A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary selenium (Se) sources (organic and inorga... more A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary selenium (Se) sources (organic and inorganic Se at 0.30 ppm and basal diet at 0 ppm level of supplemented Se) on hatching traits in four varieties of Aseel chicken, Lakha, Mushki, Peshawari, and Mianwali. In total, 84 adult molted hens (50 wk old), 21 from each variety, were randomly assigned to 12 treatment groups in a 3 (Se diets) × 4 (Aseel varieties) factorial arrangement under a randomized complete block design. Each treatment was replicated 7 times with individual hens in each. Settable egg, fertility, hatch of fertile eggs, hatchability, A-grade chick, and embryonic mortality parameters were evaluated. The results indicated that the birds fed an organic Se supplemented diet had greater (P < 0.05) settable eggs, fertility, hatch of fertile eggs, hatchability, and A-grade chicks and reduced embryonic mortality than those fed inorganic or no Se. Among varieties, Mushki had lower (P < 0.05) fertility, hatch of fertile eggs, hatchability, and A-grade chicks than rest of three varieties. Interaction of Se sources and varieties indicated that dietary organic Se supplementation improved (P < 0.05) hatch of fertile eggs in Peshawari and Mianwali, whereas hatchability only in Peshawari variety and reduced embryonic mortality in Mianwali. It was concluded that dietary supplementation of organic Se could be used to improve hatching traits as well as reduce embryonic mortality in native Aseel chicken.
An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of 3 different rearing systems [free range... more An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of 3 different rearing systems [free range (FR), semi-intensive (SI), and confinement (CF)] on productive production performance in 4 varieties of Aseel chicken [Lakha (LK), Mushki (MS), Peshawari (PW), and Sindhi (SN)]. A total of 168 adult hens were assigned to 12 treatment groups, 3 (rearing systems) × 4 (Aseel varieties) factorial arrangement in 7 randomized complete blocks, replicated 14 times with individual hen in each (42 hens from each variety; 56 hens in each rearing system). Data regarding body weight (BW), body weight gain (BWG), uniformity (UF), and livability (LB) were collected fortnightly whereas egg production (EP), egg weight (EW), and egg mass (EM) were recorded on daily basis. The data were analyzed by a two-way ANOVA technique under factorial arrangement. The results manifested the highest (P<0.05) BW (2419.11±30.23), EP (35.90±0.56), EM (202.08±3.66), and LB (98.81±0.93) in CF whereas BWG was found to be...
The present study was conducted at a commercial hatchery with the objective to evaluate the effec... more The present study was conducted at a commercial hatchery with the objective to evaluate the effects of egg weight and storage period on embryonic mortality (early, mid and late) during incubation of fertile eggs from Cobb broiler breeder strain during 4 production phases(pre-peak; 25-28, peak; 29-36, post-peak; 37-52 and terminal; 53-56 th weeks of age), categorized into 3 egg weights (small, medium and large subjected to change in each production phase) and maintained at 3 different storage periods (1, 4- and 7-days)and replicated 6 times. A total 93312 fertile eggs ( pre-peak: 11664, peak: 23328, post-peak: 46656 and terminal: 11664) in 4 production phases were incubated in a commercial hatchery. The data were analyzed by ANOVA technique under randomized complete block design in 4×3×3 factorial arrangement and means were compared by using DMR Test. The results of the present study showed that the e gg weight categories significantly (p<0.05) affected embryonic mortality in all ...
A posteriori and modified granddaughter designs were applied to determine haplotype effects for H... more A posteriori and modified granddaughter designs were applied to determine haplotype effects for Holstein bulls and cows with BovineSNP50 genotypes. The a posteriori granddaughter design was applied to 52 sire families, each with > 100 genotyped sons with genetic evaluations based on progeny tests. For 33 traits (milk, fat, and protein yields; fat and protein percent; somatic cell score; productive life; daughter pregnancy rate; heifer and cow conception rates; service-sire and daughter calving ease and stillbirth; 18 conformation traits; and net merit), the analysis was applied to the autosomal segment with the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) with the greatest effect in the genomic evaluation of each trait. All traits except 2 had a significant (P < 0.05) within-family haplotype effect. The same design was applied with the genetic evaluations of sons corrected for SNP effects associated with chromosomes besides the one under analysis. Number of significant within-family c...
