Animal and poultry genetics and breeding
mohsen rahmani; mustafa muhaghegh dolatabady; javad hibibizad
Abstract
The effect of mRNA levels in tyrosinase family genes (TYR, TYRP1 and DCT) and MATP gene on the development of skin spots were investigated in Lori Bakhtiari sheep. For this porpose, the skin samples were collected from both white and dark parts of 14 white-haired Lori-Bakhtiari sheep with black spots ...
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The effect of mRNA levels in tyrosinase family genes (TYR, TYRP1 and DCT) and MATP gene on the development of skin spots were investigated in Lori Bakhtiari sheep. For this porpose, the skin samples were collected from both white and dark parts of 14 white-haired Lori-Bakhtiari sheep with black spots and total RNA was extracted. In addition, after determining the quality and quantity of extracted RNA, cDNA was synthesized for each sample. To amplify fragments of the target and reference genes, the necessary primers were designed based on the mRNA sequences available in GenBank and Primer3plus software. The result showed mRNA levels of DCT and MATP genes were not significantly different in spotted skin tissue compared to white skin tissue. compared to the white part of the skin tissue. Among the target genes, the DCT gene with an average threshold cycle (Ct) of 35.78 had a lower expression level than the MATP gene with an average Ct of 31.68 in skin samples of Lori-Bakhtiari sheep. The expression of TYR and TYRP1 genes were not detected in any of the samples from both parts of the skin. The results of this study showed that the expression level of DCT, TYR, TYRP1 and MATP genes can not play an effective role in regulating the coat color and creating black spots in the skin tissue of Lori Bakhtiari sheep. Therefore, it appears that genes or other factors cause black spots in Lori-Bakhtiari sheep, and their identification requires further study.
Animal and poultry nutrition
shahriyar khalilzadeh; Abolfazl Zarei; nima eila
Abstract
The present study was conducted with the aim of the effect of different levels of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) (L-valine, L-leucine and L-isoleucine) in low protein diets on performance, carcass characteristics and immune system in broiler chickens. For this purpose, a number of 480 one-day-old ...
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The present study was conducted with the aim of the effect of different levels of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) (L-valine, L-leucine and L-isoleucine) in low protein diets on performance, carcass characteristics and immune system in broiler chickens. For this purpose, a number of 480 one-day-old male and female broilers of Ross 308 strain with an average one-day weight of 42.75±0.47 g were used. This experiment was carried out as a factorial 3x2 in the form of a completely randomized design with 6 treatments and 4 replications. The experimental diets included three levels of BCAA (0, 10 and 20% higher than the standard) and two levels of crude protein (standard or 10% lower than the standard). The mutual effects of raw protein and BCAA showed that the use of 20% BCAA in the standard diet improves body weight gain and feed conversion ratio compared to the low protein diet with standard BCAA. Also, the level of 20% BCAA was able to compensate for the decrease in dietary protein, and the increase in body weight and feed conversion ratio were similar to the standard treatment. The level of 20% BCAA in the diet of broiler chickens increased the percentage of heterophils and the ratio of heterophils to lymphocytes compared to the low protein diet with standard branched amino acids (P<0.05). In general, it was found that BCAA supplementation is vital for improving carcass characteristics, immune system and performance of broiler chickens in low-protein diets.
Animal and poultry nutrition
Motaleb Ebrahimi; Mirhadi Hosseini; Hamza Qadri; Sayed Ali Mirghelenj
Abstract
The present experiment was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of different levels of thyme powder on performance, egg quality traits and internal quality of eggs at different storage temperatures in old laying hens. For this purpose, 144 laying hens (Hy-line-W36) with similar body weight ...
