Animal Husbandry - Science topic

Can you broaden it by e.g. climatization, (heating, cooling, ventilation, climate control...) and broaden housing by including also water and feeding systems, manure disposal. Animal identifications and animal management?

Good question Dr. Juan Carlos Torrico, I follow.

Please take a look at this useful RG link.

Hi, from my experience, breeding fishes with similar sizes has the highest rate of success. I believe this allows easier interaction between the fishes and thus better breeding outcome. You have mentioned that your attempts to breed zebrafishes have been unsuccessful. I would suggest you to also swap breeding partners. Zebrafishes have different preferences for their breeding partners, so try putting different partners. It has worked for me.

When you confine yourself to Animal Husbandry, than all research is automatically applied. The difference can be in the timeframe between the research phase and the moment the results have a direct impact on the practice within the field of Animal Husbandry.

Taking advantage of the colleague's question, in my fish system (Zebrafish) is growing a filamentous structure that I doubt whether it is mucus or fungus. can anybody help me?

I have decontaminated the system but the structure continues to appear.

Thank you for your answers! These will be helpful for my research. 

www.wikihow.com › Home › Categories › Pets and Animals › Fish › Breeding Fish,Monyer Al,The correct answer is

Effects of farm management systems on worm load in sheep and goats:

Good Management

Internal parasite control starts with good management and common sense. Sheep should not be fed on the ground (unless the ground is frozen). Feeders which cannot easily be contaminated with feces should be favored for grain, hay, and minerals. Water should be clean and free from fecal matter. Pastures and pens should not be overstocked. When new sheep are acquired, they should be isolated from the rest of the flock for at least 30 days and aggressively dewormed to prevent the introduction of drug-resistant worms.

Use of Clean or Safe Pastures

Clean or safe pastures are pastures which are not contaminated with the worm larvae that affect sheep. Examples of clean pastures include pastures that have not been grazed by sheep or goats for the past 6 to 12 months; pastures which have been grazed by horses or cattle; pasture fields in which a hay or silage crop has been removed; pasture fields which have been rotated with field crops; and pastures than have been recently established or renovated by tillage. While burning a pasture will remove worm larvae, there are no pasture treatments that will effectively eliminate or reduce worm larvae.

Pasture Rest and Rotation

It is a common misconception that rotational grazing helps to control internal parasites in sheep. Intensive rotational grazing may actually contribute to parasitic problems. This is because rotating large groups of ewes and lambs through small paddocks concentrates livestock and infective parasite larvae onto the same small area.

Researchers in the Netherlands found that it takes three months of rest for an infected pasture to return to a low level of infectivity. Researchers at Langston University (Oklahoma) determined that a 65-day rest period was sufficient (for goats). Rotational grazing is an effective management tool for managing parasites, but only if pasture rest periods are long enough (i.e. 60 days or more). On the other hand, better nutrition provided by rotational grazing may offset the effects of higher parasite loads on the pasture.

Grazing Strategies

Approximately 80 percent of the worm larvae can be found in the first two inches of grass. Therefore, sheep grazing taller forages will have fewer parasite problems. Sheep should not be allowed to graze forages shorter than 2 inches in height. Sheep that browse also have fewer parasite problems. Another grazing strategy is to wait until the dew has lifted from the grass or grass has dried after a rain. Dry conditions force parasites to stay at the base of the plants where they are less likely to be consumed by the livestock.

Multi-species Grazing

Sheep (and goats) are generally not affected by the same internal parasites as cattle and horses. Consequently, pastures grazed by cattle and horses are safe(r) for sheep (and goats) and conversely. Sheep can be co-grazed with cattle and/or horses. A leader-follower system can be utilized or pastures can be alternated between sheep and cattle and/or horses. 

There are numerous other benefits to multi-species grazing. Each species has different grazing behavior that complements one another. For example, sheep prefer to eat weeds and short, tender grasses and clover, while cattle prefer to eat taller grasses. Cattle may offer some protection from predators.

Alternative Forages

Some pasture plants have anthelmintic properties, such as those containing condensed tannins. Research has shown that sheep grazing tannin-rich forages have lower fecal egg counts than animals grazing traditional grass pastures. The tannins may also decrease the hatch rate of worm eggs and larval development in feces. 

