1. In commercial layer breeding, extensive gene pools are tested and selected for market requirements which must be anticipated at least 5 years ahead. Field results confirm a continuous positive genetic trend in egg output and better feed efficiency which can be converted into land savings.
2. Animal welfare and cage-free housing dominate future needs of the market. Nesting behaviour and minimal tendency to develop feather-pecking or cannibalism without beak treatment are key trait complexes. Stronger shells for longer production cycles without moulting have to be combined with better bones.
3. No single big gene effect can be expected to control the multifactorial problem of feather-pecking. Adjusting the shape of the beak, with a heritability of .10–.25, can contribute to reducing the risk of severe cannibalism.
4. For better skeletal integrity, the assessment of bone quality in pedigree birds housed in enriched cages is done by keel bone palpation or ultrasound measurement of the humerus. Both traits show similar heritabilities in the range of .15–.30 and can be included in a balanced selection approach for performance, quality and welfare traits.
5. The combination of performance testing and genome-wide DNA marker analysis is a promising tool to generate more progress for a balanced performance and behaviour profile. 相似文献
1. The aim of this study was to investigate if male-to-female aggression of common pheasants in the course of the breeding season was related to the concentration of plasma testosterone and/or other biochemical plasma indicators in male pheasants housed in breeding cages. The influence of season on the concentration of testosterone and biochemical indicators was also investigated.
2. Males were divided into non-aggressive and aggressive groups during the breeding season based on ethological evaluation. At the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the breeding season, a blood sample was taken from all males on the same day and the concentration of selected biochemical indicators and the total circulating testosterone in the plasma were determined.
3. Male-to-female aggression during the breeding season of pheasants was not influenced by the total plasma testosterone of males.
4. The concentration of total plasma testosterone in males decreased gradually during the breeding season.
5. Male-to-female aggression of pheasants did not have a significant effect on any of the assessed biochemical indicators.
6. The influence of the breeding season affected the activities of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase as well as the concentrations of glucose, magnesium, potassium and chloride in the blood plasma of cage-housed male pheasants. 相似文献
This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of milk thistle meal on performance, blood biochemical indices, ileal bacterial counts and intestinal histology in laying hens fed diets containing different levels of metabolizable energy. A total number of 200 Leghorn laying hens (Hy‐Line W‐36) were randomly assigned to eight experimental treatments with five cage replicates of five birds each. Dietary treatments consisted of four levels of milk thistle meal (0%, 15%, 30% and 60%) and two levels of AMEn (11.09 and 12.34 MJ/kg) fed over a period of 80 days. In vitro studies revealed that the total phenolic component of milk thistle meal was 470.64 mg gallic acid equivalent/g of the sample, and its antioxidant activity for inhibiting the 2‐2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrichydrazyl free radical and reducing ferric ions was about 21% higher than that of butylated hydroxyltoluene (p < .05). Diets containing high level of AMEn led to improved egg production (p < .05), egg weight (p < .05), egg mass (p < .01) and feed conversion ratio (p < .01). In addition, offering diets containing high energy significantly enhanced (p < .01) serum triglyceride and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations as well as jejunal villus height. Dietary supplementation of 3% milk thistle meal resulted in the best feed conversion ratio (p < .05), reduction of ileal Escherichia coli enumeration (p < .01) and an enhancement in the villus height‐to‐crypt depth ratio (p < .05). Furthermore, feeding incremental levels of this meal led to remarkable decrease in serum cholesterol, triglyceride and MDA (p < .01) concentrations while significant increase in blood high‐density lipoprotein content and goblet cell numbers (p < .05). The present findings indicate that milk thistle meal with high antioxidant and antibacterial properties in laying hen diets may improve health indices and productive performance. 相似文献
This study was carried out to assess the effects of a blend of herbal essential oils (namely Thymus vulgaris, Mentha piperita, Rosmarinus offisinalis and Anethum graveolens) and different dietary lipid sources on the performance, ileal bacterial enumeration, intestinal histological alterations and immune responses in laying hens. For this purpose, a total of 150 laying hens were randomly allocated to six experimental treatments with five replicates of five birds each. Dietary treatments consisted of three levels of a mixture of essential oils (0, 100 and 200 mg/kg) and two sources of lipid (soybean oil and fish oil containing different ratios of n‐6 to n‐3 fatty acids) fed to the animals during an 80‐days feeding trial. Findings indicated that dietary administration of fish oil not only increased significantly the spleen relative weight (p < 0.01) and the antibody titre against Newcastle virus (p < 0.05) but also led to reductions in liver relative weight (p < 0.05) and feed conversion ratio (p < 0.05). Moreover, the mixture of herbal essential oils brought about declines in hepatic relative weight, heterophile to lymphocyte ratio (p < 0.05) and intestinal pathogen populations (p < 0.01). Mention must also be made of the improvements it made in spleen weight (p < 0.01), antibody titres against SRBC (p < 0.01) and Newcastle virus (p < 0.05), villus height to crypt depth ratio (p < 0.01), goblet cell numbers (p < 0.05), lamina propria lymphatic follicle diameters (p < 0.01) and feed conversion ratio (p = 0.06). It may be claimed that the enhancements observed in the performance of laying hens fed fish oil and 200 mg/kg of the blend of essential oils could have potentially been associated with improved intestinal health indices as well as cellular and humoral immune responses. 相似文献
The objective was to study the use of ultrasound as a complementary test in the breeding soundness evaluation in male pigs and study the pattern of echogenicity of the testicular parenchyma in boars of different racial groups. Twenty‐six adult boars from four different racial groups were used, 10 from the Piau breed (group 1), four from the commercial and finishing group (group 2), six Pietrain breed (group 3) and six from the Duroc breed (group 4). All animals were evaluated for breeding soundness evaluation and the ultrasound examination of the testicles. The groups of animals that were evaluated showed no difference in the main semen parameters that were evaluated, except for the sperm volume, concentration of the ejaculated sperm and the supravital staining; the lowest figures were for the animals from the Piau breed (group 1). In relation to the testicular biometrics, Duroc animals (group 4) had a greater scrotal width compared to the other groups. But when we assessed the intensity of pixels of the testicles, there was a difference between groups. The groups 2 (finishing animals), 3 (Pietrain) and 4 had no difference between themselves. Group 3 had greater pixel intensity in relation to group 1. Of the 26 animals studied, five showed an abnormality during ultrasound evaluation, like hydrocele, hyperechoic mass in the testicular parenchyma, cyst in the head of the epididymis and the presence of fluid in the head and tail of the epididymis. The various animal groups studied did not differ in the principal reproductive parameters evaluated, showing that despite the great variability of reproductive traits between breeds and within the same breed, the breeding soundness evaluation, the more complete it is, is essential for the selection of breeders and the ultrasonography of the reproductive system becomes an important addition in this examination. 相似文献