Spineless cactus associated with Tifton hay or sugarcane bagasse may replace corn silage in sheep diets

The effect of the replacement of corn silage with spineless cactus associated with Tifton 85 hay or sugarcane bagasse was evaluated on the performance, body weight components and sheep meat quality. Twenty-one Santa Inês male sheep with initial body weight of 22.9 ± 2.9 kg were used. They were confined in individual stalls for 74 days receiving the following diets: corn silage + concentrate (CS); spineless cactus + Tifton 85 hay + concentrate (TH); spineless cactus + sugarcane bagasse + concentrate (SB). After the feedlot period, the animals were slaughtered and their body components were weighed and sampled. Data were submitted to Tukey’s test at 5% probability. The average daily gain (0.25 vs 0.14 kg), cold carcass weight (13.3 vs 13.7 kg), loin muscularity (0.6 vs 0.4 kg) and liver weight (0.7 vs. 0.5 kg) were higher (P < 0.05) for the TH diet when compared to that for the CS. The physical-chemical parameters of meat were not influenced (P > 0.05) by the treatments and presented about 20.1% of crude protein, 6.1% of crude fat and shear force of 2.0 kgf/cm². In complete diets for sheep, Tifton 85 hay associated with spineless cactus provides greater weight gain, cold carcass muscularity and organ weight when compared to those for animals fed with corn silage as exclusive roughage. Sugarcane bagasse associated with spineless cactus may replace corn silage in complete diets for sheep.     

A live weight–heart girth relationship for accurate dosing of east African shorthorn zebu cattle

The accurate estimation of livestock weights is important for many aspects of livestock management including nutrition, production and appropriate dosing of pharmaceuticals. Subtherapeutic dosing has been shown to accelerate pathogen resistance which can have subsequent widespread impacts. There are a number of published models for the prediction of live weight from morphometric measurements of cattle, but many of these models use measurements difficult to gather and include complicated age, size and gender stratification. In this paper, we use data from the Infectious Diseases of East Africa calf cohort study and additional data collected at local markets in western Kenya to develop a simple model based on heart girth circumference to predict live weight of east African shorthorn zebu (SHZ) cattle. SHZ cattle are widespread throughout eastern and southern Africa and are economically important multipurpose animals. We demonstrate model accuracy by splitting the data into training and validation subsets and comparing fitted and predicted values. The final model is weight^0.262?=?0.95?+?0.022 × girth which has an R ² value of 0.98 and 95 % prediction intervals that fall within the ±20 % body weight error band regarded as acceptable when dosing livestock. This model provides a highly reliable and accurate method for predicting weights of SHZ cattle using a single heart girth measurement which can be easily obtained with a tape measure in the field setting.     

Evaluation of cytokines as adjuvants of infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis vaccines

In this work two cytokines were used in combination with inactivated bacteria (bacterin) to test the bovine conjuctival immune response to the pathogen Moraxella bovis, the causative agent of Infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK). Treatments using the bacterin vaccine combined with interleukin-2 and interferon-α as adjuvants (Group A), the bacterin vaccine only (Group B), and controls without treatment (Group C), were applied by ocular spraying to evaluate the local immune response in the corneal structure of cattle experimentally infected with M. bovis. Six weeks after infection, 14 out of a total of 34 animals presented different corneal lesions; 9 corresponding to the control group C, 4 to the group B and only one to the group A. According to the clinical manifestations, a numeric score was calculated. Control animals presented the highest score value (12 points), followed by group B (7.5 points) and group A (1 point). These results suggest that the addition of cytokines to M. bovis treatments can reduce not only eye injuries caused by IBK but also the number of diseased animals.     

