The nutritional properties of co-dried fish silage in rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) dry diets

Feed ingredients containing fish silage and liquefied fish made from ground, whole Pacific whiting and co-dried in a vacuum dryer with mixtures of soybean meal and feather meal to facilitate drying were prepared. An additional batch of fish silage was co-dried with the other dry ingredients in the diet formulation that was used, Abernathy diet S8-1. Fish meal, made by vacuum drying Pacific whiting, was used in the control diet. Co-dried fish meal was made by co-drying Pacific whiting with a soybean meal-feather meal mixture. Fish meal was entirely replaced by the co-dried products in the experimental diets, which were fed to rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) for 32 weeks. The best growth and food conversion values were obtained by feeding the fish meal control diet or the diet in which the fish meal was replaced with co-dried liquefied fish. No significant differences in final weights were found between trout fed diets containing co-dried fish meal or co-dried fish silage (fish products were 25% of the diet), but these fish were significantly smaller than fish fed the fish meal control or the co-dried liquefied fish diets. Reducing the fish silage to 12.5% or increasing it to 50% further reduced weight gains in the trout. Food conversion values, protein efficiency ratios, and net protein utilization values generally followed the same trends between diets as did the final weight values. Apparent digestibility coefficients for the co-dried products were lower than for the fish meal, possibly because they contained soybean meal-feather meal mixtures. Organoleptic properties of the fish were not affected by diet.     

An economic feasibility assessment of autonomous field machinery in grain crop production

Precision Agriculture - A multi-faceted whole farm planning model is developed to compare conventional and autonomous machinery for grain crop production under various benefit, farm size, suitable...     

Frequency and distribution of foot lesions identified during cattle hoof trimming in the Province of Antioquia,Colombia (2011–2016)

Tropical Animal Health and Production - Lameness is a severe welfare problem in cattle and has a detrimental effect on longevity, productivity, and reproductive performance. This study aimed to...     

Anaerobic peritonitis caused by Clostridium septicum as a complication of routine castration in a 2‐year‐old Warmblood horse

This case report describes an unusual case of anaerobic peritonitis in a 2‐year‐old horse following castration. The horse was evaluated 2 weeks following castration for signs of acute, severe abdominal pain and swelling surrounding a previous castration site. Physical examination revealed marked scrotal and ventral abdominal oedema that was cool and crepitant upon palpation. Ultrasonographic evaluation was unrewarding because gas shadowing distributed throughout the subcutis prevented imaging of the abdominal cavity. Ventral midline celiotomy revealed a copious amount of malodorous, serosangious, cloudy peritoneal fluid that was submitted for culture. Abdominal exploration revealed the gastrointestinal tract to be in its anatomically correct position. There was diffuse petechiation of the small intestine and large intestine, oedema and crepitant swelling surrounding the left inguinal ring and body wall. The abdomen was lavaged with 10 l of sterile saline prior to closure of the celiotomy and the left castration incision was opened digitally, releasing a large volume of serosanguinous fluid and gas that flowed freely from the incision site and deeper inguinal tissues. The horse was placed in the recovery box where it suffered cardiac arrest. Culture of the peritoneal fluid revealed heavy growth of Clostridium septicum. This case of anaerobic peritonitis represents an unusual complication following castration not previously reported in the horse.     

Soil and agronomic factors associated with cadmium accumulations in kidneys of grazing sheep

SUMMARY Mean concentration of cadmium (Cd) in kidneys of hogget sheep from 67 flocks grazing in the Agricultural Region of Western Australia was tested for association with soil, pastoral, climatic and nutritional factors. Hoggets grazing pastures on acidic soils and soils with a sandy-textured surface had higher Cd concentrations in kidneys than hoggets grazing pastures on more alkaline soils or soils with a clay-textured surface. Application of more than 100 kg of phosphatic fertiliser during the past 3 years to loamy soils was also associated with greater Cd concentration in kidneys of the grazing animals.     

