among which the number of base and non-base animals were 246,388 (3,936 sires and 120,287 dams) and 1,695483 (12,233 sires and 775,089 dams), respectively.Total number of inbred animals in the pedigree was 1,211,343. Average IC for total as well as inbred animals was found to be 0.9149% (minimum 0% and maximum 47.02%) and 1.4651% (minimum 0.00038% and maximum 47.02%), respectively. For the cows with records for all five traits, IC ranged from 0 to 38.45% with the average of 1.13% (SD=1.63%). Estimate of annual change of IC was found to be 0.017 (SE=0.005), which was statistically significant (P<0.01) indicating that there is a positive increase of inbreeding in Iranian dairy cows’ population over the time. Within each trait, different Quantiles were unequally influenced as animal’s IC increased. Vast majority of the estimated regression coefficients in different Quantiles were statistically significant (P<0.05). Based upon fitting Quantile regression model and the average estimated regression coefficients, it was found that TMILK, MILK3052X, ADM, LL, and AFC changed -5.5 (Kg), -2.6 (Kg), -18 (g), 0.35 (d) and 0.30 (d), respectively as the IC of the animal increased by 1%. Estimated simple regression coefficients based on fitting GLM models were found to be -9.83 Kg (SE=1.332 Kg), -6.9 Kg (SE=0.169 Kg), -32 gram (SE=4.2 gram), 0.2087 d (SE=0.08234 d) and 0.0158 m (SE=0.0024 m), respectively and all were statistically significant (P<0.05).     

This research indicated that different Quantiles of some productive and reproductive traits of Iranian dairy cows are not equally affected by inbreeding phenomenon suggesting that Quantile regression models are needed to be utilized in the future research for evaluating the impacts of inbreeding on the other traits, which are of great economic importance.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of pomegranate seed pulp (PP) and its treated form with urea (PPTU) on performance, blood biochemical parameters and immune response of broiler chickens reared in heat stress condition. A total of 280 day-old Ross 308 chicks were used in a completely randomized design. The chicks were equally divided into seven treatments including 0, 3, 6 and 9 percent of PP and 3, 6 and 9 percent of PPTU with four replicates and 10 birds each. In heat stress period (25-42 days), the daily heat stress schedule was applied from 10:00 until 17:00 h for seven hours (35-37 oC). The PPTU increased the blood concentration of total protein (11 vs. 15.7 mg/dL). In heat-stressed chickens, PP increased body weight (1498 vs.1020 g) and decreased feed conversion ratio (1.82 vs. 2.56). The PP decreased the blood glucose concentration (611 vs. 1106 mg/dl) and also decreased the activity of the liver enzymes including alkaline phosphatase (1667 vs. 6483 U/L), aspartate aminotransferase (259.9 vs. 674.8 U/L) and lactate dehydrogenase (1506 vs. 3288 U/L). The immune response to SRBC in chickens fed PP with enzymes (9.25) or its urea-treated (8.5) were higher as compared to control (6.75). Therefore, these findings showed that the addition of pomegranate pulp with enzyme or its treated with urea up to 9% may improve performance, immune response and decreased the activity of liver enzymes in heat stressed broilers.

The central melanocortin system appears to be an important mediator of the actions of both leptin and insulin, which are key elements in the control of energy balance. Proopiomelanocortin (POMC) is a complex precursor protein that is proteolytically cleaved to a variety of biologically active and important neuroendocrine peptides. The POMC gene is expressed mainly in the anterior and intermediate lobes of the pituitary and in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus, and at a lower level also in a wide variety of peripheral tissues and of brain regions in mammals. It produces many biologically active peptides via a series of enzymatic steps in tissue-specific manners, which have important roles in the regulation of appetite, sexual behavior, the movement of melanin produced from melanocytes in skin and the production of endogenous opioid peptides with widespread actions in the brain. In chicken, the POMC gene consisted of three exons and two introns and its protein has 251 amino acid residues with nine proteolytic cleavage sites, suggesting that it could be processed to give rise to all members of the melanocortin family, including adrenocorticotropic hormone and alpha-, beta- and gamma-melanocyte-stimulating hormones, as well as the other POMC-derived peptides.
Considerable evidence has been collected indicating that POMC mutations are associated with obesity.

