Steam treatment has shown good results (Pate, 1982) for upgrading the nutritional value of low quality forages. The sugar cane industries in Iran are interested in using steam explosion for upgrading the nutritional value of sugar cane bagasse. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of steam pressure and reaction time on chemical composition and bioavailability of sugar cane bagasse to rumen microbes.

Fetal growth in all animals is exponential with more than 60% of total growth occurring in the final 2 to 3 months of gestation. As a result of this growth pattern, there is a substantial increase in nutrient requirements for the animal in late pregnancy as compared to the needs required for maintenance or early pregnancy (Bell, 1995). Fat soluble vitamins like vitamins A, D and E do not appreciable cross the placenta resulting in minimal liver reserves (Njeru, 1994). This means that newborn lamb is essentially devoid of these vitamins and susceptible deficiency of disease problems. The lamb’s primary source of vitamin A, D and E comes via colostrum ingestion supplied from an adequately supplemented dam. The objective of the current study was to determine the effects of dietary vitamin E supplementation during late pregnancy on Awassi fat-tailed lamb mortality and ewe prolificacy.

Genetically resistant sheep have been found to exhibit a significantly higher anti-parasite antibody response than random-breed sheep. Increased concentrations of serum IgG and local IgA have been associated with resistance to gastrointestinal parasites (Gill et al., 1993). In the present study, we examined the levels of IgA antibodies in abomasal mucous of naturally and artificially infected sheep of Santa Inês and Europeans breeds of sheep, respectively, resistant and susceptible to Haemonchus contortus infection (Amarante, et al., 2004).

While livestock sector is the back-bone of Ethiopian economy, production levels are low due to a variety of causes. It is characterized by low milk production, poor growth rates, extended calving or lambing intervals and a relatively late age at maturity. The major constrain for this is seasonality of feed quality and poor availability during the dry season, with nitrogen supply especially limiting. However legume forages such as cowpea offer the possibility to enhance dietary N levels and improve livestock production (Abule et al., 1995). With its quick growth, drought resistance and rapid ground cover cowpea has become an essential component of sustainable subsistence agriculture in marginal lands and drier regions of the tropics. This study was conducted to examine the ability of cowpea forages, offered as a supplement to low quality maize stover, to enhance intake and production performance in growing Ethiopian highland sheep.

The amount and nutrient content of small ruminant manure and its consequent value as a soil ameliorant will be largely determined by their diet (chemical composition of the plants consumed and their digestibility), and the efficiency of digestion, and will vary accordingly (Delve et al, 2001). This comparative study set out to evaluate the current and potential contribution of sheep and goats to soil fertility management in two villages located in different ecological zones in Ghana.

Understanding the mechanisms that regulate the formation of subcutaneous and intramuscular fat (IF) Is important in improving meat quality. Formation of IF is a process, which occurs in the later stages of development, perhaps due to age-related changes in expression of lipogenic enzymes. Acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC) and fatty acid synthase (FAS) are the key enzymes in the process of de novo synthesis of fatty acids. Delta-9-desaturase (d-9-d) is another key lipogenic enzyme, which catalyses conversion of saturated fatty acids (synthesised de novo as well as dietary) to monounsaturated. The objective of the present research was to investigate the levels of ACC, FAS and d-9-d in the subcutaneous fat and muscles of pigs of different ages.

Breed and diet are important production factors in pigs, affecting growth rate and fat deposition. Subcutaneous fat and intramuscular (marbling) fat are important for carcass and meat quality and this study has investigated how these two fat depots are affected by breed and diet.

The processing characteristics of pork fat are influenced by its fatty acid composition. Poor slicing quality of floppy belly bacon is caused largely by soft fat. High concentrations of saturated fatty acids (SFA) particularly stearic acid (18:0) and low concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids (USFA) mainly, linoleic (18: 2) improve firmness/hardness of fatty tissues (Wood et al, 1985). The physical properties of fat also influence the stability of emulsion-type meat products through fat loss during cooking. Losses of 0.8 from hard pork flare fat and 0.2 from soft jaw fat have been reported (Evans and Ranken, 1975). The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of breed, diet and slaughter weight on the fatty composition of pork fat and the quality of belly bacon and frankfurter sausage.

