Journal of Livestock Science and Technology
Volume:3 Issue: 2, Dec 2015

An experiment employing a factorial arrangement of three levels (0, 8 and 16%) of canola meal (CM), two levels (0.15 and 0.25%) of nonphytate phosphorus (NPP), and two levels (0 and 450 unit/kg; as fed basis) of microbial phytase was conducted using 216 Hy-Line W36 laying hens from 39 to 47 weeks of age. The birds receiving CM consumed more (P

This study was conducted to determine the effect of dietary turmeric rhizome powder (TRP) as a natural antioxidant, and soybean oil, canola oil and tallow on lipid metabolism, blood metabolites, immune system, and antioxidant status of broiler chickens before (BHS, 28 d) and after exposure to heat stress (AHS, 42 d). Seven hundred and ninety two d-old male Arian broilers were randomly allotted to a 3×3 factorial arrangement with three levels of TRP (0, 0.4 and 0.8 g/kg) and three oil sources (canola, soybean and tallow). Each diet was fed to four replicates of 22 birds each. Heat stress (33oC±1) was applied from 28-42 d of age. Canola oil diet decreased blood cholesterol in BHS and AHS birds. Birds fed 8 g/kg TRP diet had lower blood cholesterol in BHS and lower cholesterol and LDL in AHS. Serum concentration of HDL increased when the birds were fed TRP diets. Lower enzyme activity of creatine kinase (CK) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in BHS and CK, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and ALP in AHS were observed in birds fed 8 g/kg TRP diets. The enzymatic activity was not affected by the type of oil, with the exception of heat stressed birds on canola oil diet having lower AST and ALP activities. Diets containing either of the oil sources and TRP did not affect the activity of LDH, and lipase, or the antibody titer against the Newcastle disease. The diets containing TRP increased the enzyme activity of GPx and SOD, and decreased blood TBARS index. Type of oil did not affect the antioxidant parameters in BHS. The canola diet caused a higher GPx activity in AHS, and tallow resulted in lower TBARS concentration. It was concluded that supplementation of canola oil and TRP might decrease blood cholesterol and LDH activity, and that TRP might improve the antioxidant status in broilers.

This experiment was carried out to compare the effects of treated and untreated wheat straw with Pleurotus florida on ewe feed intake, nutrient digestibility, and ewe body condition score (BCS) after parturition. Thirty Kermani ewes with an average weight of 48 ± 3.05 kg and about four years old were used in this experiment. Synchronization of estrus in sheep has been achieved with the use of intravaginal sponges containing synthetic progestagens. Sixty days before parturition, ewes were randomly assigned to three diets: 1) control (50% untreated wheat straw), 2) 50% treated wheat straw before harvesting the fungi, 3) 50% treated wheat straw after harvesting the fungi. The energy and CP content of the experimental diets were 2.1 Mcal and 11.0%, respectively, and Ca:P ratio was 1.8. Dry matter intake (DMI) and organic matter intake (OMI) were affected by the experimental diets (P 0.05). The ewe body weight and body condition score (BCS) postpartum were not affected by experimental diets. At the beginning of experiment, there was a negative correlation between lamb birth weight and ewe body weight and BCS > 4 had lighter lambs (P

This study was conducted to determine the chemical composition, digestibility, degradability and nutritive value of madder, Rubia tinctorum L. and alfalfa Medicago sativa. using in vitro and in situ measurements. The mean values for OM, CP, NDF, ADF and EE were 892.5, 172.0, 306.5, 219.4 and 16.0 g/kg DM for madder hay, and 921.3, 141.4, 482.0, 361.1 and 6.50 g/kg DM for alfalfa hay, respectively (P

