فصلنامه پژوهشهای تولیدات دامی
پیاپی 36 (تابستان 1401)

 One of the main problems in feeding native hens for optimal egg production is mineral deficiency, especially calcium sources. Calcium is present in the blood plasma and is part of the cells and tissues of the body and is essential for the activity of some enzyme systems involved in the transmission of nerve currents, muscle contractions and normal heart rate and also along with phosphorus to transfer fat to the yolk. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of calcium and phosphorus on performance, immunity, characteristics of eggs, percentage of bone calcium and phosphorous and percentage of hatching in Khorasan province native hens.

A total of 200 native hens from Khorasan station were used in a completely randomized design (factorial experiment) with 4 treatments, 5 replicates. Experimental diets based on two levels of Ca (2.5 and 3.5) and total P (0.5 and 0.75) per percent of diet. The hens had free access to water and food during the experiment. Eggs were collected and weighed daily in each pen and its mean was recorded as its weight and number. At the end of the experiment, one hen was selected from each replication, slaughtered and after isolating the femur, the percentage of calcium and phosphorus was measured. Hemagglutination method was used to measure the antibody titer against SRBC. All data were analyzed using SAS software and the means were compared based on Tukey test.

The results showed that different levels and P did not show any effect on egg weight, egg production, egg mass, feed intake and FCR (P>0.05). Levels of Ca have significant effect on the egg production, so that the highest egg production, egg mass and feed intake was observed in the 3.5% Ca (P>0.05). The interaction of phosphorus and calcium significantly changed the performance indices except egg weight, and The best feed conversion ratio was observed in the group receiving 0.5% P and 3.5% Ca (P<0.05). Different levels of P did not show any effect on shell egg and thigh bone characteristics (P>0.05). Increased P had no effect on the hatchability, But calcium caused an increase 3-9 percent of hatchability during the test period (P<0.05). Increased calcium and phosphorus did not have any significant effects on immunity indexes (P<0.05).

Overall, the results of this experiment showed that the levels of 0.5% P and 3.5% Ca can be reported as levels of calcium and phosphorus requirement of laying hens native.

There are different methods to formulate poultry diets, which is one of the newest methods, based on digestible amino acids. Meals are used to provide protein and amino acids in diets. The use of soybean meal has many limitations compared to canola meal. The use of multi-enzyme was done to reduce the limitation in flour such as canola. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of diets formulated based on total and digestible amino acids, soybean and canola meals with or without adding multienzyme on the performance and carcass traits of broilers.

Experiment was conducted as 2×2×2 factorial arrangement with 800 day old of Ross-308 broilers with 8 treatments, 4 replicates and 25 chicks in each,  in a complected randomized design in 3 experimental periods (starter 1-10 days, grower 11-25 days and finisher 25-42 days).

The final results showed that diets formulated based on digestable amino acids, canola meal and enzyme by reduceing the amount of feed intake, improved chicks performance (p<0.05). Canola meal increased the abdominal fat, gizzard, liver and spleen percentages, however the percentages of breast and thighs increased this results also were abserverd in interaction between canola meal, digestible amino acids and enzyme.

The overall results indicated that in broilers in the prsense of multienzyme, use of canola meal in contrast with soybean meal in diets formulated based on digestible amino acids can improve their performance and carcass traits.

Increasing the growth rate, shortening the breeding period and improving feed efficiency in broiler chickens has provided the basis for the occurrence of a number of metabolic disorders such as ascites syndrome. This experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of medicinal plants (ethanolic extracts of Olive leaf, Garlic, Roselle and a combination of them) on performance, blood parameters and immune response of broilers under ascites induction conditions.

A number of 360 male broiler chickens of Hubbard strain were used in a completely randomized design with six treatments and four replications and 15 chickens per each replication. Experimental treatments include 1) control diet, 2) diet containing 500 mg/kg vitamin C, 3) diet containing 500 mg/kg Olive leaf powder extract, 4) diet containing 500 mg/kg Garlic extract, 5) diet containing 500 mg/kg Roselle extract. 6) Diets contained a combination of three plant extracts. To induce ascites, all chickens were exposed to 15 °C cold stress from 15 to 42 days of age. During the breeding period, performance traits (body weight, feed intake) were recorded weekly. To measure blood biochemical parameters and thyroid hormones, at the end of the experiment, 2 blood samples were prepared from the chickens of each replication. To measure The Cutaneous Basophil Hypersensitivity response (CBH), Phytohemagglutinin-P (PHA-P) were injected intradermally into the wattle.

