مجله تولیدات دامی
سال بیست و چهارم شماره 3 (پاییز 1401)

disadvantages of using sexed semen among dairy producers in terms of outcome and economic efficiency. A questionnaire containing 28 five-choice Likert scale questions was prepared to test the attitudes of respondents concerning the use of sexed sperm in terms of functional, economic, cognitive and infrastructural aspects. The respondents were the researchers, consultants and dairy farm employees. The findings indicated that farm employees, unlike the researchers, believed that sexed sperm was effective in reducing dystocia, and the conception rate was not deleteriously affected in differentclimates (P<0.01). Better performance of sex-sorted semen in heifers compared to multiparous cows was significantly confirmed by farm employees and consultants compared to the researchers (P<0.01). According to the researchers, the use sex- sorted semen is uncommon and hence the use of this type of sperm has a higher risk (P<0.01). The results of this study indicated that the attitude of employees in large industrial dairy farms is largely consistent with the scientific facts published in the field of sex-sorted semen, and the disagreement of this

The aim of this research was to compare the efficiency and performance of the advanced artificial neural network method with the principal component analysis method in discriminating different horse breeds. In this study, two methods of perceptron neural network (Olden) and the principal component analysis (PCA), were used to identify a subset of SNP markers with the highest breed discrimination potential and to investigate how to assign animals to their breed groups. The results showed that the network method (Olden),  is able to separate all the 37 horse breeds with a small subset of SNP markers (8,000 markers) with a same capability to all genomic markers (98% accuracy). The PCA selection method was only able to identify and separate breeds with diverse geographical originations. According to the obtained results, the PCA method is not error-free and depends upon changes and modifications to run on genomic data. The results of this study provide practical approaches in the design of economic arrays for discriminating the different horse breeds.

In order to investigate the effect of vitamin E and vitamin E nanoliposomes on the expression of the  STAR gene in testis and TSPO gene in the ovary of Japanese quail, an experiment using 864 pieces of quail for 10 weeks in a completely randomized design with six treatments, six replications and 24 Breeding quail (16 females and eight males) was performed in each replication. The treatments were fed diets containing different levels of vitamin E (25, 50 and 100 IU per kg of diet) and vitamin E nanoliposomes (25, 50 and 100 IU per kg of diet). The results of this study showed that the effect of the experimental treatments on the expression of TSPO gene in the ovary and STAR gene in the testis was significant (P<0.05). The addition of 50 IU of vitamin E significantly increased TSPO gene expression in the ovary compared to the control treatment (P<0.05). The results also showed that the level of 25 IU nanoliposome of vitamin E increased the expression of TSPO gene in the ovary, which was not significantly different from the control treatment. The use of vitamin E and vitamin E nanoliposome levels significantly decreased the expression of STAR gene in the testis of Japanese quail (P<0.05). According to the results of this study, the addition of 25 IU vitamin E nanoliposomes as well as 50 and 100 IU levels of vitamin E has a significant effect on the expression of TSPO gene in the ovary, which is one of the genes affecting fertility and reproduction.

The goal of nutrigenomics is to study nutrients as signals that are received by cellular receptors, which can affect the genome, gene expression and metabolite production. In this research, to investigate the effect of cannabis seed on the fold change of carnitine palmitoyl transferase-1-B (CPT1B) expression in Baluchi sheep, 12 five-month-old male lambs were divided into two groups in a completely randomized design. The groups were fed with a control diet without cannabis seed and with a diet containing 10% cannabis seed. After the fattening period of 110 days, samples were taken from the heart, liver, testis, subcutaneous back fat and Longissimus dorsi muscle. Total RNA was extracted for Real Time PCR reaction and measurement of CPT1B gene expression change between groups. The change of CPT1B gene expression in liver tissue was significant between control and treatment groups (P<0.05). The expression of CPT1B gene was 5.74 times higher in liver of lambs treated with Cannabis seed compared with the control group. The CPT1B gene expression in heart, subcutaneous back fat, Longissimus dorsi muscle, and testis decreased by 3.1, 2.36, 2.12 and 2.47 times, respectively compared to control group. Cannabis seeds contain unsaturated fatty acids and these compounds can change the fat metabolism in the liver through the expression of genes such as CPT1B. Therefore, it can be stated that, CPT1B is one of the effective genes in fat metabolism and the addition of cannabis seeds to the diet can have a beneficial effect on the animal's production performance by increasing the activity of the liver tissue.

