camel

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 total fecal collection (TFC) method is a reliable method for determining the digestibility of diets by animals. In this method, the animals are kept in a metabolic cage to collect all the feces and hence it is the most accurate method to measure the digestibility of the feed. Despite the high accuracy of this method, TFC is labor intensive and time consuming when evaluating a wide range of feed samples and requires many animals. Also, considering that being surrounded by camels is accepted for a short period of time and for camels that are fed with rations containing high amounts of energy, the animals should be confined in the stall. Another disadvantage of keeping a trapped animal is the possible effect on the animal's metabolism. These problems led to separation from the animal's natural behavior. Accurate measurement of feed intake and stool collection are difficult. Digestibility coefficients can be also measured indirectly by markers. There arevarious indigestible markers including polyethylene, chromium oxide (Cr2O3), acid detergent lignin (ADL) and acid insoluble ash (AIA) to determine the digestibility of nutrients in different parts of the digestive tract. At the end of the 19th century, lignin was used as a potential internal marker to estimate digestibility. Given that there are no specific enzymes for lignin degradation in mammals or anaerobic bacteria, different results have been reported by researchers when using ADL to estimate digestibility. Digestibility was underestimated when using AIA as a natural marker. However, it is difficult to use the AIA method for grazing animals. One of the advantages of AIA compared to other indicators is the simplicity of its analysis and does not require special equipment. This study was aimed to evaluate the apparent digestibility of nutrients in camels using AIA, ADL and TFC methods.

To measure the apparent digestibility of nutrients using AIA, ADL and TFC methods, four male camels (age= 1 year, weight = 116.3 ± 9.35 kg) were used.  This experiment was carried out based on a completely in a fully randomized design. The experimental period was 42 days (2 periods of 21 days) with 14 days of adaptation to the experimental diets and 7 days of data collection. Camels had free access to water and feeding was done once a day at 8 AM. In order to determine the apparent digestibility of feed nutrients, feces and feed samples were collected at the end of the 7 days of the experiment. The fecal samples weighed at 8:00 AM before feeding. The camels were kept in the stall for 5 days for adaptation. Then each camel was placed in an individual cage. In this experiment, three types of agricultural waste were used, including wheat straw, pomegranate pomace and chicken manure.

The results showed a significant difference in the digestibility coefficients of dry matter, organic matter, crude fat, neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber between the two methods of AIA and TFC in diets containing wheat straw or pomegranate pomace (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the digestibility coefficients of nutrients of wheat straw diet with chicken manure between the two methods of AIA and TFC. The recovery percentage of AIA marker in diet containing 75% wheat straw + 25% poultry manure was 105.14±17.08.

In general, it seems that due to the weak correlation between the three methods of measuring digestibility and considering the existing limitations, including the cost and many facilities, especially in large livestock, in determining digestibility with the method TFC and ADL, the AIA method can be used to determine digestibility in camels.

Various methods have been used to evaluate the digestibility coefficients of nutrients. The total fecal collection (TFC) method is a reliable approach for determining the digestibility of rations in live animals. In this method, animal are kept in a metabolic cage in to collect all the feces, making it the most accurate method for measuring feed digestibility. Total fecal collection (TCF) is one of the most accurate direct procedures to determine apparent digestibility. Despite its accuracy, TFC is labor-intensive and time-consuming when evaluating a wide range of feed samples and requiring a large number of animals. Moreover, animals should be confined in stalls, considering that being surrounded will be accepted by camels for a short period and training is necessary for camels fed with ration containing high amounts of energy. Other disadvantage of keeping the animal trapped includes the potential impact on animal metabolism. These problems led to separation from the animal's normal behavior. Accurate measurement of food intake and fecal collection is a tough work. Digestibility coefficients can be measured indirectly by markers. Various indigestible markers include polyethylene Various indigestible markers include polyethylene, chromium oxide (Cr2O3), acid detergent lignin (ADL) and acid-insoluble ash (AIA) have been used to determine the digestibility of nutrients in different parts of gastrointestinal tract. By the end of 19th century, lignin was considered as a potential internal marker for the estimation of digestibility. Because no specific enzymes exist for degradation of lignin in mammals or in anaerobic bacteria, different results have been re-ported by researchers when using ADL for the estimation of digestibility. Digestibility was reported to be underestimated when using AIA as a natural marker. However, it is difficult to apply this method to grazing animals. AIA is one of the most common internal indicators for determining apparent digestion coefficients. One of the advantages AIA compared to other markers is simplicity of analysis and it does not need special equipment. This study aims to evaluate the nutrient apparent digestibility of different diets in camels using AIA, ADL and TFC.