A total of 376 Performance records of 109 Nili-Ravi buffaloes maintained at Livestock Development... more A total of 376 Performance records of 109 Nili-Ravi buffaloes maintained at Livestock Development Research Centre, Raroo, Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir, during 1989-2003 were utilized for the evaluation of some environmental factors affecting 305-day milk yield, lactation length and dry period. The least squares means for 305-day milk yield was 2191.858+35.553 Kg. The effect of year and season of calving and parity was significant (P<0.01) on the trait. The least squares means for lactation length was 369.53+8.44 days. The effect of year and season of calving on lactation length was significant (P<0.01), while a non-significant effect of parity on the trait was observed in this study. The least squares means for dry period was 194.4+12.37 days. Dry period was significantly influenced by season and year of calving, while the effect of parity on dry period was non-significant in the present study.
Heat stress is a major challenge for dairy cows in summer. Sprinklers at feed bunks are commonly ... more Heat stress is a major challenge for dairy cows in summer. Sprinklers at feed bunks are commonly used to cool cows. These sprinklers use groundwater, which is becoming limited. There is a need to explore a more efficient use of this precious resource. Eighteen lactating Holstein cows were randomly subjected to three sprinkler flow rates in a crossover design. These rates were 0.5, 1.25, and 2.0 L/min. The average temperature humidity index of the shed was 86.7 during the study. The cows in the 1.25 and 2.0 L/min groups had 0.6 °C and 0.9 °C lower rectal temperatures, respectively, than the 0.5 L/min group. Similarly, the 1.25 and 2.0 L/min groups had lower respiration rates than the 0.5 L/min group. The daily milk yield was approximately 5 kg/d higher in the 1.25 and 2.0 L/min groups, which were not detectably different from each other, than the 0.5 L/min group. The cows in the 0.5 L/min group spent less time feeding than those in the 1.25 and 2.0 L/min groups. These results suggest...
Pakistan Vet. J., 24(2): 2004 58 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AFFECTING MILK YIELD IN FRIESIAN COWS IN P... more Pakistan Vet. J., 24(2): 2004 58 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AFFECTING MILK YIELD IN FRIESIAN COWS IN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN K. Javed, M. Afzal 1 , A. Sattar 2 and RH Mirza 2 University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, 1 Livestock Production Research ...
Data on 18 Biometric traits of 325 lactating Cholistani cows of 4-6 years age were recorded and a... more Data on 18 Biometric traits of 325 lactating Cholistani cows of 4-6 years age were recorded and analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) to explain the body conformation. These animals were kept at government livestock experimental station Jugaitpeer, Punjab province, Pakistan. The average of these traits indicated that Cholistani cows breed are of medium type. Factor analysis with promax rotation revealed 4 factors which explained about 83.618 % of the total variation. Factor 1 explained 56.817% variation in the general body conformation. It was represented by significant positive high loading of body length (BL) and heart girth (HG). The results suggested that PCA could be used in breeding programs with a drastic reduction in the number of biometric traits to be recorded for the explanation of body conformation.
This study evaluated the effect of moulting on the productive and reproductive performance of Jap... more This study evaluated the effect of moulting on the productive and reproductive performance of Japanese quails. A total of 324 females from three groups, comprising 108 females each from moulted, non moulted (30 weeks) and fresh flock (20 weeks old) were subjected to experimentation according to completely randomized design. Eight weeks post-moult data on production performance were compared with non moulted and fresh flocks. The analysis of data through one-way ANOVA technique and the comparison of means through Least Significant Difference (LSD) test with the help of SAS 9.2 revealed that the moulted group had improved hen housed egg production (%), egg weight, feed conversion ratio / dozen and feed conversion ratio / kg egg mass. While studying hatching traits (reproductive performance), it was further observed that fertility and hatchability improved in response to moulting. The results of the present study suggested that in response to moulting, Japanese quails responded positiv...