Blood samples were collected in EDTA vials from one hundred Ross and sixty Cobb broiler chicks, stored at -20 and their DNA was extracted using the modified salting-out chloroform method. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was carried out by specific primer pairs to amplify a 444bp fragment from a part of exon two of the Pro-Opiomelanocortin gene. The pattern of all samples was determined through single stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analyses by Acrylamide gel using silver nitrate staining.
The associations between polymorphisms (patterns) and the growth traits (live and carcass weight, and the weight of breast, thigh, back and neck, wings, liver, heart, bursa of Fabricius, pancreas, paraventricular, gizzard and spleen) were evaluated using the GLM procedure of the SAS software.

The extraction or genomic DNA and amplification of 444bp fragment of Pro-Opiomelanocortin gene were successfully done and it was polymorph in both strains. Two different patterns were found in Ross strain, E and F patterns with the frequencies of 0.56 and 0.44, respectively. Four different patterns were found in Cobb strain, A, B, C and D patterns with the frequencies of 0.63, 0.09, 0.14 and 0.14, respectively. There was no significant association between the patterns and the growth traits. In Ross strain, the effect of genotype (pattern) tend o be significant for carcass weight (p value = 0.054) and the chickens with F pattern have more carcass weight than those with pattern E. In Cobb strain, chickens with B pattern tend to have better slaughter yields compared to other patterns. Our results revealed that Cobb strain has more diversity in the studied fragment of POMC gene than Ross strain.

Energy homeostasis and body weight (BW) are regulated by coordinated actions of multiple genes. For significant economically traits, improvements in BW can be achieved through mass selection whereas feed conversion is relatively more difficult to improve. Gene polymorphisms can be used for improvement of the production traits by genetic selection, if the allelic association with the traits be determined. The variable associations of the identified polymorphisms may be a result of the differences in the population characteristics,
sex, or both, indicating that the selection criteria may influence the production trait associations. This should be taken into consideration while selecting for the desired production traits. Additional studies are required to expand the genetic and physiological aspects involved in feed intake, digestion, and metabolism. The genomic diversity also has important implications in the evolutionary dynamics of species. Investigations of polymorphisms are useful for better understanding of the gene function, and those associated with commercially significant production traits have a potential for usage as molecular markers for selection programs. In summary, the identified polymorphisms and their associations with the traits of economic importance in the present study provides greater insight into the role POMC gene involved in energy balance in poultry and points toward the
potential application of the findings for the enhancement of production traits by marker assisted selection.

Stress increases the need for antioxidants, decreases eggs production and weakens immune system of laying hens. Since there is insufficient knowledge about overcoming natural stress conditions with minimal cost and side effects in old laying hens, the medicinal herb contained flavonoid and polyphenolic compounds are concerned. Apart from estrogenic, antibacterial effects and cholesterol reduction property that will result to lower cholesterol deposition in poultry products and where calyx and leaf of Hibiscus sabdariffa
are known as potent antioxidant. Therefore, these experiments were designed to investigate the effect of Hibiscus sabdariffa extract as natural antioxidants on the immune system, blood biochemical parameters, plasma antioxidant status and the antioxidant balance of laying hens during molting and post-molting periods, also, laying performance and egg yolk cholesterol in the second phase of laying hen egg production.

In these experiments, aqueous-alcoholic extract of calyx and leaf of Hibiscus sabdariffa were prepared and sprayed on feed at levels of 300 and 700 mg/kg. One liter of %96
ethanol/distilled water mixture (30:70) were used to infuse 100 g each of the plant material (calyx or leaf) for 24 h. During the pre-experimental stage, minerals composition and antioxidant properties of Hibiscus sabdariffa were measured. Each of the main experiments, were conducted with 200 laying hens in a completely randomized design. In both experiments, five treatments consisted of control diet (basal diet), basal diet with 300 and 700 mg/kg of leaf extract of Hibiscus sabdariffa and basal diet with 300 and 700 mg/kg Hibiscus sabdariffa calyx extract. In both experiments, the blood cholesterol, total protein, triglyceride, LDL, HDL, glucose and malondialdehyde were evaluated by Spectrophotometer auto analyzer. In the end of each experiment, immune system and plasma antioxidant status for 2 samples from each replicate were determined. The egg production, egg weight, egg mass, feed intake and feed conversion ratio were recorded weekly. The egg malondialdehyde was determined during post molting period. In order to measure the level of yolk cholesterol and triglyceride, in the end of the experimental period, 2 samples were randomly taken from each replicate and after separating the yolks and mixing them, were analyzed by Spectrophotometer auto-analyzer with enzymatic method. The data were statistically analyzed with the general linear model by SAS software. The
mean differences between treatments were studied by Tukey's test.

