Energy expenditure in Awassi sheep grazing wheat stubble in the northern Negev Desert of Israel

In semi-arid Mediterranean areas, small grain aftermath stubble represents an important summer source of food for grazing flocks of small ruminants. Wheat stubble is a mediocre source of forage and flocks are grazed in summer under harsh conditions of temperature and air dustiness. However, stubble grazing procedures are changing, water and shading are more frequently available between grazing sessions (“improved management”), and the biological soundness of this ancestral practice needs to be re-visited. The present study was aimed at evaluating the cost in energy of “improved” wheat stubble grazing, compared with feeding a similar diet indoors. The intake of stubble was first quantitatively and qualitatively evaluated in Awassi sheep. Ewes consumed daily 980 ± 100 g day^− 1 of wheat stubble. Ewes were then housed and fed diets consisting of wheat hay, straw and grain formulated to be iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous to diets consumed from wheat stubble. The average intake of ME was similar during the confinement and the pasture periods (6.4 ± 0.5 and 7.6 ± 0.8 MJ day^− 1of ME, respectively). During 2 days of each period, animals were fitted with external electrodes and data loggers of heart rate and skin temperature. Energy expenditure (EE) was calculated from oxygen consumption estimated as the product of heart beats rate measured for the two days by the amount of oxygen delivered to body tissues at each heart beat (O₂ pulse). The O₂ pulse was determined by simultaneously measurement of oxygen consumption and HR twice daily on two occasions, while grazing stubble and indoors. Energy expenditure and energy balance were not different in sheep while grazing wheat stubble (11.1 and − 3.5 MJ day^− 1) or fed indoors (11.1 and − 4.8 MJ day^− 1). Our data show that stubble did not cover nitrogen and energy requirements for maintenance, and that the cost of summer stubble grazing carried out under conditions described here is less than thought before.     

松嫩羊草草原火烧后地上生产力的变化

松嫩羊草草甸草原不同时间火烧后，对羊草种群地上初级生产力产生不同影响，伴随出现不同的次级生产力变化格局，早春火烧提高羊草种群地上生产力，８月份产量增１４．６％，晚春火烧导致羊草种群地上生产力下降，８月份产量降低１５．５％，与未烧相比差异显著，火烧后，叶茎比率提高，尤其是晚春火烧处理，叶茎比率最高，火烧后，蝗虫数量增多，但晚烧地７月份蝗虫数量多，早烧地８月份蝗虫数量多，未烧地基本保持稳定，三者之间差     

《家禽生产学》培养学生实践能力教学模式的建立

从大学教育中注重学生实践能力培养的重要性入手,对作者在《家禽生产学》专业教学中总结出的专业课《家禽生产学》的教学模式进行探讨,旨在提出一种新的思路——如何在专业课教学中培养学生的实践操作能力,以切实提高课程的教学效果,使学生在毕业后走向工作岗位时,既具有扎实的理论知识,又具有和娴熟的实践技能。     

青蒿素及其衍生物在动物生产中的应用研究

青蒿素是一种倍半萜内酯类化合物,其特殊的过氧基团结构使其具有抗疟疾、抗菌、抗炎、抗氧化、抗寄生虫、免疫调节、缓解热应激、促进生长等作用.青蒿素及其衍生物应用于动物生产中可以替代抗生素,具有广阔的应用前景.文章对青蒿素及其衍生物的生理功能、主要提取方式及在动物生产中的应用进行论述.     

Egg production forecasting: Determining efficient modeling approaches

Several mathematical or statistical and artificial intelligence models were developed to compare egg production forecasts in commercial layers. Initial data for these models were collected from a comparative layer trial on commercial strains conducted at the Poultry Research Farms, Auburn University. Simulated data were produced to represent new scenarios by using means and SD of egg production of the 22 commercial strains. From the simulated data, random examples were generated for neural network training and testing for the weekly egg production prediction from wk 22 to 36. Three neural network architectures-back-propagation-3, Ward-5, and the general regression neural network-were compared for their efficiency to forecast egg production, along with other traditional models. The general regression neural network gave the best-fitting line, which almost overlapped with the commercial egg production data, with an R(2) of 0.71. The general regression neural network-predicted curve was compared with original egg production data, the average curves of white-shelled and brown-shelled strains, linear regression predictions, and the Gompertz nonlinear model. The general regression neural network was superior in all these comparisons and may be the model of choice if the initial overprediction is managed efficiently. In general, neural network models are efficient, are easy to use, require fewer data, and are practical under farm management conditions to forecast egg production.     

