Stress and feather pecking in laying hens in relation to housing conditions

1. Possible association between high rates of feather pecking and increased stress were investigated in laying hens. 2. From week 19 to week 30 after hatching, 16 groups of 11 hens (white Lohman Selected Leghorn hybrids) were kept in pens with or without long-cut straw as foraging material and provided with food in the form of pellets or mash. 3. Stress was assessed by egg production, weight gain, tonic immobility (TI), heterophil/lymphocyte (H/L) ratio and antibody titres to sheep red blood cells (SRBC), tetanus toxoid (TT) and human serum albumin (HSA). 4. Provision of foraging material and food form influenced feather pecking. Rates of feather pecking were highest in groups housed without straw and fed on pellets. 5. Egg production was reduced in pens without straw but not affected by food form. Both the duration of TI and H/L ratios were influenced by provision of foraging material and food form. TI was longer and H/L ratios were increased in hens housed without straw and in those fed on pellets. Antibody titers to SRBC and TT were lower in pens without straw than with straw but not influenced by food form. 6. In conclusion, foraging material and food form affected both feather pecking and indicators of stress, suggesting that feather pecking in laying hens is associated with stress.     

Technical and economic evaluation of different methods of Newcastle disease vaccine administration

Two types of locally produced live vaccines (HB1 and La Sota--lentogenic strains) and inactivated oil adjuvant (IOAV) vaccine were used to compare the efficiency of three vaccination techniques, namely drinking water, ocular and spray on broiler chicks. The ocular route of vaccination on 1-day-old chicks followed by a booster dose on the third week through the same route induced a significantly higher level of haemagglutination inhibition antibody titre (P < 0.0001). The highest mean antibody titre was log(2) 6.6 and 93.3% of the chicks were protected from the challenge. The spray technique induced a lower antibody titre (peak of log(2) 5.9) and only 53% of the chicks in this treatment survived against the challenge. The results of this study show that the ocular route is superior to the drinking water route, which is superior to the spray technique. The economic analysis result showed that the ocular HB1 and La Sota vaccine administration method to 1- and 21-day-old chicks gave the highest revenue followed by the drinking water method. In terms of total cost, the injection method required the highest cost (0.21 birr/chick) followed by the ocular method (0.18 birr/chick). The marginal cost of vaccine administration is too small compared with marginal revenues from relative effectiveness of the methods. The internal rate of return for the ocular method was very high. The results of sensitive analysis on revenues from different vaccination methods indicate that a 25% reduction in broiler price reduces the marginal revenue from the ocular method by 12 487 birr but this still does not prove that the ocular method is economically viable for small- and medium-scale poultry farms.     

Liverpool Veterinary School: the first 100 years

In 1904, Liverpool veterinary school became the first UK veterinary school to be incorporated into a university. This weekend, it marks its centenary with a symposium celebrating veterinary science and its contribution to animal and human health and welfare. Here, Alison Kraft traces the history of the school and argues that its foundation was a turning point for veterinary education in the UK.     

利用基因技术改进猪肉品质

猪肉品质受到许多遗传或非遗传因素的影响 ,后者包括农场 ,运输 ,屠宰和加工环境等。肉类科学家对这些方面做了大量的研究。使肉的质量和组成得以很大的改善。通过猪遗传背景的研究 ,使人意识到 ,改善猪肉品质的方法中 ,选种和使用基因技术都很重要。此外 ,可用 DNA技术来预测质量性状。1　基因遗传学家认为 ,当某个纯合基因的携带和非携带者相应特征的平均水平的差异达到或超过一个明显标准偏差时 ,这个基因就可以被定义为一个主控基因 (major gene)。具有明显效应的基因可通过分析基因隔离的家系的表型数据检测到 ,这种方法叫种群隔离分…     

乳尿素氮预测氨排放量的研究

试验旨在研究泌乳奶牛乳尿素氮和粪尿氮中氨排放量之间的关系及泌乳阶段和日粮粗蛋白质水平是否影响两者之间的关系。试验选用12头经产荷斯坦奶牛,按泌乳日龄随机分为3组,分别为泌乳前期(123d±26dDIM)、泌乳中期(175d±3dDIM)和泌乳后期(221d±12dDIM)组,每组4头奶牛。试验采用裂区拉丁方平衡试验设计。泌乳阶段为主效应,日粮蛋白质水平(15%、17%、9%、21%,干物质基础)为次效应。试验期7d,试验的第1天至第6天为适应期,第7天为粪尿和生鲜乳采样期。每头牛的粪样和尿样按比例混合制成浆糊状,然后通过流量室(22.5℃)24h测定氨的排放量。测定氨排放量前、后各取粪尿样混合样品1次。结果显示,日粮粗蛋白质水平从15%提高到21%时,尿液体积从25.3kg/d提高到37.1kg/d,粪尿混合样品量随之提高22%;粪尿混合样中尿素氮浓度(153.5～465.2g/dL)随日粮粗蛋白质水平(15%～21%CP)的提高线性提高。日粮处理不影响粪尿样品中最终尿素氮浓度(都低于10.86g/dL)。粪尿样中总氨氮浓度(228.2～508.7g/dL)随着日粮粗蛋白质水平(15%～21%CP)的提高线性提高。每头牛氨的释放量在57～149g/d氮之间并随日粮粗蛋白质水平的提高线性提高,但泌乳阶段不影响氨的释放量。随着日粮粗蛋白质水平的提高,氨释放量占总氮采食量的比例从12%提高到20%,占尿尿素氮的比例却从67%降到47%。氨释放量与乳尿素氮之间存在强相关(氨气释放量g/(d.头)=(25.0±6.72)+(5.03±0.373)×MUN(mg/dL);R2=0.85),但与泌乳阶段之间不存在相关性。因此,乳尿素氮可作为预测奶牛粪尿中氨排放量的指标之一。     

Glucagon stimulation test for estimating endogenous insulin secretion in dogs

Fifty-one dogs (27 diabetic dogs, four that had recovered from diabetes and 20 healthy control dogs) were given 0.5 or 1.0 mg glucagon intravenously. Blood samples were taken before the injection and 10 and 20 minutes after it. Samples were analysed to determine C-peptide, insulin and glucose concentrations, and one sample from each dog was analysed for fructosamine. The median (interquartile range) concentrations of C-peptide in the samples taken at 10 minutes were 0.5 (0.3 to 0.8) nmol/l in the control dogs, 0.1 (0 to 0.2) nmol/l in the diabetic dogs, and 0.3 (0.2 to 0.4) nmol/l in the dogs that had recovered from diabetes. Seven of the 51 dogs showed mild adverse reactions after the injection of glucagon.