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The present experiment was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of different levels of thyme powder on performance, egg quality traits and internal quality of eggs at different storage temperatures in old laying hens. For this purpose, 144 laying hens (Hy-line-W36) with similar body weight at the age of 65 weeks were used in a completely randomized design with 3 treatments, 6 replications and 8 birds per replication. The experimental treatments included 1- control treatment (diet based on soy-corn meal without thyme powder), 2- treatment containing 0.25% thyme powder and 3) treatment containing 0.5% thyme powder. At the end of the experimental period (8th week of the experiment), 6 eggs were selected from each replicate and kept at temperatures of 4 and 25 degrees Celsius for 30 days to determine the internal quality. The results showed that laying hens fed with diets containing 0.25 and 0.5% thyme powder had more egg weight than the control group (P<0.05). Egg mass and feed conversion ratio in the 0.5% thyme powder treatment were significantly higher and lower than the control treatment respectively (P<0.05). At a temperature of 25°C, the use of 0.5% thyme powder increased the yolk height and egg yolk index compared to the 0% group (P<0.05). In general, it is recommended to add 0.25 and 0.5% of thyme plant powder to the diet of old laying hens due to the improvement of egg weight, feed conversion ratio, internal quality of eggs and maintaining the quality of eggs during storage.
Animal and poultry nutrition
Mehdi Nazarpour; Mohsen Hajipour; Parvin Shawrang
Abstract
This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of using rapeseed and wheat irradiated with electron on performance, blood parameters, antibody titer and intestinal morphology in broiler chickens. In this study, 300 one-day-old broiler chickens (mixed male and female) of Ross 308 strain were assigned ...
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This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of using rapeseed and wheat irradiated with electron on performance, blood parameters, antibody titer and intestinal morphology in broiler chickens. In this study, 300 one-day-old broiler chickens (mixed male and female) of Ross 308 strain were assigned to 4 experimental treatments with five repetitions and 15 chickens in each repetition in a completely random design. The experimental treatments included the control group (without rapeseed meal and wheat) and the treatments containing rapeseed meal and wheat with radiation dose of 10, 20 and 30 kGy. The results showed that in the body weight during the grower period, the control group had the highest body weight compared to other treatments (P<0.05). In the total period, the control group and the treatment group with a radiation dose of 30 kGy had the highest body weight (P<0.05). In the feed consumed during the grower period and the total period, the control and treatment groups with a radiation dose of 30 kGy had the highest amount (P<0.05). In the feed conversion ratio, the control group had the lowest value compared to other treatments in the final period and the total period (P<0.05). The treatment with radiation dose of 30 kGy had the highest villus length and layer thickness compared to other treatments (P<0.05).The general results of the present study showed that irradiation of rapeseed and wheat flour with a dose of 30 kGy improved the characteristics of growth performance and morphology of the jejunum.
Animal and poultry nutrition
Afrooz Sharifi; aziz kardooni; ALIREZA AGHASHAHI; Bahareh Taheri Dezfuli; Maryam Asna Ashari
Abstract
This research was conducted to investigate the nutritional value, in vitro gas production and fermentation parameters and nutritent digestibility of sugarcane residues silage treated with urea and ammonia gas in ruminant feeding in vitro and in vivo in a completely randomized design. The experimental ...
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This research was conducted to investigate the nutritional value, in vitro gas production and fermentation parameters and nutritent digestibility of sugarcane residues silage treated with urea and ammonia gas in ruminant feeding in vitro and in vivo in a completely randomized design. The experimental treatments included 1) total mixed ration containing 20% of sugarcane post-harvest wastes silage without additives (control treatment), 2) control treatment with the addition of 3% urea to the concentrate (positive control), 3) total mixed diet containing 20% of sugarcane post-harvest wastes ensiled with5% urea powder and 4) total mixed diet containing 20% of sugarcane post-harvest wastes ensiled with 3% ammonia gas.The results of in vivo study showed that CP intake was significantly increased in sheep fed diet containing silage processed with ammonia gas than the control treatment (P<0.05). The DM, OM, CP and NDF digestibility were increased in sheep fed diet containing sugarcane residues processed with ammonia gas than the control treatment (P<0.05). The highest concentration of concentration of plasma urea, blood urea nitrogen and total protein was obtained in the diets containing sugarcane residues treated with ammonia gas compared to control treatment (P<0.05). In general, the results of in vitro and in vivo studies indicated that ensiling the sugarcane residue with ammonia gas improved its nutritional value by improving gas production and fermentation parameters and digestibility of nutrients.
Animal and poultry nutrition
Gholamreza Zaboli; Enayat Rahmatnejad; ebrahim shahraki
Abstract
The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of synbiotic on the performance, quality traits of eggs, intestinal microbial population, and intestinal morphology of laying hens under chronic heat stress and estimating its optimal point of synbiotic supplementation using broken line modeling. ...
