Short communicationi: Shelled acorn seed (Quercus cerris) as a diet ingredient onthe performance of growing Japanese Quail

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of dietary inclusion of shelled acorn seed (Quercus cerris) on the growth performance and carcass yield of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica). Four hundred four-day old quail chicks were used in this study. Experimental diets contained 0, 5, 10, 15 or 20% shelled acorn seed. The experiment lasted 38 days. There were no differences between treatments in body weight, body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio. Furthermore, the mortality rate and carcass yield were not affected by the inclusion in the diet of different levels of shelled acorn seed. The inclusion of shelled acorn seed to the quail diets did not cause any harmful effect on the health of the birds. These results suggested that up to 20% shelled acorn seed could be included as an energy source in quail diets. Keywords: Acorn seed, Coturnix coturnix japonica, growth performanceSouth African Journal of Animal Science Vol. 38 (1) 2008: pp. 38-4

Effects of dietary probiotic and prebiotic supplementation on growth performance and serum IgG concentration of broilers

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 groups of 300 birds each. The treatments were: Starter diets: 1) Unsupplemented control diet; 2) Probiotic (Bio-Plus 2B® 0.05%); 3) Prebiotic (Bio-Mos® 0.2%); 4) Probiotic and Prebiotic mixture (Bio-Plus 2B® 0.05% and Bio-Mos® 0.2%). The grower diets were: 1) Control with no supplements; 2) Probiotic (Bio-Plus 2B® 0.05%); 3) Prebiotic (Bio-Mos® 0.1%); 4) Probiotic and Prebiotic mixture (Bio-Plus 2B® 0.05% and Bio-Mos® 0.1%). Each treatment group was further sub-divided into five replicates of 60 birds per replicate. The chicks were fed the broiler starter diet for the first 21 d and the broiler grower diet between days 22 and 42. Dietary probiotic and/or prebiotic supplementation did not significantly affect body weight, body weight gain, feed intake, carcass weight, carcass yield or concentration of immunoglobulin (IgG) in the serum. However, feed conversion ratio was improved significantly in the supplemented treatments compared to the unsupplemented control. Probiotic and/or prebiotic supplementation did not significantly affect any of the examined parameters except for an improved feed conversion ratio. Keywords: Probiotic, prebiotic, broilers, performanceSouth African Journal of Animal Science Vol. 38 (1) 2008: pp. 21-2

Imported Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever cases in Istanbul

We described a series of imported cases of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) in Istanbul and investigated the genetic diversity of the virus. All the suspected cases of CCHF, who were applied to the health centers in Istanbul, were screened for CCHF virus (CCHFv) infection by using semi-nested Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) following RT-PCR. Simultaneous blood samples were also sent to the national reference laboratory in Ankara for serologic investigation. In 10 out of 91 patients, CCHFv was detected by PCR, and among 9 out of 10, anti-CCHFv IgM antibodies were also positive. Clinical features were characterized by fever, myalgia, and hemorrhage. The levels of liver enzymes, creatinine phosphokinase, and lactate dehydrogenase were elevated, and bleeding markers were prolonged. All the cases were treated with ribavirin. There was no fatal case. All the strains clustered within the same group as other Europe/Turkey isolates

The Role of Probiotics in the Poultry Industry

The increase of productivity in the poultry industry has been accompanied by various impacts, including emergence of a large variety of pathogens and bacterial resistance. These impacts are in part due to the indiscriminate use of chemotherapeutic agents as a result of management practices in rearing cycles. This review provides a summary of the use of probiotics for prevention of bacterial diseases in poultry, as well as demonstrating the potential role of probiotics in the growth performance and immune response of poultry, safety and wholesomeness of dressed poultry meat evidencing consumer’s protection, with a critical evaluation of results obtained to date

Characteristics of Different Systems for the Solar Drying of Crops

Solar dryers are used to enable the preservation of agricultural crops, food processing industries for dehydration of fruits and vegetables, fish and meat drying, dairy industries for production of milk powder, seasoning of wood and timber, textile industries for drying of textile materials. The fundamental concepts and contexts of their use to dry crops is discussed in the chapter. It is shown that solar drying is the outcome of complex interactions particular between the intensity and duration of solar energy, the prevailing ambient relative humidity and temperature, the characteristics of the particular crop and its pre-preparation and the design and operation of the solar dryer