فرشید فتاح نیا

During the recent decades, rain reduction and consequently water shortage in Iran had an impact effect on crop cultivation program. Therefore, considering these factors, it is necessary to plan for crop production, which needs less water. Grass pea (Lathyrus sativus), is a high-quality forage in animal feeding and has unique biological traits like drought tolerance. Hence, this experiment was conducted to study the effect of alfalfa substitution with grass pea hay on performance and carcass quality of Kurdish growing lambs. Twenty-four Kurdish male lambs with an average body weight of 30.23 kg and seven months age were used in this experiment. Experimental diets included: (1) diet without grass pea hay (control), (2) diet containing 10% grass pea hay, (3) diet containing 20% grass pea hay, and (4) diet containing 30% grass pea hay. The results showed that neutral detergent fiber, crude protein, and ash contents of grass pea hay were 32.67%, 19.66%, and 11.70% of dry matter, respectively. Experimental diets had no significant effect on dry matter intake and feed efficiency, carcass parameters, carcass cuts, and meat chemical compositions of the lambs (P ≥ 0.05). Orthogonal comparisons showed that lambs fed diets containing grass pea hay had the higher average daily gain (P < 0.05). It was concluded that diet inclusion of grass pea hay up to 30% of dry matter, had no adverse effect on lambs healthy status.

In this study thity-two new-born Holstein male and female calves (3-d-old) were randomly assigned to one of four treatments: 1) feeding whole milk (HM) in 2 times/d (2×; HM-2×), 2) feeding HM in 3 times/d (3×; HM-3×), 3) feeding waste milk (WM) in 2× (WM-2×); and 4) feeding WM in 3× (WM-3×). The lowest starter dry matter (DM) intake (pre-weaning and entire period), total DM intake and the highest average daily gain (ADG; post-weaning and entire period) and feed efficiency (FE) were was observed in WM-3× calves compared to other groups (P<0.05). Calves in WM-3× group had the highest hip height (weaning and the end of experiment), body weight (BW; the end of experiment) and body length (weaning and the end of experiment) compared to other groups (P<0.05). Based on the conditions of the present study, it can be concluded that feeding HM at 3× improved Holstein Dairy calves. Further researches are needed to evaluate these findings.

Ewes show estrus signs during reproduction season the in the sheep production systems and generally, the average ewes litter size is one. Therefore, due to high cost of production, sheep production is not economic. Reproduction efficiency depends on factors such as period of the breeding season, ovulation rate, conception rate, pregnancy rate, litter size and lamb viability. The interaction effect of nutrition and environment influences all of these factors. Nutrition is one of the most important factors on the ruminant’s reproduction, which has an impact effect on the overall reproductive activity during their life. Nutrients like fat show their effect on the reproduction by changing the concentrations of plasma metabolites and hormones. Hence, the objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of dietary fatty acid (FA) supplements around mating on body weight (BW) change, hormones concentration, lamb sex and birth weight and reproductive performance of Lori-Bakhtiyari ewes. One hundred and five Lori-Bakhtiyari ewes were divided into three equal groups based on age (2-4 year) and body weight (54.58 ± 1.6 kg) and randomly allocated to experimental diets (n=35). Basal diet supplemented with 10% (DM basis) calcium salt of omega-6 FA, 10% calcium salt of omega-3 FA and 10% calcium salt of saturated FA (SFA). Ewes of each group fed respective experimental diet from 30 d pre- to 30 d post-mating. Serum concentrations of hormones (insulin, estradiol and progesterone) were measured. Reproductive performance including lambing rate, twining rate, the proportion of female lambs, the proportion of male lambs, lamb birth weight and weaning weight and litter size were recorded. The results showed that feeding fat supplements did not affect on BW change of ewes. Serum concentrations of insulin, estradiol and progesterone were not influenced by the experimental diets (P > 0.05). The proportion of female lambs was higher when ewes were fed diet containing omega-6 FA compared with the other dietary groups (P < 0.05). Lambing rate, twining rate, lamb birth weight and weaning weight were not affected by different fat supplements (P > 0.05). It was concluded that feeding a diet containing calcium salts of omega-6 FA around mating, can skew the sex ratio of lambs toward females. The interaction effect of dietary FA sources with other nutrients on the sex ratio of lambs could be investigated in future research. However, further research is required to confirm these findings.

Ensiling crops with low dry matter results in low quality silages that produce a lot of effluent during ensiling. So, the high level of moisture of these silages stimulates Clostridium fermentation and creates silage with the smell of butyric acid and low nutritional value, and as a result, its consumption in ruminants is reduced. On the other hand, ensiling plant materials with high humidity produces large amounts of leachate, which is not only difficult to collect, but also contains a large amount of nutrients with high digestibility. The problem of collecting and maintaining sewage has made ranchers and farmers think of ways to prevent sewage production. One of the solutions to reduce wastewater production is addition of moisture absorbent materials, which can be used as an alternative to reduce wastewater. Dry sugar beet pulp is one of the products that is produced in the process of sugar production in the factory (Macdonald et al, 1991 and Woolford et al, 1983), these materials also are supplied in the form of strings, or pellets with or without molasses (Macdonald et al, 1991). Dry alfalfa is one of the widely used feed materials in livestock farms, which is easily available to livestock farms and can be used as a moisture absorbent in corn silage (Ayaz et al, 2013). Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of using different levels of dry sugar beet pulp and alfalfa fodder separately and simultaneously as moisture absorbers on the chemical composition of corn silage, digestion kinetics and laboratory fermentation of corn silage. The population of rumen protozoa and different parts of corn silage protein.

Fresh corn forage was harvested from the field with 2-3 cm pieces. Laboratory-scale silos were prepared in polyethylene tubes with dimensions of 50 x 11 cm, which were equipped with a rubber cap to close the silo door and a drain valve to exit the effluent. Based on the wet weight of corn fodder, moisture absorbent materials were added to different treatments, dry sugar beet pulp and chopped alfalfa, and the experimental treatments included: 1- corn silage without additives (control), 2- corn silage with 1.25% chopped alfalfa and 3.75% of dry sugar beet pulp 3- corn silage with 2.5% chopped alfalfa fodder and 2.5% dry pomace of sugar beet 4- corn silage with 3.75% chopped alfalfa and 1.25% dry sugar beet pulp, 5- corn silage with 5% chopped alfalfa fodder, 6- corn silage with 7.5% chopped alfalfa forage, 7- corn silage with 5% dry sugar beet pulp, and 8- corn silage was mixed with 7.5% dry sugar beet pulp. Before making silage, the chemical composition of corn fodder, alfalfa and dry sugar beet pulp was measured in the laboratory (Table 1). The amount of corn silage produced in different treatments was measured and recorded.The experimental silage samples were ground after drying and dry matter, ash, organic matter and crude protein (AOAC, 2002) and NDF and ADF were measured to perform the gas test, dried silage samples were ground using a 1 mm mill. Broderick and Kang's method (Broderick et al, 1980) was used to measure ammonia nitrogen concentration. Ruminal fluid protozoa population count (Dehority 2003) and different protein parts (A, B1, B2, B3 and C) were measured by the method of Listeria et al. (1996). The amount of metabolizable energy and the digestibility of organic matter of the experimental silages were estimated (Menke and Steingass 1988) and the total volatile fatty acids were calculated (Makkar 2010).

The effect of adding different levels of chopped dry alfalfa and dried sugar beet pulp on the chemical composition of corn silage is shown in Table 2. The amount of dry matter showed a significant difference between experimental silages (p<0.05). Crude protein content of corn silage containing 7.5% dry alfalfa was higher than other treatments, and corn silage containing 5% dry sugar beet pulp and silage without additives had the lowest crude protein content (p<0.01). By adding moisture absorbing materials (dry sugar beet pulp and chopped dry alfalfa to the corn silage), silage dry matter content increased and the production effluent decreased. In line with the results of the present experiment, increasing the amount of alfalfa forage as a moisture absorber in corn silage increases the amount of crude protein (Moeinizade et al, 2013).The effect of adding different levels of chopped dry alfalfa and dry sugar beet pulp on gas production parameters, ammonia concentration and the total protozoa population are shown in Table 3. Different levels of dry alfalfa and dry sugar beet pulp did not affect the gas production parameters. Similar to the results of this experiment, it was shown that the addition of dry alfalfa to corn silage compared to corn silage without additives did not affect gas production and its rate (Ozturk et al, 2006). Ammonia concentration and total population of protozoa were not affected by the type and amount of moisture absorbent material. One of the factors affecting rumen ammonia concentration is the rate of decomposition of protein source. The higher the degradability of the protein source used, the correspondingly higher rumen ammonia concentration (Lima et al, 2010). It has been shown that adding wheat straw to corn silage had no effect on rumen ammonia nitrogen content (Alsahmi 2008).Table 3 shows that estimated metabolizable energy, total volatile fatty acids and organic matter digestibility were not significantly different. It was shown in a study (Ozturk et al, 2006) that by adding alfalfa to corn silage, there was no difference in its dry matter digestibility compared to silage without additives (without moisture absorbent) and with increasing the ratio of alfalfa in corn silage, the amount of dry matter digestibility and the metabolizable energy of silage increased significantly (p<0.05). These results show that corn silage containing moisture absorbent materials may provide more metabolizable energy to ruminants.Protein fraction (table 4) were affected by moisture absorbent materials, so that the lowest amount of parts A and B2 related to corn silage contains 7.5% of dry sugar beet pulp, and the highest amount of parts A and B2 related to corn silage It contains 7.5% of chopped alfalfa fodder (p<0.01)., There was no significant difference between B1 part of the protein among the experimental treatments. Corn silage containing 7.5% and 5% of dry sugar beet pulp accounted for the lowest and highest fraction of B3 protein, respectively (p < 0.01), and corn silage without additives and corn silage with 7.5% dry sugar beet pulp, respectively. The least and most part C of the protein were allocated to themselves (p<0.01).