The field phase of the research was conducted at Asrar Sabzevar Agricultural Research Station, and the laboratory phase was conducted at the Animal and Poultry Nutrition Laboratory of Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. Four male camels (age=1 year, BW= 116.3±9.35 kg) were used in a completely random design to measure the apparent digestibility of nutrients in wheat straw and wheat straw with rice hull using AIA, ADL, and TFC. The experimental period was 42 days (2 periods of 21 days) with 14 days of adaptation to experimental diets and 7 days of data collection. Camels had free access to water, and feeding was done once a day at 8 A.M.

The results showed no significant difference between TFC and AIA for measuring the digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, crude fat, crude protein, neutral detergent insoluble fibers, and acid detergent insoluble fibers in wheat straw and wheat straw with rice hull (P>0.05). However, digestibility was significantly higher in TFC than in ADL (P<0.05).

The recovery percentage of AIA marker was 92.8±92.38 in the diet of 75% wheat straw with 25% rice hull. Based on the study's results, AIA can be used as a suitable internal indicator to measure digestibility in camels if the recovery percentage is more than 90%. The amount of digestibility measured using AIA was close to the amount of digestibility measured using TFC.

Camel breeding is one of the sources of income for people on the edge of arid and desert areas in many parts of the world. Traits related to camel growth, including birth weight, weaning weight, daily weight gain and one-year-old weight are considered as the main economic traits for camel owners. To manage and improve the genetic and phenotypic values of these traits, weight recording of animals is essential. Recording of camels, especially their weight is associated with many difficulties due to their restless temperament and large size. Using efficient mathematical methods can greatly solve this problem. Various approved efficient mathematical methods have been proposed to predict the weight of camels based on their body dimension, and their effectiveness has been proven. So, the present study was conducted to compare the efficiency of the Principal Component Analysis and multiple regressions in estimating the weight of fattening camels from its body dimensions.

In order to compare the efficiency of principal components analysis and multiple regressions in estimating the weight of fattening camels based on body dimensions, the records of 220 fattening camels of Bafgh station in Yazd were used. For this purpose, new born camels were fed for a 9 months period using standard diets. During the period, each of the fattening camels was weighed and different body sizes including body length(BL), whither height(WH), breast girth(BG), abdomen with(AW), hump height to the ground(HH), muzzle girth(MG), neck length(NEL), whither to pin length(WPL), tail length(TL), pelvic width (PW), abdomen to hump height (ABH) and the head length(HL) were measured. The body dimensions of the camels were recorded using a tape measure and their body weight was recorded using a scale. Then, the data were analyzed using the principal component analysis and multiple regressions. In order to fit the predictive models, body weight of camels was introduced as dependent variable and body size of camels as independent variables. Analysis of regression models was done using one and multivariable linear models and the best model were selected to estimate the weight of camels based on their body dimensions by Stepwise method. The performance of the above models was evaluated using comparison of the coefficient of determination (R2) of them.

According to the results, the correlation between the body weight of camels with their different body dimensions including BL, WH, BG, AW, HH, MG, NEL, WPL, TL, PW,ABH and HL were 0.93, 0.89, 0.89, 0.89, 0.94, 0.73, 0.89, 0.90, 0.80, 0.85, 0.89 and 0.79 ,respectively. The results showed that among the 6 multiple regression models fitted to estimate the weight of fattening camels, model No. 6 in which head length, body length, breast girth, neck length, muzzle girth and whither height were used as predictive variables had the least error (12.06) and the highest accuracy (0.92) compared to other models. The results showed that the use of the first and second principal component , and both of them in the model could explain 82.1%, 3.73% and 85% of the variance of body weight, respectively. The weight of fattening camels was determined using principal component analysis with an accuracy of 0.93 and an error of 11.54.

The results of the present study showed that in order to estimate the weight of fattening camels, the use of principal component analysis, in addition to simplifying predictive models, has higher efficiency and accuracy as well as less error compared to multiple regressions, and this method can be a suitable alternative to the multiple regression method in predicting the weight of camels.

essential, as well as, the first step for designing breeding programs in this species. In this regard, powerful tools such as next-generation sequencing technology have made it possible to decode the genome information in this species. Based on this research motive, the aim of the current study was to identify the genomic runs of homozygosity (ROH) and investigate related genes in dromedary camels using whole genome sequencing data. For this purpose, a total of 12 sequenced genomic data related to Iranian and non-Iranian dromedary camels were used. After bioinformatics analysis including quality assessment, data pre-preprocessing, alignment in the reference genome, and identification of variants, qualitative filter of variants, finally, ROH regions were identified. Based on the obtained results, 549 (137.3 regions per sample) and 1356 (169.5 regions per sample) ROH were identified in the genomes of Iranian dromedary camels and dromedaries from the Arabian Peninsula, respectively. The results of the annotation revealed that some important fertility-related genes such as FSHR and LHCGR are located in the ROH regions of Iranian dromedary camels. Also, investigation of gene ontology results revealed that some important genes including CXCL9, CXCL10 and CXCL11 (immune-related), STBD1 (related to energy metabolism), SCARB2 (related to lipid metabolism and fertility) and SHROOM3 (related to kidney function) are shared between Iranian and non-Iranian camels. Finally, as a summary, it seems that the controlling factor and the reason for the creation of ROHs in the genome of dromedary camels is natural selection to adapt to the desert environment.