The results showed that the experimental treatments had no significant effect on body weight and feed consumption, but the treatments of Garlic extract, Roselle extract and vitamin C improved the feed conversion ratio (p<0.05). Visceral organs were not affected by the experimental treatments, but the ratio of the right ventricle to the whole ventricle increased as a result of cold stress (p<0.05) and the use of antioxidant compounds caused its relative improvement. Blood parameters of glucose, cholesterol and aspartate aminotransferase enzyme were not affected by experimental treatments. As a result of cold stress, blood albumin and triglyceride concentration decreased and blood uric acid concentration increased (p<0.05). The use of antioxidant compounds, especially vitamin C, decreased the lipid peroxidation index and increased the cutaneous basophilic sensitivity response (p<0.05). The use of the combination of three plant extracts reduced the serum concentration of T3 hormone (p<0.05).

The use of vitamin C and a combination of three extracts of Olive leaf powder, Garlic, and Roselle improves performance, blood and immune parameters under ascites induction conditions.

Calcium in the diet of broiler chickens is effective on growth, feed efficiency, bone growth, leg health, nervous system function and body immunity. It is essential to provide calcium in sufficient amount to achieve optimal performance in broiler chickens. In order to accurately meet the calcium needs of poultry, one should be aware of the amount of bioavailable calcium in food and calcium sources. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the calcium bioavailability of some commercial calcium carbonates and its effect on the function and physical and chemical characteristics of bone in broiler chickens..

Four samples of commercial calcium carbonate, which have the highest production in Iran, were prepared. Then, according to standard methods, the amounts of heavy elements and their solubility in acid were determined. According to the measured characteristics, two carbonates which had better quality were selected and the bioavailability of calcium was determined using 180 male chickens by the standard curve method. Each diet was provided to chickens with 6 replications and 5 birds in each replication for two weeks from 7 to 21 days.

The results of the present study showed that among the carbonates tested, the highest solubility was carbonate Atlas, then carbonate Alborz, and the rest of the carbonates had lower solubility (p<0.01). The highest amount of calcium was related to carbonate Atlas (37.8) and then carbonate B (37.13).  The other calcium soureses had less calcium levels. Carbonate Atlas and Alborz had less poisonus elements. Calcipiure was applied as standard calcium source. The estimated bioavailability based on body weight was 99% for carbonate Atlas and 98.6% in carbonate Alborz. The estimated bioavailability based on the FCR for carbonate A was 121.7% and carbonate B was 92.8%. Estimated bioavailability based on tibial ash was 111.9% for carbonate Atlas and 106% in carbonate Alborz. The estimated bioavailability based on the percentage of tibia calcium was 101.4% for carbonate A and 89.5% in carbonate Alborz. The estimated bioavailability based on tibia calcium strength was 108% for carbonate Atlas and 101% in carbonate Alborz.

In general, the results of the present study showed that the selected carbonates have an acceptable quality as a source of calcium in poultry diets.

Introduction and Objetive: 

Numerous plant bioactive substances have been shown to improve growth performance, antioxidant status and animal immune systems.Artichoke and onion are a rich source of natural antioxidants and  flavonoids  that have antimicrobial and antioxidant properties.

520 one-day-old commercial 308 chicks were randomly assigned to five treatments and four replications (26 chicks per replication) from 1 to 42 days of age. Experimental treatments included basal diet and basal diet plus 1.5% artichoke, 3% artichoke, 1.5% onion and 3% onion. Dried artichokes and freshly and peeled white onions,after grinding and mixing with corn, soybean meal and other ingredients were used. The effects of different levels of onion and artichoke plant on growth performance, gastrointestinal morphology and immune system of broiler chickens was investigated.

Malondialdehyde, DPPH and SOD were significantly affected by experimental treatments (p<0.05). So that the amount of malondialdehyde significantly decreased in treatments containing onions compared to the control treatment (p<0.05). Also, the percentage of DPPH in experimental treatments, especially in diets containing 3% artichoke and containing onion, increased significantly compared to the basal diet (p<0.05). Addition of artichoke and onion to the diet increased the antibody titer against influenza at 35 days (p<0.05). With the addition of artichoke and onion to the diet, the height of the villi increased and the depth of the crypts decreased significantly (p<0.05). Throughout the experiment, chickens fed onions (one and a half and three percent) showed higher weight gain (p<0.05). Experimental treatments had no significant effect on the percentage of breast, thigh and carcass weight of broilers. Adding artichokes and onions to the diet improved antioxidant status, anti-influenza antibody titers, and improved the height of the jejunal villi relative to the control.The best level was 1.5% dried artichoke or 3% fresh onion.

