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Iodine is anessential micronutrient that plays a crucial role in male reproduction (sexual behavior and semen production performance) by modulating thyroid function and the antioxidant status of the animal. Nonetheless, in Bos indicus bulls, a thorough evaluation of the effects of dietary iodine supplementation on antioxidant status, seminal quality parameters, and its interaction with other minerals is not documented. Twelve Bos indicus (Sahiwal) bulls were distributed into three groups (n = 4 in each group) viz. T

The research was based on a survey done in 2019 across Odisha’s eastern and southern coastal plain zones to assess sustainability among dairy farms based on various scientific management practices adopted by the farmers. The sustainability index was constructed using primary data acquired through a random sampling approach from 120 dairy households. The results reveal that 61 per cent of the farms belonged to the low sustainable category. The study area’s peri-urban dairy farms had inadequate shelter management, feeding, and animal health practices, as seen by their mean sustainable scores. Space constraints, dung disposal, lack of expertise in planned systematic breeding, paucity of green fodder, lack of refrigerated storage, and timely vaccination were all issues that farmers in the study area faced. These problems can be solved by organizing various capacity building training programmes, creating awareness about the benefits of following various scientific management practices, finding alternative supplements of green fodder as well as encouraging farmers to cultivate green fodder at a commercial level.

The vaccination of productive animals has been identified as a critical intervention area. The extent of milk production loss following foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), hemorrhagic septicemia and black quarter (HS + BQ), Theileriosis, and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) vaccination needs analysis. So, the present study collected milk production data during different vaccination. A significant (p Bos indicus showed various percentages of milk production declines, and some animals showed no decrease after vaccination.

In constrained availability of veterinarians and paramount study on the effectiveness of para-veterinary services, assessing the ability of these personnel vis-à-vis role proficiency and performance from stakeholder's perspective could act as impetus in reforming the animal healthcare and animal husbandry extension delivery system in India. The present study was conducted in four districts of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan respectively. A total of 380 respondents were surveyed, comprising of 160 dairy farmers, 160 para-vets, and 60 veterinarians. Two indices namely, Role Performance Index and Role Proficiency Index were exclusively designed. Based upon the responses, the training need of para-vets were analyzed from the perspective of veterinarians. Accountability for reporting for vaccine failure to higher authority, on-spot health hazard reduction by consulting vets in the uncommon situation and, dissemination of new tools and techniques to farmers (eg. CMT toolkit) were found low by 93.12, 86.62, 91.25% para-vets respectively. Nearly half of para-vets rated their proficiency in the medium category on the role proficiency index, followed by 36.25% in the low category towards the assessed roles. Veterinarians perceived high training needs for quarantine measures (93.33%), fodder production and silage making (88.34%), latest trends in animal breeding, feeding and reproductive management (91.67%), awareness about principles of animal management and disease control (83.34%), sufficient information about rapid test kits (73.33%), and knowledge about new technologies in Animal Husbandry evolved by research institutions (86.67%). Paraveterinary services were most skillful in Hisar district, followed by Jaipur and Ahmadnagar district, and least proficient in Mathura district.

The effect of feeding levels of plant ingredient-based diet on growth, body composition, and serological constituents of Indian major carps was determined in pond culture condition. Juveniles of Indian major carps (IMCs), Catla catla (catla, 65.87 ± 2.45 g), Labeo rohita (rohu, 64.67 ± 2.15 g), and Cirrhinus mrigala (mrigal, 39.58 ± 3.49 g) were fed 1%, 1.5%, 2%, and 2.5% of the body weight for a period of 150 days. At the end, the total production was significantly higher at 2.0% feeding level and did not change thereafter. The nutrient utilization parameters were significantly (P