Forage species which contain high levels of condensed tannins include sericea lespedeza, birdsfoot trefoil, and chicory. Sericea lespedeza is a warm, season legume. Birdsfoot trefoil is a long-lived perennial legume. Chicory is a low-growing, leafy perennial. Generally speaking, trees and shrubs contain higher levels of tannins than pasture grasses, and tropical legumes contain more condensed tannins than temperate legumes.

Healthy Soil

Earthworms have been shown to ingest worm eggs and larvae, either killing them or carrying them below the soil surface. Certain types of fungi will trap and kill parasitic larvae. Dung beetles ingest and disperse manure, thus keeping eggs and larvae from developing. Anything that is done to maintain soil health and promote these types of organisms will aid in parasite control. Scientists are examining the possibility of feeding nematophagous fungi to livestock to kill larvae in manure piles.

Nutritional Management

Supplemental feeding should not be overlooked as a means to control parasites. Sheep and lambs on a higher plane of nutrition mount a better immune response to internal parasites than animals whose nutritional status is compromised. Animals on low protein diets are more susceptible to infection because they produce less IgA (immunoglobulin). Higher levels of protein have been shown to improve the pregnant ewe's immune response to parasites after lambing. Lambs receiving protein supplementation usually have reduced fecal egg counts.

Zero Grazing

Keeping sheep and/or lambs in confinement or dry lot (i.e. "zero grazing") is a means of reducing parasitism and preventing reinfection. Under a zero grazing situation, sheep and/or lambs do not have access to vegetation for grazing. They are housed in a bedded barn, dirt lot, or facility with slatted floors. Feed should be fed off the ground in feeders. Watering containers should be kept free from fecal matter. Slatted floors offer the best protection against internal parasites because sheep generally do not come into contact with their feces.

Genetics

Genetics is probably the best long term strategy for controlling internal parasites in sheep. Some sheep breeds are naturally more resistant and resilient to internal parasites. They include the Florida (or Gulf Coast) Native and hair sheep breeds with tropical origins: St. Croix, Barbados Blackbelly (and its derivatives), and Katahdin. Grazing resistant breeds of sheep with susceptible breeds, may act to “sweep” pastures and reduce contamination to susceptible animals.

Regardless of the breed raised, producers can breed sheep which are more resistant to parasites by culling ewes that are persistently affected by parasites and favoring parasite resistant ewes and rams in their selection programs. Both fecal egg counts and FAMACHA© scores can be used to identify sheep with resistant and susceptible genetics. 

In New Zealand, it is possible to select rams that shed 60 to 70 percent fewer parasite eggs than historical averages. In the US, the National Sheep Improvement program (via Australia's LambPlan) provides EBVs for parasite resistance (fecal egg counts) in Katahdin sheep. EBVs can be calculated for other breeds once fecal egg count data is submitted to NSIP.

Scientists are currently looking for genetic markers for worm resistance so that a DNA test could be used to show producers which of their animals are resistant to internal parasites.

Proper Anthelmintic Use

Anthelmintics are still an important part of parasite control. However, they must be used properly to ensure effectiveness of treatment and slow down the rate by which worms develop drug resistance. To start with, the weights of sheep and lambs must be known or approximated accurately in order to calculate the proper dosage of medicine. Underdosing results in the survival of worms which are resistant to the anthelmintic used. Underdosing is one of the major causes of increasing anthelmintic resistance.

Flocks should be divided into groups for deworming or drenching equipment should be calibrated for the heaviest animals in the group. Oral drenching is the recommended method of treatment for sheep. Oral medications should be delivered over the tongue. If the medicine is deposited into the mouth to stimulate the closure of the esophageal groove and bypass the rumen.

If an anthelmintic is more slowly absorbed in the gut, drug levels are prolonged and the treatment may be more effective. Thus, fasting sheep for up to 24 hours may improve efficacy of dewormers, especially when using benzimidazoles and ivermectin. However, water should not be restricted.

To prevent the introduction of drug-resistant worms, you should deworm newly purchased animals with drugs from at least two of the three anthelmintic families. Moxidectin should be favored over ivermectin due to its superior potency. Levamisole should probably be the other choice, since widespread resistance is believed to exist in the benzimidazole group of dewormers. After deworming, the animal(s) should be released onto a wormy pasture to help dilute any "super-resistant" worms that may remain in his system.