Addition of chopped dry alfalfa and dried sugar beet pulp to corn silage was associated with an increase in silage dry matter and reduced the amount of produced effluent, and in the meantime, corn silage containing 7.5% of dry chopped alfalfa had better results than other silages. Corn silage containing different levels of chopped dry alfalfa and dried sugar beet pulp had different protein fractions, and the difference in these fractions can affect the amount of protein broken down in the rumen and the amount of protein passing to the lower parts of the digestive tract.

An increased intake of rumen undegradable protein (RUP) or n-3 fatty acids (FA) around mating is connected with improved reproductive efficiency in ewes. This experiment was aimed to study whether the ratio of female lambs was greater when Kurdish × Romanov ewes were received a diet rich in n-3 FA and RUP together around mating. Experimental diets were supplemented with 5% (DM basis) Ca salts of saturated FA (SFA), 5% Ca salts of fish oil (as n-3 FA source; n-3FO), or a combination of 5% Ca salts of fish oil and 5% fish meal (as a RUP source; n-3FO+RUP). The results showed that the proportion of total n-3 polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) in plasma increased and the n-6:n-3 decreased at CIDR removal day in animals received the n-3FO+RUP diet (P < 0.05) compared with the other diets. Plasma concentrations of oestradiol, glucose, and urea nitrogen (UN) at the day of oestrus (P < 0.05) was also lower when ewes received the n-3FO+RUP diet compared with the other diets. The ratio of female lambs was greater when ewes were fed the n-3FO+RUP diet around mating (P < 0.05) and was greater than an expected 50:50 ratio (72% females, P = 0.028). It was concluded that feeding ewes a diet rich in n-3 FA and RUP content around mating, rather than n-3 FA alone, could skew the sex ratio of lambs toward females.

The high cost and scarcity of feed, and increasing demand for animal product such as meat and milk increased the need for efficient utilization of high lignocellulose roughages for ruminant production. Iran is one of the arid and semi-arid desert regions and is facing a shortage of crops and fodder. On the other hand, there is always the problem of providing cheap and acceptable quality feed for livestock, and one of the ways to solve this problem is to use unusual feed such as crop residues and food factories; But most of these foods have not been studied and their chemical composition and level of consumption for animals are not well known. This requires the study of the effect of different levels of food sources on the diet and the determination of animal production responses. Sugarcane bagasse can be used as a substitute for part of the diet forage (wheat straw) for animal feed due to its high cellulose content and high palatability. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of diets containing different levels of old or fresh bagasse as a substitute for wheat straw in ewes's diet on chemical composition, fermentation parameters and digestibility of dry matter and organic matter by gas production method. The in vitro gas production system helps to better quantify nutrient utilization, and its accuracy in describing digestibility in animals has been validated in numerous experiments. Based on the strong relationship between measured digestibility and that predicted from gas production, regression equations have been developed and the method has been standardized.

A sample of bagasse was obtained from a sugarcane factory located in Khuzestan province and a sample of wheat straw was obtained from agricultural farms and immediately transferred to a nutrition laboratory. The old bagasse was stored in storage for a year. Experimental diets were adjusted based on the nutrient requirements of ewes (NRC, 2007) and included 50% forage (20% alfalfa and 30% straw) and 50% concentrate (32.5% barley, 10% soybean meal, 7% wheat bran and 0.5% of vitamin and mineral supplements were based on dry matter. The experimental treatments, old or fresh bagasse was replaced with wheat straw at different levels, so that the experimental diets in the first experiment (old bagasse) included: Diet 1: Diet containing 30% wheat straw, Diet 2: Diet containing 22.5% Wheat straw and 7.5% old bagasse, Diet 3: Diet containing 15% wheat straw and 15% old bagasse, Diet 4: Diet containing 7.5% wheat straw and 22.5% old bagasse and Diet 5: Diet containing 30 Percentage of old bagasse; And in the second experiment (fresh bagasse) including: diet 1: diet containing 30% wheat straw, diet 2: diet containing 22.5% wheat straw and 7.5% fresh bagasse, diet 3: diet containing 15% wheat straw and 15 Percentage of fresh bagasse, diet 4: diet containing 7.5% wheat straw and 22.5% fresh bagasse and diet 5: diet containing 30% fresh bagasse. The fresh bagasse sample was dried in an oven at 60 ° C for 48 hours and after determining the dry matter content, along with the old bagasse sample, wheat straw and experimental diets ground through a 1-mm screen using a Wiley mill, and analysed for dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP) (AOAC, 2019), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL) (Van Soest et al., 1991). For measurement of methane production, the final gas production (end of 24 hours) was recorded after 24 hours of incubation of the sample in ruminal fluid + phosphate buffer. Then 10 M sodium hydroxide was added to the contents of the glass bottle to absorb the carbon dioxide gas. After absorbing carbon dioxide (after about 10 minutes), the gas remaining in the syringe or glass bottle will be methane (Fievez et al., 2005). The chemical composition of the treatments statistically analyzed in a completely randomized design and gas production, separation factor, dry matter and organic matter digestibility, microbial mass production and production efficiency and methane production statistically analyzed in a randomized complete block design. Statistical analysis of data was performed using SAS (2006) software.

The results showed that wheat straw compared to fresh or old bagasse had a higher content of DM, CP, ash, Total gas accumulation 24h (ml), digestibility of DM and OM and lower content of OM, NDF, ADF and ADL (P˂0/05). The ADL and NDF contents of fresh bagasse was lower than old bagasse (P˂0/05). Among the experimental diets, the highest content of DM and ash, and the lowest content of OM and ADF belonged to the diet containing 30 percent wheat straw (P˂0/05). Diets containing different levels of old or fresh bags had higher and lower NDF content, respectively, compared to the diet containing wheat straw (P˂0.05). The digestibility of DM and OM in the diet containing 30 percent of old and fresh bagasse tended to decrease compared to its lower levels (P = 0/08 and 0/07). In general, if the price of each kilogram of wheat straw is low compared to bagasse, it can be suggested that a maximum level of 22.5 percent of bagasse be used instead of wheat straw in the diet of ewes; Of course, the 30 percent bagasse level can also be used with caution. It is recommended to use fresh bagasse instead of old bagasse in the diet of ewes.