The structure of the sheep cervix limits the application of reproductive biotechnologies such as embryo transfer and artificial insemination. The aim of this study was to determine differences in cervical anatomy and morphology between Sanjabi lambs and ewes, and the relationship between cervical anatomy and cervical penetration in ewes. Four hundred and sixty eight postmortum cervices belonging to six different age groups were used. The cervical external os was classified as slit, papilla, duckbill, flap or rose. Cervical folds were counted and the degree of completeness and interdigitations of the folds recorded as one of three grades 1, 2, and 3 cervices. There were significant differences (P 4 years the rose os were observed more frequently. These results showed that with advancing ewe age, the cervix tended to be larger and less complex, with a smaller number of cervical folds and this noticeably improved cervical penetration. Thus a practical point of view would favor the application of reproductive biotechnologies at ages > 4 years, even in 3-4 age years, because the cervix is more penetrable to catheter after 3 - 4 years of age.

The main objective of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters for multi-trait evaluation of birth weight (BW), gestation length (GL) and calving difficulty (CD) in first-parity Iranian Holstein dairy cattle. The data included 29,950 calving records collected during 1995 to 2014 by the Animal Breeding and Improvement Center of Iran. A threshold-linear sire-maternal grandsire model was fitted. The model included the effect of sex of calf born, age at first calving and calving month (for GL and BW) as fixed effects and sire, maternal grandsire, herd-year-season of calving and residual effects as random effects. Posterior means (posterior standard deviations) of direct heritabilities were 0.12 (0.01) for BW, 0.40 (0.03) for GL and 0.07 (0.01) for CD. The maternal heritability estimates for BW, GL and CD were 0.04 (0.01), 0.07 (0.01) and 0.04 (0.01), respectively. Direct-maternal genetic correlations were -0.15 (0.04) for BW, -0.36 (0.08) for GL and -0.53 (0.14) for CD (P

The aims of this study were to compare the promoter sequence of the mannose-binding lectin (cMBL) gene in Iranian native and commercial chicken strains; as well as to compare the cMBL gene expression in crossbred and inbred chickens. In total 79 native (Western Azerbaijan native fowls, WANF) and 49 commercial (Arian Commercial Strain, ACS) birds were reared as parents under same management practices. Then, four genotypes of F1 offspring (purebreds: ACS and WANF, and crossbreds: ACS roosters × WANF hens and WANF roosters × ACS hens) were produced using artificial insemination. Sequence analysis of the promoter and exon 1 of the cMBL gene on the WANF and ACS parents was carried out; then, gene expression was analyzed in 4 genotypes of offspring. A valuable SNP (T>C) was found in −185 position of the cMBL promoter in the native birds. The mutation resulted in the modification of the promoter pattern to attachment of the c-Jun transcription factor. Due to the similarity of the c-Jun with the product of Avian Sarcoma Virus, it seems that the native birds are immunologically more resistant. Gene expression analysis revealed no significant differences between cMBL transcripts of 4 different genotypes; however, gene expression in crossbreds was slightly higher than in purebreds. The results showed that the promoter sequence of the cMBL gene in Iranian native and commercial birds is variable and is necessary to be investigated in further studies.

The efficacy of bacterial cultures and IS900-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was compared for the detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) from the mesenteric lymph nodes of goats. Samples were collected from 75 goats slaughtered in Ilam, in southwest of Iran. Tissue homogenates were inoculated onto four media. The genomic DNA was extracted directly from mesenteric lymph nodes and also from grown bacteria. The purified DNA was utilized as template DNA in the PCR targeting IS900 marker of MAP. IS900 PCR was compared with conventional culture methods. PCR allowed amplification of IS900 element in 27 (36%) of the mesenteric lymph nodes. In comparison, 13 (17.3%) MAP isolates were cultured on Löwenstein–Jensen mycobactin J. Moreover, the DNA of all 13 MAP isolates was amplified by PCR, confirming the results of cultures. The number of recovered MAP on HEY mycobactin J was six isolates (8%). The study found that LJ mycobactin J was a more appropriate medium for primary isolation of Map from goat tissues. This is the first report of presence of cultivable Map bacilli in mesenteric lymph nodes as well as the first documentation of molecular detection of Map directly from naturally infected goat tissues in southwest of Iran.