Flavonoid compounds are one of the compounds that will be commercially available in the future. Due to the improvement of antioxidant status indices of treatments containing artichoke and onion, it is recommended that onion and artichoke flavonoids  and other bioactive substances be extracted and the effects of using this substances purely in broiler diets be investigated.

This experiment was performed to investigate the effect of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids calcium salts (omega-3 and omega-9) on fattening performance, carcass traits and some blood biochemical properties of Lori Bakhtiari × Romanov male lambs.

49 male lambs with 29.97± 0.88 kg initial weight were divided into 7 equal groups, randomly. Lambs were fed individually with the following experimental diets: 1) Basal diet without fat powder (control), 2) Basal diet with fish oil calcium salts (2% of diet DM) for 90 days, 3) Basal diet with fish oil calcium salts (2% of diet DM) for 45 days, 4) Basal diet with olive oil calcium salts (2% of diet DM) for 90 days, 5) Basal diet with olive oil calcium salts (2% of diet DM) for 45 days, 6) Basal diet with saturated fat calcium salts (2% of diet DM) for 90 days and 7) Basal diet with saturated fat calcium salts (2% of diet DM) for 45 days. Daily feed intake of lambs was recorded and lambs body weight was measured weekly. At the end of the experiment, blood samples were taken from the jugular veins of the lambs. Then 28 lambs were weighed and slaughtered and were measured the weights of different parts of the lambs carcass.

Totally, feeding with calcium salts of fish oil, olive oil and saturated fats significantly increased daily weight gain and reduced the lambs feed conversion ratio compared to control group (p= 0.04). But had no significant effect on dry matter intake of the Lambs. Feeding with saturated and unsaturated calcium salts had no significant effect on serum glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. Serum high density lipoproteins (HDL) were higher among the fat treatments than control treatment, but no significant difference was observed between fat treatments. The level of serum low density lipoproteins (LDL) when using of unsaturated fatty acids for 45 and 90 days was significantly lower than the using of saturated fat and control (p= 0.01). Lambs treated with fat powder had higher carcass yields than the control group. Feeding on fish and olive oil calcium salts reduced abdominal fat and kidneys around fat of lambs (p= 0.03).

Totally, results of this study showed that diet supplementation with fish and olive unsaturated fatty acids calcium salts increases the fattening performance and productivity of lambs.

Lycopene (C40H56) is a fat-soluble carotenoid with the highest antioxidant activity among carotenoids. Lycopene is effective on alleviating oxidative stress and improving the quality of animal products. It is expected that the addition of strong antioxidants such as lycopene can be useful in improving the optimal condition of the rumen and subsequent digestion and animal health. In this study the effects of using different levels of lycopene in on fermentation parameters in vitro; digestibility and feed intake of fattening lambs had been investigated.

In this study, in first stage, the digestibility and fermentation parameters of diets containing 0 (control), 0.4, 0.8, 1.6 and 2.4 mg/g DM of lycopene were determined in vitro in a completely randomized design experiment. In Second stage, the effect of selected diets from the in vitro stage (diet with and without 2.4 g/kg lycopene supplement DM) on feed intake and nutrient digestibility was investigated in vivo using 20 male lambs.

The results showed that increasing level of lycopene in the diet caused a linear decrease in gas production (p<0.05). Total gas productions were 65.8, 64.5, 64.2, 64.2 and 58.4 ml fin and control, 0.4, 0.8, 1.6 and 2.4 mg/g DM lycopene respectively. Adding lycopene to the diet increased partitioning factor (4.91, 4.92, 5.01, 5.1 and 5.44 mg/ml) and microbial protein synthesis (198, 200, 203, 208 and 220 mg) (p<0.05) but decreased ammonia nitrogen (p<0.05). However, pH, short-chain fatty acids metabolizable energy, dry matter and organic matter disappearance were not affected by lycopene. Results from Tilley and Terry experiment showed that lycopene had no significant effect on digestibility of dry matter, neutral detergent and acid detergents fiber. In vivo results showed that lycopene supplementation increased feed intake with no effect of nutrient digestibility in fattening lambs.

Lycopene supplementation increased partitioning factor, production of microbial protein in vitro, and increased feed intake of fattening lambs in vivo.

Minerals play important role from initial stages in life of mammals. Iron-amino acid chelate has been used as an oral supplement in animal feed. Based on the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of milk supplemented with organic iron on performance, blood parameters, iron metabolism parameters, biochemical and immunological parameters in suckling lambs.