 Suboptimal levels of kid survival are the largest contributor to reproductive wastage in goat flocks. This results in substantial loss of production, producer, and industry income, and is increasingly being perceived as poor animal welfare. Improving kid survival is therefore a priority for the industry. Nutrient provision during gestation not only affects maternal status and reproductive performance but also affects prenatal and postnatal offspring growth and health. Although trace minerals (TM) are needed by the body in small amounts, they are essential nutrients for several metabolic functions such as growth, development, reproduction, and immunity. Furthermore, newborn animals are dependent upon their dams for the transfer of these nutrients via the placenta and the mammary gland. The antibodies obtained from colostrum are the only defense mechanism against environmental factors in neonatal ruminants. Inadequate nutrition of the dam, immune system suppression, and stress factors may lead to the production of low-quality colostrum. Management and feeding of high-quality colostrum can reduce kid mortality, strengthen immunity, and increase animal life span. Nutrition affects the development of the mammary gland, the onset of lactogenesis, and colostrum production, either by affecting some of the hormones that control these processes or by contributing nutrients that are in demand at this stage of pregnancy. Selenium plays an important role in preventing impaired function of the immune response. Copper deficiency has been shown to result in lowered bactericidal activities of blood leukocytes in ruminant animals. Zinc sufficiency has also been linked to proper immune functions. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of TM injection in late pregnancy on colostrum quality and plasma metabolites of Lori does and their kids.
Thirty Lori mature does with an average body weight of 40 kg and an age of 2-3 years were used. One month before the expected kidding, animals were divided into two groups (n=15 does/group) and randomly assigned to experimental treatments. Experimental treatments were no injection of trace minerals (Control; C) and injection of 1 mL of TM at four and two weeks before expected kidding. Blood samples were taken through the jugular vein. Each mL of TM solution contained 2.5 mg of Cu, 1.25 mg of Se, 5 mg of Mn, and 5 mg of Zn. All does were kept in similar nutritional and managerial conditions from mating to one month before kidding.
Results showed that plasma concentrations of glucose and total cholesterol (TC) tended to be higher and lower in the TM group at day 7 before kidding, respectively (P=0.06). Experimental treatments did not affect plasma triglyceride (TG), Ca, and Mg concentrations, and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity of does at day 7 before kidding (P>0.05). Whereas, TM injection before mating decreased plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and increased total protein (TP), BRIX index (BI), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and total antioxidant activity at day 7 before kidding (P<0.05). Colostrum of does received TM had a higher fat, protein, and BI content and a lower lactose content than the colostrum of the C group (P<0.05). Plasma concentrations of glucose and MDA were lower in kids born from does received TM than those born from the C group (P<0.05). Experimental treatments did not affect plasma concentrations of TC, Ca, and Mg concentrations in kids (P>0.05). Kids born from does received TM had higher plasma concentrations of TG, TP, BI and SOD, GPX, and total antioxidant activity than those of the C group (P<0.05).
According to the results of the present experiment, injection of a TM solution containing Cu, Zn, Se, and Mn four and two weeks before birth increased the concentrations of TP and BI as well as the activity of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, GPX) and antioxidant capacity and reduced MDA concentration in Lori goat plasma. This improved the quality of colostrum produced by these does. Kids born from does receiving trace minerals had higher plasma concentrations of TP, BI, and activity of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, GPX), higher total antioxidant capacity, and lower concentrations of MDA compared to the C group. Therefore, this strategy may have beneficial effects on the health, viability, and performance of kids before weaning.

Sheep producers would benefit from the opportunity to change offspring sex ratio towards their preferred gender. For example, male lambs have higher average daily gain and better carcass quality than female lambs. Thereby reaching a higher market weight over a set time period. However, sheep interprises require breeding females, which may lead to a higher sale price of first-cross ewes at weaning. Maternal nutrition has potential to affect many aspects of reproduction outcomes including ovulation rate, pregnancy rate, embryo survival and sex ratio of offspring. It has been indicated that some dietary nutrients including glucose and polyunsaturated fatty acids as well as total energy could affect offspring sex ratio in different mammalian species. The influence of dietary mineral balance affect offspring sex ratio in sow and ewe. Experiments on pre- and postconception mechanisms demonstrated that these mechanisms influence the sex ratio in mouse embryos. Some studies based on theories that sperm carrying the X or Y chromosome favored different vaginal pH. Therefore, it has been suggested that the pH of the vagina at the time of fertilization may have a differential effect on X- or Y- sperm, thus affecting the sex of the offspring. Feeding a negative dietary cation- anion difference (DCAD) in prepartum dairy cows improves Ca metabolism in the peripartum cow through instigating a mild metabolic acidosis via feeding excess dietary anions. We hypothesized that feeding diet with negative DCAD around mating would decrase the pH of veginal fluid and subsequently might affect lamb sex ratio in Kurdish ewes. Therfore, the aim of this experiment was to investigate the effect of dietary DCAD of flushing diet around mating on plasma metabolites and hormones concentrations and reproductive performance of Kurdish ewes as well as lamb sex ratio.

 Eighty four Kurdish ewes with average BW of 40±5 kg, BCS of 2.75±0.25 and 2-4 years were used. Ewes were divided into two similar groups and randomly assigned to experimental diets. Experimental diets consisted of 1- cationic diet (diet with DCAD of +193 mEq/kg of DM) and 2- anionic diet (diet with DCAD of -21 mEq/kg of DM). Ewes fed experimental diets from 2 weeks before estrous synchronization till 3 weeks after mating. Estrous of ewes were synchronized by 9-d intravaginal sponge and intramuscular injection of 5 mL vetaroline at the day of sponge removal. Blood samples were collected from jugular vein using 10-mL evacuated tube containing sodium heparin at the day before the beginning of experiment, at the day of sponge removal and at the day of estrous and mating. Plasma concentrations of total cholesterol, total protein, urea nitrogen, glucose, triglyceride, insulin, progesterone, estradiol, testosterone, calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium were determined.

 Experimental diets had no effect on estrous response, fertility rate, lambing rate, twining rate and birth BW and sex of lambs. Ewes fed anionic diet had higher plasma progesterone and lower estradiol levels at the days of sponge removal and estrous than those fed cationic diet (P<0.05). Plasma concentrations of total protein, glucose, sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium did not influence by DCAD of flushing diet. Whereas, feeding anionic diet around mating decreased plasma concentration of total cholesterol and triglyceride and increased urea nitrogen (P<0.05).

 According to these results, feeding flushing diet with different DCAD around mating had no effect on lamb sex ratio in Kurdish ewes.

The transition period between late pregnancy and early lactation (also called the periparturient period) certainly is the most interesting stage of the lactation cycle and is the last 3 weeks before parturition to 3 weeks after parturition. Most infectious diseases and metabolic disorders occur during this period. Milk fever, ketosis, retained fetal membranes, metritis, and displaced abomasum primarily impact cows during the periparturient period (Drackley, 1999). Any nutritional limitation during this period has an important impact on cow efficiency and consequently, milk production decreases. Dairy cows encounter substantial metabolic and physiological adaptations during the transition period. The immune system during the periparturient period is impaired. At this time, the most important factor causing immune-suppression in highly productive cows is metabolic stress resulting from hormonal and metabolic fluctuations, a negative energy balance, shortage of proteins, minerals and vitamins which are required to meet the demands of the fetus as well as the onset of lactation (Sordillo, 2016). In the world, Cu deficiency is one of the most common problems in cattle with clinical and subclinical signs (Hill and Shannon, 2019). Even marginal Cu deficiency (6 to 7 ppm dietary Cu) depresses blood neutrophil function in dairy cattle (Torre et al., 1996). One strategy for improving immune system of transition dairy cows is mineral and vitamin supplementation. It has been reported that many minerals are enzymatic cofactors (Filappi et al., 2005). Studies showed that minerals injection would be a suitable method to improve mineral utilization, and this may be a promising alternative to improve animal performance (Collet et al., 2017). Furthermore, during this period, dairy cows need antioxidants to combat reactive oxygen species (ROS) which produce during oxidative stress. Vitamin C was identified as antioxidant and could help immune system to overcome ROS production. Hence, this experiment was aimed to study the effect of vitamin C and copper injection on the health status of transition dairy cows.

The study was carried out in a commercial farm located in Kermanshah province of Iran. Cows were enrolled from June 22, until September 22. Temperature and humidity index (THI) was calculated. It was between 72-78. The experiment was performed with 40 multiparous (twenty; second parity and twenty; third and fourth parity) Holstein lactating dairy cows which divided into four groups (10 animals/ group) in a 2×2 factorial arrangement. All cows were offered a TMR diet. Experimental treatments consisted of control (injection of 7 ml of NaCl % 0.9), Cu (injection of 75 mg Cu per cow) Vitamin C (injection of 25 mg vitamin C solution/kg BW), and Vitamin C-Cu (simultaneous injection of 25 mg vitamin C solution/kg BW and 75 mg Cu/ cow). Solutions were injected on d 20 and 40 days before expected parturition, parturition day and day 20 of postpartum. Serum concentrations of total protein, glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, Ca, P and Mg were determined using autoanalyzer by Pars Azmoon Kits. Serum concentrations of Beta hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) were measured using autoanalyzer by Randow Kits. Serum concentration of Cu was determined by atomic absorbtion. Serum concentrations of vitamin C and superoxide dismutase was measured by Elisa reader. Incidence of metabolic disorders and infection disease were recorded. Data of serum variables were analyzed based on a randomized block design with a 2×2 (Vitamin C and Cu, with or without injection) factorial arrangement using Proc Mix of SAS software. The differences among treatments were evaluated using Tukey adjustment when the overall F-test was P ≤ 0.05. Trends were declared when 0.05 < P < 0.10. In addition, percentages of metabolic disorders were reported.