We cannot disqualify game meat in terms of quality and/or taste, but the challenge will remain the quantity and the health aspect.  Cost and duration of production is another challenge which in a way talks to affordability especially by the poor who really need good sources of protein. The economics of it also need to be considered in terms of tons and cost of production per hectare over a specific period compared to domesticated livestock. 

Can someone help me in designing a maket-oriented fodder production system for enhancing the profitability and productivity of extensive  livestock production system in Somalia where fodder scarcity and its seasonal variation has a devastating impact on the entire production system?

In view of the large number of animals, instead of dipping the animals one by one which is laborious and causes stress to the animals. It also require skilled personnel, i will suggest running them through a dipping vat where you mix amitrax in the recommended dilution rate. However, if you just want to control ectoparasite, you can use cypermethrin instead of the amitrax. More importantly, regularly management procedure for control of parasite should be maintained. You should practise integrated pest management on your farm.

The question is too wide. Hunting behavior in dogs is a complex of different traits.

Each trait is controled by different sets of genes.There are also different patterns of hunting behavior in different breeds of dogs (different hounds, pointers, shepherds etc.). To answer your question it is necessary to know in what trait exactly you are interested in. In other case the answer will be - almost all genes somehow could influence hunting behavior.

Could this be done with replicates over time? Depending on the duration of each trial, one could  alter treatments so that each treatment is represented 6 times over a year or 3 times over a year.

You must ALSO UNDERSTAND that having all of the animals together in a single pasture for one group and all of the animals in a single pasture for the other group only gives you 1 OBSERVATION PER PASTURE (the average of all of the animals in the pasture). This is because all of of the animals in a pasture affect all of the other animals in that pasture. It is a classical statistical error to treat them as multiple observations. That's why we have to treat PENS as the observation in group-fed animals in pens.

Thus, the power of your experiment can be strengthened by doing multiple replicates over time. Good luck.

Good luck 

Best wishes,

Mehdi

Hello,

I agree with Carmelo, with CT scan you will have information on their morphology and also on the jaw position.

Moreover these virtual data can be easily stocked,  used and shared and they will follow you even if you change your institution.... and be sure that they can be of great interest for ichtyologisst outside your fiel: indeed as a paleontologist I always need more and more information on bone and tooth morphology but this is often hard to find or to access.

Cheers,

Olga.

We used in primates (Alouatta) dyes for human hair, Bigen brand, does not require hydrogen peroxide and not contain ammonia.

As an engulfing manner of protozoa against bacteria in addition of bacteria counting you must pay attention to protozoa. although protozoa have lower number compared to bacteria, as weight they are mostly same as bacteria.

So it's possible observed decrease in cellulolytic bacteria population was due to increase in size and number of protozoa.

also check microbial protein  markers. please find and review Dr. Dehority's book on rumen microbiology. it would be very useful reference.

however as others said above don't forget ruminal pH functions. ch13 of attached book may be useful.

Elevated ACTH but low CORT is sometimes seen in rodent models of post-traumatic stress disorder (only in males though, are you using males? There are significant sex differences in the HPA axis response to stress). Diminished CORT release in response to stress could be due to a sensitization (or increase in number) of glucocorticoid receptors (GR) in the pituitary, and if all GR are saturated with ligand, no more suppression of ACTH can occur so that's where you can get high ACTH and low CORT. Due to this, the adrenal glands can become insensitive to ACTH--you can quantify ACTH receptors or just give them an ACTH injection and measure their CORT response to see.

I use the single prolonged stress paradigm (a PTSD model), which is a single exposure to 2.5 hours of intense stress. These stressed rats show a 50% increase in glucorcorticoid receptor expression in the PVN of the hypothalamus and exaggerated negative feedback of the HPA axis which drives their CORT levels down. As you pointed out though, CUMS doesn't usually result in this phenotype. It sounds like maybe something was different between your experiments, but it's hard to tell what (light cycle, handling, housing?)

If you want to explore further what's going on in your rats I suggest looking at the dexamathasone suppression test to measure HPA negative feedback (see attached paper). It would also be helpful to quantify glucocorticoid receptor expression in the hypothalamus and pituitary. Baseline CORT levels can vary a lot between individuals, so I take a baseline blood sample and expose them to a mild stress (30 minutes  in a restraint tube), take another blood sample at 30 minutes, and then look at the CORT released. Good luck!