Liquid organic fertilizer sprayed on shoots of Phaseolus vulgaris stimulates arbuscular mycorrhiza colonization and phosphate solubilizing microorganisms in soil

Processed organic agricultural byproducts such as liquid organic fertilizer (LOF) are promising alternatives that can improve crop productivity while reducing mineral fertilizer use and improving sustainability. The effects on beneficial soil organisms, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and phosphate solubilizing microorganisms (PSM), caused by LOF spraying on shoots is poorly understood. Therefore, we evaluated how AM colonization and soil PSM are affected by LOF spraying on common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) grown in a greenhouse. The LOF was obtained by anaerobically fermenting a mixture of fresh water, cattle manure, bovine milk, sugarcane molasses and mineral salts. LOF was applied twice on the plant shoots. Fresh and dry mass of root and shoot, P content, P accumulation in the shoots and AMF spore counts in the soil were not LOF dose dependent. However, we found that a 5% LOF application stimulated AM colonization and led to dose-dependence for calcium and aluminium phosphate solubilizing bacteria and fungi. These results show that LOF sprayed on shoots causes responses on soil communities. We therefore endorse the use of LOF in low input agriculture.     

Free radical oxidation products in plasma and synovial fluid of horses with synovial inflammation

SUMMARY: Free radical oxidation products, namely conjugated dienes, ultraviolet fluorescence (excitation 325 nm, emission 395 nm) and visible fluorescence (excitation 360 nm, emission 460 nm) were measured in equine synovial fluid exposed to free radicals In vitro and in the plasma and synovial fluids of horses with synovial effusions. The synovial effusions were induced by intra-articularly administered carrageenin (0.3 ml, 1%), which rarely resulted in clinical lameness. The free radicals were generated In vitro by mixtures of iron and ethylene diamine tetra acetate (Fe/EDTA) or mixtures of hypoxanthine and xanthine oxidase (HX/XO). The conjugated diene concentrations and intensity of ultraviolet fluorescence were negligible in plasma and synovial fluid specimens. No increase resulted from incubation of synovial fluids with either a free radical generating system or as a result of the induced inflammation. The intensity of visible fluorescence did not increase in specimens incubated with Fe/EDTA. However, the intensity of visible fluorescence increased in specimens incubated with HX/XO, in synovial effusions induced by carrageenin, in plasma and in synovial fluids aspirated from saline injected controls. The results indicate that the intensity of visible fluorescence of equine synovial fluid increases after exposure to free radicals and during synovitis in the horse, suggesting a possible role for free radicals in the pathogenesis of equine inflammatory joint diseas     

Heavy metals in horse blood, serum, and feed in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Pollution is a subject of worldwide concern and discussion and various areas of science are seeking to integrate their knowledge in an attempt to improve understanding of the harmful effects of modern human activities. Thus, the objective of the current study was to assess the potential for using the horse as a bio-indicator of environmental pollution. Blood and serum samples from 120 horses from locations with different degrees of urbanization and industrialization and the feeds used for these animals were analyzed to determine their heavy metal (Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu, and Zn) content. The data obtained were compared. The results did not show increases in heavy metal concentration in the blood and serum of the horses with the intensification of urbanization and industrialization around the farms. Only Cd, as determined in the blood of the animals, showed a certain potential for using horses as bio-indicators of environmental pollution. The data for sex, age, and chemical composition of the foodstuffs supplied to the animals were not determinants in explaining the variation in the concentrations of heavy metals observed.     

Ostertagiasis in calves. II. infection parameters and body weight gains following housing