Although there was more vitamin C in the leaf compared to calyx, the antioxidant activity including total antioxidants, phenols and anthocyanins in calyx were higher than
leaf. In both experiments, plasma antioxidant status of laying hens in a dose-independent manner were improved. During post molt period, attempt to increase oxidative stability of plasma and egg yolk also, improving plasma antioxidant status by dietary supplementation of Hibiscus sabdariffa extract was not significant, however, the Hibiscus sabdariffa calyx at 300 and 700 mg/kg levels, significantly affected plasma MDA and total antioxidant capability during molting period. In both experiments, the relative increase in antibody titers and the ratio of heterophil to lymphocyte were observed by all treatments as compared to the Control treatments. Hibiscus sabdariffa showed to have no significant effect on performance parameters. Probably, the negative effect of polyphenol compounds found in Hibiscus sabdariffa on digestive enzymes decreased lipid, protein and carbohydrates digestibility, thus reduced feed intake, egg weight and total blood protein, insignificantly, blood glucose and cholesterol, significantly. Also, the Hibiscus sabdariffa, especially leaf, decreased the yolk cholesterol and triglyceride. On the other hand, supplementation of Hibiscus sabdariffa at 700 mg/kg, improved production performance following feed conversion ratio compared with Control treatment that's probably due to quercetin and daidzein phytoestrogens found in Hibiscus sabdariffa. It seems that some compounds in Hibiscus sabdariffa, including phytoestrogens and organic acids that has been reduced the negative effect of other Hibiscus sabdariffa components on the performance of laying hens.

It can be concluded that Hibiscus sabdariffa, especially its leaves, which are discarded in most countries, including Iran, have the significant beneficial effects, such as anti-lipid effects, improvement of total plasma antioxidant and oxidative balance of old laying hens, with minimal cost and no significant negative effect on functional and immune parameters. It seems that finding of effective dose of Hibiscus sabdariffa is important to achieve layer hens’ maximum efficacy according to the test conditions and can economically be extended the range of its usage.

The aim of this study was toinvestigate the effect of pomegranate peel extract (PPE) on the growthperformance, carcass characteristics, blood indices, intestinal morphology andmeat stability of broiler chickens. A total of 120 one-day-old Ross 308chicks were used in this study in a completely randomized design with threetreatments each replicated four times. The experimental treatments included were:0, 300 and 600 mg PPE/kg. Allstarter rations had four percentages of canola oil and grower and finisherdiets had six percentages of canola oil. The results showed that the PPE had nosignificant effect on performance of broiler chicks, including feed intake,body weight and feed conversion ratio. Pomegranate peel extracts (600 mgPPE/kg) increased the relative weight of bursa of fabricus (0.22 vs.0.11%) and decreased abdominal fat (0.92 vs. 1.93%) as compared tocontrol. The 600 PPE diet had lower concentration of serum cholesterol (147.95 vs.155.78 mg/dL), and LDL (44.45 vs. 53.36 mg/dL) than control diet (P<0.05). Compared to control group, thelevel of 600 PPE reduced the activity of lactatedehydrogenase (1111 vs. 2182 μL) and aspartate aminotransferase (210 vs.239 u/L). The stability of the meat during storage (0.85 vs. 0.99 ng/g) increasedin birds fed diets contained PPE as compared with control group. The birdsreceived PPE had higher jejunal villus height (1245 vs. 1027 μm) and thecrypt depth to the villus height (6.74 vs. 5.05) compared to the control.It is concluded that PPE supplementation at the level of 600 mg/kg of diet improvedmeat stability and morphology of jejunum and reduced the blood cholesterol ofbroiler chickens.

In feeding of dairy cows, well balanced diet and the proper amount of dietary fiber and particle sizeare necessary. Also, management of feed and feed intake is very important. On the other hand, increasing the intake of dry matter in lactating cows during early lactation is vital for improving milk production, animal health, and physical condition (Grant and Albright, 1995). One of the factors affecting animal health, is the physical properties of the feed, which has a strong relationship with the health of the digestive tract and animal feeding behaviors. Many researches have shown that cows tend to consume fine-grained components of their diet and makes selective consumption against larger components of the diet, while coarse components of the diet and long pieces are essential for animal health, because it increases rumination and chewing activity in animals (Stone, 2004). This experiment was carried out to evaluate effect of feeding frequency on feeding behavior, milk yield, and composition in dairy cows.

