Factors affecting the hatchability of eggs from broiler breeders

1. Four experiments were carried out on eggs from broiler breeding flocks between 26 and 60 weeks of age. The effects of storage and incubation conditions on hatchability were tested.

2. Collecting eggs hourly rather than five hours after lay slightly reduced hatchability (P<0.10). Pre‐storage fumigation of almost un‐contaminated eggs had no effect on hatchability even after storage for 8 d. Storing eggs in unsealed polythene bags did not affect hatchability of eggs stored for 5 or 8 d.

3. Eggs stored for 2 d hatched better when held at 18 °C than at 15 °C (P<0.05). Eggs stored for 8 d at 15 °C hatched better than eggs stored for 8 d at 18 °C (P< 0.01). Best hatchability was in eggs stored in unsealed polythene bags at a room temperature of 15 °C. When older eggs were allowed 30 to 40 min more in the setter for each day of storage, the decline in hatchability was 0.5 to 0.6 percentage units per day in storage as compared with a decline of 1.2 percentage units per day when eggs of different storage times, up to 8 d, were set simultaneously.

4. Those eggs which showed a weight loss during incubation of near average for their relative humidity (RH) treatment tended to hatch better than others except under conditions of very low RH (0.36), when best hatchability was associated with lower than average weight loss.

5. In eggs from a young flock (28 to 44 weeks of age) hatchability of fertile eggs was depressed by 1 percentage unit with an increase in RH of 0.17, and by 1 percentage unit with each decrease of 0.06 in RH from a control RH of 0.53. In eggs from the same flock between 48 and 60 weeks of age hatchability was depressed by 1 percentage unit with each 0.037 increase in RH from 0.44 to 0.70.

6. Eggs from a young flock (34–49 weeks) hatched significantly better when maintained at 0.82 rather than at 0.66 (P<0.05) or 0.95 (P<0.10) RH during the hatching period from 19 to 21 d of incubation. Eggs from an older flock (51–61 weeks) hatched better at 0.82 and at 0.‐92 than at 0.72 RH during the same period, but the differences were not significant.     

日本金龟子幼虫寄生蜂春黑小土蜂人工繁殖技术研究

以日本金龟子幼虫为繁殖寄主，对春黑小土蜂的人工繁殖技术进行了研究。试验结果表明：土蜂幼虫的发育历期，寄生三龄蛴螬的比二龄蛴螬的平均短3．76d；成茧率高1．87倍。二龄蛴螬繁殖的土蜂80％以上是雄性，三龄蛴螬繁殖的雌性蜂占60％以上。5％蜂蜜水和蔗糖水是成蜂较为理想的营养补充饲料。寄生作用率随接蜂数量的增加而减少。在土蜂产卵高峰期，种内干扰系数最高。单雌平均获卵量和获茧数随更换寄主频次的增加而增加，以每8h更换一次寄主最为适合。     

A comparison of the effect of short-acting and long-acting cloxacillin-based dry-cow therapy on somatic cell counts after calving in cows also given internal teat sealants

AIM: To compare, in cows treated with an internal teat sealant, the effect of short-acting and long-acting cloxacillin-based dry-cow therapy on somatic cell counts (SCC) after calving.

METHODS: Cows from a spring-calving, pasture-based dairy farm in the Manawatu-Whanganui region of New Zealand were randomly allocated to receive either a short-acting cloxacillin and ampicillin dry-cow therapy and internal teat sealant (n=291) or a long-acting cloxacillin and ampicillin dry-cow therapy and internal teat sealant (n=288) at the end of lactation. Cows were managed on-farm with routine husbandry procedures through the dry period and following calving. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to determine the association between length of action of dry-cow therapy and the proportion of cows with a SCC >150,000?cells/mL at the first herd test after calving.

