3D-MAPPING CORRECTS FACIAL TRAUMA IN ROTTWEILER.

Three-dimensional mapping technology helped University of California at Davis veterinarians correct major facial trauma in a Rottweiler puppy. Ziba's face was nearly crushed by a car, leaving her with damage that 10 years ago likely would have meant euthanasia. But the technology helped veterinarians identify problems and devise and carry out their surgical plan, marking the 10th such procedure at UC Davis, one of a small number of facilities with the technology. Today, Ziba's face shows no signs of her injury. Full Story: KTXL-TV (Sacramento, Calif.)

Suspected Ebola case reported in Vietnam.

A 27-year-old man was quarantined at a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City after coming back from Africa with Ebola symptoms, local media reported on Sunday. The man from central Binh Thuan province arrived at Tan Son Nhat international airport in the city on February 11 with Ebola symptoms, including high fever and dry cough, online newspaper VnExpress reported.He was transferred to the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases for quarantine and observation.The man worked as a photographer in Sierra Leone.He was being treated as a tuberculosis patient. Earlier, doctors in Sierra Leone had diagnosed him with pneumonia.A death from Ebola was confirmed in Sierra Leone on Jan. 15, hours after the World Health Organisation declared an end to the deadly virus in West Africa. Ebola has killed more than 11,000 people, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since December 2013. Story culled from;South China morning post.

Sharks could help prevent human tooth loss.

Scientists have identified a network of genes that enables sharks to develop and regenerate teeth throughout their lifetime, a finding that may pave the way for new therapies to help humans with tooth loss. The genes also allow sharks to replace rows of their teeth using a conveyor belt-like system. Scientists have known that some fish, such as sharks and rays, develop rows of highly specialized teeth with the capacity for lifelong regeneration. However the genetic mechanisms which enable this to happen were poorly understood.Now a research team, led by Dr Gareth Fraser from the University of Sheffield in UK has identified how a special set of epithelial cells form, called the dental lamina, which are responsible for the lifelong continuation of tooth development and regeneration in sharks. Humans also possess this set of cells, which facilitate the production of replacement teeth, but only two sets are formed - baby and adult teeth - before this set of specialized cells is lost. The team shows that these tooth-making genes found in sharks are conserved through 450 million years of evolution, and probably made the first vertebrate teeth. These 'tooth' genes, therefore make all vertebrate teeth from sharks to mammals, however in mammals like humans, the tooth regeneration ability, that utilizes these genes, has been highly reduced over time. "We know that sharks are fearsome predators and one of the main reasons they are so successful at hunting prey is because of their rows of backward pointing, razor-sharp teeth that regenerate rapidly throughout their lifetime, and so are replaced before decay," said Fraser. "The Jaws films taught us that it is not always safe to go into the water, but this study shows that perhaps we need to in order to develop therapies that might help humans with tooth loss," Fraser said. Through analyzing the teeth of cat -shark embryos, the researchers characterized the expression of genes during stages of early shark tooth formation. They found that these genes participate in the initial emergence of shark's teeth and are re-deployed for further tooth regeneration. The study suggests that at the beginning of the sharks' evolutionary history, their teeth were most likely continuously regenerated and used a core set of genes from members of key developmental signalling pathways, which were instrumental in sharks evolving to maintain the ability to re-deploy the genes to replace teeth when needed. Story culled from business standard.

AGRIBUSINESS: HOW TO REAR RABBITS FOR PROFIT.

AGRIBUSINESS: HOW TO REAR RABBITS FOR PROFIT. Rabbits are herbivores,easy to rear and manage. Their characteristic prolific mature coupled with short gestation period has made them the urban animals to rear.The meat is also nutritious as its fatless and has no cholesterol making it a healthy substitute for red meat. Rabbits an be reared in farms or in -house in hutches,wooden cages or wire cages depending on the scope of production.Rabbits feed on grasses,legumes and vegetables basically,but commercialized pellets can also be used to enhance growth.Rabbits must be given water alongside feed,also salt is essential for their diet. The male rabbit is called a buck and sexually mature at 5-6 months of age.,the mating ratio is 1 buck to 15 does. The female rabbit is called a doe,sexually active at 5-6 months of age,comes on heat every 3 weeks and can have an average of 5-9 kits per kindling and can kindle 3-4 times a year depending on management practice. The doe is taken to the buck when on heat,mating takes place within minutes with the buck falling on his back with a momentary stiffened posture.The doe is returned to her cage and the process repeated at day 2/3. The doe is palpated for fetus at 14 days after mating to ascertain pregnancy.The nesting box is placed in the does hutch on day 25 after mating,and the doe kindles 30-31 days after mating. Fresh feed,must be available for the doe until weaning at 4 weeks and the cycle continues,until you decide to sell off or slaughter to process for packaging. Starting with 10 does @ 10,000 naira at the start of the year the does averaging 7 kits/ kindle........70 kits then in a year will be 70 x3...........210 kits.This can be increased with proper management by choosing does from very prolific progeny. The medication costs can be reduced by ensuring strict bio security protocols,and giving clean ,nutritious meals and prevent exposure to sun.Rabbits do benefit from early morning sunshine,but they must not be exposed for long periods as this reduces fertility and also results in death when over exposed.

AGRIBUSINESS: HOW TO ENSURE FOOD SECURITY THROUGH BREED SELECTION AND SELECTIVE BREEDING.

AGRIBUSINESS: HOW TO ENSURE FOOD SECURITY THROUGH BREED SELECTION AND SELECTIVE BREEDING. The bull was originally bred in France in a place called Charolais, hence its name. It is a naturally horned beef animal.In Africa, the largest population of the breed is found in South Africa followed by Kenya, mainly in Laikipia . 