This study was conducted to investigate the chemical composition and nutritional characteristics of corn seeds exposed to gamma ray and the effect of its silage feeding on performance of finishing male Zandi lambs. First, the germination characteristics of control and irradiated corn seeds with different dosages of gamma ray (25, 50, 100, 150 and 200 gray) were measured. After determining the appropriate dose, corn seeds were irradiated with gamma ray at 25 gray and cultivated in the field. At the end of the growth period, corn forage was harvested and ensiled in experimental and farm silages. In addition, the effects of feeding experimental silages on performance and blood metabolites of finishing Zandi lambs were determined. Experimental treatments were: 1) control; diet containing 20% non-irradiated corn silage and 2) diet containing 20% corn silage irradiated with 25 gray gamma ray. Irradiation with 25 dosage of gamma gray increased secondary roots, plumule and rootlet number in greenhouse condition as compared to other irradiation dosages (P<0.01). Irradiated corn had higher levels of soluble carbohydrates, soluble protein and chlorophyll content in the field condition compared to control group (P<0.01). Silage obtained from irradiated corn had higher crude protein content and lower pH compared to control (P<0.05). Feeding irradiated corn silage increased final body weight and average daily gain and improved feed conversion ratio of fattening lambs (P<0.05). Based on the results of the present study, irradiation of corn seeds with gamma ray improves corn silage quality and performance of fattening lambs.

effect of these bacteriaon the performance of fattening lambs, digestibility, fermentation and blood parameters. Thirty Afshari male lambs with an average weight of 32 ± 3 kg and age of four months were used in a completely randomized design. The experimental treatments included diets containing wheat straw processed with four bacterial strains isolated from the gastrointestinal tract of horse (Paenibacillus polymyxa L11, Paenibacillus polymyxa L12Enterobacter cloacae L2 and Escherichia coli Z2) for 6 weeks; and the control treatment. The results showed that bacterial processing increased crude protein and decreased NDF, iNDF and ADF content, as well as increased organic matter digestibility (OMD) and metabolizable energy (ME) of wheat straw compared to the control. The highest amount of OMD and ME was assigned toL11. Apparent digestibility of DM, NDF and ADF, concentrations and ratios of ruminal volatile fatty acid (VFA), ruminal pH and ammonia nitrogen were affected by bacterial processing. The highest nutrient digestibility was assigned to the L11 and and the lowest amount was assigned to the control treatment. The lowest amount of ruminal ammonia nitrogen was observed in L11 treatment. Bacterial treatments increased total VFA, propionate concentration and decreased rumen acetate concentration. According to the results, processing of wheat straw with cellulolytic bacteria isolated from the horse's gastrointestinal tract (especially L11) improved nutritional value of wheat straw. Therefore, it seems that bacterial processing can be a suitable strategyfor better use of crop by-product with low nutritional value.

In this research, the effect of increasing the amount of alfalfa hay in the starter diet on the performance, blood parameters and health of Holstein dairy calves fed according to the milk feeding pattern by step down method using 24 female Holstein calves with 4±1 day of age and birth weight of 41.2 ±3 kg were studied in a completely randomized design with three treatments and eight calves in each treatment for 56-days (until weaning). Experimental treatments include: 1) feeding milk without alfalfa hay, 2) feeding milk with five percent of alfalfa hay (based on dry matter of the diet) and 3) feeding milk with 10 percent of alfalfa hay (based on dry matter of the diet). there was no difference between experimental treatments in terms of dry matter intake, feed conversion ratio, daily weight gain, fecal score, skeletal growth indices and ruminal pH. The concentration of propionate in the rumen of calves fed with milk and five percent alfalfa hay was significantly higher than the control and 10 percent forage treatments (P <0.05). The ratio of acetate to propionate in the rumen of calves fed milk and five percent alfalfa forage was significantly higher than of calves of other treatments. Plasma beta-hydroxybutyrate concentration was higher in calves fed the starter containing five percent of dry alfalfa than calves in other treatments (P <0.05). According to the results of this study, replacing part of the starter of dairy calves fed with high amounts of milk and alfalfa hay improves their rumen development.

The aim of the present study was to determine the nutritive value of Alhaji camelorum plant using nylon bag and gas production techniques which compared with alfalfa hay. Fodder samples were hand harvested and its chemical and phenolic composition was determined according to standard laboratory methods. The methods of gas production, nylon bags and three-step enzymatic digestion were used to determine the nutritive value of the samples. The amount of organic matter, crude protein and Ca of Alhaji camelorum was lower than alfalfa hay (P<0.05). Wheras, the neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, lignin, ash and phosphorus content of Alhaji camelorum were significantly higher than alfalfa hay (P<0.05). The amount of total phenolic compounds, total tannin, condensed and hydrolyzable tannin of Alhaji camelorum was also higher than alfalfa hay (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the fast degradable, slow degradable and degradablity rates of Alhaji camelorum and alfalfa hay. However, the effective degradability of Alhaji camelorum was lower than alfalfa hay (P<0.05). Gas production rate (c) of Alhaji camelorum and alfalfa was similar, however, its gas production potential (b) was lower than alfalfa hay (P<0.05). Organic matter digestibility, metabolizable energy, and net energy for lactation were also estimated to be lower in Alhaji camelorum than alfalfa hay (P<0.05). According to the results of the present research, Alhaji camelorum plant with appropriate nutritional caractristics and digestibility parameters along with its lower production cost compare to alfalfa hay, can be replaced with a part of the forage of camel diet.