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The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of synbiotic on the performance, quality traits of eggs, intestinal microbial population, and intestinal morphology of laying hens under chronic heat stress and estimating its optimal point of synbiotic supplementation using broken line modeling. The experiment was conducted using a completely randomized design that included four treatments, four replications, and nine birds each. The results indicated that the addition of synbiotic increased the egg-laying percentage, egg mass, and egg weight during the 42-44 week and 44–46-week periods(p<0.05). Likewise, the egg mass and egg laying percentage in all synbiotic-receiving groups were higher compared to the control group throughout the entire period. The lowest and highest egg mass values in the control group and the 0.5-gram additive group were 45.88 and 49.6, respectively, throughout the entire period. The number of Salmonella in the 0 .5-, 1-, and 1.5-gram synbiotic -receiving groups decreased (p<0.05). The optimal synbiotic was estimated through linear and quadratic broken line modeling to ascertain the percentage of egg laying, which corresponded to 0.93 and 1.05 grams per kilogram, respectively. Overall, the use of synbiotic improved performance along with the reduction of intestinal salmonella population, and the amount of 1 gram per kilogram is appropriate for heat stress conditions.
Animal and poultry nutrition
Hossein Mohebodini
Abstract
The effect of replacing soybean meal with irradiated or fermented cottonseed meal in the diet on the growth performance and intestinal morphology of broiler chickens was conducted by 384 male Ross chickens in a completely randomized design with 4 treatments and 8 replications. Experimental groups included ...
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The effect of replacing soybean meal with irradiated or fermented cottonseed meal in the diet on the growth performance and intestinal morphology of broiler chickens was conducted by 384 male Ross chickens in a completely randomized design with 4 treatments and 8 replications. Experimental groups included replacing 0 and 50% of raw, irradiated, or fermented cottonseed meal with soybean meal. The results showed that broilers fed control diets and diets containing fermented cottonseed meal had better weight gain and lower feed conversion ratio than other birds (P ˂ 0.05). The Villus height and villus height to crypt depth ratio of duodenum and jejunum of broilers fed diets containing fermented cottonseed meal were significantly improved compared to raw cottonseed meal and irradiated cottonseed meal diets (P ˂ 0.05). The Villus height and villus height to crypt depth ratio of duodenum and jejunum of broilers fed diets containing irradiated cottonseed meal were significantly higher than raw cottonseed meal diet (P ˂ 0.05). Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that the microbial fermentation method is a more effective solution to improve the nutritional value of cottonseed meal compared to the irradiation method. Also, the use of fermented cottonseed meal in the diet of broilers, in addition to improving growth performance indicators, improves the health of the gastrointestinal tract of birds.
Animal and poultry nutrition
Mehrdad Movahednasab; Hooman izadi shoorab; Hassan Houshmand; Abdolmansour Tahmasbi
Abstract
An experiment was conducted to assess the impact of various levels of pecan seed (Peganum harmala) powder (PSP) on the performance, blood biochemical parameters, and humoral immune system response of Ras-308 male broiler chickens. A total of 320 one-day-old chicks were divided into 4 treatments in a ...
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An experiment was conducted to assess the impact of various levels of pecan seed (Peganum harmala) powder (PSP) on the performance, blood biochemical parameters, and humoral immune system response of Ras-308 male broiler chickens. A total of 320 one-day-old chicks were divided into 4 treatments in a completely randomized design,. Experimental treatments were: control (0%), 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9% pecan seed powder (PSP) in the diet of chickens. The findings from this study revealed that as the concentration of pecan seed powder (PSP) increased, there was a decrease in growth, feed consumption, and carcass efficiency. Notably, a significant difference was observed between the group supplemented with pecan seed powder (PSP) and the control group (P<0.05).Blood metabolite analysis revealed no significant alterations in most parameters. The liver experienced a significant increase in weight in PSP-supplemented birds (P<0.05), while the pancreas and spleen exhibited reduced weights (P<0.05) in the 0.9% PSP treatment. Humoral immune response, as measured by antibody titers, was not significantly affected by PSP supplementation. The findings suggest that PSP contains antinutritional factors and alkaloids, which may hinder its utility as a feedstuff in broiler diets. Its adverse effects on growth performance and organ weights warrant further investigation into its specific components and their impacts on broiler metabolism and genetic regulation. Therefore, for optimal use of this seed, measures should be taken to neutralize these anti-nutritional substances, and necessary additional tests should be performed on other animals, including rodents such as rats and birds such as quail.
