Effect of feeding during long transport on body condition and physiological status of pullets

A study was conducted to test the effects of a newly-developed jelly-like transport feed (TF) on body condition and physiological status of egg-laying strain pullets transported for more than 12 hours. Four transport trials were conducted using 440 animals (Lohman Brown, 16-wk-old) loaded in 48 754 721 cm (length 7width 7height) metal wire transport crates. Control pullets (C group) were kept without feed and water and loaded at standard stocking density (8 pullets/crate; 324 sqcm/animal), whereas the experimental group (TF group) had free access to TF and were loaded by using the same density of C group. Birds were placed on commercial lorries and transported for 20 hours in autumn, winter and summer corresponding to different environmental conditions (mild, cold and warm). TF consumption, changes in body weight and body (cloacal) temperature were assessed. Before catching and after transport, blood samples (15 animals/group) were taken from vena ulnaris superficialis and used to determine haematocrit, total protein, sodium, glucose, plasma corticosterone, reactive oxygen metabolites (ROMs), total antioxidant power (OXY-TA) and lysozyme. During the transport, average TF consumption was 69.7 g/animal (13.0 g dry matter) with an metabolizable energy supply of 0.215 MJ/animal. TF group had lower body weight losses (7.0 vs. 5.9%; P<0.01) and lower decrease of body temperature. Moreover, TF pullets showed significantly more favourable haematocrit, total protein, sodium, glucose, plasma corticosterone, ROMs and OXY-TA values. Overall, these findings indicate that TF can be a useful way to maintain satisfactory body condition and physiological status of pullets during long-distance journeys

Serum chemistry and haematology values in commercial rabbits : preliminary data from industrial farms in Northern Italy

The aim of this preliminary study was to establish reference normal ranges of hematological and biochemical parameters in rabbits. A total of 8 industrial farms, located in Brescia, Milano and Bergamo Provinces (Northern Italy), were monitored during a 4-year period (2004-2007). Farms showed some variability as regards size, management and production parameters. Blood samples, collected from post weaning (30-45 days old) and growing (57-65 days old) rabbits, as well as restocking females before pregnancy (nulliparous), breeders at first pregnancy (primiparous), lactating does and breeders at culling (multiparous), were delivered within three hours to the laboratory. The following analyses were performed on serum samples: alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), urea, Phosphorus (Pi), creatine kinase (CK), lysozyme, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatinine. Blood samples were tested for: white blood cells (WBC), neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, basophils, red blood cells (RBC), platelets (PLT), hemoglobin (Hg), hematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean concentration of hemoglobin in the corpuscular volume (MCHC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV). Results indicate that hematological and biochemical data are similar to those described in laboratory rabbits. In particular, the age-dependent trend of values was in agreement with previous observations. However, in does, a lower level of hemoglobin and lymphocyte numbers and a higher number of neutrophils and monocytes was observed, probably due to intensive production and exploitation. On the whole, this may indicate chronic stress under seemingly normal clinical conditions. LDH and CK values particularly differed from those described for laboratory rabbits. High urea and creatinine values in lactating does could be traced back to concurrent E. cuniculi infection

Effect of feeding during long transport on welfare of pullets

A study was conducted to test the effects of a newly-developed transport feed (TF) with a high water content on pullets of egg-laying strains transported more than 12 hours. After preliminary tests on farmed pullets, three individual transport trials were conducted, using a total of 330 animals (Lohman Brown, 16-wk-old, average body weight: 1.384 kg), transported in 48 754 721 cm (length 7width 7height), metal wire commercial crates, divided into 2 groups. Control pullets were kept without feed and water and loaded at the usual commercial stocking density (8 pullets/crate; 324 sqcm/animal), whereas the experimental group had access to TF and were loaded at the same density considering TF surface (7 pullets/crate; 324 sqm/animal). Birds were placed on commercial lorries and transported for 20 hours. Before catching and at the end of transport blood samples (15 animals/group at random) were taken from vena ulnaris superficialis and used to determine hematocrit, total protein, sodium, glucose, plasma corticosterone, heterophil / lymphocyte (H/L) ratio, reactive oxygen metabolites (ROMs), total antioxidant power (OXY-TA) and lisozyme. TF consumption as well as changes in body weight and body (cloacal) temperature were also assessed. Mean TF consumption in experimental groups was 67.0 g/animal (12.5 g dry matter and 54.5 g water) with an energy supply of 0.206 MJ/animal. Pullets that had access to FT had lower body weight losses (6.4 vs. 5.2%; P<0.01) and a lower decrease of body temperature (-0.1 vs. -0.3\ub0C; P<0.05), compared with controls. Moreover, TF pullets showed significant lower plasma corticosterone, lisozyme, sodium and OXY-TA values as well as a reduced heterophil/lymphocyte ratio. Overall, these findings indicate that TF can reduce negative energy balance and stress in pullets during long-distance journeys