Thirty-six newborn Dalagh lambs (birth weight, 3.8 ± 0.4 kg) were randomly divided into 3 groups with 12 repetitions. The lambs in control group were fed with milk without organic iron. The other groups were fed with 25 and 50 mg/kg organic iron in milk for 45 days, respectively. The lambs were weighed every 15 days. The amount of feed intake was recorded daily. Lamb feces were collected daily for diarrhea status. Finally, blood samples were taken from the cervical vein of lambs on day 45 to evaluation of blood metabolites.

The results were as follows: In the entire experimental period and from 15 to 30 and 31 to 45 days of age, daily weight and total body weight increased in the groups treated with organic iron compared to the control group (p< 0.05). There was a significant decrease in the number of diarrhea patients and the number of diarrhea days in the patients receiving organic iron (p< 0.05). Organic iron supplementation in suckling lambs showed a significant increase in plasma iron concentration and a significant decrease in plasma copper concentration (p< 0.05). Concentrations of other minerals (calcium, phosphorus and zinc) were not affected by organic iron supplementation in suckling lambs. Also, administration of iron to suckling lambs had no effect on the concentration of blood metabolites (cholesterol, glucose, triglyceride, urea, total protein, albumin and globulin) among the experimental groups.

The results of this study showed that the use of organic iron supplementation improves performance, health and biochemical parameters in suckling lambs.

Crossbreeding of fat-tailed native sheep with well known high performance thin-tailed sheep is currently widely used as a rapid solution to enhance production and reproduction, and reduction of fat-tail of native sheep. Nevertheless, comparison studies about native and crossbred animal performance in different environment is necessary for sheep husbandry industry.

This study was performed in the summer using 20 Lori-Bakhtiari (Lori) and 20 Lori-Bakhtiari×Romanov (F1) (Cross) sheep with an average weight of 31.6±2.5 kg in eight treatment with five-repetition for each in a completely randomized design with 2×2×2 factorial array including breed (Lori and Cross), water (free water and water restriction), and food (free food and food restriction). Unrestricted animals had free access to water and food, while water-restricted animals had free access to water for only one hour a day, and food-restricted animals were fed only with 0.45 to 0.65 percent of their body weight. After six weeks of treatments, lambs slaughtered and carcass traits were measured.

Food restriction has widely affected the measured traits in comparsion to water and breed and significantly reduced rectal temperature, respiratory rate, water intake, final weight, carcass weight, Carcass cuts and internal organ weight, fat-tail, visceral fat, total body fat, testis weight and volume (p≤0.01), while increased the water-to-feed ratio and carcass yield without fat-tail (p≤0.007). Water restriction had lesser effects and caused a significant increase in the difference between the maximum and minimum rectal temperature in each period (p<0.05), and decrease in water consumption (p=0.0001), but had no effect on other functional, physiological, and carcass traits. Crossbreeding also significantly reduced fat-tail and total carcass (p˂0.0001), and increased visceral fat, carcass yield without fat-tail, the proportion of carcass cuts, and testis weight and volume (p≤0.01), but had no effect on other traits.

In general, in normal food conditions (regardless the type of access to water) crossbreed animals performed better than Lori, but there is no differencess between them in severe food restriction. Therefore, it could be concluded that in all conditions F1 generation could make the carcass healthier and reduce the generation interval due to less carcass fat and faster maturation.

Ensiling total mixed ration can be used as a sustainable alternative to efficiently of feed management, improves digestibility and increase performance of ruminants. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of using total mixed ration silage based fodder corn on the growth performance of fattening Zell lambs.

Fourteen Zell male lambs (19.74± 2.07 kg BW) were randomly allocated to one of two experimental diets similar in nutrient contents. Experimental diets included control diet based on alfalfa and wheat straw (CD) plus concentrate and total mixed ration silage based on fodder corn plus concentrate (TMRS). The animals were fed three times daily in three equal portions over a 12-weeks assay following a 2-weeks adaptation period. Lambs were weighed immediately before the morning feeding at the beginning and at 3-weeks intervals. At the end of fattening period, the lambs were housed in individual cages to evaluate nutrient digestibility of the experimental diets. Furthermore, blood samples were collected from the Jugular veins of the lambs for measuring of glucose, total protein, albumin and liver enzymes such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST).