Results showed that the interaction effect of vitamin C and Cu had no significant effect on serum concentration of vitamin C and superoxide dismutase activity. Cows received vitamin C had the greatest serum vitamin C concentration on d 20 prepartum, parturition day, d 10, 20 and 30 postpartum (P<0.05). Content of serum Cu were affected by the interaction of vitamin C and Cu on d 10 and d 20 postpartum (P<0.05). Copper injection increased serum Cu concentration and superoxide dismutase activity on d 20 prepartum, parturition day, d 10, 20 and 30 postpartum (P<0.05) in cows received Cu without vitamin C. Serum concentrations of P, Mg, glucose, BHBA, NEFA, triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol were not influenced by the interaction effect of vitamin C and Cu. Serum triglyceride concentration tended to decrease (P=0.06) in cows received vitamin C and on parturition day. Copper injection tended to increase (P=0.06) serum triglyceride concentration on d 20 postpartum. Serum protein concentration tended to decrease (P=0.07) in cows received vitamin C and in compared to other treatments on parturition day. Copper or vitamin C injections had no effect on serum concentrations of Ca, P, Mg, glucose, BHB and NEFA of experimental cows. Serum calcium concentration tended to increase (P=0.07) in cows received simultaneous injection of vitamin C and Cu in compared to the others on parturition day. Simultaneous injection of vitamin C and Cu tended to increase total cholesterol concentration (P=0.06) on d 10 and 30 of postpartum. Copper injection tended to increase total cholesterol concentration on d 20 prepartum, parturition day and d 10 postpartum (P=0.06). Control groups had the highest incidence rate of retained placenta and clinical mastitis.

It is concluded that vitamin C and Cu injection reduced incidence rate of retained placenta and clinical mastitis due to improving immunity system performance of transition dairy cows.

Birth weight is the most important factor affecting lamb survival, but even when birth weight is appropriate, some lambs are lost to weaning. Infectious diseases are the most important factors affecting the mortality of lambs before weaning. Therefore, any factor that reduces the prevalence of these infections has a positive effect on the survival of lambs and improves the reproductive performance of the flock. The structure of the placenta in ruminant animals prevents the transfer of immunoglobulins from maternal circulation to the fetus. Therefore, newborn ruminants are completely dependent on the absorption of immunoglobulins from the mother's colostrum after birth. Consuming a sufficient amount of high-quality colostrum at the right time is the most important management factor affecting the survival and health of newborn ruminants. Colostrum also affects the survival of lambs by providing nutrients necessary for metabolism and heat production. Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D3, and E) are among the important components of colostrum and their concentrations are higher in colostrum compared to milk. These vitamins play an important role in improving the immune system of ruminant animals. Many genetic and non-genetic factors such as animal breed, mother's age, nutrition of dam in late pregnancy, herd vaccination program, colostrum volume, and colostrum collection time after parturition affect the quantity and quality of colostrum in ruminant animals. Nutrition status in late pregnancy is the most important factor affecting the quantity and quality of colostrum produced in these animals. Therefore, an insufficient supply of vitamins in pregnant ewes is one of the reasons for reducing the survival and mortality of newborn lambs. Much research has been conducted regarding the effect of dietary or injectable vitamin A, D3, and E supplements in late pregnancy on the maternal immune system and the survival of newborn ruminants, although, they have mainly focused on vitamin E and selenium supplements. To our knowledge, there is no information on how the timing of the use of these vitamins in late pregnancy affects the metabolic responses of ruminants. Therefore, this experiment aimed to investigate the effect of time and amount of vitamin AD3E injection in late pregnancy on colostrum quality and plasma metabolites of Afshari ewes and their lambs. Forty Afshari mature ewes with an average of 45 kg and 2-3 years of age were used. One month before the expected lambing, animals were divided into four groups and randomly assigned to experimental treatments. Experimental treatments were: 1. No injection of vitamin AD3E (Control; C), 2. Injection of 10 mL of vitamin AD3E four weeks before the expected lambing, 3. Injection of 10 mL of vitamin AD3E two weeks before the expected lambing, and 4. Injection of five mL of vitamin AD3E four weeks and five mL two weeks before the expected lambing. Blood samples of ewes and lambs were collected four and one week before the expected lambing and three days after colostrum consumption, respectively. Plasma was separated and stored at -20 ◦C for metabolites’ measurement. Samples of colostrum from all animals were collected and stored at 3-5 ◦C for determining chemical composition and BRIX index. Results showed that the greatest plasma concentrations of glucose and malondialdehyde (MDA) on day 7 before lambing were observed in ewes of the C groups (P<0.05). Experimental treatments did not affect plasma total cholesterol (TCh), triglyceride (TG), and magnesium (Mg) concentrations of ewes on day 7 before lambing (P>0.05). Plasma concentration of total protein (TP), calcium (Ca), and BRIX index on day 7 before lambing were higher in ewes who received vitamin AD3E compared to the C group (P<0.05). Ewes received 10 mL of vitamin AD3E two weeks before the expected lambing had the highest plasma glutathione peroxidase (GPX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and total antioxidant activities on day 7 before lambing (P<0.05). Colostrum fat and lactose percentage were not influenced by experimental treatments (P>0.05). Whereas, colostrum protein percentage tended to be lower for ewes in the C group (P=0.08). The lowest colostrum BRIX index was observed in the ewes of the C group (P<0.05). The lowest plasma glucose concentration was observed in lambs born from ewes of the C group (P<0.05). Experimental treatments did not affect plasma TCh, TG, Ca, and Mg concentrations of lambs (P>0.05). Lambs born from ewes received 10 mL of vitamin AD3E two weeks before lambing had the highest plasma GPX, SOD, and total antioxidant activities compared to other groups (P<0.05). Vitamin AD3E injection increased the plasma BRIX index of lambs compared to the group without injection (P<0.05). The results showed that injection of vitamin AD3E two weeks before lambing increased plasma TP concentration and antioxidant activity of ewes, as well as colostrum TP content, and consequently increased plasma TP concentration and antioxidant activity of lambs. Therefore, this can be an effective strategy to improve lamb survival and performance.

In this experiment, the effect of two types of zinc-methionine (Zn-Met) chelate on performance and bone characteristics of broiler chickens were considered in a completely randomized design, using 490 Ross-308 broiler chickens (one-d-old, mixed sexes) with 7 treatments, 5 replicates and 14 birds in each replicate. Treatment consisted of: 1) control (basal diet), 2-4) control + 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8 mg/kg Zn-Meth of Zin-Pro® respectively and 5-7), control + 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8 mg/kg zn-Met synthetized by Ilam University. Results showed that as compared to group, none of zn-Met source had significant effect on broiler chickens feed intake, body weight, FCR and EPEF, carcass and breast and thigh percentages, serum glucose, triglyceride, cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride and Ca concentrations, activity of Alkaline phosphatase, Aspartate transaminase and Alanine aminotransferase enzymes and tibia characteristics including weight, dry matter and ash percentages, length, width and diameter and P and Ca percentages (P < 0.05) while broilers fed diet containing Zn-Meth had higher serum and tibia Zn concentration, higher villous height and villous height to crypt depth ratio and lower villous width in ileum and jejunum as compared to negative control group (P < 0.05). Generally, both of the chelates had similar effects on broiler chicken’s performance, small intestine morphology and tibia traits and Iranian kind of Zn-Meth has capability to substitution with foreign source of it although needs to further investigations.

The profitability of livestock production depends to a great extent on the cost of feeding animals, which is often the principal production cost. The animal feed production industry consumes large quantities of imported raw materials, including cereals and oilseed cake. This high dependence on imports, fluctuating prices and a lack of standardization concerning the composition of the raw materials, are constraints for the industry, which is keen to find a solution. In the last years the valorisation of agricultural co-products is receiving more attention, co-products contain valuable substances; they are good sources of dietary fiber. Many agricultural co-products are rich in dietary fibers. Ruminants could extract nutritional components through symbiotic relationships with microorganisms, including bacteria and protozoa, present in their digestive apparatus. The main benefit of these microorganisms is their ability to convert different vegetable materials rich in fiber, and with no use in human food, into products of high biological value such as milk and meat.Most parts of Iran have arid and semi-arid climate, and there is feed shortage for livestock during the year. Use of agro-industrial co-products in animal diet is an alternative way to overcome feed shortage. Agro-industrial co-products, can be effectively consumed by ruminant species. One of the agro-industrial co-products are medicinal plant residue. These distilled leaves and residues do not have a specific commercial use and could be included in livestock diet. This experiment was aimed to study the in vitro rumen fermentation kinetic of rose flower distillation residues and fumaria distillation residues and experimental diets containing different levels of rose flower distillation residues or fumaria distillation residues.