Feed intake, growth rate, feed efficiency and carcass characteristics of male buffalo calves, fed... more Feed intake, growth rate, feed efficiency and carcass characteristics of male buffalo calves, fed different levels of urea, were investigated. Feeding trials were conducted using 54 male buffalo calves of the Nili-Ravi breed in three experiments. Seven experimental rations were prepared by adding fertilizer grade urea at the levels of 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 percent, replacing undecorticated cottonseed cake and wheat bran on nitrogen equivalent basis. A ration without urea served as control. At the termination of the feeding trials, 3 calves from each group were slaughtered and carcass data were obtained. It was found that intake of dry matter decreased as the level of urea increased in the ration. The depression in dry matter intake was significant when the urea level exceeded 2.0 percent. Weight gains of calves were significantly higher on urea ration up to 1.0% as compared to control. Almost similar weight gains were observed up to 2.0 percent levels of urea. However b...
An exploratory study was conducted to evaluate the physico-chemical and microbiological character... more An exploratory study was conducted to evaluate the physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics of dead poultry and litter compost during different stages of composting in winter season. The present study was conducted under completely randomized design (CRD) by repeating the experimental trial for three times. For this purpose, three compost bins were loaded with organic waste comprising dead poultry and litter by following the internationally accepted standard method of bin filling. Sampling was done at the end of each phase to record the data for physicochemical, mineral and microbiological parameters. The data were analyzed by using ANOVA technique under CRD. The results indicated higher maximum temperature, maximum moisture, and crude protein in primary phase, average temperature in secondary phase, dry matter, ash, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium content in curing phase of composting. However, nitrogen content, C:N ratio and bacterial count were significantly (P ≤ 0...
The present study was conducted to investigate some egg quality traits in four close-bred flocks ... more The present study was conducted to investigate some egg quality traits in four close-bred flocks of adult Japanese quails responded by different body sizes maintained at Avian Research and Training Centre, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore. A total of 432 adult (12 weeks-old) quails, comprising 108 males and 324 females were randomly divided into 108 experimental units, comprising one male and three females each. These experimental units were randomly assigned to 12 treatment groups having 4 close-bred flocks x 3 female body weights (heavy 300-350g, medium 250-300g and small 200-250g) with randomized complete block design in factorial arrangements having 9 replicates in each treatment. Egg weight (g), shell weight (g), shell thickness (mm), haugh unit, yolk index and blood and meat spots were studied. The significant (p<0.05) differences were noted in mean egg weight, shell weight, shell thickness and yolk index, whereas, haugh unit value was not significantly ...
The objective of current study was to investigate the effects of trench, bunker and plastic bag s... more The objective of current study was to investigate the effects of trench, bunker and plastic bag silos on chemical and physical characteristics of silages made from three cereal fodders i.e. maize, sorghum and oats in subtropical conditions. Each fodder was harvested at 30-35% dry matter (DM) and ensiled in the said three silo types. The results revealed that trench silo had significantly (P<0.05) highest sensory score (smell, color and structure) followed by bunker and bag silo for each cereal silage. The sensory score for maize (12.99, 12.09 and 10.96), sorghum (11.17, 12.72, and 10.28) and oat silages (12.55, 13.27 and 11.47) corresponding to trench, bunker and bag silos, respectively. The lowest pH values were observed in trench followed by bunker and bag silos, in maize (3.61, 3.65 and 3.81), sorghum (3.71, 3.81 and 3.89) and oat silage (3.82, 3.87 and 3.93), respectively. However, the DM and crude protein (CP) were significantly (P<0.05) higher in trench followed by bunke...
