ESTRUS SYNCHRONIZATION AND ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION IN PIGS.

The successful artificial insemination of sows depends on the hygienic deposition of enough sperm at the appropriate time so as to have an adequate sperm reservoir in the oviduct at the time of ovulation. The time of natural ovulation is controlled by the surge of Lutenizing Hormone near the onset of estrus. Ovulation will occur in 85 to 90 percent of sows 42 +/- 2 hours after an injection of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) or 38 ± 2 hours after gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH). If ovulation is expected to occur 38 or more hours after detection of estrus, such as would be expected following a gonadotrophin-induced estrus or naturally short wean-to-estrus intervals, treatment with GnRH or hCG will provide a high degree of predictability to the time of ovulation. Recent research shows that 200 μg of triptorelin given intra-vaginally to sows at 96 hours after weaning synchronizes ovulation and results in fertility with number of live born pigs and farrowing rate similar to controls. There are considerable economic benefits of the use of single fixed-time insemination, with the most obvious being the cost savings from the reduction in breeding time and labor. The overall advantage will be having a number of litters per time on farm which will result in proper management and an all in all out strategy. The cost of housing and feeding of boar is also reduced as highly productive boars are sourced and the quality and quantity of sperm weighed against physical mating cannot be compared. The sperm can also be procured from proven stock,hence eliminating the need for your own boar thus saving time and money with regards to management. An artificial insemination parlor will also be an innovative startup in pig industry,where genetically proven boars are fed and raised on a separate facility with the sole aim of operating a sperm bank, with proven genetic traits . # gene pool # sperm bank # Artificial insemination bank # boar farm # stud startup.

BOAR FEEDING AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH.

In pig farming the major aim is to produce large litter sizes that are healthy with high reproductive capacity.The success in pig farming is hinged on genetics as the pig cannot exceed the genetic capacity hence a good genetic line is chosen. Housing and management also influences the outcome of venture, proper housing and animal management is another crucial point. The major key to success is feeding programme,the animals must have access to good quality feed ,balanced and readily available. The importance of feed in the boar cannot be overemphasized as the quality of sperm produced will set the genetic track for the farm. When preparing the feed,you need to ensure that all ingredients that will ensure the following are available; proper muscle development, proper bone development and production of high quality and quantity of sperm. The feed should provide the necessary daily feed intake which must contain dietary energy and protein, additives and vitamins such as organic selenium, vitamin E, zinc, biotin, vitamin C. The breeding boars must be mature animals, so also must the to sows. An underweight or overweight boar or sow will often result in breeding failure,hence feeding should be monitored. Boar libido unlike sperm production, cannot be easily manipulated by changing dietary protein and energy levels but its a known fact only prolonged conditions of over-feeding or under-feeding, and excessive extreme cases of body condition change, can negatively impair boar libido. Scientific research proves that protein and amino acids lysine and methionine + cystine, play an important role in sperm production. In particular, the sulphur-containing amino acids methionine/cystine affect the secretory activity of the epididymis, thus significantly enhancing sperm volume. This effect is very marked in intensively used boars, where sperm production has been shown to be positively influenced when extra protein and methionine was added to the diet. Protein combined with adequate energy intake is very crucial for optimal sperm production.

CHICKEN SAUSAGES AND MC DONALD'S.

Chicken processing and production has been discussed at various intervals,with new innovations introduced.One of such ideas is the chicken sausages and how it can be incorporated into the school feeding programme and also a better way to source animal protein with enormous health benefits. 

Read here;http://veterinarymedicineechbeebolanle-ojuri.blogspot.com.ng/2015/10/chicken-sausages.html 

 The fast food giant McDonald’s is about to add chicken and turkey sausages into their menu and industry watchers have noted that this move will turn the revenue up in the agricultural sector. The introduction of chicken sausage and turkey sausage products in test markets, the two poultry proteins have potential to land on all-day breakfast menu and any time McDonald’s introduces a new menu item, it leaves a mark in the agricultural industry. 

 According to a Brand Eating report, McDonald’s has been testing a chicken sausage patty product in New England, since February, and a turkey sausage product in Southern California.There is no denying that McDonald’s move to serving all-day breakfast has been beneficial to the egg and pork industries. But to date, the broiler and turkey industries have not been directly affected. 

 When those two breakfast items being tested become a part of the permanent menu, the broiler and turkey industries will get a bigger share in the competition among animal proteins. That share is apt to increase further if chicken and turkey sausage products make it into the all-day breakfast menu. The outcome of the market tests for these turkey sausage and chicken sausage products could transcend McDonald’s.After all, McDonald’s has been known to make business decisions, only to be followed by other restaurants. In September 2015, McDonald’s announced that it would transition its entire supply of eggs in the U.S. and Canada to cage-free. Since that time, scores of restaurant chains, grocery retailers, food processors and food service providers have announced commitments to also phase out eggs from caged hens. 

 McDonald’s in March 2015 announced a new policy in animal antibiotic use, vowing to phase out the use of antibiotics used in human medicine in its broiler chicken supply in the U.S. It revealed in October 2015 it would do the same at its Canadian locations. 

Taco Bell, earlier this week, announced a policy that nearly mirrors the one released by McDonald’s.read more (www.wattagnet.com) This trend setting factor will see many more chains following, so will other nations jump in and this truly will be a revenue spinner for poultry farmers,food processors and food courts. # poultry value chain champion # veterinarian # vetpreneur # food vendors # retail stores # chicky delight.

