This study was conducted to investigate the effects of probiotic and/or prebiotic supplementation on growth performance and serum IgG concentrations in broilers. One thousand two hundred one-day old Ross-308 broiler chicks of mixed sex were randomly divided into four treatment…
Hulless barley contains more digestible nutrients than do whole barleys due to a lower content of indigestible fibre, but also contains a higher concentration of ß-glucans. The chemical composition and apparent metabolisable energy (AME) of five cultivars (3, 7, 12,…
Genetic diversity in candidate genes for fitness and production traits was explored in three populations of dairy cattle. The study focused on adipokines, including leptin (LEP), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF), interleukin-8 (IL8) and interleukin-10 (IL10) as candidate genes. The…
A study was conducted to determine the effect of supplementing the diet of breeder hens with a short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) premix, containing 509 g fatty acid salts/kg of which 285 g were calcium butyrate, on their eggshell characteristics and…
Female fertility is increasingly gaining importance in national dairy cattle breeding objectives worldwide. In South Africa, there is no routine prediction of breeding values for reproductive performance in dairy cattle and selection is mainly focused on production traits. The objective…
This study was designed to evaluate the efficiency of five different hormonal treatments of oestrous synchronization in Karakul ewes reared in southern Iran. During mid- to late spring, (outside the natural breeding season), 180 Karakul ewes were stratified based on…
The effect of the inclusion of meat and bone meal (MBM) in the diet of old laying hens on their egg production and the quality of their eggs was investigated. Meat and bone meal containing a high concentration of ash…
The primary objective of this study was to investigate the effect of age, season and the interaction between age and season on the sperm morphological characteristics of a selected population of Friesland bulls kept at an artificial insemination (AI) centre…
A model including fixed and random linear regressions is described for analyzing body weights at different ages. In this study, (co)variance components, heritabilities for quail weekly weights and genetic correlations among these weights were estimated using a random regression model…
An experiment was conducted using 96 individually caged male broilers between 49 and 77 d of age. One objective was to establish phenotypic relationships between some production traits [feed conversion ratio (FCR), feed consumption, residual feed consumption (RFC), relative weight…
Milk yield data (n = 12307) from 116 Holstein-Friesian herds were grouped into three production environments based on mean and standard deviation of herd 305-day milk yield and evaluated for within herd variation using univariate animal model procedures. Variance components…
Simulation modelling is an active part of animal nutrition which relies on mathematical functions to predict the performance of an animal. The Gompertz equation is one such function that is simple, but fits animal growth data well, and when used…
The present study was conducted to determine the effects of feeding diets containing two levels of metabolizable energy (12.13 or 11.72 MJ ME/kg) and two different fat sources (sunflower- and fish-oil) with or without supplemental L-carnitine (0 or 50 mg/kg…
The alkane method of measuring herbage intake in ruminants was compared with actual intake determined by transponder-controlled feed gates (Calan gates). Kikuyu (Pennisetum clandestinum) intakes of yearling bulls (Holstein-Friesland and Hereford) were measured for a period of seven days. No…
Damage to ostrich skins in the form of cuts and scratches obtained during growth result in lower quality skins that fetch lower prices. This represents a major financial loss to the ostrich industry. The stage at which such damage occurs…
The present study was carried out with the aim of determining the effects of storage temperature and storage position on embryonic mortalities of ostrich eggs. A total of 229 ostrich eggs was collected from two commercial ostrich farms. The effects…
This study was carried out to investigate the possibility of using frozen rumen fluid (RF) as an inoculum source in the determination the in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) of ruminant feeds. In the first experiment six roughages (barley straw,…
The effect of divergent selection for ewe multiple-rearing ability over a 15-year period on mutton quality was examined on the M. longissimus dorsi and M. semimembranosus of entire rams (R) and ewes (E) derived from two Merino lines. The selection…
Standard Lactation Curves were derived for South African Holstein and Jersey cows, using twenty herd -, eighteen age - and six season classes. Six herd classes were below and 13 above the average production level for both breeds. A standard…
A study was conducted to investigate the growth response to diet protein level of growing indigenous chicken between 14 and 21 weeks old. The chickens were offered diets ad libitum with 100, 120, 140, 160 and 180 g crude protein…