Average feed intake was not affected by the experimental diets, but final body weight, total body weight gain, average daily gain were greater but the feed conversion ratio (feed/gain) was lower in lambs fed TMRS diet than those received CD diet (P<0.05). Digestibility of dry matter, organic matter and neutral detergent fiber were higher (p<0.02) in CD diet that that of the TMRS diet. There was no difference in plasma concentration of albumin, total protein, glucose, ALT and AST between the experimental groups, and all of those parameters were within the normal range for healthy sheep.

It was concluded that ensiling total mixed ration based on the fodder corn was associated with an optimal fermentation and using its in fattening Zell lamb diets caused an increase in final body weight and daily gain, and improved feed conversion ratio. Therefore, ensiling total mixed ration could an appropriate feeing management to improve performance of fattening lambs.

Low-consumption minerals, such as iron, are essential for embryonic growth and development and post-hatch growth. Therefore, to achieve the best quality of embryonic and chick growth, it is useful to study these minerals. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of in ovo injection of optimized nano-scale zero-valent iron on optimal embryonic growth, hatching rate, chick quality, and carcass characteristics.

In the present study, 500 eggs of 308 strains, after numbering and weighing, were placed in a completely randomized design with four treatments, five replicates and 25 eggs per each replicate. Treatments were: 1- Control one (without injection); 2- Control two (injection of ethanol, ascorbic acid and starch); 3- Injection of 2500 ppm nano zero-valent iron; 4- Injection of 5000 ppm nano zero-valent iron. The volume of injection was 50 μl and into the yolk. Then, the eggs were placed in the incubator (37.5 C and 61% humidity). At the end of the incubation period, the percentage of hatching and the quality of the chicks were checked. Infertile eggs and the eggs with a dead embryo were also transferred to the laboratory for examination of embryonic mortality. The hatched chicks were transferred to the farm and, after seven days of rearing, were weighed and blood taken from their hearts to measure some blood parameters. From each treatment, nine birds were selected and slaughtered to study carcass characteristics (drumstick, breast, liver, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and cecum). Data were analyzed using the general Linear Model procedures of SAS 9.1.

The results showed that nano-scale zero-valent iron injection decreased hatching rate, but did not affect the quality of the chicks and also, liver and duodenum weights increased significantly (P<0.05). Blood glucose concentration showed a significant increase compared to control groups (P<0.05). Other parameters were not affected by the experimental treatments.

According to the findings of this study, it is recommended that injections below 2500 ppm be injected and examined, and these results can be a reason for the high concentration of injectable concentrations and their adverse effects.

The low fertility rate of frozen sperm of poultry compared to other species is a serious challenge for artificial insemination in commercial flocks. This challenge may be related to some physiological characteristics of poultry sperm. On the other hand, osmotic, chemical and mechanical stresses during cooling processes are the most important reasons that cause structural, biochemical and functional changes in sperm, which results in a series of cascade phenomena that will lead to a decrease in sperm fertility. Quercetin is a bioactive compound with a plant origin, which has a polyphenolic chemical structure and has antioxidant properties. This composition, as an important flavonoid and a strong antioxidant, eliminates free radicals and reduces oxidative stress in chicken spermatogonia. The purpose of this study is to use quercetin in nano form in the diluent of rooster sperm during storage at 4 degrees.

Immediately after collecting semen from roosters, initial evaluations were done. Semen collected from all 15 roosters were mixed together and added to the dilution medium in order to eliminate individual effects. Different concentrations of quercetin (10, 15 and 20 μM) in three forms (unprotected and inside liposomal and NLC structures) added to base diluent composition. Then the diluted semen samples were gradually cooled at 4°C for 3 hours. Then, at time zero (immediately after the samples reach the temperature of 4°C), 24 and 48, the motility parameters, membrane integrity, lipid peroxidation, the percentage of abnormal sperms and the percentage of viability of the samples were evaluated.

The results indicated that the experimental treatments did not have a significant effect on the evaluated parameters at zero time. During 24 hours of storage at 4 degrees, 15 μM of quercetin loaded in NLC significantly improved the parameters of sperm total motility, progressive motility, viability and integrity of sperm membrane compared to the control group. During 48 hours of storage at 4 degrees, the treatment of 15 μM quercetin loaded in NLC caused a significant improvement in the parameters of sperm total motility, progressive motility, viability and integrity of sperm membrane compared to the control group. Also, the results showed that the experimental treatments did not have a significant effect on the abnormality percentage of rooster sperm during storage at 4 degrees in three times of 0, 24 and 48 hours. During 24 and 48 hours of storage at 4 degrees, the treatment of 15 μM quercetin loaded in NLC caused a significant decrease in sperm MDA compared to the control group.

