Animals (Basel)
December 2024
Artificial rearing (AR) of lambs is nowadays a common practice in Mediterranean dairy sheep production systems to enhance the milk available for cheese or yoghurt manufacturing. The sufficient growth of lambs in an AR system is vital for the economic success of dairy sheep farms. However, AR is often associated with negative impacts on the performance and physiology of lambs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) waste (OMW) on performance, egg quality, fatty acid (FA) profile and oxidative stability, serum and yolk cholesterol and immune parameters of laying hens. Two hundred fifty-six laying hens were allocated into 4 treatment groups, with eight replicate cages, and were fed for 28 d either a control diet, or diets supplemented with OMW at 1, 2 or 4 g per 100 g feed (P1, P2 and P4 experimental groups, respectively). No significant effects were detected on the performance and egg quality (P > 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmong the health issues of major concern in dairy ruminants, mastitis stands out as being associated with considerable losses in productivity and compromised animal health and welfare. Currently, the available methods for the early detection of mastitis are either inaccurate, requiring further validation, or expensive and labor intensive. Moreover, most of them cannot be applied at the point of care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF1. In recent years, public concern regarding animal welfare has increased while, at the same time, cage systems for animal production have been greatly criticised by EU citizens. In addition, large food retailers promote food products that are made with eggs produced in cage-free systems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aimed to evaluate the effect of the dietary inclusion of ensiled OC on milk yield, composition, fatty acid (FA) profile, and the expression of selected genes involved in lipid metabolism in the udder and adipose tissue of goats. Seventy-two Damascus dairy goats in mid-lactation were assigned randomly to three iso-nitrogenous and iso-energetic diets containing 0, 10, and 20% of ensiled OC as a replacement of forage (OC0, OC10, and OC20, respectively) for 42 days. During weeks 5 and 6 of the trial, dry matter intake, milk yield, milk composition, and FA profiles were recorded, while mammary and perirenal adipose tissue samples were also collected from six animals per treatment from the OC0 and OC20 groups for gene expression analysis.
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