The effect of the type of fat and different levels of betonies in the diet on production and quality indicators of feed (pellet) was investigated by using a completely randomized design with nine treatments and four replications. The experimental treatments included the combination of 0 and 1.5% crude soybean oil and calcium fat powder with three levels of betonies (0, 1 and, 2%). The measured indicators include the efficiency of the pellet press machine (electricity consumption, production rate per unit of time and dry matter of the final product), qualitative indicators of pellet after production (strength and hardness) and the percentage of intact pellets after feeder plats and lines in the poultry farm environment. The use of fat in the feed reduced the amount of electricity consumption and improved the production rate per unit of time and dry matter percentage of the final product compared to non-fat treatments. In this case, the production rate per unit of time in the fat powder treatment with 2% bentonite was higher than other treatments (P< 0.05). The pellet durability index that was evaluated by tumbling method in fat powder treatment without bentonite was higher than other experimental treatments (P<0.05). In addition, the percentage of intact pellets after auto feeder lines was higher in fat-containing treatments, particularly fat powder treatment without bentonite, than other treatments (P<0.05). The highest correlation coefficient between the percentage of intact pellets and the pellet durability index was related to the Tumbling method in auto feeder lines. Based on the results of the present experiment, using fat powder instead of oil in pellet feed and adding one percent of bentonite to the diet improves the pellet quality and its production performance indicators in the factory.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of olive leaf powder feeding in different breeding periods on immunity, intestinal bacterial population and blood biochemical parameters of Arian broiler chickens. A total of 336 one-day-old male broiler (Arian strain 386) were studied in a completely randomized design with six treatments for 42 days. The experimental treatments included: control diet (without olive leaves) and the other groups were fed a diet containing 1% olive leaves: from one to14 days, one to 21 days, one to 28 days, one to 35 days and one to days. Body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio were similar in all groups, but the mortality rate in one to 42 days treatment was lower than other treatments (P <0.01). The amount of low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol in one to 35 days and one to 42 days treatments was lower than other treatments (P <0.05). The alanine aminotransferase activity in the control treatment was higher and in the one to42 days treatment was lower than other treatments (P <0.05). Higher population of Lactobacillus were observed for treatments of one to 28 days, one to 35 days and one to 42 days in jejunum (P <0.01) and one to 21 days, one to 28 days, one to 35 days and one to 42 days in ileum. (P <0.05). The results of this experiment showed that feeding 10 gr/kg of dry olive leaves during the 42 days of the breeding period of broilers led to a reduction in mortality without any negative effect on performance and immunity.

The aim of the present experiment was to evaluate the effect of feeding a glucogenic diet on the somatotropic axis of early lactation Holstein dairy cows. Sixteen fresh cows were used in a completely randomized design with two treatments and eight replicates in each treat. In the treatment of glucogenic diet, cows received 600 g of encasulated glucose daily as top dressed. In the control treatment, the cows received daily the same amount of glucose and coating material (mainly fat). Experimental diets were fed from day 4 to 30 after calving. Milk production and dry matter intake were recorded daily. Blood samples collected on days 4, 15 and 29 after parturition from coccygeal vein. The results show that there is no significant difference between treatments in terms of milk yield, energy corrected milk yield, 3.5% fat corrected milk yield, dry matter intake and blood glucose concentration. The glucogenic diet caused a significant increase in blood insulin (P<0.05) and a numerical increase in blood IGF-1 (P<0.15). Cows that received control diet showed a significant decrease in IGF-1 concentration (P<0.05) but no significant decrease was observed for cows received diet containing glucogenic supplement. The results of this study showed that feeding a glucogenic supplements can affect the somatotropic axis of early cows and cause an increase glucose turnover and blood insulin and relative improvement of blood IGF-1 levels.

To investigate the effect of fatty liver on insulin resistance in the liver of laying hens, an experiment using 80 laying hens of commercial line strains (w-36) after peak production (age 43 weeks) for eight weeks were performedin a completely randomized design with two treatments. The experimental treatments included control group (no injection) and the estradiol group  (injection of two mg estradiol benzoate per kg body weight). In order to induce fatty liver disease, the injection of 17-beta estradiol started from the third week of experiment (age 46), and was performed three times a week for 21 days. Blood samples were taken to evaluate the concentration of triglycerides, cholesterol and liver enzymes (aspartate transaminase (AST), alanin transaminase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) at the end of the experiment using 20 hens from each treatment. At the end of experiment, five hens of each treatment were selected and sacrificed, then 50 g of liver tissue was removed to study gene expression of insulin receptor (InR), glucose transporter1 (Glut1), sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP1), Ribosomal S6 kinase1 (S6K1), Target of Rapamycin (TOR) and Forkhead box protein O1 (FOXO1). The results showed that the injection of estradiol induced fatty liver and increased plasma concentrations of cholesterol and triglyceride as well as activity of AST, ALT and ALP.  In hens with fatty liver, expression of FOXO1 (4.1-fold), TOR (3.9-fold), S6K1 (3.3-fold) genes increased, and conversely, expression of InR (4.6-fold), Glut1 (7.5-fold) decreased. In conclusion results of the present study showed that the fatty liver induction in laying hens increased expression of insulin resistance-related genes.