Miniature horse gets special hoof .

Shine the miniature horse will trot into an exclusive club of Colorado equines with artificial hooves when he leaves the James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital . After suffering a vicious dog attack that mangled a hoof and led to infection, Shine needed surgical amputation of his lower-left hind leg in order to survive. The owners, Jacque Corsentino and Lee Vigil, asked veterinarians at Colorado State University to “do whatever it takes” to give the 3-year-old horse a chance at a normal life on their ranch in Florence, Colo. radiograph shows Shine’s hoof and lower leg, which required amputation because of severe damage and infection. In mid-March, Dr. Laurie Goodrich, an associate professor of equine orthopaedics, led a two-hour surgery to remove Shine’s infected hoof and distal limb below the fetlock, the hinge joint of the lower leg.She placed two stainless steel pins through the cannon bone to help support Shine’s leg while the wound healed. Goodrich then used measurements from her patient’s radiographs and a 3-D printer to build an exact replica of his hoof, which helped Shine stay balanced while he healed. read more;http://source.colostate.edu/

SIGNS OF BORNAVIRUS IN ANIMALS.

BORNAVIRUS; ZOONOTIC AND ANIMAL HEALTH.

Borna disease (BD) is one of the oldest known viral infections in domestic animals, initially known as a horse disease. Until recently, the disease has been considered limited to Central Europe, mainly in German-speaking countries, affecting primarily horses in a seasonal pattern. Most of the research and the subsequent relevant publications on BD were written, up to the mid-20th century, in the German language. Between late 2011 and 2013, three men in succession — aged 63, 62 and 72 years — from the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, suffered a progressive encephalitis or meningoencephalitis that led to death within 2 to 4 months after the onset of clinical symptoms. The clinical course was characterized by fever, shivers, or both; progressive psychomotor slowing; confusion; unsteady gait; myoclonus, ocular paresis, or both; and finally, coma. All three were breeders of variegated squirrels, a tree squirrel that is endemic in Central America from south Chiapas, Mexico, to Panama. They were friends, had met privately on a regular basis, and had exchanged their squirrel-breeding pairs on multiple occasions. At least two of the men had been scratched by their squirrels in the past; one had been bitten. The use of a metagenomic approach that incorporated sequencing and real-time reverse-transcriptase quantitative PCR, or RT-qPCR, the presence of a previously unknown bornavirus was detected in a contact squirrel and in brain samples from the three patients. Phylogenetic analyses showed that this virus, tentatively named “variegated squirrel 1 bornavirus” (VSBV-1), forms a lineage separate from that of the known bornavirus species. During the first weeks of 2016, the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI), Germany’s National Institute for Animal Health, detected further cases of VSBV-1 in pet squirrels from zoos and breeders. Variegated squirrels as well as several species of the subfamily Callosciurinae were affected. All infected squirrels were detected in Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Lower Saxony. Consequently, on March 1, FLI released a recommendation to test all pet squirrels for the virus, particularly prior to their sale or purchase. Newly acquired squirrels should be retested after 3 months to detect infections contracted during the time of purchase, and entire holdings after approximately 12 months. Read more; http://www.healio.com/

HOW TO CONTROL FELINE HAIRBALL USING DIETARY CELLULOSE.

Cellulose-enriched dry and wet cat foods make claims on hairball control. Research data indicate that supplemental dietary cellulose reduces hairball symptoms and raises fecal hair excretion in cats, but the type and amount of 
cellulose determine the efficacy.
 
  The Grooming behavior of cats is associated with the ingestion of fur and most of the swallowed, non-digestible hair passes through the gastrointestinal tract and is excreted with the feces. About 10% of short haired cats bring up hairballs periodically, the need being around twice as common in their long haired counterparts.     

Aggregates of hair formed in the stomach have reached a size that cannot enter the duodenum and will eventually be ejected by vomiting. Occasionally, fur masses obstruct the intestine and cause severe clinical signs and even potentially mortality.

 Normally, gastric hairball formation and elimination is harmless. 
Bringing up hairballs is common in pet cats and presents an unpleasant nuisance for many owners as they dislike the signs of vomiting, retching and coughing.

 This situation forms the basis for industrially produced cat foods with a hairball-control claim. 
When the pet food label declares the ingredients by individual names, powdered cellulose is usually found in the list.
 The hairball claim is often explained by the food formula moving hair through the digestive tract for fecal voiding. 

 The anti-hairball effect of dietary cellulose as shown in cats is based on two synergistic mechanisms; Cellulose may prevent the clustering of single strands of hair in the stomach, thereby increasing the transfer of loose hairs into the duodenum.

This effect may be greater for fibrillated cellulose prepared by modern and sophisticated milling technology and facilitating the formation of an insoluble fiber network.

 Cellulose ingestion also accelerates the transit of digesta and thus propels duodenal hair into the feces.

Together, the two mechanisms lead to the observed cellulose-induced fecal excretion of hair. An unchanged grooming behavior with ingestion of fur results in an increase in fecal hair excretion .
 This infers less formation of mats of hair in the stomach, Consequently there will be less vomiting of hairballs.
     Read about research at allaboutfeed.net