The effect of pregnancy and lactation on digestive processes in sheep

The average passage time, the rumen fluid volume and the digestibility of the organic matter were determined in addition to 3 individual feeding experiments with fertility oriented crossbreed ewes, which received pelleted straw-concentrate mixtures. The average passage time of the feed particles through the digestive tract is shorter in pregnant animals than in lactating ones. It is longest in non-pregnant sheep. High quotas of straw and coarse particles prolong the passage time, increasing feed intake and supplements of long straw shorten it. The volume of rumen fluid is lower in ewes fed ad libitum in the stage of late pregnancy and after lactation than during lactation. The rumen fluid volume is also lower in restrictively fed animals during the stage of late pregnancy than during lactation. In animals in the stage of late pregnancy it correlates negatively with the weight of the litter. On an average of all experiments at maintenance level the digestibility of the organic matter in ewes in the 4th month of pregnancy gravidity amounted to 56.6%, in the 2nd month of lactation to 59.8% and in wethers to 59.5% Due to an increase of energy intake from maintenance to 2. maintenance digestibility of the straw-concentrate mixture with 40% straw decreased by 5.5 units and of that with 60% straw by 17.8 units in the period before delivery. Pregnancy in the 4th month resulted in a digestion depression of between 3.0 and 5.8 units.     

The relationships between the internal and external pelvic measurements of Schwartzbunt cows]

1118 Friesian cows and 101 Friesian heifers were investigated in internal pelvic measurements and their relationships to external measurements. The mean of the pelvic vertical and the medium diagonally diameter of the pelvis are 19.8 cm and 18.3 cm. 363.9 square centimetres and 76.3 centimetres were found for the pelvic surface and pelvic circumference. The difference between the biggest and smallest pelvis was 295.0 square centimetres. Medium to high coefficiences of correlation were detected between the internal pelvic measurements but relationships between internal and external pelvic measurements were low. From determined external pelvic measurements only the hip breadth provides usefull informations of the pelvic shape.     

Diagnostic value of intestinal alkaline phosphatase in horse serum

Antiserum directed against equine intestinal Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) was produced in rabbits and used to develop a sensitive and quantitative assay for the detection of intestinal ALP in equine serum. This assay was then used to measure the half-life of intravenously injected intestinal ALP and to determine if the intestinal ALP was present in normal horse sera, sera from horses presented for lesions not involving the gastrointestinal tract and sera from horses presented with lesions involving the gastrointestinal tract. The results suggest that intestinal ALP is not likely to appear in equine serum even when gastrointestinal disease is present and, therefore, appears to be of no diagnostic value.     

Determination of progesterone directly in milk fat as an improved method for fertility control in cattle

A simple and reliable method for the determination of progesterone in milk fat by radioimmunoassay has been developed. Application of the assay under field conditions has shown that all samples diagnosed " questionable" in the former milk progesterone test (MPT) could be characterized as positive or negative. Thus the total figure of animals daignosed correctly rose from 72.3% to 85.8%. The borderlines (ng progesterone / 10 mcl milk fat) set up for this assay were (1) pregnant and (1) nonpregnant (Day 20) and (.3) in estrus and (.3) not in estrus ( Day 0). Within the application for diagnosis of pregnancy, 81.4% were diagnosed correctly as pregnant while 96.3% were diagnosed correctly as not pregnant. The latter figure is somewhat lower than in the MPT (100%), but under the practical conditions the error lies within the range of false diagnosis due to problems with sample identification.     

30 years of swine health services in Bavaria

A Pig Health Service in Bavaria was established in 1958, there was one veterinary-officer working. The department Pig-Health Service of the "Tiergesundheitsdienst Bayern" has twenty-one veterinary-officers now. They mostly are working in the pig health scheme, doing stress susceptibility test, giving advice and expert evidence.     

Anatomical distribution of T- and B-lymphocytes in Marek's disease--an immunohistochemical study

Neural lesions of Marek's disease, Marek's disease tumours in the ovary, liver, and kidney, as well as spleen and bursa of Fabricii of chickens bearing Marek's disease tumorous infiltrations, were examined by a new immunohistochemical technique basing upon Sternbergers unlabelled antibody enzyme method which allows the exact localization of lymphoid cells based on their surface antigens. Type C neural lesions contained T-lymphocytes almost exclusively. Type B neural lesions had relatively high proportions of T- and B-lymphocytes, and severe type A neural lesions possessed one part of heavily labelled T-lymphocytes and a number of cells stained weakly by rabbit-anti-chicken-T-cell-globulin. Tumorous infiltrations had similar characteristics as type A neural lesions. Spleen and interfollicular spaces of bursa of Fabricius were infiltrated by T-lymphocytes.     

TOTAL ANOMALOUS PULMONARY VENOUS CONNECTION IN A FOAL

An 8-day-old Arabian-Morgan cross colt underwent cardiac evaluation. The foal was tachycardic, tachypneic, exercise intolerant and had a loud right-sided heart murmur and cyanotic mucous membranes. Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection was diagnosed with echocardiography and confirmed at postmortem examination. Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection is a very rare congenital cardiac abnormality that has not been reported before in the horse.     

Beschreibung des Feuerbrandbefalls am Institut für Obstzüchtung in Dresden-Pillnitz im Jahr 2003

The orchard of the Institute of Fruit Breeding of the German Federal Centre of Breeding Research on Cultivated Plants in Dresden-Pillnitz was highly affected by fire blight in 2003. Infected pomefruit trees were observed over a period of nearly 3 months. The first symptoms on pear trees were found on May 19th. The pathogen Erwinia amylovora was confirmed officially on May 26, and the last infected apple trees were detected the 11th of August. The infected trees had to be grubbed at the decision of the Phytopathological Authority. In total, 1164 apple and 478 pear trees were grubbed, including the entire pear collection of the gene bank. Of 35 wild species of pear, 49 accessions, eight accessions of six species each, showed infections. The apple collection of the gene bank included 33 wild species, with 365 accessions, and 845 cultivars and clones. Ten accessions of nine wild apple species and 81 cultivars/clones of these collections showed fire blight infection. The source of infection was the pear collection, and the distance from that source was important for the occurrence of infection. Field plots close to the pear collection had tree losses of 10–34%, while more distant plots had losses of 0–6%. Around 80% of the lost apple trees were detected and grubbed from 27th May to 11th June. Some of the cultivars bred in Dresden-Pillnitz, e.g. ‘Pilot’ and ‘Rekarda’, were affected by fire blight in most field plots, whereas most others were affected mainly only in plots adjacent to the infection source. A correlation of r=?0.72 could be calculated for rating in artificial shoot inoculations and percentage of trees of resistant cultivars lost. The cultivars ‘Pirol’, ‘Reanda’, ‘Remo’, ‘Rene’, ‘Renora’, ‘Resi’, and ‘Retina’ showed only a very low numbers of infected trees. No tree of ‘Rewena’ showed symptoms of fire blight. Despite a tendency to postblooming, only 8.9% of ‘Pinova’ trees had to be grubbed.