Transthyretin (TTR), also known as thyroxin-binding prealbumin, is a serum protein with a molecular mass of 55 kDa made up of four identical subunits. The prealbumin name is derived from its mobility during electrophoresis as it migrates faster than albumin. It is one of the three major thyroxine binding proteins and forms a complex with retinol binding protein to aid the transport of vitamin A in plasma. TTR is a negative acute phase reactant and serum levels fall due to decreased synthesis in inflammation, malignancy and protein wasting diseases of the gut or kidney. Human serum levels of TTR are measured in diagnostic laboratories as an indicator of health status and a number of commercial assays are available for this purpose. However, such tests have yet to be established for the pig. The aim of this study was to develop an assay to measure TTR in porcine serum.

Vitamin C is a dietary component that enhances bioavailability of inorganic ferric iron (Fishman et al., 2000). However, vitamin C is unstable in the presence of alkali and it might be destroyed in the duodenum (Arrigoni, and De Tullio, 2002). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of supplementing piglets with Stay C®35, a stable preparation of Vitamin C on plasma unbound iron and vitamin C status in piglets.

The nutritional impact of weaning may, to a large extent, be determined by the milk consumption of the piglets prior to weaning, as piglets suck their ‘home’ teat (Spinka et al., 1995). Since piglets possess a specific teat order and the production of milk from different teats on the same sow may differ by as much as 200% or more (Algers et al., 1990), different piglets within the same litter can be assumed to be affected differently by the nutritional change. This experiment was conducted in order to evaluate the influence of teat-order in pre- and post-weaning growth performance of piglets weaned at 3, 4 and 5 weeks of age.

Iron is an essential micronutrient for piglets, which if supplemented at weaning improves the growth performance (Kamphues et al, 1992). The effects on non-haem iron uptake involve the reduction of ferric iron to ferrous iron in the acidic environment of the stomach and the subsequent formation of a stable soluble chelate, which stays in solution in the alkaline environment of the small intestine where it is absorbed. In this way the presence of ascorbic acid in the diet can influence iron uptake by enhancing dietary iron availability or preventing the binding of iron-to-iron antagonists such as polyphenolics and phytate. In addition, ascorbic acid may also increase the utilisation of haem iron by a mechanism which involves its incorporation into ferritin, possibly through facilitating the iron-stimulated translation of ferritin mRNA and preventing lysosomal ferritin degradation. (Szent-Gyorgyi, 1992). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of supplementing piglets with a stable form of Vitamin C on growth performance after weaning.

Environmental problems in pig rearing have led to intensive efforts to reduce nitrogen excretion (NE) while maintaining constant production levels. High concentrations of lactose in piglet diets have been shown to improve N digestibility (ND) (O’Doherty et al., 2002) and increasing the digestibility of the feed N is a major factor in reducing NE to the environment. The hypothesis of this study is that high lactose inclusion will allow for reduced crude protein (CP) concentrations in post weaning diets.

Pig producers in the United Kingdom (UK) are paid on the basis of carcass weight and backfat depth at the P2 position (65mm from the edge of the dorsal mid-line, at the level of the last rib). In processing plants, this measurement is assessed using the optical, Ulster or Hennessy probes and in live pigs measurements can be taken using various ultrasonic devices. Since backfat is considered a heritable trait (heritability value between 0.4 and 0.6) (Whittemore, 1993), it is of interest to the pig producer and breeder to measure it on live pigs when selecting for lean meat in replacement gilts and breeding boars. There are several commercially available ultrasonic devices and it is essential assessments made using these devices have strong correlations with backfat measurements taken at the processing plant. The accuracy of these correlations has not however been fully investigated. Indeed, work by Pomar et al (2001) indicated that assessments of fat using an Ultrascan 50 ultrasound system are only moderately accurate. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the accuracy of ultrasonic devices for backfat prediction as compared to the measurements obtained at the processing plant.