The present study was conducted to explore the rural goat production system and know the involvem... more The present study was conducted to explore the rural goat production system and know the involvement of rural families in this enterprise by using household surveys. The survey was conducted in six villages at two experimental sites (Bahawalpur and Faisalabad). Fifty five households from each village were interviewed using stratified random sampling method. Information about livestock inventory, production of goat, type of production systems and parameters, management of goat, and breeding strategies were recorded. Household heads were the incharge of farm activities at both sites in most of the cases (91.40% vs 91.97%). Interests in goat keeping were similar at both sites (83.11% & 80.15%). Flock sizes averaged 7.14 and 4.87 at both sites, respectively. Majority of the farmers kept goats mainly for home consumption (23.03% and 17.93% at Sites I and II, respectively). Main production system adopted in the spring (58.5% and 55.4%), summer (52.9% & 51.2%), rainy (57.7% & 52.9%) and wi...
Feed intake, growth rate, feed efficiency and carcass characteristics of male buffalo calves, fed... more Feed intake, growth rate, feed efficiency and carcass characteristics of male buffalo calves, fed different levels of urea, were investigated. Feeding trials were conducted using 54 male buffalo calves of the Nili-Ravi breed in three experiments. Seven experimental rations were prepared by adding fertilizer grade urea at the levels of 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 percent, replacing undecorticated cottonseed cake and wheat bran on nitrogen equivalent basis. A ration without urea served as control. At the termination of the feeding trials, 3 calves from each group were slaughtered and carcass data were obtained. It was found that intake of dry matter decreased as the level of urea increased in the ration. The depression in dry matter intake was significant when the urea level exceeded 2.0 percent. Weight gains of calves were significantly higher on urea ration up to 1.0% as compared to control. Almost similar weight gains were observed up to 2.0 percent levels of urea. However b...
A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary selenium (Se) sources (organic and inorga... more A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary selenium (Se) sources (organic and inorganic Se at 0.30 ppm and basal diet at 0 ppm level of supplemented Se) on hatching traits in four varieties of Aseel chicken, Lakha, Mushki, Peshawari, and Mianwali. In total, 84 adult molted hens (50 wk old), 21 from each variety, were randomly assigned to 12 treatment groups in a 3 (Se diets) × 4 (Aseel varieties) factorial arrangement under a randomized complete block design. Each treatment was replicated 7 times with individual hens in each. Settable egg, fertility, hatch of fertile eggs, hatchability, A-grade chick, and embryonic mortality parameters were evaluated. The results indicated that the birds fed an organic Se supplemented diet had greater (P &lt; 0.05) settable eggs, fertility, hatch of fertile eggs, hatchability, and A-grade chicks and reduced embryonic mortality than those fed inorganic or no Se. Among varieties, Mushki had lower (P &lt; 0.05) fertility, hatch of fertile eggs, hatchability, and A-grade chicks than rest of three varieties. Interaction of Se sources and varieties indicated that dietary organic Se supplementation improved (P &lt; 0.05) hatch of fertile eggs in Peshawari and Mianwali, whereas hatchability only in Peshawari variety and reduced embryonic mortality in Mianwali. It was concluded that dietary supplementation of organic Se could be used to improve hatching traits as well as reduce embryonic mortality in native Aseel chicken.