The results of this experiment show that the treatment of 15 μM quercetin loaded in NLC improves many evaluated parameters and therefore it is recommended for use in rooster sperm diluent.

Increasing the growth rate of broilers leads to some metabolic diseases such as ascites and sudden death syndrome and one of the proposed solutions to reduce its effects is to reduce the growth rate of birds through feed restriction. On the other hand, fat sources rich in omega-3 fatty acids also have a known effect on improving health. The present experiment was designed to investigate the interaction effects of dietary restriction and the use of fish oil in broilers with the focus on studying the effects on the small intestine and liver tissues.

A total of 675 one-day-old male broiler chickens from Ross 308 strain were used in a 3*3 factorial experiment with a completely randomized design with 9 treatments, 5 replications and 15 chickens. The factors studied were dietary restriction at three levels of zero, 6 or 12 hours of starvation during the first week of the growing period and replacement of all dietary oil with fish oil at zero and the last 12 or 18 days of the finisher period.

12-hour dietary restriction during the first week of the growth period reduced feed intake and daily weight gain, and feed conversion ratio decreased due to fish oil consumption. Dietary restriction decreased hepatocyte diameter and hepatocyte nucleus volume and increased hepatocyte cytoplasm volume and hepatic sinusoid volume. Consumption of fish oil significantly reduced hepatocyte diameter, cytoplasm volume and hepatocyte sinusoid volume as well as dose-dependent increase in hepatocyte nucleus volume. In the duodenum and jejunum, dietary restriction reduced villi height. The ratio of crypt depth to villi height also increased in the duodenum due to 12 hours of feed restriction. Consumption of fish oil for 18 days at the end of the finisher period significantly increased the villi length in the duodenum, but in the jejunum, the opposite effect was observed.

The results of this study showed that 6 hours of dietary restriction during the first week of the grower period did not have a negative effect on the production traits of broilers and on the other hand significant tissue changes observed in liver and small intestine tissue testify to the effectiveness of dietary restriction programs and consumption of fish oil on the metabolism of broilers.

The growth models own a very great importance in biological systems.  For example, by analyzing the growth curve of ruminant animals and poultries, it is possible to fastener and to manage their rearing, nutritional and behavioral requirements, based on their growth routines and principles. On the other hand the growth pattern of animals might be used in evaluating their genetic potential for breeding purposes. Thus, to evaluate and describe the growth pattern of Japanese quail, this study aimed to evaluate the capabilities and advantages of non-linear and nonlinear mixed models to describe and evaluate the growth pattern of Japanese quail.

In order to assess and designate the growth pattern of Japanese quail, we used the growth data of three groups; high weight (HW), low weight (LW) and the control lines of Japanese quail. Different models, including logistic, Gompertz and Richard's both non-linear and nonlinear mixed models were fitted to the data. For evaluation of models three criteria including coefficient of determination (R2), mean square error (MSE) and Akaike's information criterion (AIC) were employed as criteria to compare the mentioned six different models.

Values of the coefficient of determination (R2), for logistic, Gompertz and Richard's nonlinear models were 0.954, 0.957 and 0.951, mean square error (MSE) for three models were 74.034, 72.560 and 72.730, and Akaike's information criterion (AIC) for the models were 65829, 65307 and 65349, respectively. The results for non-linear mixed models, in the same order mentioned above and for R2, MSE and AIC, were 0.976, 0.978 and 0.978; 33.400, 31.658 and 31.849; 61449, 60641 and 60591 respectively.

The results showed that nonlinear mixed models had higher accuracy and less mean square error, compared to nonlinear models and Richard’s model is more capable (better) to the predict growth pattern of Japanese quail. Also among non-linear models Gompertz model had a better fit to the purpose. In general it can be said that the parameters determined by the functions inspected in this study, are not much different.

turkey is important all over the world in order to improve some of food supply required for several reasons such as its weight gain and high growth rate, low feed conversion ratio, and production of more eggs and meat. The MC4R gene is one of the most important candidate genes in different species which can affect the energy homeostasis and body weight regulation. Identity the genetic aspects and major gene influence on energy balance, production, fertility, safety are the recent interests of genetic and breeding researchers. The objective of this study was undertaken to identify polymorphisms of the MC4R gene using PCR single-strand conformational polymorphism (PCR–SSCP) analysis and to evaluate association of these polymorphisms with egg performance in turkey.

