Morphological characteristics and egg production of forced-moult layers under different moult induction techniques

A study was conducted to investigate the morphological characteristics and egg production of forcedmoult layers. Different feeding patterns designated T1, T2 and T3 representing ad libitum supply of feed and water, no feed but water given ad libitum and no feed or water, respectively, were used to induce moult. T1 served as the control. One hundred and twenty 84-week old layers in their 64 weeks in lay were randomly assigned to each treatment, which was replicated 4 times with 30 hens per replicate.Forced-moult treatments were imposed for 10 days, after which the moulting hens were fed moult diet for 50 days and returned to the same feed as the control. The results of the study revealed that morphological characteristics following moult induction included loss of feathers, dullness of theeyeballs, shriveling and paleness of the comb, wattle and ear lobes. Also the moulting birds emaciated with T2 and T3 losing 18.18 and 25.97%, respectively, of their initial body weights by day 7 of moult induction. The forced-moult groups T2 and T3 stopped egg production by  6 days of moult induction and resumed egg production by day 25. T2 and T3 attained a peak egg production of 71% by the second month following resumption of lay. On the other hand, in the T1 egg production progressively decreased with age

Plasma progesterone profile and ovarian activity of forced-moult layers

Different techniques of moult induction were used to force moult 360 commercial old layers, aged 85 weeks. The techniques were: natural day length with feed and water ad libitum, natural day length with water but no feed, natural day length with no feed and no water, reduced day length with feed and water ad libitum, reduced day length with water but no feed, reduced day length with no feed and no water, designated as T1, T2, T3, T4, T5 and T6, respectively. The T1 served as the control. Sixty hens wererandomly assigned to each treatment which was replicated 3 times. The moult induction period was for 10 days coupled with 50 days of recovery period when the birds were fed low protein moult diet. At day 7, the ovaries of T2, T3, T5, T6 regressed weighing 3.43, 7.03, 5.00, 4.80 g, respectively. These were significantly (P<0.05) lower than the ovarian weights of 34.73 and 35.13 g of T4 and control (T1), respectively. By day 35 of moult induction, the ovaries of T2, T3, T5 showed the greatest recoveryincreasing to 18.53, 20.73, 13.27 g, respectively, while T4 decreased to 13.00 g. The number of large yellow follicles of T2, T3, T5, T6 decreased from 3.33 on day 0 to 0.00 on day 7. By day 21 the large yellow follicles of T2, T3, T5 and T6 started regenerating, ranging between 2.33 and 3.00 and by day 49 were significantly (P<0.05) higher than T4 (1.67). Plasma progesterone levels decreased from between 0.50 and 0.60 ng/ml on day 0 to undetectable levels by days 7 and 14 in T2, T3, T5, T6. By day 21,plasma progesterone levels (ng/ml) started rising in T2 (0.40), T3 (0.33), T5 (0.40), T6 (0.33) although these were significantly (P<0.05) lower than those of T1 (0.77) and T4 (0.81). As the number of large yellow follicles increased, the concentration of progesterone in the plasma increased

Biological sample donation and informed consent for neurobiobanking: Evidence from a community survey in Ghana and Nigeria

Copyright: \ua9 2022 Singh et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Introduction Genomic research and neurobiobanking are expanding globally. Empirical evidence on the level of awareness and willingness to donate/share biological samples towards the expansion of neurobiobanking in sub-Saharan Africa is lacking. Aims To ascertain the awareness, perspectives and predictors regarding biological sample donation, sharing and informed consent preferences among community members in Ghana and Nigeria. Methods A questionnaire cross-sectional survey was conducted among randomly selected community members from seven communities in Ghana and Nigeria. Results Of the 1015 respondents with mean age 39.3 years (SD 19.5), about a third had heard of blood donation (37.2%, M: 42.4%, F: 32.0%, p = 0.001) and a quarter were aware of blood sample storage for research (24.5%; M: 29.7%, F: 19.4%, p = 0.151). Two out of ten were willing to donate brain after death (18.8%, M: 22.6%, F: 15.0%, p<0.001). Main reasons for unwillingness to donate brain were; to go back to God complete (46.6%) and lack of knowledge related to brain donation (32.7%). Only a third of the participants were aware of informed consent (31.7%; M: 35.9%, F: 27.5%, p<0.001). Predictors of positive attitude towards biobanking and informed consent were being married, tertiary level education, student status, and belonging to select ethnic groups. Conclusion There is a greater need for research attention in the area of brain banking and informed consent. Improved context-sensitive public education on neurobiobanking and informed consent, in line with the sociocultural diversities, is recommended within the African sub region

Chemical elements in egg shell of a commercial strain of domestic fowl managed in a tropical environment

A study was conducted to determine the chemical elements of the egg shell of exotic commercial pullets (Lohmann) in their first laying year. A total of 160 eggs from eighty pullets were randomly selected at three-monthly intervals during the production year for the ddermination of chemical elements or the eggshell. The average concentrations of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium, sodium, zinc, and iron were 90.36%, 0.87%, 0.90%, 3.85%, 0.51 %, 0.10%, 0.002%, · and 0.005% respectively. Most of the paired variates of the miaeral elements showed significant (P < 0.01) inter-relationship as depicted by measures of correlation coefficients. There were no significant relationships between Ca and most mineral elements and on the other hand mg was signficantly correlated with phosphorus, N, K, and Zn. Correlation coefficients between P and Fe, N and Na, Zn or Fe and between Na and Zn were not significant.Key Words: Egg shell, chemical elements, Tropical environment

Influence of oviposition time on some functional properties of egg shell of the domestic fowl kept in warm humid tropics

No Abstract

Quantitative and compositional variations in milk yield of west african dwarf ewes

Twelve lactating ewes were used to study the variations in quantity and composition of milk of WAD ewes over a 12 week lactation period. The ewes were managed intensively, and placed on 1 kg concentrate mixture per animal, in addition to forage. They were given water ad libitum. The week of lactation significantly influenced milk yield (

Influence of Spondias mombin l (hog plum) on colostrum, milk composition and growth in west african dwarf sheep

Twelve lactating ewes and their 12 lambs were used to study the influence of the ethno-veterinary plant, Spondias mombin (hog plum) on colostrum and mature milk composition as well as lamb weights of African dwarf (WAD) ewes over a 12 week lactation period. The ewes were assigned to two treatments groups: T1 and T2, representing the control and treated ewes, respectively. Spondias mombin L was fed to ewes in treated (T2) group immediately after parturition at the rate of 1 kg/ewe/day. Colostrum was sampled on day three post partum, while mature milk sampling was done bi weekly. Lamb weights were taken at weekly intervals. Results showed that colostrum of ewes in the treated group had significantly higher (