An experiment was conducted to study growth traits and fattening potential comparison of two Iranian camel ecotypes (Kalkouhi and Turkmen) in enclosed breeding conditions. The project was carried out using 32 young male camels with an average age of 151±31 days and an average weight of 141.77±29.55 kg (in light, medium and heavy groups) during 9 months. Initial weights as covariate and monthly weight of camels as repeated measures were considered in the analyzing model. Least square mean of growth traits were calculated. The fix and random effects on growth traits with Mixed model procedure of SAS, 2004 software were included. Measurement of feed intake/residuary was recorded in group and daily, measurement of weight gain was recorded individually and monthly, as well as for all period. Results showed that the effects of breed (P<0.01), initial weight and weight categories on feed intake, growth performance and feed conversion ratio of young camels were significant (P<0.05). The average daily feed intake, daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio for Kalkouhi ecotype were 3.83±1.01, 0.379±0.11 kg and 9.94±1.57 and for Turkmen ecotype were 4.31±1.05, 0.430±0.10 kg and 9.83±1.08 respectively. Mean total weight gain of Kalkouhi and Turkmen was 102.33±5.03 and 116.01±8.84 kg respectively (P<0.05). In conclusion, growth performance, fattening potential and feed efficiency of Turkmen ecotype was better than Kalkouhi ecotype and could be advised.

In this study, the nutritional value of four camel rangeland plants, including Alhaghi Sp (AS), Haloxylon persicum (HP), Seidlitzia rosmarinous (SR)  and Tamarix Gallica (TG) in different phenological growth stages including vegetating, flowering and seeding were evaluated. Rangeland specieswere randomly sampled and their chemical composition were measured. Rumen digestibility of dry matter was assessed using a fistulated camel. The results showed that the amount of crude protein of AS and SR was higher than that of other species, Also, the lowest levels of natural detergent fibers, acid detergent fibers and tannins were observed in SR (P <0/05). Slowly degradable fraction, degradation rate and effective degradability of SR was significantly higher than other species (P <0/05). Results of this study showed that SR was better than other rangeland species due to its high crude protein content and lower acid detergent fiber and phenolic compounds, so it was used instead of alfalfa at three levels of zero, 50 and %100 in camel’s diet. Feeding SR did not affect milk yield and its components including fat, lactose and total solids. Dry matter intake of dairy camels decreased with increasing of SR in diet, but milk protein and urea nitrogen increased (P <0/05). The results of this study indicated that replacement of alfalfa hay with SR in feeding dairy camels while maintaining camel production performance, reduc the cost of feeding camel and made it more economical to rear this valuable livestock.

Measuring the body dimensions in livestock is usually useful to predict the weight, grade and body score of animals. The shoulder height, chest circumference, chest depth, body length, forehead bone size, rump height, distance between eyes, ear length, and tail length are the most important body linear measurements in the livestock. Most of these dimensions are related to the live weight and some important traits of domestic animals. For example, the results of many studies indicated that the chest circumference, body length, pelvic width and shoulder height are the most appropriate and reliable parameters for estimating live weight of the animals. In recent studies, features of digital images have been used, in certain circumstances, to estimate body dimensions of domestic animals. The base of these measurements is the machine learning technology, and currently was tested on some livestock, such as dairy cattle. Therefore, this research was conducted to investigate the possibility of using machine vision technology in order to estimate body dimensions of one-humped camel.

This research was conducted on one-humped camel in a privative camel breeding herd at Qom province. The studied herd originally consisted of 9 adult mature camels, one an adult luck and 11 pedigree camels from 2 to 12 months old of age. In the following months, five baby camels were born in the herd. The body dimensions of all camels were monthly recorded, and in the same time, digital images were captured from camels regarding a constant distance (2 meters). In this study, a total of 203 biometric records of camels at different ages were measured. Each photo was first transferred to a computer, and some edits were made to improve it's quality. Twenty two morphological features from each image were extracted using defined functions of graphical user interface of MATLAB. The characteristics that were more relevant to the biometric measurement of camels were selected using Pearson correlation coefficient by SPSS software. The data mining process with the aim of discovering mathematical relationship between extracted features of digital images and body dimensions of camels was done using a feed forward neural network which was trained by the "back propagation algorithm" in MATLAB software.