Fresh rose flower distillation residues and fumaria distillation residues were collected from an agro industry processing factory (Gareh Ban, Harsin, Kermanshah province). Chemical compositions (dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, crude protein and ash), in vitro gas production parameters, total protozoa population and N-ammonia concentration of rose flower distillation residues and fumaria distillation residues were measured. Each pulp separately included at three levels (10, 20 and 30 % of DM) in a basal diet. Experimental diets were:1- Basal diet, 2- basal diet containing 10% of rose flower distillation residues, 3- basal diet containing 20% of rose flower distillation residues, 4- basal diet containing 30% of rose flower distillation residues, 5- basal diet containing 10% of fumaria distillation residues, 6- basal diet containing 20% of fumaria distillation residues and 7- basal diet containing 30% of fumaria distillation residues. Basal diet formulated for ewes and contained 12.5 % CP and 2.20 Mcal metabolisable energy (ME) /Kg of diet. In vitro gas production parameters, total protozoa population and N-ammonia concentration of diets were measured and metabolizable energy (ME), short chain fatty acids (SCFA) and organic matter digestibility (OMD) were estimated. For in-vitro gas production, rumen fluid was taken from two rumen fistulated Kordish rams. For measuring gas production, 200 mg of experimental diets were incubated with 40 ml of buffered-rumen fluid for 120 hours. The cumulative produced gas was recorded at different times of incubation and gas production parameters were fitted with Blummel et al. equation (2003). Organic matter digestibility (OMD) was estimated after 24 hours of incubation (Menke and Steingass 1988). N-ammonia concentration was measured based on the method of Broderickand Kang et al. (1980). Rumen protozoa were identified according to the method of Dehority et al. (2003). After 24 h incubation, 5 ml of buffered rumen fluid was pipetted into a screw-capped test tube containing 5 ml of formalin. Thereafter, two drops of brilliant green dye (2 g brilliant green and 2 ml glacial acetic diluted to 100 ml with distilled water) were added to the test tube, mixed thoroughly, and allowed to stand overnight at room temperature. Total and differential counts of protozoa were made with five replications. In-vitro rumen concentration of volatile fatty acids (VFA) was measured by gas chromatography (Ottenstein and Bartley 1971). All in-vitro gas production trials were carried out in three runs. Protozoa population, ammonia-N, SCFA, ME and OMD data were analyzed based on a completely randomized design and gas production data was analyzed based on a complete randomized block design using Proc GLM of SAS software. The differences among treatments were evaluated using Tukey adjustment when the overall F-test was P ≤ 0.05. In addition, independent comparisons were done for diets containing rose flower distillation residues vs. diets containing fumaria distillation residues.

The results showed that rose flower distillation residues contains 130.6, 425.5 and 308.5 g/kg of CP, NDF and ADF respectively and fumaria distillation residues contains 143.4, 473.7 and 347.4 g/kg of CP, NDF and ADF respectively. Gas production, ammonia-N and total protozoa population were not different between rose flower distillation residues and fumaria distillation residues, but rose flower distillation residues had greater gas production rate than fumaria distillation residues (0.057 vs 0.047 %/h, P<0.01). Diet inclusion of rose flower distillation residues or fumaria distillation residues increased gas production in compare to basal diet (P<0.01). Diet containing 30 % of rose flower distillation residues had the highest gas production (90.05 ml/200 mg DM), gas production rate (0.034 %/h), OMD (58.38%), SCFA (1.07 mmol/200 mg DM) and ME (9.47 MJ/kg DM) (P<0.01). Basal diet had the highest ammonia-N concentration (16.77 mg/dl, P<0.01) among experimental diets.

Considering the obtained data regarding the chemical compositions and gas production parameters, it is concluded that rose flower distillation residues and fumaria distillation residues could be used as a part of forage portion in ruminant nutrition.

Water shortage, low quality soils, and insufficient supply of feed are the main limitations for livestock production in arid and semiarid regions of the word. Therefore, there is a demand to cultivate new crops for these areas as an alternative to crops, which are hypersensitive to low fertile situation. Cultivation of acceptable-quality unusual plants, which are resistant to harsh environmental conditions is a proper way to overcome these challenges. Artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) is a highly productive crop and produce a large amount of forage per unit of area. Artichoke forage has good nutritional value for ruminant animals. In other hand, artichoke as a medicinal plant contains many secondary compounds including polyphenols, cynarin, chlorogenic acid, carotenoids and natural antioxidants. Lower blood cholesterol and triglyceride and carcass fat have been reported by these compounds in animals fed artichoke products. Therefore, we hypothesized that addition of artichoke forage to diet of fattening lambs may has beneficial effects on their carcass quality traits.
In order to evaluate the effects of dietary artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) level instead of alfalfa on meat fatty acids profile and carcass quality traits of fattening lambs, this experiment was conducted using 24 Kurdish male lambs (initial body weight of 30.2 ± 2.35 kg) in a completely randomized design with three treatments and eight replications. Experimental treatments included: 1) control (diet without artichoke hay), 2) diet containing 10% artichoke hay, and 3) diet containing 20% artichoke hay. The experiment was lasted for 100 days including 20 d of adaptation period and 80 d of data recording and samples collection. At the end of experiment, all lambs were weighed after an overnight fast (16 h). All lambs were slaughtered, and hot carcass were weighed. The carcass was split into two equal halves (left and right). The right half of carcass was cut into six primal cuts including neck, shoulder, breast-flank, loin, leg and tail. Meat chemical composition, color parameters and fatty acids profile were measured.
The results showed that incorporation of artichoke to the diet improved the daily weight gain of lambs (P<0.05). Also, hot carcass weight and dressing percentage increased linearly with increasing artichoke level in the diet (P<0.05). Dietary artichoke level had no effect on carcass cuts percentage (neck, shoulder, breast flank, loin, leg, and tail), meat chemical composition (moisture, protein, fat and ash) and color parameters (lightness, redness, yellowness). Meat fatty acids profile (including saturated fatty acids, unsaturated fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acids) were not affected by artichoke level in the diets.
According to the results, feeding fattening lambs a diet contained artichoke (up to 20% of total mixed ration) has no detrimental effects on meat quality and improve their dressing percentage.

This research aimed to investigate the effects of different levels of grounded barley grain on chemical composition, fermentation parameters and in vitro gas production of artichoke silage. According to this, after chopping fresh artichoke forage, ground barley grain was added to artichoke forage at different levels of zero, 5 and 10% and ensiled in a compeletly ramdomized design with 4 replicat for 60 days. Corn forage was ensiled in the same conditions but without additives. Chemical composition, gas production parameters, ammonia nitrogen concentration, pH and buffering capacity of silages were measured. The results showed that the dry matter and ether extract of artichoke silage increased and the crude protein, NDF and ADF decreased with increasing level of grounded barley grain in the silos. Corn silage had the lowest pH and the highest flieg point compared to other silages. In artichoke silage, pH and ammonia-N concentration were significantly reduced by adding grounded barley grain to silos. The amount of effluent decreased significantly with increasing grounded barley grain to artichoke silage. Water soluble carbohydrates and fermentation coefficient in artichoke silage without additive had the lowest value. Among the artichoke silage, silage with 10% ground barley grain had the highest gas volume, gas production potential, metabolizable energy and the lowest partitioning factor. The results showed that the addition of ground barley grain to artichoke silage up to 10% level improves the fermentation parameters in silage and makes artichoke silage desirable silage.

This study was performed to evaluate the effect of body condition score (BCS) during dry period and calving season on the incidence of metabolic disorders in Holstein cows in Isfahan province.  About 5138 birth records were extracted from different births since 1395. Data included animal number, year of calving, month of calving, length of dry period, length of gestation period, calf birth weight, calf sex, number of calves born per calving, retained placenta, dystocia, stillbirth and metritis. Data were classified into different classes, for uniformity and were analyzed by SAS software using GLIMMIX procedure. The results showed that effect of BCS changes on the incidence of metabolic disorders (retained placenta, dystocia, stillbirth and metritis) was not significant (P>0.05). The effect of parity on retained placenta, dystocia, stillbirth and metritis was significant (P<0.01). Calf birth weight had significant effect on retained placenta (birth weight less than 35 kg and more than 46 Kg), dystocia and stillbirth (calves with birth weight 46 kg) and metritis (P<0.01). Effect of dry period on the incidence of retained placenta (dry period: less than 45 days, 61-100 days and 46-60 days) and dystocia (increasing dry period from 61to 100 days) and metritis (dry period: less than 45 days, 61-100 days and 46-60 days) was significant (P<0.01). The effect of gestation length on the incidence of retained placenta was significant (P<0.01) but had no significant effect on the stillbirth (P>0.05). The effect of calving season on the incidence of retained placenta and metritis was significant (P<0.01).