 The Bull heavier than buffalo fetches Sh600,000.Weighing in at 1,050kg, a bull heavier than a buffalo was auctioned for Sh600,000, equivalent to the price of a Probox car. However, if slaughtered in the farm, the bull could fetch Sh1 million.The ‘charolais’ bull was the main attraction during the East Africa Growers Council agribusiness expo in Kabarak University. 

 The four-year-old bull from Kabarak Farm Ltd only feeds on grass and drinks a minimum of 60 litres of water a day, according to the farm manager Joseph Bett.Bett says there are about 107,000 of such animals in the farm and a single dose of artificial insemination costs Sh1,000. The agribusiness expo brought together more than 15,000 farmers, sponsors and exhibitors. Source;The star

QUALITIES OF FEED PELLET.

Feed pelleting can be defined as conversion of finely ground mash feed into dense, free flowing pellets or capsules, in a process that involves steam injection (moisture and heat) and mechanical pressure. There are several advantages for feeding broilers pelleted rather than mash feed. The main advantage is the improved bird performance (improved feed intake, weight gain and feed conversion). Birds fed pelleted diets spend less time and need lower maintenance energy requirements during eating and digestion in comparison to those fed mash feed. The other benefits of feeding pelleted diets include increase feed density, decrease feed dustiness, wastage and selection, better mechanical handling of feed on the feed lines, and destruction of feed-borne pathogens. Therefore, the full genetic potentials of modern broiler strains cannot be achieved without pelleted feed. In order to achieve these multi-benefits, the pellet durability should be of a standard quality (not contain too much fines), otherwise, the bird’s performance will be adversely affected. High quality pellets can be defined as pellets that can withstand repeated handling as can occur during bagging, transportation, storage, and moving on feed lines without excessive breakage or generation of fine particles. Pellet quality is usually expressed as the pellet durability index (PDI), and measured by using a tumbling can device, in which the pellet sample to be tested is first sieved to remove fines, then tumbled in the tumbling can device for a defined period of time. The tumbled sample is then sieved to remove fines, and the amount of intact pellets is determined. Factors affecting pellet quality Several factors have an effect on the quality of the pellets. First of all the feed formulation (raw materials and additives used). Some feed ingredients have a good impact on pellet quality, while others could adversely affect the quality. Unfortunately, corn-soy diets are not the ideal diets to achieve the desired pellet quality. Dietary inclusion of wheat grain or wheat by products (wheat midds, wheat gluten) can increase pellet durability, because of the high protein (gluten) and hemi-cellulose content of wheat in comparison to corn or corn co-products. Similarly inclusion of oat as a partial substitute of corn can increase pellet quality. We can rank feed grains according to their positive impacts on pellet quality from best to worst as followings:oat,wheat,barley,corn and sorghum. It was previously known that starch and its gelatinisation is the most important factor for achieving the desired pellet quality. However, recent reports indicated that the positive impact of protein on pellet quality is much more important than that of starch. Dietary inclusion of oil has an adverse effect on pellet quality. This is attributed to the coating effect of oil to the feed particles which prevent their penetration by the steam, also oil reduces the friction generated between die and feed particles with subsequent decrease in the starch gelatinisation rate. Inclusion of binding agents (e.g. water (simplest binder), lignin sulphonate, hemicelluloses extract, gelatin, etc.) and/or surfactants can increase pellet quality. Pellet quality can be influenced by several factors, including the ingredients, diet formulation and processing. A good rule of thumb is the pellet quality factor (PQF), that each feed ingredient has. The PQF has a score from 0 to 10, where 0 predicts poor pellet quality and 10 good pellet quality. From experience we know that starch and its gelatinisation is the most important factor for achieving the desired pellet quality. However, recent reports indicated that the positive impact of protein on pellet quality is much more important than that of starch.

Flavonoids and their effect on broiler immunity.

Flavonoids, naturally occurring plant secondary metabolites, are currently under investigation as feed additives in poultry for their antioxidative properties. Antioxidative agents are important for poultry nutrition as they reduce lipid peroxidation, a major concern for the organoleptic characteristics and nutritional value of meat and eggs, and can prolong poultry product shelf life. Apart from potent antioxidants, flavonoids have been shown to possess immunomodulatory and in particular anti-inflammatory properties. Quercetin, a flavonoid belonging to the class of flavonols, is present in several fruits, vegetables and herbs and has been shown to improve oxidative status of broiler meat when added to the birds' feed and was detectable in the plasma and in several tissues of the animals. Quercetin has been shown to act as an anti-inflammatory agent in mice and in humans. So far studies on flavonoids in poultry examine, in addition to meat oxidative status, effects on growth performance and other productive traits, including meat and egg quality parameters. The effect of quercetin on broiler meat quality parameters has been tested before as well. This particular study investigated the possible effects of dietary quercetin on parameters of broiler immune function and status. The Greek researchers examined parameters of cellular and humoral immunity, lymphoid organs size and cellularity and thymus subset composition to determine whether the immunomodulatory properties of quercetin exhibited in other animals are manifested in broilers when it is included in their feed. Animals received or 0.5 gr quercetin per kg feed or 1 gr quercetin per kg feed or a control diet. The researchers did not find differences between dietary treatment groups in cellular immune response or immune status (P>0.05). Interestingly, while total and IgM antibody titres did not differ among treatment groups (P>0.05), IgY antibody titres significantly increased with increasing quercetin supplementation (P-linear<0.05). therefore, dietary quercetin did not compromise any of the immune parameters tested but on the contrary enhanced igy antibody production.> The research paper culled from world poultry.