Some extracted features including equivalent diameter, major axis length, minor axis length, bounding box, convex area, filled area, area ,perimeter and the number of non zero points in digital images had high and significant correlation (P<0.01) with body dimensions of camels. These features were used as effective input to design the artificial neural network. Accuracy of the artificial neural network models to estimate body length, shoulder height, and hip height of one-humped camels were 0.98, 0.96 and 0.96, respectively.

The use of image processing and artificial neural network or other data mining tools can be considered as an appropriate and accurate alternative to human assessments, and help to save the time and expense associated with the biometry of large livestock, especially camels.

This experiment was conducted to study some physiological characteristics associated with adaptation to harsh environmente in four breeds of Iranian camels rearing in different climates and ages from males and females. Adult females of both pregnant and non-pregnant were selected. Blood samples were taken from 200 camels of Roodbar، Bandari، Yazd and Arab species from Kerman، Hormozgan، Yazd and Khuzestan regions with two samples from each animal using tube containing EDTA. From a sample، plasma was separated after centrifuging while the other sample was freezed as an intact blood. Although sex and conception had no influence on concentration of complete blood sodium and potassium as well as plasma sodium and potassium (Meq/L)، climate and breed factors were found to significantly affect the traits (P<0/0001). Regarding to the significant differences of blood potassium in different breeds and also sodiumpotassium pump activity and that more adaptation to the extreme environmente is expected in the animals with high potassium concentration، suitable breeds could be selected for more productivity and producibility in each region.

Pulmonary diseases in camelids represent one of the major complaints in camelidveterinary practice. The present study was undertaken during autum and winter 2012 toinvestigate histopathologic patterns of pulmonary lesions in camels (Camelusderomedarius) slaughtered in Qom slaughterhouse. In this study, 46 out of 100 carcasesinspected randomly at postmortem, found with one or more pulmonary lesions. Propertissue samples obtained from lungs with macroscopic lesions, fixed in 10% neutral bufferformaldehyde, processed for routin histopathological techniques, and finally sections of5μm thickness cut and stained by H&E staining techniques. The major pulmonary lesionsencountered on camel lungs were as follow: interstitial pneumonia, 31 (67/39%);fibrinous bronchopneumonia, 19 (41.3%), purulent bronchopneumonia,21(45/65%);pneumoconiosis, 15 (32.60%); hydatidosis 3 (6.52%); verminus pneumonia 2 (4.34%);calcified cyst 4 (8.89%); atelectasis 8 (17.39%); pulmonary emphysema 18 (39.13%).Asthe results indicate, the interstitial pneumonia was considered as the most commonpulmonary lesion in camels and was the major factor of condemnation (67/39%) of lungsin this species in this Qom slaughterhouse.

Camel production in Hormozgan province, Iran has a relative advantage over other livestock enterprises due to lack of pastures and arid lands. In this province, a number of camel service stations have been established in order to help camel owners improve their production. The cameleers of the stations take the camels to graze on available pastures every day and help better herd management. In this research, the effect of these stations on production parameters of camel herds of the private sector has been reviewed. To achieve this goal, some questionnaires were used. Two groups of herds were compared; group one being herds receiving stations services and group two receiving no services. Sirik and Jask are the main harbor cities known to have highest numbers of service stations in the province. Data were collected from these two cities and analyzed using SPSS and Microsoft Excel software. Results indicated that % 72.38 of beneficiaries were illiterate or have low level of educations. Average years of education were between 3-4 years. A significant difference between the average age of beneficiaries and herd size was observed (P<0.01). Some production parameters findings are as follows: increase in birth weight (P<0.01), increase in milk production (P<0.01), lower rate of mortality (P<0.01), average mature weight of herds (male and female) (P<0.05), lower rates of casualties due to predators (P<0.01), lower rates of road accidents and camel theft (P<0.01) were observed in the herds receiving services from the stations. While age at first calving (P<0.05), calving interval, weaning weight, length of lactation period and average of lactation period were not affected. It was concluded that the stations with control and partnership on camel herds can lower the mortality rates as well as improvement of production parameters drastically.

In this paper the soft palate of 72 camel embryos were collected for histological study. Embryos were collected from 2 to 13 months age and in each month, 6 embryos (3 male & 3 female) were studied. Camel uteruses were gathered from slaughterhouse. After dissecting the uteruses, the length of fetuses were measured. Then the samples (head of embryos) were fixed in %10 formalin. Then, the soft palates were dissected in histological laboratory and routine (H&E), staining and serial section performed for histological examination. In this study, simple epithelial tissue exchanged to stratified and pseudostratified epithelium. Also thickness of epithelial tissue (The rows of cells) according to embryos age were increased. Glands in small embryos are mucous and serous or mixed, but in large embryos mocousal glands were increased. Muscles are very thin. In addition, no differentiation was seen between two sexes.