Commercially available feed-grade crystalline amino acids have provided an opportunity for nutritionists to formulate low CP cost-effective diets while maintaining optimal protein utilization by birds. Lysine is the first limiting amino acid in practical diets for broilers when soybean meal is not the major protein source. Lysine supplementation under such circumstances almost becomes unavoidable in particular when dietary CP contents are to be reduced and when using the concept of ideal amino acid ratio in which lysine is used as a reference amino acid. L-Lysine HCl, which contains a minimum of 78% lysine is the dominant source of lysine for addition to poultry diets. L-Lysine sulfate products have minimum lysine contents of 46.8% in Biolys60 (Degussa AG, Frankfurt, Germany) or 51% in Lysine Plus (CJ Biotech Co. Ltd., Liaocheng, Shandong, China). A recent study reported that the bioefficacy of L-lysine sulfate relative to L-lysine HCl was similar when using daily gain and feed conversion of young pigs as the response criteria. In addition, several other swine and broiler experiments had been conducted to compare the bioefficacy of lysine in L-lysine sulfate and L-lysine HCl. Most of these studies used animal performance as the main response variable. However, very little research has been conducted to determine the effects of different lysine sources on plasma metabolites and bone characteristics of broiler chickens as the response variable. Therefore, the present study was conducted to examine the comparative effects of L-lysine sulfate and L-lysine HCl in broiler chickens using growth performance, blood metabolites and bone parameters as response variables.

In this experiment compared the effects of L-Lysine-hydrochloride (Lys) and Biolys-Sulfate (BioLys) on broiler chickens’ performance and Immune Response. In a completely randomized design, 200 Ross-308 broiler chickens were allocated to 5 dietary treatments with 5 replicates and 8 birds in each. Dietary treatments including: 1- Control  or basal diets (100% of supplemented Lys from Lys-HCl), 2- Ration 25:75 (75% of supplemented Lys from Lys-HCl and 25% from BioLys-Sulfate), 3- Ration 50:50 (50% of supplemented Lys from Lys-HCl and 50% from BioLys-Sulfate), 4- Ration 75:25 (25% of supplemented Lys from Lys-HCl and 75% from BioLys-Sulfate) and 5- Ration 100 (100% of supplemented Lys from BioLys-Sulfate). Feed ingredients (i.e., corn, corn gluten meal, and soybean meal) were analyzed for amino acid by NIRS in Evonik company representative in IRAN. The composition of basal diet and nutrient composition of feed ingredients. During the study, feed intake (FI) and body weight (BW) were determined at the end of starter, grower and finisher periods, and mortality-corrected FCR was calculated by accordingly. European production efficiency factor (EPEF) was calculated as: EPEF = [Viability (%) × BW (kg) / age (d) × FCR (kg feed/kg gain)] × 100.All the birds were vaccinated intramuscularly through breast muscle with killed Newcastle disease and influenza vaccine (Cevac: New Flu-Kem) at 7 d of age, and Newcastle disease La Sota vaccine was used in the drinking water for vaccination at 14 d of age. Antibody titer against Newcastle disease, avian influenza and sheep red blood cell were detected. At the end of the experiment (42 d of age), 2 blood samples from the wing vein of 2 birds (almost near to mean body weight of each pen) were collected and blood metabolites like serum glucose, triacylglycerol, total cholesterol, albumin, uric acid and creatinine were detected. The other blood sample was used to detecting heterophil and lymphocyte percentages and heterophil to lymphocyte ratio accordingly. Finally 1 broiler from each replicate were selected and slathered, then tibia bone parameters like height, width, diameter, Ca and P percentage were detected. 

The results showed that from 1-42 d, broiler chickens fed the 100-diet had higher feed intake and body weight gain as compared to control group (P < 0.05). Dietary treatments had no effects on serum cholesterol, glucose and uric acid concentrations, spleen and thymus relative weight, heterophil and lymphocyte percentages and heterophil to lymphocyte ratio (H:L), antibody titter against SRBC and New-Castle diseases, tibia bone diameter and width, dry matter and ash percentages (P > 0.05). As compared to control group, broiler chickens fed diet containing 100% BioLys had higher serum total protein concentration, antibody titter against avian influenza and bone Ca and P percentages, tibia bone length, width and index (P < 0.05).

In conclusion, inclusion of BioLys-Sulfate rather than L-Lysine-HCl to broiler chickens diet, increased broiler chickens feed intake and improved immune response and bone parameters but had no effect on broiler chickens body weight. In spite of cheaper cost of BioLys-Sulfate, its inclusion in broiler chickens diet decreased income over feed cost ratio and its use is not economically advisable.

This experiment was aimed to study the effect of bacterial inoculant on some in vitro fermentation parameters and quality characteristics of barley silage. Prosage bacterial inoculant (a mixture of Lactobacillus buchneri, Lactobacillus plantarum, Enterococcus faecium and Propionibacterium acidophilus) was added at three (0, 5, and 10 mg/kg of silage dry matter) levels to barley silages. Silage quality traits including dry matter (DM), pH and buffering capacity were measured and fleig point was calculated. In vitro gas production potential, gas production rate and lag time were measured. Furthermore, total protozoa population and N-ammonia concentration of experimental silages were measured and metabolizable energy, short chain fatty acids and organic matter digestibility were estimated. Results showed that buffering capacity, fleig point and pH of experimental silages were not affected by bacterial inoculant (P>0.05), however, barley silage containing 5 mg bacterial inoculant had greater dry matter content (30.24 vs 28.07 and 28.67 %, P<0.05) compared with the control and silage containing 10 mg of bacterial inoculant. Furthermore, bacterial additive had no effect on gas production parameters and total protozoa population, N-ammonia concentration, estimated metabolizable energy, short chain fatty acids and in vitro organic matter digestibility (P>0.05). Based on the current experiment, use of bacterial additive for the preparation of barley silage is not recommended due to its costs.

The aim of this experiment was to investigate the effect of starter soybean oil (SO) and crude protein (CP) level on growth performance, plasma parameters and urinary purine derivatives (UPD) of dairy calves. Forty-eighth 3-old Holstein dairy calves with initial BW of 39.8 ± 2.4 kg were used in a completely randomized design with 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. The experimental diets consisted of diet without SO and 19% CP, diet without SO and 22% CP, diet with 3% SO and 19% CP and diet with 3% SO and 22% CP. Feed intake, feces score, skeletal growth indices, plasmaparameters, liver enzymes, urinary purine derivatives and microbial protein synthesis were measured. Growth performance, plasma parameters and UPD were not influenced by interaction effect of starter diet SO and CP level. Starter diet intake, average daily gain and feed efficiency were lower in calves fed SO than those fed diets without SO (P < 0.05). The fecal score and wither height of calves fed diets containing SO were higher and lower that those fed diets without SO, respectively (P < 0.05). Plasma concentrations of glucose, beta-hydroxy butyrate and total protein were lower in calves fed SO (P < 0.05). Addition of SO to the diets decreased urinary allantoin and total UPD concentrations (P ≤ 0.05). Microbial protein synthesistended to be decreased in calves received diets containing SO compared to other groups (P=0.06). Plasma urea nitrogen concentration of calvesincreased by increasing dietary CP level (P < 0.05). According to this results, growth performance of Holstein dairy calves is not affected by interaction of SO and CP level in starter diet.

Meat and dairy products from ruminants are the main source of vaccenic acid (VA) and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in human nutrition. In particular, the isomer of cis-9, trans-11 CLA is active in the prevention of cancer and atherosclerosis in human (Belury, 2002). CLA is partially synthesized in the rumen by cellulolytic bacteria, and mainly by Butyrivibrio spp. during the biohydrogenation (BH) of linoleic acid (cis-9, cis-12 C18:2, LA). However, the largest proportion of CLA present in milk is endogenously produced in the mammary gland by the action of the enzyme Δ9-desaturase on vaccenic acid (trans-11 C18:1, VA), which is another product of the ruminal BH (Jenkins et al., 2008; Shingfield et al., 2013). In the last decade several efforts have been made in order to develop efficient enrichment strategies of VA and CLA in ruminant products (Shingfield et al., 2013). The main strategy to enhance these beneficial fatty acids (FAs) content in food is manipulating ruminant feeding and modulating rumen BH. Tannins are phenolic compounds that are chemically classified as hydrolysable (HT) or condensed (CT). Tannins extracted from chestnut and oak are HT and those extracted from quebracho are an example of CT (Waghorn, 2008). Tannic acid (TA) is a commercial HT. Tannins have been reported to modify ruminal fermentation by inhibiting ammonia and methane production (Carulla et al., 2005) partially by their ability to form complexes with dietary protein and fiber (Waghorn, 2008). It is widely known and accepted that tannins are able to bind proteins and inhibit the growth of ruminal bacteria (Min et al., 2003). Concerning lipid metabolism, tannins were shown to inhibit Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens (Jones et al., 1994), one of the bacterial species known to be a major microbial species involved in ruminal BH (Jenkins et al., 2008). In vitro and in vivo studies have suggested that feeding tannins to ruminants can favourably alter ruminal BH of dietary linoleic acid, enhancing accumulation of VA in the rumen and thereby the content of some human health promoting FAs, such as VA and CLA in dairy or meat products. However, reports on impacts of these phenolic compounds are very limited and inconsistent. The main objective of the present study was to verify whether the TA inhibit the ruminal BH of diet containing extruded soybean seeds in vitro and whether there is a dose-dependent effect of TA.