Dairy Production and Reproduction by Crosses of Holstein,Jersey or Brown Swiss Sires with Holstein-Friesian/Gir Dams

The performance was compared of cows sired by Holstein, Jersey or Brown Swiss bulls out of Holstein-Friesian×Gir dams of 1/2 to 3/4 Holstein-Friesian content. The animals were kept in a single herd under the same management. The data were analysed by least-squares techniques under a model that included the fixed effects of breed of sire, Bos taurus fraction of the dam, parity, year and season of calving, and a random cow effect. Based on 480 observations, the milk yields per lactation for the Holstein, Jersey and Brown Swiss sired groups were 2821±163, 2320±61 and 2418±119 kg, respectively. The corresponding means for fat yield per lactation were 96.9±6.6, 86.8±2.5 and 92.8±4.8 kg; for protein yield per lactation were 85.3±5.1, 71.3±1.9 and 76.3±3.7 kg; for lactation length, 339±18, 283±7 and 313±14 days for fat percentage, 3.37±0.10, 3.73±0.04 and 3.77±0.07%; and for protein percentage, 3.02±0.05, 3.10±0.02 and 3.16±0.04%. The respective calving intervals were 487±24, 408±11 and 461±245 days. The yields of milk and protein per day of calving interval were similar in the Jersey and Holstein sired groups, while the former had higher yields of fat, implying that production economics might favour the smaller Jersey crosses in production systems in which the males were not reared. Crossing with Brown Swiss did not improve performance over the Holstein sired crosses.     

昆虫抗菌肽的抗菌效应及在畜牧生产中的应用前景

 昆虫抗菌肽是一类具有免疫效应的小分子多肽,它具有热稳定、抗菌谱广、无免疫原性、作用机制独特等特性,是昆虫能够抵御自然界中有害微生物侵染的重要因素。论文针对畜牧业生产,从昆虫抗菌肽分类、生物活性及作用机理等几个方面综述了昆虫抗菌肽的研究现状及其应用前景。     

有效微生物菌群在蛋鸡生产中的应用试验

有效微生物菌群(EV)是一种复合高效微生物制剂,在养殖业上使用EM具有改善饲养环境、降低发病率、提高饲料报酬、增加养殖效益等作用。本研究进行了EM对产蛋鸡应用效果试验。试验表明:EM对蛋鸡生产具有明显促进作用,10周试验表明,以10%比例将EM发酵饲料添加于蛋鸡日粮中,并配合饮用EM发酵水,日均产蛋量提高4.70%,产蛋率提高2.90%,料蛋比下降4.73%,毛利润提高12.79%。     

水牛MFSD2A基因多态性及其与产奶性状的关联分析

【目的】研究水牛主要促进因子超家族成员2a(major facilitator superfamily domain containing 2a, MFSD2A)基因多态性,并筛选与水牛产奶性状相关联的SNP。【方法】采集383头健康水牛血液DNA,利用PCR扩增和Sequenom MassARRAY飞行时间质谱技术对SNP位点进行筛选及基因型检测,并进行遗传多样性、连锁不平衡(LD)和单倍型分析,以及对不同基因型和单倍型与水牛产奶性状进行关联分析。【结果】在水牛MFSD2A基因中检出7个SNPs位点,多态信息含量(PIC)均在0.25～0.40之间,属于中度多态,除g.8290 T>C位点外,其余位点均处于Hardy-Weinberg平衡状态(P>0.05);关联分析结果表明,这7个SNPs位点与305 d产奶量均显著关联(P<0.05),且突变杂合子基因型的305 d产奶量是3种基因型中最低的,g.568 C>G和g.701 A>G位点与乳脂率显著关联(P<0.05),乳脂率从大到小依次为突变纯合子>野生纯合子>突变杂合子,g.568...     

不同饲养方式对AA肉鸡生产性能和经济效益的影响

本试验主要研究不同饲养方式对AA肉鸡生产性能和经济效益的影响。试验选取同批次4周龄AA肉鸡100只,随机分为2组,每组5个重复,每个重复10只,两组AA肉鸡个体情况无显著差异(P>0.05),对照组进行生态散养,试验组进行笼养,试验结束后对两组AA肉鸡的生产性能和经济效益进行分析。结果表明,试验组AA肉鸡总增重、日增重和日均采食量均显著高于对照组(P<0.05);试验组AA肉鸡料肉比显著低于对照组(P<0.05)。从增重情况来看,笼养AA肉鸡更具有经济价值,且笼养方式占地面积小,饲养密度大,非常适合较大密度的集中饲养。但生态散养AA肉鸡耗料少,能节省一定的饲料费用,再加上生态散养AA肉鸡的肉质、口感和营养等方面都比笼养AA肉鸡更符合市场需求。因此,在本试验条件下,作者建议大规模养殖户采用笼养方式,不仅便于管理,而且增重较多,总体经济效益较好,而小规模饲养AA肉鸡的养殖户建议生态散养,提高单只质量,增加单产来提高总的经济收入。