Relationship of blood corticosterone, immunoglobulin and haematological values in young crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) to water temperature, clutch of origin and body weight

Objective To examine whether sub-optimal temperature induced stress and immunosuppression in farmed saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) hatchlings. Design A clinico-pathological study. Animals A total of 140 hatchlings were used. Procedure Body weight and length, plasma corticosterone and immunoglobulin concentrations and total and differential white blood cell counts were measured in 140 hatchlings from five clutches divided between five water temperature treatment groups. Initially all groups were housed at 32°C for 10 weeks, then two groups (L, LC) were changed to low temperature (28°C) and two groups (H, HC) to high temperature (36°C), while one group (C) remained at 32°C. The LC and HC groups were maintained at these temperatures for 10 days, after which the water temperature of both groups was returned to 32°C. Blood samples were collected twice (at 6 and 9 weeks of age) before the initial temperature change, and at 10 days and 4 weeks after the initial temperature change (at 11.5 and 14 weeks of age). Results Except for an increase in plasma corticosterone in the HC group and a decrease in the L group when the temperature change was first introduced, changes in plasma corticosterone were not significant. There were no significant changes in immunoglobulin concentrations. There were, however, significant decreases in the total white cell and lymphocyte counts in the LC group after the temperature was decreased to 28°C, and an increase in these counts after water temperature was returned to 32°C. Clutch of origin had significant effects on body weight and length gains, and there were negative relationships between body weight and corticosterone concentrations and between body weight and immunoglobulin concentrations. Conclusions As haematological changes indicative of stress were not associated with significant changes in serum corticosterone, immunosuppression in young crocodiles may be independent of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal cortical axis.     

In vitro influence of phosphite on chlamydospore production and viability of Phytophthora cinnamomi

Chlamydospores of four isolates of Phytophthora cinnamomi were produced on mycelium grown on medium with or without 100 μg phosphite/ml, then tested for germination on medium containing no phosphite or 100 or 160 μg phosphite/ml. For each isolate when spores were produced on medium without phosphite, there was no effect of phosphite on germination. However, chlamydospores produced in the presence of 100 μg phosphite/ml showed significantly lower germination on media with no phosphite, 100 or 160 μg phosphite/ml than those produced in the absence of phosphite. For isolates known to be phosphite sensitive, the level of viable non‐germinated chlamydospores was higher amongst those produced on medium containing phosphite than amongst the controls, suggesting phosphite induces chlamydospore dormancy in some isolates of P. cinnamomi. Chlamydospores were produced uniformly across the radius of colonies on solid or liquid control media, but on media containing 100 μg phosphite/ml, chlamydospore production was lower in the centre of the colony and peaked at a point where mycelial morphology changed from tightly packed to sparse. This change in mycelial morphology and the peak in chlamydospore numbers did not occur when the pathogen was grown on liquid medium renewed every few days. In renewed medium, chlamydospores were evenly distributed across the radius of the colony.     

Selection for decreased sensitivity to phosphite in Phytophthora cinnamomi with prolonged use of fungicide

To test the hypothesis that resistance in Phytophthora cinnamomi to control by the fungicide phosphite (phosphonate) would arise in sites with prolonged use of phosphite, 30 P. cinnamomi isolates were collected from a range of sites with different phosphite‐use histories, including phosphite‐treated and untreated avocado orchards, and phosphite‐treated and untreated native vegetation sites. The colonizing ability of these isolates was tested by different inoculation methods against a range of host tissues, treated and untreated with phosphite, including mycelial stem inoculation on clonally propagated Leucadendron sp., mycelial root inoculation of lupin seedlings and zoospore inoculation of Eucalyptus sieberi cotyledons. Isolates from avocado orchards with a long history of phosphite use were, on average, more extensive colonizers of the phosphite‐treated Leucadendron sp., lupin seedling roots and Eucalyptus sieberi cotyledons. These isolates did not colonize untreated plant tissue (Leucadendron sp.) more extensively than isolates from sites with no history of phosphite use and no isolates were resistant to control by phosphite. Analysis of all isolates with microsatellite markers revealed the majority were from a single clonal lineage. Selection for decreased sensitivity to phosphite in planta has taken place within asexual clonal lineages of P. cinnamomi in sites with prolonged use of phosphite.