Yes I could help you in this case

I do  not think so

Amazing but true!

According to Low Urine pH: A Novel Feature of Metabolic Syndrome, A difference of less than 1pH in your urine may determine whether or not you will suffer from the symptoms of metabolic syndrome! "Participants with the metabolic syndrome had a significantly lower 24-h urine pH compared with participants without the metabolic syndrome. Mean 24-h urine pH, adjusted for age, gender, creatinine clearance, and 24-h urine sulfate, decreased from 6.15, 6.10, 5.99, 5.85, to 5.69 with increasing number of metabolic syndrome abnormalities". - (2007 Maalouf, et al pg 1, paragraph 3) If you think you may be affected by metabolic syndrome, talk to your doctor.

You can mark it in many ways, the best way is to mark the wings by some kind of permanent ink, you can also mark the legs

We used to do both kind of marking.

in my humble opinion to use a rational science based method to solve a problem caused by a religious faith is leading to unsatisfactory  results.

Having said that you may try first to identify (with absolute certainty: microchip, e-bolus) each of these 32000 cattle then pair each marked cattle with a family (or families or wealthy individuals) who is against cattle slaughter and ask them to take care of the expenses for feeding and management of that specific animal.  

Hi Robert,

If you are more interested in what determines industry location, there is literature on that as well. 

1. Trade theorists’ discussions of production/industry location are informed by two strands of literature. Comparative advantage arguments based on the role of factor endowments can be derived from Heckscher-Ohlin (HO) models. Recent theoretic work has extended the standard HO models to accommodate environmental factors where cross-country differences in the stringency of (environmental) regulation play a role in trade patterns.

2. New economic geography (NEG), by contrast, stresses the importance of increasing returns, market access and upstream and downstream linkages. NEG predicts that while activity will be dispersed when transport costs are either ‘very high’ or ‘very low’, clustering of industries occur when transport costs are ‘intermediate’.

The HO and NEG theories should be regarded as complementary and their relative importance for industrial location outcomes is thus an empirical issue.

The attached paper  discusses the insights under 1 and 2 above in detail and  applies it in combination to analyse the location of pig production in Europe.

YES IT CAN BE USED FOR BOTH , BUT BE CAREDFUL ABOUT FIBER CONTENT.

Thank you, Alex. Yes, I had already checked that page. It's ok now, I realised that in the end I don't really need the information anymore. Hugs!

Hi, I agree with you, female can be reproduced so early, but we should differentiate between age of puberty and age of full maturity to avoid such complications in growth rate and at time of parturition (dystocia). 

We have looked at side effects of feed additives (FEED ADDITIVES: DO THEY ADD TO ANIMAL WELFARE? AN EVALUATION . C.A. Kan, L.P. Jager and J.F. Grommers Animal Welfare I998, 7: 397 -414)

I am not aware of similar papers on "real" drugs.

Any effect wil always depend on the kind of trial you are doing and what parameters you are measuring

 

 

Ester,

Two years ago I was incubating at 27C, most died. Okay, all died within the first three months of life. Last year I incubated at 22-25C (I repurposed a lab incubator for this precise control thinking it was a temp variation issue). I have had three female failures to hatch (incubated correctly and died after breaking the shell and never actually hatched). All but one male survived hatching. I have had egg retention and deposition occur 122 after last clutch delivery with one particular female. She also laid three clutches that were partially formed, empty eggs, or shells had holes in them. Yet, one of the retained eggs hatched and is a thriving male. Another female glued her eggs to the enclosure and the clutch took 142 days to hatch. The enclosure had variable temps, and tended to be cooler than the other 11 enclosures, so longer incubation time I was okay with. I honestly thought it had died since they hatch 80-110 days to hatch, and the enlisted was transported to a new location during the incubation. Nothing about this species in my captive experience is aligning with the Morris' or anyone else's publications. Which, by the way, keeping them from drowning in a drop of nectar, gecko replacement food, or get stuck in a plant and die has proven to be complicated as well.