To assess the compensatory growth, a 10-month pond experiment was conducted in which three species of Indian major carps, viz. Catla catla, Labeo rohita and Cirrhinus mrigala (1 : 1 : 1), were stocked at 7500 ha−1 and the fish were subjected to different restricted feeding and refeeding protocols, viz. Control (C): Continuously fed for 10 months; Treatment-1 (T-1): Initial supplementary feeding for 2 months+ No supplementary feeding for 1 month + Refeeding for 7 months; Treatment-2 (T-2): Initial supplementary feeding for 2 months + No supplementary feeding for 2 months + Refeeding for 6 months; and Treatment-3 (T-3): Initial supplementary feeding for 2 months + No supplementary feeding for 3 months + Refeeding for 5 months in triplicate ponds. At the end of experiment, 100% growth compensation was achieved in T-2 for all the three carp species. Among all treatments, higher weight gain, PER and PPV and lower AFCR were also recorded in T-2, resulting in maximum fish production. The restricted feeding had significant effect (P

The onset of uterine infection during postpartum period compromises uterine health, fertility, and productivity of dairy cattle. Endometrial innate immunity plays a key role in eliminating uterine infection and keeping the uterus healthy. Hence, the present study has been designed with the hypothesis that altered endometrial immune response around calving may compromise uterine health during postpartum period. Expression of interleukins (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and TNF-α), prostaglandin synthase (PGFS, PGES), and antimicrobial peptides (beta-defensins (BDEF-4, BDEF-5), lingual antimicrobial peptide (LAP), and calcium-binding proteins (S100A8, S100A9, and S100A12) in endometrial tissues on the day of calving was studied using qRT-PCR, and circulating concentrations of prostaglandin E and F metabolites (PGEM and PGFM) during peripartum period (on days - 7, - 4, - 1 (before calving), 0 (on the day of calving), + 1, + 4, and + 7 (post calving)) of normal (healthy) cows (n = 11) that did not develop postpartum uterine infection and cows that developed puerperal metritis (n = 7) and clinical endometritis (n = 6) were studied. Endometrial expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, BDEF-4, BDEF-5, S100A8, S100A12, and PGFS was higher (P 0.05), and expression of IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and PGES was lower (P 0.05) in normal (healthy) cows than puerperal metritic and clinical endometritic cows. The PGFM concentration in serum was high (P 0.05) on days 0, + 1, and + 4 of calving in puerperal metritic cows followed by normal and clinical endometritic cows. However, PGEM concentration in serum was high (P 0.05) during peripartum period in uterine-infected (puerperal metritic and clinical endometritic) cows compared with normal cows. From the above findings, it is concluded that higher constitutive expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, PGFS, BDEF-4, BDEF-5, S100A8, and S100A12 genes in the endometrium and lower concentration of PGEM during the period immediate to calving might be beneficial for uterine health of cows.

BACKGROUND: Sperm concentration needed for artificial insemination (AI) to obtain reasonable fertility, taking into consideration genetic value of bull and numerous others components is one of the essential constituents for successful breeding program. AI-doses containing low sperm numbers are increasingly widespread to optimize the benefit of elite bulls, as well as to accommodate an eventual wider application of sex-sorted semen. Viability is reduced when higher dilutions of semen are carried out for production of low sperm doses. The reduction in viability may be due to dilution effect as well as due to dilution of numerous essential constituents in seminal plasma at higher dilutions. Fertility level of bull may play a pivotal role in determining the cryosurvival of low sperm doses and viability of low sperm doses may vary among bulls. This paper attempts to highlight studies dealing with the effect of dilution on cryosurvival of low sperm doses.

Silver barb (Puntius gonionotus) is considered as a promising medium-sized carp species for freshwater aquaculture in Asia. This study in silver barb was carried out to evaluate the effects of increasing dietary levels of lipid on growth, nutrient utilization, whole-body composition, tissue fatty acid composition and Δ6 fatty acyl desaturase (Δ6 fad) gene expression. Fish (11.3 ± 0.23 g of initial body weight) was fed for 60 days with five experimental diets: FO-0 (control feed); FO-30; FO-60; FO-90 and FO-120 containing 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 g fish oil kg−1 diet, respectively. Among the diets, the highest specific growth rate (SGR), protein efficiency ratio (PER) and whole-body lipid content, and the lowest feed conversion ratio (FCR) were recorded with FO-120 diet. The saturated fatty acids (SFA) level in the muscle was significantly (P