RESULTS: Age of cow, mean SCC for the preceding season and interval from calving to the first post-calving herd test were all associated with the proportion of cows with an individual SCC >150,000?cells/mL at the first herd test (p<0.001) Treatment with the short-acting dry-cow therapy was not associated with decreased odds of cows having a SCC >150,000?cells/mL at the first herd test compared with treatment with long-acting dry-cow therapy (OR=0.724; 95% CI=0.40–1.30).

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In this herd, which routinely used internal teat sealants, the use of short-acting cloxacillin-based dry-cow therapy did not result in an increased proportion of cows with elevated SSC post-calving. This was a single farm, single year study but indicates that in this herd, changing from a long-acting to a short-acting antimicrobial may have no impact on the prevalence of subclinical mastitis.     

春臀钩土蜂两个地理种和日本丽金龟臀钩土蜂搜索能力的比较

利用“Y”型选择器和草地寄主搜寻试验，就春臀钩土蜂两个品系和日本丽金龟瞥钩土蜂对日本金龟子的搜索能力进行了比较。结果表明，两种土蜂的3个品系对日本金龟子3龄幼虫的存在与否没有表现出明显的辨别能力。虫粪对土蜂搜索寄主有一定的引导作用，但日本丽金龟臀钩土蜂的趋性没有春臀钩土蜂明显。寄主虫体气味与虫粪混合存在比只有虫粪存在更能吸引土蜂。土蜂可以在相隔两个侧臂20cm的距离内感知金龟子幼虫的存在；当寄主与非寄主金龟子同时存在时，不能辨别出寄主；但能通过虫粪辨认寄主所在方向。春臀钩土蜂两个品系对日本金龟子幼虫气味表现出极强的趋性。日本丽金龟臀钩土蜂则受非寄主幼虫气味干扰。草地寄主搜寻试验表明，春臀钩土蜂CH—SD品系仅搜索内开口隧道内幼虫；A—NC品系对隧道的开口没有表现出特殊的选择性。67．5％雌蜂能够感知寄主幼虫的存在并自行挖洞搜索。寄主粪便可以引导土蜂从人工隧道开口进入。网罩内草地上的虫粪可以干扰土蜂对地下寄主位置的判断。     

SnToxA,SnTox1, and SnTox3 originated in Parastagonospora nodorum in the Fertile Crescent

The centre of origin of the globally distributed wheat pathogen Parastagonospora nodorum has remained uncertain because only a small number of isolates from the Fertile Crescent were included in earlier population genetic and phylogeographic studies. We isolated and genetically analysed 193 P. nodorum strains from three naturally infected wheat fields distributed across Iran using 11 neutral microsatellite loci. Compared to previous studies that included populations from North America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and China, the populations from Iran had the highest genetic diversity globally and also exhibited greater population structure over smaller spatial scales, patterns typically associated with the centre of origin of a species. Genes encoding the necrotrophic effectors SnToxA, SnTox1, and SnTox3 were found at a high frequency in the Iranian population. By sequencing 96 randomly chosen Iranian strains, we detected new alleles for all three effector genes. Analysis of allele diversity showed that all three effector genes had higher diversity in Iran than in any population included in previous studies, with Iran acting as a hub for the effector diversity that was found in other global populations. Taken together, these findings support the hypothesis that P. nodorum originated either within or nearby the Fertile Crescent with a genome that already encoded all three necrotrophic effectors during its emergence as a pathogen on wheat. Our findings also suggest that P. nodorum was the original source of the ToxA genes discovered in the wheat pathogens Phaeosphaeria avenaria f. sp. tritici 1, Pyrenophora tritici-repentis, and Bipolaris sorokiniana.     

THE EFFECT OF HISTAMINE ON SILAGE DRY-MATTER INTAKE

The oral introduction of 0·5 g histamine as the diphosphate into the rumen of sheep produced no effect on the physiological condition of the animals. The feeding of histamine, as the dihydrochloride, in levels up to 1 g/day to sheep on silage diets did not affect the dry-matter intake.