Cereals are commonly used in pig diets as the main sources of energy. However, depending on price and availability, diets of equivalent energy content can be formulated using combinations of oil and cereal by-products. The use of oil as an energy source has been shown to improve average daily gain (ADG) feed efficiency and increase digestible energy intake (DEI) (Overland et al 1999). However, there is a need to examine the response in pig performance to incremental levels of oil inclusion compared with the performance of pigs offered cereal-based diets. Therefore, the aim this study was to examine the effects of offering cereal-based diets or diets containing by-products and oil on the growth performance of commercially housed growing pigs.

Phytanic acid (PhA) is a multibranched chain saturated fatty acid (SFA), derived from phytyl, the side chain of chlorophyll. The main sources of PhA in the human food supply are through ruminant products and seafood. The α-oxidation of PhA in the liver results in the formation of pristanic acid (PrA) which is then further fully β-oxidised. This pathway has been extensively studied in relation to genetic defects in the metabolic function of peroxisomes (e.g. Refsum disease) (Verhoeven & Jakobs, 2001). However, as both PhA and PrA induce PPAR-dependent pathways, they have been proposed as functional food compounds to combat, e.g. non-insulin dependent diabetes (Mc Carthy 2001), a disease afflicting a rapidly increasing proportion of the human population. The aim of this experiment was to increase the PrA and PhA levels in pork tissues by supplementing phytol in the diet and to study its effect on fatty acid metabolism.

It is essential that the newborn piglet obtains a good intake of colostrum. The internal absorption of colostral antibodies by the piglet’s gut is of tremendous importance, as newborns do not synthesise any appreciable level of antibody before the age of 3-4 weeks. Recent UK data showed that an average of 10 % of potential growing pigs die before weaning (Meat and Livestock Commission, 2001). In addition to representing a serious economic impact, these high pre-weaning mortality rates are also unacceptable from an animal welfare viewpoint. A review of the literature shows that there are considerable number of studies, which report the use of various Lactobacillus strains as probiotic agents. In addition to their nutritional and antimicrobial effects, many of them have immunomodulatory activity. This study investigated the effects of liquid feed, fermented with porcine Lactobacillus salivarius, on the quality of colostrum produced in terms of its mitogenic activity as well as immunoglobulin, protein and lysozyme contents.

Genetic parameters, which are based upon (co) variance components, are necessary elements in dairy cattle genetic evaluation programmes for either productive or reproductive traits that are of economic importance. Recently, there has been an increasingly interest in applying Bayesian-based methods as an alternative over classical linear models such as REML to estimate more accurate genetic parameters of the traits under consideration in animal breeding data (Gianola, 2000). However, as compared to classical methods such as REML, Bayesian estimation of genetic parameters is theoretically more complex and also needs much more computational time that could be a potential a limiting factor in practical application of the Bayesian methods. In this study the main objective is to estimate of heritability of complete lactation milk yield of Iranian Holstein heifers with the use of Bayesian (based on Gibbs Sampling that is a Monte Carlo method) and REML (based on Analytical Gradients technique) approaches.

Maternal effects are important in mammals and include genetic and environmental influences. They are also known in birds, particularly in the context of behaviour. The current investigation examined the maternal influences on weights of Japanese Quail, reflecting residual effects in a situation where chicks were artificially incubated and reared.

In practical dairy cattle breeding programmes many traits of major economic importance such as milk yield, type and herd life (longevity) are usually included in genetic evaluation systems. Herd life, as a complex trait associated with longevity of animals, has been long considered to be related to profitability of dairy herds due to increase the proportion of more mature, higher yielding cows in the herds, increase the opportunity for voluntary culling, reduce replacement costs and increase the proportion of farm resources used for the milking herd rather than for replacements (Brotherstone et al., 1998). In fact, as pointed out by Burnside et al. (1984), lifetime profitability is affected by many factors such as production per lactation, length of productive life, age at first calving, calving interval as well as input and output prices. The main aim of the present study is to estimate phenotypic and genetic correlations between production traits (milk yield and fat percentage) and herd life (defined as the interval between first calving and culling dates) in Iranian Holstein heifers.