In the present study, polanga (Calophyllum inophyllum) oil cake (POC) was evaluated as a non-conventional ingredient in Labeo rohita (Hamilton, 1822) fingerling feed. Proximate composition and fatty acid analysis of POC indicated that it can be a good source of protein (24.2%) and energy (4.4 kcal g-1). Fatty acid analysis indicated that it is dominated by monoenes (39%) followed by saturates (28.42) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) n-6 (27.76%). Further, phenol, tannin and flavonoids were detected as prominent secondary metabolites. Five iso-nitrogenous (25-26%, crude protein) feeds incorporated with POC @ 0% (F1), 10% (F2), 20% (F3), 30% (F4) and 40% (F5) level were fed to L. rohita fingerlings for 90 days in indoor conditions. At the end of the experiment, it was observed that survival percentage (95-97%) of F1, F2 and F3 groups was statistically similar which was significantly higher (p0.05), which were significantly higher than the levels in other groups (p

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of factors affecting milk quality of crossbred dairy cows milked in automated Herringbone milking system. The study was conducted on 37 crossbred Karan Fries cows of different parities, stages of lactation and udder types for 3 months. The milk quality was assessed based on milk composition, on-line electrical conductivity (EC) and peak conductivity, somatic cell count (SCC) and standard plate count (SPC) of milk samples. The results showed that there was no change in milk composition in terms of fat and SNF except in different parity groups. The milk conductivity was significantly higher in the late stage of lactation. However, no change in SCC values was observed. The udder types showed significant increase in EC values in udders with poor structure and loose attachment. The SCC values were also significantly higher for such udder types. The SPC was significantly higher when the number of milkings on each liner exceeded 2000 milkings/liner. The SCC was had a positive correlation with EC and SPC. The correlation between SPC and SCC was highly significant whereas, EC was moderately correlated with SPC. It can be concluded that the milk quality of crossbred dairy cows was significantly affected by parity, stages of lactation, udder type and liner usage in automated parlours. Therefore, effective management strategy needs to be taken to improve the quality of milk taking into consideration on-line EC, SCC and SPC.

Present study was aimed to improve poor quality crossbred bulls semen, as occurrence of poor quality ejaculates are one of the major problems in crossbred bulls. Antioxidants and its combination was tried to overcome such problems. Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Vitamin E+C were supplemented at dose rate of 1mg, 5 mM and 1mg + 5mM per ml respectively in split ejaculates to evaluate semen quality during preservation at refrigerated temperature and cryopreservation. The results showed that semen characteristics were better in antioxidant supplemented ejaculates. Total sperm abnormality were significantly lower (p>0.05) in antioxidant supplemented group. The seminal characteristics of crossbred bull semen showed significantly better (p>0.05) performance on preservation, when fortified with Vitamin E as compared to Vitamin C alone as well as Vitamin E and C in combination. The performance of semen additives, were supportive to semen characteristics especially for Vitamin E, moreover fortification with Vitamin E+C was slightly superior to Vitamin C. It can be concluded that fortification of Vitamin E has beneficial role in semen quality improvement followed by Vitamin E+C and Vitamin C.

To evaluate the effect of egg yolk and soybean based extenders containing trehalose on cryopreservation of goat spermatozoa. A total 100 ejaculates in winter were collected from 10 crossbred bucks. Ten pooled ejaculates from each buck were washed with phosphate buffer saline and splited into 4 different parts for dilution with 4 extenders (EXT): (EXT 1) tris (375mM), citrate (124mM), glucose (41mM) + 20% egg yolk (EY) (TCG); (EXT 2) TCG containing 131.25mM trehalose (TCG+T); (EXT 3) TCG + 25% soya and (EXT 4) TCG with 131.25mM trehalose + 25% soya. Analysis revealed that, the initial semen quality parameters except HOST did not differ significantly in all extenders. In soya based extender post-thaw live sperm and intact acrosome were significantly reduced than egg yolk based extender. Further, the addition of trehalose to both egg yolk and soya based extender significantly improved all the post- thaw semen quality parameters and superiority of post-thaw semen quality parameters were significantly observed in egg yolk based extender containing trehalose as compared to other semen extenders. It can be concluded that TGC containing 20% egg yolk and 35% as well as TCG containing 131.25mM trehalose are suitable for crossbred buck semen cryopreservation.

