Sweet white Lupinus Albus (cv buttercup) as a feedstuff for layers

1. An experiment was conducted with laying hens to determine to what extent sweet white lupins (Lupinus albus, cv Buttercup) could be used as a protein source in their diets.

2. Twenty five individually caged 20 week‐old Hisex laying hens were used per treatment. The hens were housed in a convection house for the duration of the study which lasted 52 weeks. Two diets were formulated, one containing 300 g sweet lupins/kg and the other containing sunflower oil cake and fish meal as protein sources. These diets were blended to obtain seven diets with lupin inclusion rates of 0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 and 300 g/k.

3. Results indicated that up to 300 g lupins/kg diet can be fed to Hisex laying hens without a significant effect on egg production, egg mass, efficiency of food utilisation, egg shell thickness, Haugh units or yolk colour. Food intake was however, significantly (P<0.05) positively correlated with lupin inclusion rates.     

An improved ferritin assay for canine sera

An improved serum ferritin assay for canine serum has been developed. It uses two monoclonal antibodies in a sandwich arrangement. Serum ferritin can be determined on undiluted canine sera with this assay. The recovery of ferritin added to canine serum ranged from 98 to 106%, the within-assay coefficient of variability was 3.3 to 4.5%, and the assay-to-assay variability was 9.8 to 10.2%. Serum ferritin from 61 apparently healthy dogs had a geometric mean of 252 ng/ml, with a range of 80 ng/ml to 800 ng/ml.     

Exclusion of infectious diseases from sheep and goat farms

It is important for practitioners and owners to be aware of the risk associated with an open herd. This article has discussed some of the infectious diseases that might be inadvertently introduced. Many others--including most exotic diseases and some that are regulated by governmental agencies, such as tuberculosis and brucellosis--have been omitted. It should be obvious that a simple health certificate is an inadequate guarantee of freedom from infections. Instead, producers should be prepared to invest both time and money in evaluating the health status of the herd of origin. Some of the diseases discussed, such as foot rot, cause tremendous financial losses. Others, such as pinkeye, can be easily "lived with." The point to be made is that producers should consider all these and other diseases and then make informed decisions based on the probable cost of these diseases if they became established in the herd.