Evaluation of β‐carotene assimilation in leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius)

Although leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius) are commonly kept under human care, their vitamin requirements are largely unknown. Many invertebrate preys display a low vitamin A concentration; thus, gut‐loading insects with vitamin A or carotenoids is a common practice. The objective of this prospective experimental study was to investigate whether dietary supplementation with β‐carotene, including prey gut‐loading, leads to sufficient vitamin A hepatic storage and prevents epithelial squamous metaplasia development in leopard geckos. Ten clinically healthy female leopard geckos were randomly divided in two groups with various supplementations: a group receiving vitamin A supplementation and a group receiving β‐carotene. Insects were gut‐loaded continuously with a supplement containing vitamin A or β‐carotene, depending on the group. Oral supplementation with cod liver oil or carrot juice was administered weekly to each lizard from “vitamin A group” and “carotenoid group” respectively. After 10 weeks of supplementation, surgical hepatic biopsies were obtained in three geckos of each group while the two remaining geckos were euthanized to undergo complete necropsy. Hepatic vitamin A concentration was determined for each lizard (n = 10) by ultra‐performance liquid chromatography. Histopathology revealed hepatocellular vacuolization and vitellogenic follicles in five females. Epithelial squamous metaplasia was not observed in any of the geckos. Hepatic vitamin A concentration was significantly higher in the carotenoid‐supplemented group than in the vitamin A‐supplemented group (p = 0.03). Our results suggest that in leopard geckos, dietary supplementation with β‐carotene allows sufficient vitamin A hepatic storage.     

In ovo feeding of nutrients and its impact on post‐hatching water and feed deprivation up to 48 hr,energy status and jejunal morphology of chicks using response surface models

A Box–Behnken design (BBD) in a response surface methodology (RSM) was used to investigate the response of broiler chicks to in ovo feeding (IOF) of beta‐hydroxy beta‐methylbutyrate (HMB), dextrin and the timing of the first water and feed deprivation. On day 18th of incubation, 1,500 eggs were randomly assigned to 15 experimental runs of BBD, each with 4 replicates, as 3 levels IOF of HMB (0%, 0.5% and 1%) and dextrin (0%, 20% and 40%), and 3 levels of the first water and feed deprivation (6, 27 and 48 hr). Day‐old chicks from each replicate were then used to assess the effect of IOF and time first water and feed access on chick's responses. The IOF of dextrin leads to respectively 9.7%–15.5% lower hatchability for 20% and 40% inclusion (p < .05), whereas HMB inclusion appeared with no effect on hatchability (p > .05). Administration of dextrin or HMB into the amnion of embryos elevated length, width and surface area of villus, and increased glycogen content of liver and breast (p < .05). In all parameter models, the linear terms showed highest contribution (R² = 0.81–0.97) to explain existing variation in chick's responses. The first water and feed deprivation had largest effect on BW2 and glycogen content of liver and breast. It is concluded that if possible, place chicks before 7 hr of hatch to preserve BW loss and have maximum response from IOF. If not possible, use IOF with 40% dextrin + 0.5% HMB to preserve gut integrity and energy status up to 48 hr. This should give advantage to chicks to recover fast after feeding, but that would have to be confirmed by trials growing birds to slaughter age.     

Performance,rumen fermentation and blood metabolites of dairy calves fed starter mixtures supplemented with herbal plants,essential oils or monensin

This study evaluated the supplementation effects of three herbal plants (thyme [THY], eucalyptus [EUC] and celery [CEL]), a commercial phytogenic additive ?containing essential oils (PFA‐EO, Digestarom^® P.E.P.) and monensin (MON) in calf starter on performance, rumen fermentation and blood metabolites during pre‐ (days 3–55) and post‐weaning (days 56–70). Sixty‐six Holstein dairy calves (3 days of age, 41.2 ± 3 kg of BW) were allocated to one of six starters supplemented with: (i) no additives (CON), (ii) MON (30 mg/kg), (iii) THY (23 g/kg), (iv) CEL (23 g/kg), (v) EUC (23 g/kg) and (vi) PFA‐EO (3 g/kg). All the calves were offered starters ad libitum plus 6 L of whole milk daily. Starter intake tended to be the highest in calves fed PFA‐EO and THY; intermediate in calves fed CON, MON and EUC; and the lowest in those fed CEL. Average daily gain (ADG) and feed efficiency (FE) remained unaffected by dietary treatments during the pre‐weaning. During the post‐weaning period, ADG and FE ?were greatest in calves fed EUC followed by those fed CON, MON, PFA‐EO and THY, and then in those fed CEL. No differences were observed among the treatments in skeletal growth, faecal score, rumen pH or ammonia‐N concentration. Compared to calves fed CON and MON, those fed the herbal plants or PFA‐EO tended to recorded higher molar proportions of acetate and butyrate, and the acetate: propionate ratio. Blood malondialdehyde level did not differ among treatments, but calves on CON had the highest glucose concentration, and those fed PFA‐EO recorded the highest value for β‐hydroxyl butyrate on day 70. In conclusion, the results indicate that the three herbs and PFA‐EO are capable of modulating some of the rumen fermentation parameters and blood metabolites as well as eucalyptus could potentially be a better alternative to monensin for improving post‐weaning performance.     