Mahua (Bassia latifolia Roxb.) oil cake (MOC) is rich in protein (24%) and energy (19.0 KJ g-1) with high levels of fatty acids comprising saturates (45%), monoenes (42%) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA, n-6) (7%). Saponin, phenol and flavonoids are the main metabolites. Labeo rohita (Hamilton, 1822) fingerlings (5.25±0.2 g) were fed with five iso-nitrogenous (28% CP) diets containing MOC at 0% (F1), 10% (F2), 20% (F3), 30% (F4) and 40% (F5) for 90 days in 300 l cement cisterns. Survival (%) of all groups were statistically similar (p>0.05). Weight gain (%) and specific growth rate (SGR) were significantly lower in F1, F2, F5 and higher in F3 and F4 groups (p

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of parity, stage of lactation and udder type on milkability of crossbred dairy cows milked in automated Herringbone milking system. Crossbred cows (218; Karan Fries and Karan Swiss) of different parities, stages of lactation and udder types were milked in 8×2 low-line automated Herringbone milking parlour having automatic cluster removal (ACR) settings for a period of 3 months. The milkablity of cows in automated herringbone milking parlour was based on parameters such as total milk yield, milk yield/session, machineon time, yield first 2 min, and milk flow rates generated automatically in herd management Software during each session of milking. The results showed that milkability of cows was affected significantly based on parity and stage of lactation. The udder types had no effect on milkability except type D (pendulous) udders having least flow rate, which caused increased machine-on time. The overall mean milk flow rates over different intervals during the first two minutes of milking differed significantly in parity and udder types. Similarly, significant differences were observed in the flow rates over different intervals of milking.The milking efficiency benchmarks in terms of cow throughput and milk harvesting efficiency with 2 operators in the milking pit were 69.75±0.57 cows/ h and 305.21±2.75 kg/h, respectively. The operators had idle time during milking in batches of around 4.28 minutes/batch. It can be concluded from the present study that the milkability of crossbred dairy cows was significantly affected by parity, stage of lactation and type of udder in automated Herringbone milking parlour.

Mastitis is considered as one of the important production disease in dairy cows which incurs huge economic losses to dairy industry, despite considerable efforts has been dedicated to solve it for the last two decades. In the present study, the impact of dry cow therapy (DCT) on incidence of clinical mastitis, milk yield and composition in crossbred cows was studied. About 20 healthy crossbred cows were selected at dry-off and randomly allotted either to control or treatment group. Daily milk yield of cows was recorded up to 45 days post-partum and fortnightly separate quarter wise milk samples were collected for estimation of milk composition. While no quarter in the treatment group showed clinical mastitis, 33.33% of quarters in control group showed clinical mastitis within 45 days post-partum. Milk production increased by 9.71, 8.40 and 18.18% during first, second and third fortnight with overall value 11.84% during the entire 45 days post-calving period in DCT treated cows compared to control group. Also, the overall fat-corrected milk, solid-corrected milk and energy-corrected milk production following 45 days post-partum increased significantly (P

Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis is a simple statistical tool used to classify a diagnostic indicator in terms of area under a ROC curve (AUC) and to develop potential threshold values of a diagnostic indicator. Milk lactose was analyzed by ROC analysis to see its accuracy to discriminate infected and healthy udder quarters, and to develope an optimum threshold value along with corresponding sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp) and positive likelihood ratio (LR+) value. Data for the present study comprised of 1516 milk samples collected from Jaffrabadi buffaloes. Milk lactose was estimated by milk analyzer ‘LACTOSCAN’ and further samples were checked for sub-clinical mastitis by California mastitis test (CMT). The threshold values of milk lactose for identification of moderate and severe infection were found to be 5.31g% (Se, 58.82%; Sp, 58.28%) and 5.23g% (Se, 70.97%; Sp, 64.41%), respectively by ROC analysis. Milk samples with lactose content below 5.31g% were 1.41 times more likely come from moderately infected quarters (LR+ = 1.41); whereas, below 5.23g% were 1.99 times more likely come from severely infected quarters (LR+ = 1.99). The overall accuracy of milk lactose for discrimination of normal quarters from moderately infected quarters was 64% (AUC=0.64) and from severely infected quarters was 72% (AUC=0.72) (P

