Seroprevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Akabane Virus Infection in Sheep and Goats in Fars Province, Iran.

Akabane disease is an arthropod-borne viral disease that affects ruminants. This teratogenic pathogen causes severe economic losses in ruminants worldwide and in Iran; however, it has not received enough attention in Fars province, Iran. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the influence of age, gender, climate, farming system, and history of abortions on the seroprevalence of the Akabane disease in sheep and goats in Fars province.

Effects in broiler hens of genetic lines differing in fertility, biotin supplementation, and age on relative abundance of oviductal transforming growth factor-β and carbonic anhydrase mRNA transcripts.

There was evaluation of effects of biotin administration on oviductal abundance of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and carbonic anhydrase (CA) mRNA transcript in younger and older broiler hens of relatively lesser and greater fertility lines. Additionally, effects of biotin supplementation on attenuation of age-related subfertility were evaluated. Hens from the relatively greater (Line D, n = 60) and lesser (Line B, n = 60) fertility rate line were randomly assigned to three treatment groups.

The long-term oral administration of thyroxine: effects on blood hematological and biochemical features in broiler breeder hens.

Published data on the beneficial effect of short-term administration of thyroxine (T4) in broiler breeder hens to reduce the ascites incidence in their progeny chicks raises the question as to what extent might the long-term maternal administration of T4 affect the blood hematological and biochemical attributes in breeder hens. A total of 70 broiler breeder hens (47-wk-old) were randomly allotted to control or thyroxine treated (T4) groups. Pure T4 (0.

Sperm characteristics of Chukar partridge (Alectoris chukar) breeders as affected by the addition of calcitriol to the semen extender.

This study was carried out to determine the effect of supplementing the semen extender with calcitriol on in vitro sperm characteristics in Chukar partridges. A total of 60 male Chukar partridges were habituated for semen collection by abdominal massage. Pooled ejaculates from several males were extended (1 to 5 v/v ratio) in the Sexton's diluent containing 0, 24, 48, 96, or 192 μg calcitriol/mL.

The effect of adding pomegranate seed extract to fat-containing diets on nutrients digestibility, intestinal microflora and growth performance of broilers.

The present study was aimed at studying the effects of inclusion of pomegranate seed extract to fat-containing diets on nutrients digestibility, intestinal microflora and performance of broilers. A total of 320 one-day-old broiler chicks (Ross 308) were selected in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with 4 replicates of 10 birds of each. The dietary treatments consisted of pomegranate seed extract (0 and 2%), commercial Nutriad antioxidant (0 and 0.