Basal diet formulated to contain high concentrate to forage ratio (58.2:41.8) and extruded soybeans as unsaturated FA source. Experimental treatments consisted of control (C; without additive), 0.1 mg/L of monensin (M), 250 mg/L of tannic acid (TA1), 500 mg/L of tannic acid (TA2) and 750 mg/L of tannic acid (TA3). Sample of basal diet was dried at 60°C in a forced air oven for 48 h, ground to pass through a 1-mm screen using a Wiley mill. The rumen fluid was collected from two Holstein cows fed alfalfa a mixture of hay and wheat straw (700:300 g/kg on a DM basis) ad libitum. Ruminal fluid was filtered through four layers of cheese cloth and transferred quickly to the laboratory in anaerobic condition at 39° C and was continuously purged with oxygen free CO2 to ensure anaerobic conditions. The buffer solution was prepared according to Makkar et al. (1995) procedure and mixed with rumen fluid as 3:1 (v/v). Incubation was carried out in 150 mL bottles containing 200 mg of the basal diet and 40 mL of buffered rumen fluid. Gas production (GP) after 24 h incubation, ruminal volatile FA (VFA), ammonia-N and pH and FA profile were measured.

The results showed that gas production (GP) and ruminal fluid concentration of ammonia-N and volatile fatty acid (VFA) were not affected by additives (P > 0.05). Alipanahi el al. (2019) reported no effect of oak acorn (HT source) on ruminal pH and VFA concentration in lactating does. The capacity and trend of tannins to bind to specific proteins may be dependent on the type of protein (Gonzalez et al., 2002). In our experiment, it was expected to reduce ruminal ammonia-N concentrations by TA. The lack of effect of TA on ruminal ammonia-N may be related to the type of protein source and processing method. In the current experiment, we used extruded soybeans, which may loss its natural structure to bind to TA. Ruminal fluid C10:0 to C14:0 concentrations decreased and C16:0 increased by TA (P < 0.05). The M and TA1 treatments had lower ruminal fluid C18:0 concentration compared to other treatments (P < 0.05). The highest trans-11 C18:1 (VA) and cis-9, trans-11 conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) were observed in M treatment (P < 0.05). Ruminal fluid unsaturated (USFA) and long-chain (LCFA) fatty acid concentrations were increased in TA2 compared to other treatments (P < 0.05). Vasta et al (2009) reported higher VA and lower stearic acid concentrations by different sources of tannin on in vitro study, but concentrations of CLA isomers were not affected. They concluded that tannins prevented BH of USFA by inhibiting the microorganisms. Similar to our results, feeding diet containing oak acorn (as a source of HT) increased and decreased USFA and SFA concentrations in does milk fat, respectively (Alipanahi et al., 2019).

Our results confirmed that addition of TA to a diet containing extruded soybean seeds can modify BH pathways without any negative effect on ruminal fermentation. Consequently, TA has potential to enhance beneficial FA in ruminant products, although more researches need to confirm these results.

Plants produce an enormous array of phytochemicals arising from various biosynthetic pathways. More than 200,000 defined structures of phytochemicals have been recognized. The growing concerns over bacterial resistance to antibiotics and chemical residues in animal derived foods have led to use phytochemicals as alternatives to antibiotics, other chemotherapeutic agents, and chemical and growth promoting antibiotic feed additives. Phytochemicals exhibit antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal activities against a wide range of pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms. The antimicrobial properties of phytochemicals are being explored to utilize as feed additives in livestock production system (Patra 2012). One of the plant secondary metabolites which researchers recently focus on beneficial effects is saponins. Saponin-containing plants and their extracts by suppressing the bacteriolytic activity of rumen ciliate protozoa could enhance total microbial protein flow from the rumen. Saponins also have selective antibacterial effects which may prove useful in, for example, controlling starch digestion (Wallace et al 2002). Extract of licorice root can be used to manipulate rumen fermentation due to its saponin content. To date, there are limited research on the effect of plant phytochemicals on ruminal microbial fermentation at low pH. Most research studied the effects of plant phytochemicals on high-forage diets at pH > 6.2. The effects of plant extracts on ruminal microbial fermentation are pH-dependent.Microbial populations and ruminal fermentation conditions in cattle fed high-concentrate diets may be very different from cattle fed high-forage diets, because of the type of substrate being fermented or the resulting pH. Therefore, the search for additives that will help to replace ionophores in high concentrate diets needs to be tested in a high-concentrate and low-pH environment. It was hypothesized that extract of licorice root could exert some antimicrobial activities in low pH. Hence, the objective of this experiment was to study the effect of Licorice extract on in vitro gas production parameters, pH, volatile fatty acids (VFA), N- ammonia concentration and protozoa populations in diets containing different levels of concentrate to forage ratio.

Dried licorice extract obtained from Zagros Company (Kermanshah). Two experimental diets with different forage to concentrate ratio (40 to 60% or 60 to 40 %) were formulated. Licorice extract was added to diets at three levels, 1 or 2 and or 3 milligram /liter of incubation media. The saponin content of Licorice extract was 134.75 mg/g of dired licorice extract. For in vitro gas production, rumen fluid was taken from two rumen fistulated Kordish rams. For measuring gas production, 200 mg of experimental diets with four levels of licorice extract (0, 1, 2 and 3 mg/L incubation medium) were incubated with 40 ml of buffered-rumen fluid for 120 hours. The cumulative produced gas was recorded at different times of incubation and gas production parameters were fitted with Blummel et al equation (2003). Organic matter digestibility (OMD) was estimated after 24 hours of incubation (Menke and Steingass 1988). N-ammonia concentration was measured based Broderickand Kang (1980). Rumen protozoa were identified according to the method of Dehority (2003). After 24 incubation, 5 ml of buffered rumen fluid was pipetted into a screw-capped test tube containing 5 ml of formalin. Thereafter, two drops of brilliant green dye (2 g brilliant green and 2 ml glacial acetic diluted to 100 ml with distilled water) were added to the test tube, mixed thoroughly and allowed to stand overnight at room temperature. Total and differential counts of protozoa were made with five replications. In vitro rumen concentration of volatile fatty acids (VFA) was measured by gas chromatography (Ottenstein and Bartley 1971). All in vitro gas production trials were carried out in three runs. Rumen fermentation parameters, protozoa population and organic matter digestibility date were analyzed in a factorial arrangement based on a completely randomized design and gas production data were analyzed in a factorial arrangement based on a complete randomized block design using Proc GLM of SAS software. The differences among treatments were evaluated using Tukey adjustment when the overall F-test was P ≤ 0.05. Trends were declared when 0.05 < P ≤ 0.10.

The results showed that the interaction of diets and licorice extract levels were not significant on in vitro gas production, rate of gas production, estimated organic matter digestibility N-ammonia concentration, pH, total protozoa population, Entodinium, Epidinium, Diplodinium, Eudiplodinium and Isotricha population and in vitro ruminal concentrations of total VFA, acetate, propionate, butyrate, isobutyrate, valerate and isovalerate. The effect of diets on gas production (P≤0.05) and estimated OMD (p < 0.01) was significant and high concentrate diets in compare to low concentrate diets had greater gas production and greater estimated OMD. Inconsistent to these results, adding saponin to diet containing low level of concentrate decreased gas production (Yogianto et al 2014) and adding saponin to diet containing high level of concentrate increased gas production (Aazami et al 2013). Furthermore, high concentrate diet in compare to low concentrate diet had lower organic matter diegestability (Yogianto et al 2014). Diets containing high concentrate had lower acetate and greater isovalerate concentrations (p < 0.01). Addition of licorice extract reduced estimated OMD and total protozoa population and Entodinium population (p < 0.01) and tended to increase total VFA concentration (P=0.09) and to decrease isovalrate concentration (P=0.06).

Based on this study, it is concluded that different levels of licorice extract had no effect on fermentation parameters of diets containing different concentrate: forage ratios. Further studies are necessary to determine the effectiveness of saponin-containing plants extracts on rumen microbial fermentation and digestion kinetics.

Introduction:

The world average yield of essential oil is around 50000 ton/year which means that large amounts of apparently useless plant residues are produced. These residues do not have a specific commercial use, so it would be a very interesting alternative to provide feed for livestock.Agro-industrial co-products, can be effectively consumed by ruminant species. Since, many parts of Iran have arid and semi-arid climate, and there is feed shortage during the year, hence agro-industrial co-products can be used as animal feed. This experiment was aimed to study the chemical compositions and in vitro rumen fermentation of mint pulp and chicory pulp and experimental diets containing different levels of mint pulp and chicory pulp.