Animal and poultry nutrition
Hassan Khamisabadi; nader papi; Hamid Termori
Abstract
This experiment aimed to investigate the effect of using barley fodder silage and triticale fodder silage compared to corn silage on fattening performance, blood metabolites, and nutrient digestibility in fattening lambs. For this purpose, Twenty-seven male Afshari lambs (3-4- months) with an initial ...
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This experiment aimed to investigate the effect of using barley fodder silage and triticale fodder silage compared to corn silage on fattening performance, blood metabolites, and nutrient digestibility in fattening lambs. For this purpose, Twenty-seven male Afshari lambs (3-4- months) with an initial body weight of 20.8 ± 1.7 kg were randomly divided into three equal groups (n = 9). Three isonitrogenous and isoenergetics diets were formulated based on corn silage, barley and triticale fodder silage, respectively. Each diet was randomly assigned to one of the experimental groups, and the animals were fed the diets for 84 days. The results showed that the daily weight gain of the experimental group fed a diet containing corn silage (239 gr) was significantly greater than that of the group fed a diet containing barley silage (167 gr; P<0.05). The highest amount of daily dry matter intake (DMI) was observed in the group fed a diet containing corn silage (1639 g) and the lowest amount was observed in the group fed the diet containing barley silage (868 gr; P<0.05). The feed conversion ratio (FCR) in the group fed the diet containing barley and triticale silage (5.8) was significantly better than the group fed the diet containing corn silage (6.9; P<0.05). In summary, it can be concluded that triticale fodder silage can be used as a substitute for corn silage in the diet of fattening male lambs.
Animal and poultry management
Fateme Bahri Binabaj; Behrooz Sarjoughi; Fariba Farivar; Taraz Zahra
Abstract
This research aimedto investigate the impact of storage conditions on the quality of Japanese quail eggs, hatchability rate and the quality of the resulting chicks. A total of 480 quail eggs were used in a completely randomized design, following a factorial arrangement of 2×6. This included two ...
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This research aimedto investigate the impact of storage conditions on the quality of Japanese quail eggs, hatchability rate and the quality of the resulting chicks. A total of 480 quail eggs were used in a completely randomized design, following a factorial arrangement of 2×6. This included two storage temperature levels (room temperature at 25°C and cooler temperature at 15°C) and six storage durations (0, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 days).After the storage period, 15 eggs from each treatment were assessed for both internal and external quality traits. Additionally, 25 eggs from each treatment were incubated under standard conditions for 15 days, followed by a 3-day transfer to a hatcher. At the end of the incubation period, hatchability percentage was calculated. Quail chicks were weighed individually, and their body and shank lengths were measured, and chick quality evaluated using the Tona scoring system. The results showed that both storage duration and temperature significantly affected egg weight, with a notable decrease observed (P<0.01).Prolonged storage also led to reductions in egg white weight, yolk index, albumen index, and Haugh units, while yolk weight increased (P<0.01).Furthermore, hatchability percentages for Japanese quail eggs declined with longer storage durations (P<0.01) and higher storage temperatures (P<0.05).Overall, the findings indicate that increased duration and temperature of storage have adverse effects on the internal and external quality of the eggs, hatchability rates, and the quality of one-day-old quail chicks.
Animal and poultry nutrition
shahab ghazi; A. Yaghobfar; vajihe nikoofard
Abstract
The experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of diets supplemented with crystalline amino acids on the relative economic benefit in the production performance of broiler chickens. For this purpose, 576 Ross 308 broiler chickens (mixed sexes) were used in a 4x2 factorial experiment with two ...