Messa a punto di alimenti per pollastre sottoposte a trasporti di lunga durata

La legislazione vigente (Reg. 2005/1/EC), in materia di protezione degli animali durante il trasporto impone che al pollame, volatili e conigli domestici debbano essere messi a disposizione cibo adatto e acqua in quantit\ue0 sufficiente nel caso in cui i trasporti abbiano una durata superiore alle 12h. Tuttavia la somministrazione di cibo ed acqua agli avicoli durante il trasporto risulta tecnicamente pi\uf9 difficile rispetto ad altre specie di interesse zootecnico (bovini, suini, ovini ed equini) in quanto gli animali sono trasportati in gabbie disposte una sull\u2019altra e allineate in file, secondo criteri di massima utilizzazione degli spazi di carico. Allo stato attuale, la modifica delle gabbie per il trasporto degli avicoli al fine di consentire la somministrazione di acqua e cibo risulta tecnicamente difficile da realizzare e economicamente molto onerosa. Questo problema \ue8 particolarmente sentito per le pollastre che pi\uf9 frequentemente vengono sottoposte a trasporti di lunga durata. Per questo motivo, \ue8 stata avviata una ricerca con l\u2019intento di mettere a punto un sistema in grado di fornire cibo e acqua agli animali durante il trasporto all\u2019interno delle gabbie attualmente in uso. In particolare, la ricerca si \ue8 proposta di mettere a punto un alimento specifico per il trasporto degli avicoli e di verificare se la somministrazione di questo prodotto possa contribuire a ridurre lo stress indotto agli animali da trasporti di durata superiore alle 12h. In una prima fase della ricerca \ue8 stato messo a punto un prodotto a base di farina di mais ad elevato contenuto idrico ed integrato con complesso oligo-mineralvitaminico (alimento-trasporto) che \ue8 stato preliminarmente impiegato in prove in stabulario su pollastre di tipo genetico Lohman dell\u2019et\ue0 di 14-16 settimane. Le prove hanno evidenziato una buona accettabilit\ue0 da parte degli animali dell\u2019alimento-trasporto, con livelli di consumo per animale pari a 139,2 g/d, che hanno permesso di limitare significativamente le perdite di peso vivo rispetto agli animali non alimentati (3,2 vs. 4,3%; P<0,05) e di mantenere una buona omeostasi termica delle pollastre. In una fase successiva, sono state condotte prove di trasporto su strada che hanno evidenziato una consistente riduzione del consumo dell\u2019alimento-trasporto rispetto a quanto rilevato in stabulario (- 52%), a testimonianza della difficolt\ue0 delle pollastre di mantenere il loro normale comportamento alimentare. Nonostante queste limitazioni, l\u2019impiego dell\u2019alimento-trasporto ha permesso di ridurre le perdite di peso degli animali di 1,2 punti (da 6,4 al 5,2%), rispetto ai corrispondenti animali non alimentati, e di garantire ad essi un soddisfacente stato di omeostasi termica. Nel complesso i risultati della ricerca hanno consentito di ottenere favorevoli indicazioni in merito alla possibilit\ue0 di utilizzare un alimento specifico durante il trasporto degli avicoli, senza modificare le attrezzature e l\u2019organizzazione del trasporto stesso, mettendo in evidenza un effetto positivo del prodotto nei riguardi delle perdite di peso e della temperatura corporea degli animali

BoLA DRB3 exon2 polymorphism in tuberculosis infected cattle

To study the effect of BoLA-D antigens on tuberculosis (TB) progression, Italian Friesian cattle in 4 TB positive farms were sampled. In each farm 50% of sampled animals were negative and the last 50% of sampled animals were positive to TB. The \uf067-interferon test (\uf067\uf02dIFN) has been used for diagnosis of TB. BoLA DRB3 exon 2 polymorphism has been performed by PCR/RFLP. The effect of DRB3.2 alleles on TB has been estimate by multiple regression models. No significant genetic effect on \uf067-IFN secretion has been recorded