An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of 3 different rearing systems [free range... more An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of 3 different rearing systems [free range (FR), semi-intensive (SI), and confinement (CF)] on productive production performance in 4 varieties of Aseel chicken [Lakha (LK), Mushki (MS), Peshawari (PW), and Sindhi (SN)]. A total of 168 adult hens were assigned to 12 treatment groups, 3 (rearing systems) × 4 (Aseel varieties) factorial arrangement in 7 randomized complete blocks, replicated 14 times with individual hen in each (42 hens from each variety; 56 hens in each rearing system). Data regarding body weight (BW), body weight gain (BWG), uniformity (UF), and livability (LB) were collected fortnightly whereas egg production (EP), egg weight (EW), and egg mass (EM) were recorded on daily basis. The data were analyzed by a two-way ANOVA technique under factorial arrangement. The results manifested the highest (P<0.05) BW (2419.11±30.23), EP (35.90±0.56), EM (202.08±3.66), and LB (98.81±0.93) in CF whereas BWG was found to be...
The present study was conducted at a commercial hatchery with the objective to evaluate the effec... more The present study was conducted at a commercial hatchery with the objective to evaluate the effects of egg weight and storage period on embryonic mortality (early, mid and late) during incubation of fertile eggs from Cobb broiler breeder strain during 4 production phases(pre-peak; 25-28, peak; 29-36, post-peak; 37-52 and terminal; 53-56 th weeks of age), categorized into 3 egg weights (small, medium and large subjected to change in each production phase) and maintained at 3 different storage periods (1, 4- and 7-days)and replicated 6 times. A total 93312 fertile eggs ( pre-peak: 11664, peak: 23328, post-peak: 46656 and terminal: 11664) in 4 production phases were incubated in a commercial hatchery. The data were analyzed by ANOVA technique under randomized complete block design in 4×3×3 factorial arrangement and means were compared by using DMR Test. The results of the present study showed that the e gg weight categories significantly (p<0.05) affected embryonic mortality in all ...
A posteriori and modified granddaughter designs were applied to determine haplotype effects for H... more A posteriori and modified granddaughter designs were applied to determine haplotype effects for Holstein bulls and cows with BovineSNP50 genotypes. The a posteriori granddaughter design was applied to 52 sire families, each with > 100 genotyped sons with genetic evaluations based on progeny tests. For 33 traits (milk, fat, and protein yields; fat and protein percent; somatic cell score; productive life; daughter pregnancy rate; heifer and cow conception rates; service-sire and daughter calving ease and stillbirth; 18 conformation traits; and net merit), the analysis was applied to the autosomal segment with the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) with the greatest effect in the genomic evaluation of each trait. All traits except 2 had a significant (P < 0.05) within-family haplotype effect. The same design was applied with the genetic evaluations of sons corrected for SNP effects associated with chromosomes besides the one under analysis. Number of significant within-family c...
A total of 376 Performance records of 109 Nili-Ravi buffaloes maintained at Livestock Development... more A total of 376 Performance records of 109 Nili-Ravi buffaloes maintained at Livestock Development Research Centre, Raroo, Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir, during 1989-2003 were utilized for the evaluation of some environmental factors affecting 305-day milk yield, lactation length and dry period. The least squares means for 305-day milk yield was 2191.858+35.553 Kg. The effect of year and season of calving and parity was significant (P<0.01) on the trait. The least squares means for lactation length was 369.53+8.44 days. The effect of year and season of calving on lactation length was significant (P<0.01), while a non-significant effect of parity on the trait was observed in this study. The least squares means for dry period was 194.4+12.37 days. Dry period was significantly influenced by season and year of calving, while the effect of parity on dry period was non-significant in the present study.
Heat stress is a major challenge for dairy cows in summer. Sprinklers at feed bunks are commonly ... more Heat stress is a major challenge for dairy cows in summer. Sprinklers at feed bunks are commonly used to cool cows. These sprinklers use groundwater, which is becoming limited. There is a need to explore a more efficient use of this precious resource. Eighteen lactating Holstein cows were randomly subjected to three sprinkler flow rates in a crossover design. These rates were 0.5, 1.25, and 2.0 L/min. The average temperature humidity index of the shed was 86.7 during the study. The cows in the 1.25 and 2.0 L/min groups had 0.6 °C and 0.9 °C lower rectal temperatures, respectively, than the 0.5 L/min group. Similarly, the 1.25 and 2.0 L/min groups had lower respiration rates than the 0.5 L/min group. The daily milk yield was approximately 5 kg/d higher in the 1.25 and 2.0 L/min groups, which were not detectably different from each other, than the 0.5 L/min group. The cows in the 0.5 L/min group spent less time feeding than those in the 1.25 and 2.0 L/min groups. These results suggest...
