Wahidullah Charkhi; Fardin Hozhabri; Hadi Hajarian
Volume 26, Issue 1 , March 2024, , Pages 15-31
Abstract
Introduction: Medicinal plants are one of the most important known herbal additives in feeding ruminant animals. It has been reported that medicinal plants with favorable effects on rumen fermentation improve the function of the digestive system and as a result feed intake, as well as the level of animal ...
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Introduction: Medicinal plants are one of the most important known herbal additives in feeding ruminant animals. It has been reported that medicinal plants with favorable effects on rumen fermentation improve the function of the digestive system and as a result feed intake, as well as the level of animal products and the growth rate of infants increases. Also, numerous and sometimes contradictory reports have been reported about the effects of using medicinal plants in the diet of different animals on blood parameters. Limited studies have been published regarding the addition of medicinal plants to the diet of mother ewes and its effect on the suckling lambs. Most of the studies are about the direct use of medicinal plants by lambs and its effect on the performance and other behavioral characteristics of the animal. Therefore, in the present study, the main goal was to investigate the effects of adding a mixture of different proportions of medicinal plants such as cumin, coriander seeds and peppermint to the ration of lactating ewes on the performance, blood parameters, and antioxidant status of the suckling lambs.
Materials and Methods: This research was conducted in a completely randomized design using 48 lambs with an average weight of 3.34±0.44 kg along with 24 lactating ewes with an average milk production of 1107.03±122.25 grams per day in individual stalls for a period of 65 days. The groups of mother ewes included: control (basic diet) and first, second and third treatments, in addition to the basic diet, were received 15 grams of cumin, coriander and peppermint mixed powder with the ratios of 60:30:10; 10:45:45 and 30:60:10 %, respectively. The lambs were weighed every two weeks and at the end of the experiment, blood was taken from the jugular vein.
Results and Discussion: The final weight and average daily gain (ADG) of lambs of first treatment were higher than other groups (P<0.05). Red blood cells (RBC) and hematocrit were the lowest in third and the highest in first treatments, although there was no significant difference with control. Platelets and red cell distribution width (RDW) in first treatment were lower than control (P<0.05). There was no difference between treatments in terms of white blood cells (WBC), percentages of lymphocytes and granulocytes. The concentration of blood glucose in lambs of first treatment decreased compared to control. The total antioxidant capacity of lambs from mothers receiving herbal supplement increased and malondialdehyde was lower compared to control.
Conclusion: The results showed that the use of a mixture of cumin, coriander and peppermint in the ration of mother ewes increased the antioxidant capacity and decreased malondialdehyde in suckling lambs, although ADG was not noticeable.
sara Ataei Nazari; abdollah mohammadi sang cheshmeh; Mohammad Reza Bakhtiarizadeh; ali assadi-alamouti; Ali Fouladi Nashta
Volume 22, Issue 3 , September 2020, , Pages 491-500
Abstract
This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of various concentrations of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in maritaruta medium on oocyte maturation, oocyte developmental competence and metabolites related to maturation medium including glucose, pyruvate, lactate and glutamine. The experimental ...
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This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of various concentrations of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in maritaruta medium on oocyte maturation, oocyte developmental competence and metabolites related to maturation medium including glucose, pyruvate, lactate and glutamine. The experimental treatments were 0 (control), 0.01, 0.1, 1 and 10 μg/ml of LPS in oocyte maturation medium. The cumulus oocytes complex (COC) were cultured with various concentrations of lipopolysaccharide. After 24 h of oocyte maturation, the medium was collected and the rates of oocyte maturation, cleaved oocyte and oocytes reached to blastocyst stage were analyzed. Oocyte maturation rate was lowest in the treatment with 10 μg/ml of LPS (P<0.05). Among the measured metabolites, only glucose concentration was linearlydecreased in response to increasing levels of LPS in the maturation medium (P<0.05) as treatment with 10 μg/ml of LPS had lower glucose concentration comparing to other treatments. The percentage of oocyte cleavage was significantly lower in treatment with highest level of LPS compared to other treatments (P<0.05). In addition, the treatment with 1 and 10 μg/ml of LPS significantly reduced blastocyst rate compared to control group (P<0.05). According to results of this study, lipopolysaccharide could have detrimental effects on oocyte development and these influences seems to be mediated through pathways related to energy metabolism. Acquiring managerial approaches to control LPS enhancing agents during reproductive season could prevent animal's reproductive failure.
Sayedeh Forough Hosseini Vardanjani; Javad Rezaei; said dehkordi; Yousef Rouzbehan
Volume 20, Issue 4 , February 2019, , Pages 539-551
Abstract
In this study, the effect of different levels of ZnO, nano-ZnO and Zn-methionine, in pre- and post-partum diets, on feed intake, Zn absorption, microbial protein, as well as metabolites and IgG, IgM and IgA in the blood and colostrum of ewes and suckling lambs were investigated. Experiment was conducted ...