Materials and Methods:

 Fresh mint pulp and chicory pulp were collected from an agro industry processing factory. Chemical compositions (dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, crude protein and ash), in vitro gas production parameters, total protozoa population and N-ammonia concentration of mint pulp and chicory pulp were measured. Each pulp separately included at three levels (10, 20 and 30 % of DM) in a basal diet. Experimental diets were: 1- Basal diet, 2- basal diet containing 10% chicory pulp, 3- basal diet containing 20% chicory pulp, 4- basal diet containing 30% chicory pulp, 5- basal diet containing 10% mint pulp, 6- basal diet containing 20% mint pulp and 7- basal diet containing 30% mint pulp. Basal diet formulated for ewes and contained 12.5 % CP and 2.20 Mcal metabolisable energy (ME) /Kg of diet. In vitro gas production parameters, total protozoa population and N-ammonia concentration of diets were measured and ME, short chain fatty acids (SCFA) and organic matter digestibility (OMD) were estimated. For in vitro gas production tests, the rumen fluid was taken from two rumen fistulated Kurdish rams. For measuring kinetic parameters of gas production, 200 mg of samples were incubated with 40 ml of buffered-rumen fluid for 120 hours. The cumulative produced gas was recorded at different times of incubation and gas production parameters were fitted to an exponential equation. For estimating ME, OMD and total VFA, 40 ml buffered rumen fluid was added to 200 mg of diets and incubated at 39 °C for 24 hours. After 24 hours of incubation, gas production recorded and ME, OMD and SCFA were estimated. Rumen protozoa population were identified after 24 hours incubation. Five ml of buffered rumen fluid was pipetted into a screw-capped test tube containing 5 ml of formalin. Thereafter, two drops of brilliant green dye (2 g brilliant green and 2 ml glacial acetic diluted to 100 ml with distilled water) were added to the test tube, mixed thoroughly and allowed to stand overnight at room temperature. Total and differential counts of protozoa were made with five replications.  All in vitro gas production trials were carried out in three runs. Data were analyzed based on a completely randomized design using Proc GLM of SAS software. The differences among treatments were evaluated using Tukey adjustment when the overall F-test was P ≤ 0.05. Trends were declared when 0.05 < P≤ 0.10. In addition, independent comparisons were done for diets containing mint pulp vs. diets containing chicory pulp.

Results and Discussion :

The results showed that mint pulp contains 105, 500 and 345 g/kg of CP, NDF and ADF respectively and chicory pulp contains 69.7, 610 and 465 g/kg of CP, NDF and ADF respectively. Mint pulp had greater lag phase than chicory pulp (p < 0.05) and potential of gas production did not differ between two pulps. Mint pulp had greater estimated ME, SCFA and OMD in compare to chicory pulp (p < 0.01). Potential and rate of gas production, N- ammonia concentration, total protozoa population, estimated ME, SCFA and OMD were not different among all experimental diets (P>0.05). The constant rate of gas production when half the potential of gas is produced was different among experimental diets (P=0.05), so that basal diet and diet containing 30 % of mint pulp had the highest and lowest value, respectively.

Conclusion:

 Considering the obtained data regarding the chemical compositions and gas production parameters, it is concluded that mint pulp and chicory pulp could be used as a part of forage portion in ruminant nutrition. More experiments are needed to study the inclusion of mint pulp and chicory pulp in diets of productive ruminants.

In this experiment compared the effects of L-Lysine-hydrochloride (Lys-HCl) and Biolys Sulfate (BioLys) on broiler chickens performance, carcass parameters and meat quality. In a completely randomized design, 200 Ross-308 broiler chickens were allocated to 5 dietary treatments with 5 replicates and 8 birds in each. Supplementary lysine was obtained from Lys-HCl and Biolys. Dietary treatments including: 1- 100% from Lys-HCl (control or basal diet), 2- 75% from Lys-HCl and 25% from BioLys, 3- 50% from Lys-HCl and 50% from BioLys, 4- 25% from Lys-HCl and 75% from BioLys and 5- 100% from BioLys. The results showed that from 1-42d, broiler chickens fed the 100-diet had higher feed intake and body weight gain as compared to control group (P < 0.05). Dietary treatments had no significant effect on carcass parameters and breast and thigh meat dry matter and crude fat percentages (P > 0.05). Breast meat drip loss of broiler chickens fed diets containing 25, 50 and 75 percentage BioLys was lower than that of control group (P < 0.05). In conclusion, BioLys compared to Lys-HCl had better effect on broiler chickens performance and meat quality but carcass parameters did not affect by dietary treatments. With regard to the results of the current experiment and cheaper price, BioLys (with 50 or 100 percent substitution level) can be use as better and economic source of Lys in broiler chickens diet.

This experiment was aimed to study the effect of Ferula assa foetida essential oil or Artemisia aucheri essential oil in diets containing different concentrate ratios (40 and 60% of DM) on in vitro fermentation kinetic and acidosis induction. Essential oils were added at 0.05% of diet DM. Gas production parameters, pH, N-ammonia and volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentrations and total protozoa population were measured and organic matter digestibility (OMD) was estimated. The effect of Ferula assa foetida and Artemisia aucheriessential oils on prevention of in vitro acidosis induction was measured. The results showed that the interaction of diets and essential oils had no significant effect on in vitro gas production parameters, N-ammonia concentration, pH, total VFA, acetate, propionate and valerate concentrations, total protozoa population, Entodinium, Diplodinium,and Ophryoscolex population. The interaction of diets and essential oils on estimated OMD was significant (92.64 vs. 83.1 %, p < /em><0.05), and diet containing low concentrate level without essential oils had the lowest estimated OMD. Essential oils reduced gas production, total protozoa population and N-ammonia concentration (p < /em><0.05). Results of Ferula and Artemisia essential oils on prevention of in vitro acidosis induction showed that both essential oils prevent acidosis induction. It was concluded that Ferula and Artemisia essential oils improved rumen fermentation.

In the present study the effect of vitamin C and copper injection in transition dairy cows on colostrum composition and serum metabolites of neonatal dairy calves was examined. Twenty multiparous (second parity, with 603.2 ± 53 kg average BW) and twenty multiparous (third and fourth parity, 669.1± 51 kg average BW) selected and divided to four balanced groups based on BW abd parity. Experimental treatments consisted of control (injection of 7 ml of NaCl % 0.9), Vitamin C (injection of 25 mg vitamin C solution/kg BW), Copper (injection of 75 mg copper solution/day) and Vitamin C-Copper (simultaneous injection of 25 mg vitamin C solution/ kg BW and 75 mg copper solution/day). Solutions were injected on d 20 and 40 before of expected calving. Copper injection increased red blood cells counts and serum concentration of copper (P < 0.05) compared with not injected groups. Colostrum fat, protein, lactose, solid not fat and immunoglobulin G concentrations, calf birth weight, serum concentration of vitamin C, superoxide dismutase, calcium, phosphorus and metabolites did not affected by simultaneous injections of vitamin C and copper solutions. Blood neutrophil count in calves of cows receiving simultaneous injection of vitamin C and copper solutions tended to increase (P = 0.06) compared with other groups. In general, simultaneous injection of vitamin C and copper during the dry period had no effect on colostrum composition and blood parameters in postpartum dairy cows, but may improve immunity system of their calves by increasing blood neutrophil concentration.

The present study evaluated the interaction of grain source (corn vs. barley) and ruminal undegradable protein: ruminal degradable protein ratios (RUP: RDP; 27:73 and 36:64) on growth performance and blood metabolites of Holstein calves. Forty three-day-old male calves with a body weight of 42.6 ± 2.9 kg were used in a completely randomized design with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. Treatments were: (1) corn grain with low RUP: RDP; (2) corn grain with high RUP: RDP; (3) barley grain with low RUP: RDP; (4) barley grain with high RUP: RDP. Calves were weaned on d 53 of age but remained in the study until d 63. The results showed that starter intake was similar among treatments. The average daily gain and feed efficiency were improved in calves fed barley grain (P = 0.04). Wither height was improved in high RUP: RDP fed calves. Hip height was improved in barely fed calves (P = 0.06). Blood concentration of beta hydroxyl butyric acid was 0.33 mmol and greater in barley fed calves (P = 0.02). The total protein level was greater in calves fed higher RUP: RDP. Barley fed calves had lower blood concentration of blood urea nitrogen (P = 0.01). The blood insulin concentration was increased in barley fed calves along with increase in RUP: RDP (P = 0.02). In conclusion, results indicated that feeding starter contained barley grain and high ratio RUP: RDP and also starter contained corn grain with low RUP: RDP is recommendable for starter diet of dairy calves.