Pakistan Vet. J., 24(2): 2004 58 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AFFECTING MILK YIELD IN FRIESIAN COWS IN P... more Pakistan Vet. J., 24(2): 2004 58 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AFFECTING MILK YIELD IN FRIESIAN COWS IN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN K. Javed, M. Afzal 1 , A. Sattar 2 and RH Mirza 2 University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, 1 Livestock Production Research ...
Data on 18 Biometric traits of 325 lactating Cholistani cows of 4-6 years age were recorded and a... more Data on 18 Biometric traits of 325 lactating Cholistani cows of 4-6 years age were recorded and analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) to explain the body conformation. These animals were kept at government livestock experimental station Jugaitpeer, Punjab province, Pakistan. The average of these traits indicated that Cholistani cows breed are of medium type. Factor analysis with promax rotation revealed 4 factors which explained about 83.618 % of the total variation. Factor 1 explained 56.817% variation in the general body conformation. It was represented by significant positive high loading of body length (BL) and heart girth (HG). The results suggested that PCA could be used in breeding programs with a drastic reduction in the number of biometric traits to be recorded for the explanation of body conformation.
This study evaluated the effect of moulting on the productive and reproductive performance of Jap... more This study evaluated the effect of moulting on the productive and reproductive performance of Japanese quails. A total of 324 females from three groups, comprising 108 females each from moulted, non moulted (30 weeks) and fresh flock (20 weeks old) were subjected to experimentation according to completely randomized design. Eight weeks post-moult data on production performance were compared with non moulted and fresh flocks. The analysis of data through one-way ANOVA technique and the comparison of means through Least Significant Difference (LSD) test with the help of SAS 9.2 revealed that the moulted group had improved hen housed egg production (%), egg weight, feed conversion ratio / dozen and feed conversion ratio / kg egg mass. While studying hatching traits (reproductive performance), it was further observed that fertility and hatchability improved in response to moulting. The results of the present study suggested that in response to moulting, Japanese quails responded positiv...
Feed intake, growth rate, feed efficiency and carcass characteristics of male buffalo calves, fed... more Feed intake, growth rate, feed efficiency and carcass characteristics of male buffalo calves, fed different levels of urea, were investigated. Feeding trials were conducted using 54 male buffalo calves of the Nili-Ravi breed in three experiments. Seven experimental rations were prepared by adding fertilizer grade urea at the levels of 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 percent, replacing undecorticated cottonseed cake and wheat bran on nitrogen equivalent basis. A ration without urea served as control. At the termination of the feeding trials, 3 calves from each group were slaughtered and carcass data were obtained. It was found that intake of dry matter decreased as the level of urea increased in the ration. The depression in dry matter intake was significant when the urea level exceeded 2.0 percent. Weight gains of calves were significantly higher on urea ration up to 1.0% as compared to control. Almost similar weight gains were observed up to 2.0 percent levels of urea. However b...
An exploratory study was conducted to evaluate the physico-chemical and microbiological character... more An exploratory study was conducted to evaluate the physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics of dead poultry and litter compost during different stages of composting in winter season. The present study was conducted under completely randomized design (CRD) by repeating the experimental trial for three times. For this purpose, three compost bins were loaded with organic waste comprising dead poultry and litter by following the internationally accepted standard method of bin filling. Sampling was done at the end of each phase to record the data for physicochemical, mineral and microbiological parameters. The data were analyzed by using ANOVA technique under CRD. The results indicated higher maximum temperature, maximum moisture, and crude protein in primary phase, average temperature in secondary phase, dry matter, ash, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium content in curing phase of composting. However, nitrogen content, C:N ratio and bacterial count were significantly (P ≤ 0...