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In this study, the effect of different levels of ZnO, nano-ZnO and Zn-methionine, in pre- and post-partum diets, on feed intake, Zn absorption, microbial protein, as well as metabolites and IgG, IgM and IgA in the blood and colostrum of ewes and suckling lambs were investigated. Experiment was conducted from 50 days before to 30 days after lambing. Sixty pregnant Khorasan-Kurdish ewes were divided into six experimental groups (10 replicates) in a randomized complete block design. Experimental diets contained ZnO, nano-ZnO and Zn-methionine to meet NRC recommendation, or higher than NRC-recommended level. Replacing ZnO with nano-ZnO or Zn-methionine had no effect on different variables in ewes, but increasing Zn level in the diet of ewes resulted in an increment of daily Zn intake, a decline of Zn absorption coefficient and an increase of fecal Zn excretion (P<0.05). Feeding mother ewes with different Zn sources had no effect on blood metabolites and immunoglobulins of the suckling lambs. Overall, nano-ZnO had no positive or negative effects on ewes and suckling lambs and using Zn-methionine instead of ZnO did not improve the metabolic condition of the animals. On the other hand, the increasing dietary Zn concentration increased zinc excretion in the environment. In practice, using the conventional ZnO at the NRC recommendation level is sufficient to provide the requirement, and to maintain the immunity of pre- and post-partum ewes and there is no need for additional Zn from other sources.
Aazam Mirheidari; Noor Mohamad Torbatinejad; Saeed Hassani; Pirouz Shakeri
Volume 20, Issue 4 , February 2019, , Pages 553-564
Abstract
Two experiments were conducted to assess the addition of pistachio by-product biochar (PBB) to lactatingIn first experiment, the effects of the addition of different levels (0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5% diet on dry matter basis, DM) ofPBB on rumen fermentation parameters after 24h of incubation were investigated ...
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Two experiments were conducted to assess the addition of pistachio by-product biochar (PBB) to lactatingIn first experiment, the effects of the addition of different levels (0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5% diet on dry matter basis, DM) ofPBB on rumen fermentation parameters after 24h of incubation were investigated in a completely randomized designwith four treatments and three replications. Second experiment was designed to evaluate effect of feeding selectedlevel of PBB on performance and nutrient digestibility of 8 lactating Kermanian ewes in a Latin square change-overdesign with two 21-day periods. Methane production and ammonia-N concentrations decreased linearly (P<0.01), andpH increased linearly (P<0.01) as the dietary level of PBB raised. With the addition of 1%diet, milk yield, blood glucose, digestibility of DM increased (P<0.05) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) decreased(P<0.05) compared to control group. In general, adding 1% of PBB to lactatingand digestibility of DM.
Volume 19, Issue 1 , May 2017, , Pages 213-222
Abstract
The aim of this study was to compare the effect of glycogenic and/or lipogenic diets fed in Baluchi ewes treated with an estrus synchronization method to reduce delivery distance and improving reproductive parameters. Ninety heads of Baluchi ewes selected and randomly placed into three parallel groups. ...
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The aim of this study was to compare the effect of glycogenic and/or lipogenic diets fed in Baluchi ewes treated with an estrus synchronization method to reduce delivery distance and improving reproductive parameters. Ninety heads of Baluchi ewes selected and randomly placed into three parallel groups. Each ewe of group was fed in with three different diets based on the fat and starch sources. In order to do the estrus synchronization, all ewes were put CIDR in 30 day of the trial. After 14 days, they were removed, then four hundred IU eCG hormone were injected. As soon as estrus signals was observed, ewes were inseminated. Ultrasonography was done to observe the number of dominant follicle, CL and pregnancy diagnosis. After parturition, reproductive parameters like lambing and twining rate were analyzed. The most of examined ewes showed clearly estrus signals. The consequence of ovary sonography did not indicate significant effect in average of dominant follicles numbers among the experimental diets. The number of dominant follicles was increased significantly from time of estrus to artificial insemination. Ovulation, pregnancy and twining rate were considerably (P< 0.05) higher in glycogenic and glycogenic+lipogenic rations compared with lipogenic ration. Generally, the feeding of starch source alone and or along with low proportion of fat sources might improve the effect of estrus synchronization on reproductive performance of Baluchi ewes.
Hamed Kermani Moakhar; Saeed Zeinoldini; Armin Towhidi; Hamid Kohram
Volume 18, Issue 2 , June 2016, , Pages 387-395
Abstract
Using melatoninin ewes of Iran black breed, this study aimed to compare the reproduction and production performances in lambing program of two and three times per years for duration of two years. A hundred ewes allocated to two parallel groups: Group A (ewes in three lambing managing system using melatonin) ...
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Using melatoninin ewes of Iran black breed, this study aimed to compare the reproduction and production performances in lambing program of two and three times per years for duration of two years. A hundred ewes allocated to two parallel groups: Group A (ewes in three lambing managing system using melatonin) and Group B (ewes in two lambing managing system without using melatonin). To induce the estrus synchronization of ewes of Group A, 40 days before their first and second mating, melatonin implant was placed under the ear skin of these animals. Due to the decrease of birth interval in Group A, ewes of this group were dried off two weeks before mating. The nutritional flushing and ram effect were used to improve the ovulation rate in Groups of A and B, before mating. Reproduction and production parameters including estrus, ovulation, pregnancy, lambing rates and lambs weight were compared between two groups during two years. Our results indicated that the reproductive and productive performance of Group A was higher in first mating as compared to their second and third mating. The ovulation, pregnancy, lambing rate and lambs weight during two year was higher in Group A in comparison to Group B. Collectively, our findings indicated that the ewe's production and reproduction performance in three lambing managing system with the use of melatonin were more efficient compared to the ewes in two lambing managing system without using melatonin.