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The experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of diets supplemented with crystalline amino acids on the relative economic benefit in the production performance of broiler chickens. For this purpose, 576 Ross 308 broiler chickens (mixed sexes) were used in a 4x2 factorial experiment with two experimental diets (high and low protein quality) and four levels of crystalline amino acids (recommended levels), without supplemented crystalline amino acids (levels 10 and 15 percent above the required level). A completely randomized design with eight treatments, six replications, and 12 chickens per replication was conducted. The results of this study showed that adding crystalline amino acids at levels 10 and 15 percent above the required level (recommended) to diets containing rapeseed and wheat meal (low quality protein source) increased performance (P<0.0001). According to the results of this study, the use of crystalline amino acids at levels higher than the bird's requirement, especially in high quality diets such as (soybean meal and corn), had no effect on the performance of broiler chickens and was not recommended. Also, in terms of relative economic profitability, the highest feed cost, feed cost per live body weight, and gross profit were related to experimental treatments supplemented with crystalline amino acids.
Honey bee
Hamid Reza Kerami; Rahimeh Sepehri; gholamhosein tahmasbi; Mostafaa Mollaei
Abstract
In present study, the effect of a herbal compound (Thymogzal) including essential oils of thyme, mint, marze and oxalic acid on the control of Varroa mite and its comparison with chemical acaricides: Apistan and Biovarol (as positive controls) and control (as a negative control) was investigated. The ...
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In present study, the effect of a herbal compound (Thymogzal) including essential oils of thyme, mint, marze and oxalic acid on the control of Varroa mite and its comparison with chemical acaricides: Apistan and Biovarol (as positive controls) and control (as a negative control) was investigated. The experiment was conducted in CRD with 4 treatments and 6 replications. Before the experiment, the initial contamination of the colonies was measured and included as a covariate in the data analysis. Mortality in mites and bees, three times during the experiment and the amount of residual contamination after the experiment were measured. covariance analysis of data followed with Tukey test were used with SAS software (V.9.4). Based on the results, there was 82.40 % mortality on mites in Thymogzal, which was significantly higher compared to the Control (α= 0.01) and There was no significant difference in Thymogzal, Apistan and Bayvarol. The bee's mortality in Thymogzal was very low (0.1%) and had no significant difference with the control (0.07 %); While in Apistan treatment (0.14%) were significantly higher than both of them. The amount of residual contamination in Thymogzal (0.9%) was significantly lower than Control (4.51%); but it was'nt significantly different from the Apistan and Bavarol. So, due to the 82% effectiveness of Thymogzal in controlling The Varroa mite, and due to its naturalness, no time limit for consumption (due to no adverse effects on colony production) and least mortality in bees, it can be a good alternative for chemical acaricides.
Animal and poultry physiology
fatemeh zarei; nader asadzadeh; H. daghighkia; Ali Gholami Karkan; Mohammad Azizi; Mohammad Heidari; Shahrouz Khorrami
Abstract
The current study was aimed to investigate the effect of adding different concentrations of mitochondria-targeted antioxidant Mito-TEMPO to soybean lecithin-based extender on the cooling and freezing ability of buck semen. For this purpose, five adult Saanen bucks were used. After semen collection by ...
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The current study was aimed to investigate the effect of adding different concentrations of mitochondria-targeted antioxidant Mito-TEMPO to soybean lecithin-based extender on the cooling and freezing ability of buck semen. For this purpose, five adult Saanen bucks were used. After semen collection by using an artificial vagina and primary evaluation, semen samples were pooled in order to eliminate individual differences. In experiment 1, semen samples were added to extenders containing 0, 1, 10, 100 and 1000 μM Mito-TEMPO. The prepared samples were stored at 4 ◦C up to 60 h. Chilled sperm motility, progressive motility, viability and membrane functionality were analyzed during 0, 30 and 60 h. In experiment 2, semen was added to the extenders containing 0, 1, 10, 100 and 1000 μM Mito-TEMPO and were frozen. Microscopic evaluation of spermatozoa was done after freeze-thawing and quality parameters including motion parameters, abnormal morphology, membrane integrity and acrosome integrity were assessed. The results of the cooling process showed that at time 0, no difference was observed among groups but at 30 and 60 h storage and after the freezing process, higher (P ≤ 0.05) sperm total motility, progressive motility, membrane functionality and viability were observed in 10 and 100 μM Mito-TEMPO groups than the others. In conclusion, supplementation of buck cooling and freezing medium with Mito-TEMPO as a novel mitochondria-targeted antioxidant could be an impressive method to conserve of buck's semen quality during the storage process.