For doing this research in order to investigate polymorphism of MC4R, 100 laying turkeys, randomly selected then all animals were blooded. Genomic DNA with optimal quality was extracted from blood samples using the protocol of Boom et al. PCR was done for amplifying a fragment in size of 469 bp of MC4R gene. The single strand conformation polymorphism technique (SSCP) was used to determine genotype. A statistical model was done by using GLM of SPSS software to find the association between the SSCP genotype patterns of PCR products with egg performance in turkey.

The results of PCR-SSCP by using polyacrylamide gel and silver nitrate showed that this population was polymorphic at the studied loci and four different genotypes AB, AC, BC and CC, with frequencies of 52.1%, 4.13%, 22.93% and 20.48% respectively were observed. Genotype AB and genotype AC has the highest and lowest genotypic frequencies, respectively.

The results indicated that the MC4R gene is polymorph and there was no significant difference between the genotype patterns and egg performance (egg mass, mean egg weight, and the number of eggs). Due to the importance of the MC4R gene, the study of this gene locus suggested in larger populations.

Run of homozygosity (ROH) was used to detecting the genomic inbreeding in sheep. The locations of ROHs which are under positive selection, or laboring favorable allele in population, tend to be fixed in the genome and formation of ROH Island during long times. As detecting the ROH Islands, the genomic regions containe economic traits could be detectable.

In this study in order to identify the ROH Islands associated with the genes under selection, the 50k BeadChip genotyped data of 2536 sheep from 68 different breeds from all over the world were used. After quality control, ROHs were identified using Plink v1.09 software. One percent of SNP with the highest frequency in ROH were considered as ROH Islands.

A total of 465 ROH Islands (length: 27.43 Kb to 17 Mb) were identified, which covering less than 1% of the sheep genome. The ROH Islands was not distributed across the genome uniform and varied among breeds, but some common were identified. The highest and largest ROH islands were observed in European breeds. In contrast, the lowest and shortest were detected in African and American breeds, respectively. In this study, 256 genes were identified in 111 ROH Islands from total of 465 ROH Islands. of A quarter of the total reference genes identified in the sheep genome, were detected within the ROH islands. Totally 103 QTLs associated with milk, carcass, body weight, and wool traits were identified in these regions.

The results of this study revealed that, the formation of sheep breeds and selection for economic traits during several years, has led to the formation of many ROH islands in sheep genome, therefore scanning these regions at the genome can be an alternative strategy to identify genes and associated loci with economic traits.

In recent decades, dairy cows have been selected for high levels of milk production; As a result, the cow's demand for nutrients increases so much that if the required amount of energy is not provided, the incidence of ketosis in dairy cows will increase; Therefore, in this study, the aim is to identify different index genes expressed between healthy and pre-calving ketosis groups that ultimately identify the metabolic pathways and molecular activities involved during ketosis.

Transcript (total mRNA sequence) of six blood tissue samples containing three replicates from each group was prepared. The preprocessing steps of the readings were performed using Fastq-dump, FastQC and Trimmomatic software and also the study of gene expression profile was performed using Hisat2 and Samtools software. Finally, the differential expression analysis of genes was performed using Cufflinks software package and gene ontology analysis was performed using DAVID and Ensembl databases.

Finally, 35342 genes and 107722 isoforms were identified on the transcript of these samples and finally 179 genes with different and significant expression were identified (p <0.00055) which, considering log2> 4 and log2 <-4, Seven genes with different expression between the two groups were studied. The largest differences in gene expression between the two groups were related to the genes, HBA and PTGS2 with log2 (fold_change), 4.53 and 4.47, respectively. Gene ontology (GO) analysis and the pathways involved in it showed that the mitochondrial membrane and endoplasmic reticulum component, inflammatory response and oxidative stress, hemoglobin redox process and biosynthesis, cellular response to hypoxia, metal ion binding, biosynthesis and metabolism Fatty acids and lipids are also involved in the chemokine and TNF signaling pathways.

Seven index genes with different and significant expression were identified on the transcript of the samples; The CXCL3 and GRO1 genes had the highest expression between the two groups and the HBA gene had the highest differential expression, with more than 23-fold expression in the pre-calving ketosis group compared to the healthy group. Gene ontology analysis showed that HBA gene as the most significant gene with different expression, with more expression in the group with pre-calving ketosis, is a factor in increasing oxygen transfer, hemoglobin biosynthesis, oxygen binding and iron ions.

Coccidiosis caused by Eimeria parasites is one of the most costly diseases in the poultry industry. Understanding how the immune system responds to coccidiosis can be helpful in designing molecular prevention and treatment methods against it. The aim of this study was to identify the important genes involved in the response of chicken’s immune system to infection with Eimeria parasites using microarray data available in public databases.