The present study was conducted to investigate some egg quality traits in four close-bred flocks ... more The present study was conducted to investigate some egg quality traits in four close-bred flocks of adult Japanese quails responded by different body sizes maintained at Avian Research and Training Centre, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore. A total of 432 adult (12 weeks-old) quails, comprising 108 males and 324 females were randomly divided into 108 experimental units, comprising one male and three females each. These experimental units were randomly assigned to 12 treatment groups having 4 close-bred flocks x 3 female body weights (heavy 300-350g, medium 250-300g and small 200-250g) with randomized complete block design in factorial arrangements having 9 replicates in each treatment. Egg weight (g), shell weight (g), shell thickness (mm), haugh unit, yolk index and blood and meat spots were studied. The significant (p<0.05) differences were noted in mean egg weight, shell weight, shell thickness and yolk index, whereas, haugh unit value was not significantly ...
The objective of current study was to investigate the effects of trench, bunker and plastic bag s... more The objective of current study was to investigate the effects of trench, bunker and plastic bag silos on chemical and physical characteristics of silages made from three cereal fodders i.e. maize, sorghum and oats in subtropical conditions. Each fodder was harvested at 30-35% dry matter (DM) and ensiled in the said three silo types. The results revealed that trench silo had significantly (P<0.05) highest sensory score (smell, color and structure) followed by bunker and bag silo for each cereal silage. The sensory score for maize (12.99, 12.09 and 10.96), sorghum (11.17, 12.72, and 10.28) and oat silages (12.55, 13.27 and 11.47) corresponding to trench, bunker and bag silos, respectively. The lowest pH values were observed in trench followed by bunker and bag silos, in maize (3.61, 3.65 and 3.81), sorghum (3.71, 3.81 and 3.89) and oat silage (3.82, 3.87 and 3.93), respectively. However, the DM and crude protein (CP) were significantly (P<0.05) higher in trench followed by bunke...
The present study was conducted to explore the rural goat production system and know the involvem... more The present study was conducted to explore the rural goat production system and know the involvement of rural families in this enterprise by using household surveys. The survey was conducted in six villages at two experimental sites (Bahawalpur and Faisalabad). Fifty five households from each village were interviewed using stratified random sampling method. Information about livestock inventory, production of goat, type of production systems and parameters, management of goat, and breeding strategies were recorded. Household heads were the incharge of farm activities at both sites in most of the cases (91.40% vs 91.97%). Interests in goat keeping were similar at both sites (83.11% & 80.15%). Flock sizes averaged 7.14 and 4.87 at both sites, respectively. Majority of the farmers kept goats mainly for home consumption (23.03% and 17.93% at Sites I and II, respectively). Main production system adopted in the spring (58.5% and 55.4%), summer (52.9% & 51.2%), rainy (57.7% & 52.9%) and wi...
Feed intake, growth rate, feed efficiency and carcass characteristics of male buffalo calves, fed... more Feed intake, growth rate, feed efficiency and carcass characteristics of male buffalo calves, fed different levels of urea, were investigated. Feeding trials were conducted using 54 male buffalo calves of the Nili-Ravi breed in three experiments. Seven experimental rations were prepared by adding fertilizer grade urea at the levels of 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 percent, replacing undecorticated cottonseed cake and wheat bran on nitrogen equivalent basis. A ration without urea served as control. At the termination of the feeding trials, 3 calves from each group were slaughtered and carcass data were obtained. It was found that intake of dry matter decreased as the level of urea increased in the ration. The depression in dry matter intake was significant when the urea level exceeded 2.0 percent. Weight gains of calves were significantly higher on urea ration up to 1.0% as compared to control. Almost similar weight gains were observed up to 2.0 percent levels of urea. However b...
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