Twenty Brown Swiss dairy cows (average milk yield of 26.56 ± 5.2 Kg/d and 44.95 days in milk) were used in a completely random design for two periods. Two experimental treatments were applied. The experimental treatments were: 1- delivery of feed twice per day at 08:00 am and 8:00 pm and 2- delivery of feed three times per day at 08:00, 16:00 and 24:00. Each experimental period consisted of 21 days adaptability and 4 days recording of feeding behavior, milk yield, and composition. For all cows, eating activity and ruminating were recorded by visual method within 48 hours (first and second days during four-day sampling) at intervals of five minutes. Total chewing activity was calculated from the total time spent eating and ruminating. Sleep duration was measured at intervals of 10 minutes. Distribution of particle size was determined through PSPS (Penn State Particle Seprator). Approximate analysis of samples was undertaken by AOAC (2005). Neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber were determined by the method of Van Soest (1991). Milk production was recorded on the third and fourth days of two sampling periods. Samples were taken at these days used to determine fat, protein, lactose, fat-free solids and urea by the means of milko scan system. Measurement of milk casein nitrogen, non-casein nitrogen, non-protein nitrogen of milk and true protein of milk were calculated by Raveland method (1938).

The results of this experiment showed that increasing the feeding frequency from two to three times a day increased the duration of eating, ruminating, chewing activity. Eating activity (minute / day) was significantly affected by experimental treatments (P<0.05). Delivery of feed three times a day increased the amount of time consumed for feeding. The increase in feed intake significantly increased the activity of chewing (734 vs. 771 minutes per day) (P<0.05). The most important feed-related factor affecting the activity of chewing is the physical structure and the chemical nature of the feed (Frooghi, 2005). With increasing feeding frequency, the activity of ruminant in standing position was reduced by approximately 10 minutes (P<0.05). This means that fewer frequency of feeding increased the level of ruminant activity in the standing position (Phillips and Rind, 2001). Also, the ruminant activity in the resting position was affected by experimental treatments and increased with increasing in feed delivery per day (P <0.0001). The results of this experiment showed that with increasing feed intake from two to three times a day, the selective consumption of feed components decreased and the consumption of NDF and long particles also increased (P<0.05). Therefore, increasing feeding has a more favorable effect on animal performance and prevents the separation of feed components (Jeziersky and Podluzny, 1984). The feeding frequency had a significant effect on the percentage of selection on screen 1.18 mm (short pieces) (P<0.05). This means that with increasing feed frequency, consumption from this screen was decreased. However, increasing feed intake, milk production was non significantly increased by 900 g/day. Also, increasing in the frequency of feed provision increased percent of protein, casein N and true protein of milk. However, increasing in the frequency of feed provision significantly decreased percent of milk urea (P<0.05). Perhaps the reason for the increase in milk protein with increasing feeding frequency is attributed to an increase in eating time and an increase in energy consumption in the form of concentrate or forage (Phillips and Rind, 2001). Feeding frequency had no significant effect on the percentage of milk solids- non- fat.

The results of this study showed that increasing feeding frequency can improve rumination and chewing activity and decrease the selective consumption of feed components. As the results of previous experiments showed, low feed intake increases competition between cows and also causes cows to wait for access to the feeder. So, excessive standing time can increase the risk of acidosis and laminits and reduce animal economic useful life.

In this research, through applying a questionnaire, detailed information were collected from 102 broiler farms over South Khorasan province. The data were associated to the farms performance during the years 2010 and 2011. European Efficiency Factor (EEF) was computed for the individual farms and their seasons of rearing, and then it was subjected to the Chi-Square and Logistic Regression statistical analyses using SPSS software. Most broiler breeders had a diploma and were at the age range of 41 to 50 years. The results of Chi Square test indicated that chick providing center (P<0.05), educational level (P<0.0001) and specialized information of the farmers (P<0.05), and rearing season (P<0.01) were statistically significantly associated with EEF as the effects of other independent variables are ignored. The findings of Logistic Regression analysis revealed that the educational level (P<0.0001) and specialized information of the farmers (P<0.05) as well as the strain of the chick (P<0.05) had positive influence on EEF measure as other factors were taken into account. This indicates that these significant factors are of great importance as the economic efficacy of a broiler farm enterprise is considered.