Effect of feed intake level and dietary protein content on the body temperature of pigs housed under thermo neutral conditions

Feed intake and diet composition appear to affect the body temperature of pigs. Two trials were conducted to analyse the effect of feed intake level and dietary protein content on the intestinal temperature (IT) of pigs housed under thermo neutral conditions. Ten pigs (64.1 ± 1.3 kg initial body weight) fitted with an ileal cannula were used. A thermometer set to register the IT at 5‐min intervals was implanted into the ileum through the cannula. In both trials, the ambient temperature ranged from 19.1 to 21.6°C and the pigs were fed at 07:00 and 19:00 hr (same amount each time). In trial 1, the pigs were fed daily 1.2 or 1.8 kg of a wheat–soybean meal diet. The IT followed a similar pattern along a 24‐hr period regardless the feed intake level. The IT rapidly increased up to 0.61 and 0.74°C after the morning meal and up to 0.53 and 0.47°C after the evening meal in pigs fed 1.2 and 1.8 kg/d respectively. The postprandial IT was higher in pigs fed 1.8 kg after each meal (p < .05). In trial 2, pigs were fed daily 1.8 kg of a low (11%) or a high (22%) crude protein diet. The IT followed a similar pattern along the 24‐hr period regardless the dietary protein level. The postprandial IT did not differ between pigs fed the low protein or the high protein (p > .10). The IT rapidly increased up to 0.66 and 0.62°C after the morning meal in pigs fed the high‐ and low‐protein diet (p < .05), but there was no change after the evening meal (p > .10). In conclusion, the feed intake level affected the IT of pigs housed under TN conditions, but the dietary protein content had no effect.     

Effects of fat supplementation on plasma glucose,insulin and fatty acid analysis in ponies maintained on a forage‐based diet

The objective of this study was to observe how fat incorporated into an equine forage‐based diet through supplementation altered levels of plasma glucose, insulin and fatty acids. Five Shetland/Hackney cross pony mares were fed alfalfa pellet diets top dressed with commercially available vegetable oil (blend of soya bean, canola and corn oils) at 0%, 5%, 10% or 15% of diet. Ponies were randomly assigned one of four diets to start, with a 14‐day adjustment period between transitioning to another one of the four diets. Ponies were gradually adapted to the new diet within the 14‐day period before a five‐day trial period. Each pony received all four diets by the end of the study. Each trial was a five‐day period with a three‐day sample collection. Blood samples for each collection week were taken 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210, 240 and 270 min and at 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 hr post‐feeding. Excess fat did not impact plasma glucose (p > .1), nor did it affect blood plasma insulin concentration. While there was no time alteration found for plasma fatty acid concentration (p > .1), C14:0 increased when ponies were fed 0% fat and C18:2 decreased when ponies were fed 0% fat. Plasma fatty acids (% of total FA) were higher in C18:0, C18:1, C18:2 and C20:1 in the added fat diets (p < .1). These findings suggest the amounts reported in this study of fat supplementation on a forage‐based diet did influence the fatty acid analysis within the pony, but did not negatively impact blood glucose and insulin concentrations.     

Efficacy of essential oils combination on performance,ileal bacterial counts,intestinal histology and immunocompetence of laying hens fed alternative lipid sources

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.     

The impact of truncating data on the predictive ability for single‐step genomic best linear unbiased prediction

Simulated and swine industry data sets were utilized to assess the impact of removing older data on the predictive ability of selection candidate estimated breeding values (EBV) when using single‐step genomic best linear unbiased prediction (ssGBLUP). Simulated data included thirty replicates designed to mimic the structure of swine data sets. For the simulated data, varying amounts of data were truncated based on the number of ancestral generations back from the selection candidates. The swine data sets consisted of phenotypic and genotypic records for three traits across two breeds on animals born from 2003 to 2017. Phenotypes and genotypes were iteratively removed 1 year at a time based on the year an animal was born. For the swine data sets, correlations between corrected phenotypes (Cp) and EBV were used to evaluate the predictive ability on young animals born in 2016–2017. In the simulated data set, keeping data two generations back or greater resulted in no statistical difference (p‐value > 0.05) in the reduction in the true breeding value at generation 15 compared to utilizing all available data. Across swine data sets, removing phenotypes from animals born prior to 2011 resulted in a negligible or a slight numerical increase in the correlation between Cp and EBV. Truncating data is a method to alleviate computational issues without negatively impacting the predictive ability of selection candidate EBV.