In vitro fertility assessment using fluorescent technique is a better predictor of fertility status of bulls as compared to traditional semen quality assessment techniques, therefore, the study was planned to assess in vitro fertility status of bulls based on conventional and fluorescent techniques. Seventy-three ejaculates were collected from 12 Murrah buffalo bulls maintained at Artificial Breeding Research Centre, NDRI, Karnal, India for the experiment and subjected to statistical analysis using SYSTAT. The mean values of ejaculate volume (ml), mass activity, individual motility (%), sperm concentration (millions/ml), live sperm (%), total abnormalities (%), HOST (%) and acrosomal integrity (%) were 2.70 ± 0.28, 2.8 ± 0.14, 63.8 ± 2.16, 1749.7 ± 122.24, 77.3 ± 2.48, 6.2 ± 0.51, 75.1 ± 1.81 and 84.5 ± 2.26, respectively. The repeatability estimates were significant (P

Three types of iso-nitrogenous floating feeds for Indian Major Carps (IMC) were formulated and prepared in extruder by using different feed ingredients. The first feed (SMF) was formulated with soyabean meal as main protein source whereas 2nd (GNF) and 3rd (TCF) feed were formulated by replacing a part of soyabean meal with alternative feed ingredients i.e. ground nut oil cake and til oil cake respectively. Evaluation of three types of floating feeds showed that, floating percentage, sinking percentage and apparent density were not affected on three different types of floating feed. The water holding capacity was highest in Feed II (GNF) and lowest in Feed I (SMF). The crude fibre and ether extract percentage of the TCF was highest among three floating feeds whereas nitrogen free extract was highest in SMF feed. The proportion of omega 3 fatty acids of three types of feed did not differ significantly. The growth performance of TCF was comparable to GNF floating feed where as it was superior to SMF floating feed. The feed cost was lowest in TCF and highest in SMF feed. This indicated that, the floating feeds (GNF and TCF) developed by replacement of soyabean meal with ground nut oil cake and til oil cake are superior to floating feed (SMF) prepared by inclusion of only soyabean meal and this may be economical for the farmers.

A fish feed for rohu (Labeo rohita) was formulated from locally available feed ingredients and processed using four different extrusion temperatures i.e., 110, 130, 150 and 170°C maintaining constant moisture and pressure. The extruded feeds so produced were evaluated for physical and chemical characteristics to ascertain their quality. A digestibility study was conducted during a 60d feeding trial to determine the intake and digestibility of nutrients. Intestinal enzyme activity of rohu was also assessed. Results indicated that processing the feed at 130 and 150°C resulted in 100% floating whereas higher or lower extrusion temperatures reduced the floating percentage. As temperature of extrusion increased, the water holding capacity of feed was increased, but lower and higher temperatures of 130 or 150°C, increased the apparent density of feed. The nutrient composition of the four feeds in terms of DM, EE, CF, NFE and total ash were not affected except for the CP which was reduced (P

Rain tree (Samanea saman) is a fast-growing tropical tree, abundantly grown in India under plantation programmes. The present study was carried out to evaluate the effects of processed rain tree pod (RTP) in the diets of Catla catla fry. Chemical analysis results indicated that RTP is a good source of protein (25.2% CP) and energy (4.88 kcal/g), and contains 1–2% of ether extract with 44% PUFA. Additionally, it contained 7.4% tannins, 2.25% saponin, and 1.57% alkaloids. Water soaking followed by autoclaving of raw RTP reduced tannin and saponin contents. Five iso-nitrogenous test feeds were formulated incorporating raw (F1) and differently processed RTP (F2-F5) at 30% level with groundnut oilcake and rice bran as co-ingredients and fed to Catala catla fry reared in indoor FRP tanks for 60d. Results indicated that fish of raw or processed RTP fed groups did not show any significant (P>0.05) differences in survival (98–99%), average weight gain (0.30–0.31 g), FCR (1.11–1.14) and specific growth rate (SGR; 1.76–1.82%/day). Nonetheless, the protein efficiency ratio (PER) and net protein utilization (NPU) values varied significantly (P