The performance of six groups of six calves each from a previous field experiment was followed from the beginning of housing until turning out seven months later. When housed the groups harboured different levels of infection with Ostertagia ostertagi and had corresponding weight and gain reductions. The most heavily infected groups improved rapidly following housing. Elevated serum pepsinogen levels decreased markedly, and approached normal values at eight weeks. Differences in serum pepsinogen levels between groups diminished considerably, but remained significant over the entire stabling period. The serum albumin level was low in the most seriously affected animals at the time of housing, but normal levels were restored within the first twelve weeks. In general, the number of parasite eggs in the faeces of the animals decreased, but there was considerable fluctuation. Apart from a single sampling date, no significant difference in egg per gram (EPG) could be demonstrated between the experimental groups during the stabling period.The calves were fed according to their age. The live weight differences between most and least affected groups diminished from 64 kg at the time of housing to 37 kg at the end of the stabling period. The reduction took place particularly during the first four weeks of housing.Considering both the grazing and stabling periods, it appeared that anthelmintic treatment twice during the period had no effect on the final live weight, whereas remeated treatments at three-week intervals resulted in an increase of 24 kg. Similarly, moving the animals to a clean pasture in mid-July resulted in an increase of 39 kg at the end of the stabling period when compared to calves which were not moved. Treatment of moved animals did not result in further body weight gain after seven months of housing.No significant correlation was found between parasite EPG of faeces and growth rate during the stabling period. However, a positive correlation was found between serum pepsinogen during the first eight weeks of housing and the weight gain over the entire stabling period. This was in contrast to the correlation experienced during the grazing period.     

Bagaza virus is pathogenic and transmitted by direct contact in experimentally infected partridges,but is not infectious in house sparrows and adult mice

Bagaza virus (BAGV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus belonging to the Ntaya serocomplex. In 2010, a disease outbreak was reported in Cádiz (Southern Spain) affecting game birds (red-legged partridges and common pheasants). In this work, red-legged partridges were inoculated experimentally with infectious BAGV isolated from this outbreak in order to make a complete clinical and analytical assessment of the disease caused by the pathogen in this species. Viral load (by real-time RT-PCR) in blood, oral and cloacal swabs, and feathers, and neutralizing antibody titres (by VNT) were measured. In order to determine direct contact transmission, non-inoculated partridges were caged together with the inoculated ones. To assess infectiousness in other species, house sparrows and mice were also inoculated with the virus. All the inoculated partridges were clinically affected, and 30% of them died. All the infected individuals lost weight, with larger losses being recorded in females. Conversely, no mortality or disease symptoms were observed in the sparrows or mice. Remarkably, all the contact partridges acquired the infection by direct (non-vectored) transmission. This study confirms that the red-legged partridge is a susceptible host for BAGV infection, and that this pathogen is transmitted by direct contact. Long-lasting viral loads detected in calami of immature feathers demonstrate that feather sampling could be a useful strategy in active surveillance programs for early detection of BAGV.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13567-015-0233-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Alpha‐Linolenic Acid Supplementation in Tris Extender Can Improve Frozen–Thawed Bull Semen Quality

The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of α ‐linolenic acid (ALA) on frozen–thawed quality and fatty acid composition of bull sperm. For that, twenty‐four ejaculates obtained from three bulls were diluted in a Tris extender containing 0 (control), 3, 5, 10 and 15 ng/ml of ALA. Extended semen was incubated at 37°C for 15 min, to allow absorption of ALA by sperm cell membrane. The sample was chilled for 2 h, packed into 0.25‐ml straws and frozen in liquid nitrogen for 24 h. Subsequently, straws were thawed and evaluated for total sperm motility (computer‐assisted semen analysis), membrane functional integrity (hypo‐osmotic swelling test), viability (eosin‐nigrosin), fatty acid composition (gas chromatography) and lipid peroxidation (thiobarbituric acid‐reactive substances (TBARS)). A higher (p < 0.05) percentage of total sperm motility was observed in ALA groups 5 ng/ml (47.74 ± 07) and 10 ng/ml (44.90 ± 0.7) in comparison with control (34.53 ± 3.0), 3 ng/ml (34.40 ± 2.6) and 15 ng/ml (34.60 ± 2.9). Still, the 5 ng/ml ALA group presented a higher (p < 0.05) percentage of viable sperms (74.13 ± 0.8) and sperms with intact membrane (74.46 ± 09) than all other experimental groups. ALA concentration and lipid peroxidation in post‐thawed sperm was higher in all treated groups when compared to the control group. As such, the addition of 5 ng/ml of ALA to Tris extender improved quality of frozen–thawed bull spermatozoa.