In the present study, after searching the GEO database, two microarray datasets related to coccidiosis in poultry were selected. After quality control and removal of inappropriate data, significantly up- and down-regulated genes in response to infection with Eimeria were identified using the LIMMA package in the R program. Gene ontology and KEGG pathways analysis were performed using the DAVID program. Subsequently, the protein-protein interaction network of the genes with significant expression level changes was constructed using the Cytoscape program.

The obtained results in this study showed that most of the genes that had a significant increase in expression level were associated with the innate immune system. Significantly down-regulated genes were also involved in metabolic processes. According to the outputs of present study, it seems coccidiosis has the greatest negative effect on metabolic processes, including fat metabolism, due to damage to the poultry intestine. Existing scientific evidences about a significant increase in the expression of MMP1, MMP7 and MMP9 genes revealed that collagen catabolism in coccidiosis is one of the increased cases that can be caused by damage to intestinal tissue. It seems that changing the expression level of genes affecting the metabolism of some nutrients, including fats, is one of the important effects of coccidiosis.

The obtained results of the present study can be useful in better understanding how the poultry's immune system responds to coccidiosis and the observed changes in the expression of some genes can help design treatments for this disease.

The agricultural sector is one of the most important sectors of the Iranian economy. Lack of some important inputs such as water and environmental pollution are the main problems of this sector in increasing production. Therefore, increasing production and sustainability is one of the important goals of the country in the agricultural sector. Increasing efficiency is one of the best ways to increase production, profitability and sustainability of production in enterprises. In this study, considering the role of dairy industrial units in milk production and food security, the efficiency and ranking of resilience and efficiency criteria of dairy industrial farms in Kerman have been calculated.

Efficiency was calculated using data envelopment analysis (DEA) method and collecting 30 questionnaires from dairy industrial farms in 2020. In order to rank the criteria of resilience and efficiency, a hierarchical analysis process (AHP) was used. For this purpose, 15 paired comparison questionnaires were completed using the opinion of experts.

The results of ranking the criteria showed that the economic criteria with a weight of 0.5 are the most important for experts. The criteria of resilience with a weight of 0.205, the environmental criteria with a weight of 0.148 and the social criteria with a weight of 0.147 have the second to fourth ranks, respectively. The maximum profit among the economic sub-criteria has the highest priority in the opinion of experts. Labor expenditure among the social sub-criteria is the most important in the opinion of experts. The amount of water consumption among the environmental sub-criteria has been ranked highest by experts. Productivity is the most important sub-criteria of resilience in the opinion of experts. According to the results, maximizing profit, minimizing the cost of livestock rations and productivity are among the 11 sub-criteria considered to be the highest priority for experts. The results of efficiency calculation showed that there are no units in the range of 0 to 20. Three units were in the range of 20 to 40, 9 units in the range of 40 to 60, five units in the range of 60 to 80 and 13 units in the range of 80 to 100.

Based on the obtained results, by increasing efficiency, milk production and profitability of industrial dairy farms in Kerman can be increased. For this purpose, efficient units can be used as a model for inefficient units and increase the efficiency of units by changing management and how to use resources.

This study aims to investigate the nutritional effects of organic acids, prebiotics, probiotics and (prebiotic + probiotic( combination on increasing adult bee population, neonatal rearing, beeswax production, pollen storage and hives weight gain before the honey harvesting season in Iranian honey bees.

This experiment was conducted using 25 Iranian honey bee colonies with the same sister queen and with the same conditions in a completely randomized design with 5 experimental treatments including control group (sugar syrup 1: 1), organic acid (8 cc per 1 liter of syrup 1:1), prebiotics (10 g per 1 liter of syrup 1: 1), probiotics (5 g per 1 liter of syrup 1: 1) and (prebiotic + probiotic) combination (10 g + 5 g per 1 liter of syrup 1: 1) and 5 repetitions for 30 days before the honey harvesting season.

The adult bee population in the colonies that received organic acid and prebiotic + probiotic( combination was significantly higher than the control treatment (p<0.05). Neonatal rearing and beeswax production increased in colonies that received organic acid, prebiotic, probiotic and )prebiotic + probiotic( combination compared to the control treatment (p<0.05). The effect of experimental treatments on pollen storage was not significant (p<0.05). Hives weight gain increased in all experimental treatments, except for the colonies that received probiotics, compared to the control treatment (p<0.05).

The results showed that the use of organic acid, prebiotic, probiotic and (prebiotic + probiotic) combination in bee stimulation feeding before the honey harvesting season can improve the performance of Iranian bee colonies.