Egg yolk-Tris is most commonly used semen extender; however, its use involves hygienic risk, interference with fertility and poor microscopic examination. Therefore, replacement of egg yolk with a plant-based component with protective effects on spermatozoa would be advantageous. In present study, we observed effect of soya milk-based extenders on dilution and liquid preservation of Murrah buffalo bull semen at 5°C up to 72 h in comparison with conventional egg yolk-Tris extender (Ext.1). In experiment one, a total of 32 buffalo semen ejaculates from four animals were extended and preserved at 5°C for 72 h in soya milk-based extender (Ext.2) with different percentages (10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30%) of soya milk for optimization of soya milk concentration. Semen quality was assessed for individual motility, viability, membrane integrity and acrosome integrity at 0, 24, 48 and 72 h of liquid preservation. The results of experiment one indicated that 25% soya milk is an optimum concentration for buffalo bull semen extender preparation. A modified method was used to prepare another soya milk-based extender (Ext.3). In the second experiment, two soya extenders (Ext.2 and 3) with optimized concentration (25%) of soya milk were comparatively assessed with egg yolk-Tris extender (Ext.1) for semen quality parameters at 0, 24, 48 and 72 h of liquid preservation. The individual sperm motility at 0 and 24 h following dilution were found non-significant among extenders. However, after 48 h of dilution, individual motility in Ext.3 was observed significantly (p0.05) higher than Ext.1. After 24, 48 and 72 h of dilution sperm membrane integrity in Ext.3 was found significantly (p0.05) higher than Ext.1. Overall, comparative evaluation of sperm parameters obtained revealed that Ext.3 containing 25% soya milk can be used as a substitute of egg yolk-based extender for buffalo semen liquid preservation.

A serological study using 3AB nonstructural protein ELISA and liquid phase blocking ELISA to assess foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) non-structural and structural protein antibodies (NSP-and SP-Abs) was performed through sampling from 103 cattle and 37 buffalo bulls of an elite herd of north India. A total of 53 (51.46%) cattle bulls and 14 (37.84%) buffalo bulls were found positive for NSP-Ab indicating an exposure to FMDV. The proportion of animals showing >1.8 log10titre against all three serotypes in the vaccine varied from 58.25% for cattle bulls and 48.64% for buffalo bulls indicating poor vaccinal herd immunity, which assumably might have made the animals susceptible to virus exposure in the farm.

Vaccination is one of the major stress factors that affects the semen productivity of the breeding bulls who showed consistent higher body temperature for several days. Therefore, a study was planned to assess the ameliorative strategy of vaccination stress by Vitamin E supplementation on twelve Holstein-Friesian crossbred bulls (432 ejaculates) maintained at Artificial Breeding Research Centre, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal. The bulls were vaccinated for FMD @ 3 ml by SC injections. In treatment group (6 bulls), Vitamin E was supplemented @ 4000 I.U./bull/day, ten weeks before and nine weeks after vaccination and another group without Vitamin E supplementation served as control. Vitamin E supplementation resulted in significantly reduced sperm abnormalities and improved sperm concentration, total motile spermatozoa (106), total live spermatozoa per ml (106), total sperm (106), live sperm/ml and total dose harvested in treated group as compared to control. Individual motility (%), mass motility, NEC (%), HOST (%) and IA (%) were higher in the treatment group, but it was not significant. Better blood biochemical profile of bull was evident in Vitamin E supplemented group though it was not significant statistically. It can be concluded that Vitamin E supplementation in vaccinated bulls was effective in ameliorating vaccination stress to some extent.