James,

The egg was moved to incubation immediately, including the branch it was glued to. After a few weeks of keeping an eye on it, I noticed it was slightly deformed, having a deep depression on the backside near the branch. It looked similar to the egg that was retained and subsequently dried out during incubation. Once I cracked the egg, the yolk was dry, just the same. But, what surprised me was she had the pre-anal "V" pores, the hemipene shadows, and the blue phenotype (which I believe only occurs after first matings because I have three shades of blue in my males and they do not thrive without being able to see each other and interact with each other. They are much more social than expected. She hasn't laid another egg yet, but she's been devouring dusted fruit flies like they are going out of style and her calcium sacs aren't filling up. Even my males have calcium sacs now after the mating hiatus. My adult females were a bit chunky two weeks ago and yesterday I noticed they lost a lot of girth, but are still very active and have healthy calcium sacs, but no eggs were found in the enclosures upon inspection.

Gordon,

I may be asking you questions about your publications because the repro studies are new to me. This started off as a simple genetic variation study and has become something else now, so I lack some higher education in repro language and terminology. I didn't exactly focus on repro studies during my undergrad, which I'm now regretting.

I'm still trying to study for my MCAT, do my own studies, and try to find a job at the same time, so I apologize if I'm slow to reply. I sincerely appreciate everyone's help. Thank you!

The presentation of puberty in the bull is associated with age and body weight, and race (genetic component). In the male puberty begins when the first male produces sperm, which is also associated with mounting behavior (females and males in the group). Puesdes review the age and average weight at which the bull (according to race) has puberty and that will allow you to have a better idea. The quality of sperm production can evaluate the collecting semen and watching the microscope.

Thank you but the factors you mentioned were already assumed to be present !

1) water appearance clean and devoid of unpleasant smell or other negative qualities

2) herdsman watering camels was stirring and splashing water

3) camel were fed and of the fodder was moderately dry

4) camels were exercised (the walk several km to reach the water point)

I know one traditional method used in Somalia! I am just curious to see if somebody else can come up with the same or a different method.

Dear Fabian,

Thanks for your information. Certainly, I know their project in Wageningen and read summary and details about it.

Thank you Haldis,

I know Peter and his wife they are working with dromedaries as milking animals in the very special set up of the UAE. They have a different expertise. I know Prof Niasari I did a “camel workshop” at Teheran University for him a few years ago. He is a very good scientist but also him with a different expertise: camel reproduction: implanting Bactrian embryos in dromedary surrogate mothers (there are very few Bactrian in Iran) and camel AI .

Bactrian and dromedaries are very similar (they interbreed and produce fertile offsprings) so there are not many differences

My few simple questions: how to estimate the body weight of a bactrian camel? Is the formula used to estimate body weight in dromedaries ever been used for bactrians ? Is camel pox present among bactrians (probably yes) but is the disease clinically similar to the one affecting dromedaries? Is C. titillator present in bactrian (probably yes)? Is lymphadenitis common in bactrian as in the dromedary? Is Sarcoptes scabiei the main culprit for causing mange or other mites? Body areas affected as in the dromedary ? How the syndrome “wry neck” is treated? What is the watering interval during dry condition? What is the morning and evening rectal temperature in a normally dehydrated Bactrian ? etc etc etc .

Can you or somebody else answer? Alternatively if offered the possibility I would be happy to spend some time in a nomad camp to drink Bactrian camel milk and ask the herdsman a million questions!

Reduce handling (with your hands) to a minimum. My experience is that mothers neglect them (or even eat them) when the pups are disturbed (their smell I guess).

What is the meaning of control here? increase, decrease at will, simply measure or compare? To measure, compare mortality frequencies to that of a control group not handled or still in its European environment. If your objective is to acclimate these rabbits or descendants to tropical conditions, then keeping them in a room mimicking temperate conditions is inappropriate.

Selection : Keep the surviving ones and have them reproduce among themselves to obtain a resistant line.

Meat mass (kg) produced per production area (ha), calving interval, open days, residual feed intake (if measurable), birth rate, dystocia rate, abortus rate, weaning rate, weaning weight, fertility index, etc... There are many measures

Thanks Dr. Pankaj for you useful answer to my question. Personally, am against the use of antibiotics. The problem is that it has become a habbit of injecten and feeding the cattle with these medicines to protect them from getting sick on the savannah grassland.