Aly B. Okab

Nutritional value of green seaweed (Ulva lactuca) for broiler chickens

The current work aimed to assess the potential of the green seaweed Ulva lactuca (U. lactuca) as an alternative ingredient in broiler chicken diets. The effect of substituting 1.0 or 3.0% of corn with U. lactuca on performance, carcass characteristics and serum constituents of broilers from 12 to 33 d of age was evaluated. Three treatments were distributed in a RCBD design: T1, control diet (0% U. lactuca); T2, 1.0 % U. lactuca; T3, 3.0 % U. lactuca. A total of 45 chicks were assigned to three treatments (5 replicates per treatment) used in this experiment. Cumulative feed intake (FI), body weight gain (BWG), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and nutrients retention from 12 to 33 d of age were not affected by treatment (P>0.05). Birds which had received T3 had a higher dressing percentage and breast muscle yield compared to those which had received T1 or T2. Serum total lipid, cholesterol and uric acid concentrations were significantly lower in birds which had received T2 and T3 (P<0.05). Serum enzymes and electrolytes were not influenced by any dietary treatment except for alanine transaminase (ALT) which was significantly lower for the treated groups. Based on presented evidences, it is recommended to substitute 3.0% of corn with green seaweed (U. lactuca).

Effects of dietary seaweed (Ulva lactuca) supplementation on the reproductive performance of buck and doe rabbits

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of seaweed on the reproductive performance of rabbits. Two trials were performed during this study. In the first trial, semen quality was evaluated in 15 buck rabbits with mean body weight of 4.80±0.41 kg and six month of age. In the second trial, prolificacy was determined in 30 artificially inseminated does with a mean body weight of 4.84±0.50 kg and five to six months of age. Rabbits in each trial were randomly allocated to one of three dietary seaweed levels; commercial pelleted diet (C), pelleted diet supplemented with 1% seaweed (T1), and pelleted diet supplemented with 2% seaweed (T2). Dietary supplementation of seaweed significantly increased plasma testosterone concentration and improved various sperm motility parameters. Analysis of acrosomal membrane integrity using electron microscopy revealed no significant influences of dietary seaweed supplementation on quality grade (I–IV) of all tested samples. These results reflected in positive prolificacy response of does artificially inseminated with semen samples pooled from bucks fed on T2, and offered diet supplemented with 2% seaweed one week prior to their insemination and throughout the gestation period. Feeding diets supplemented with 2% seaweed to doe rabbits improved their kindling rate, litter size, and their offspring ratio. Seaweed supplementation to the diets of rabbits raised under summer conditions had improved their reproductive performance by improving the semen fertility characteristics of bucks and the prolificacy characteristics of does. Hematological and biochemical parameters investigated in this study did not reveal any pathological signs in both rabbits genders due to dietary seaweed supplementation.

In vitro gossypol induced spermatozoa motility alterations in rabbits

The objectives of the present study were to: (i) examine the in vitro dose response of rabbit spermatozoa motility to the antifertility agent gossypol (GOS) and (ii) determine whether filtered (FIL) and unfiltered (UNFIL) GOS differ in their magnitude of effect. Rabbit semen belonging to adult males (n = 5; 12–14 months) were cultured with UNFIL GOS and FIL GOS (5% solution) and subsequently diluted (1:1–7) for analysis using a Computer Assisted Semen Analyzer (CASA) system in 5 time periods (0, 60, 120, 180 and 360 minutes). At Time 0, no significant change in rabbit spermatozoa motility (MOT) and progressive motility (PROG) with GOS FIL was noted, while increases were observed with GOS UNFIL. At Time 60, weak changes were noted for MOT and PROG. After 120 minutes of culture with both GOS FIL and GOS UNFIL, MOT and PROG decreased significantly in some experimental groups. However, no differences were recorded for both the parameters at Times 180 and 360, with the exception of PROG in the GOS UNFIL category (groups A, B, E, F and G), where a significant decrease was noticed. Detailed evaluation of the distance and velocity parameters revealed reduction in all these studied markers after 60 and 120 minutes of in vitro culture with both GOS FIL and GOS UNFIL, indirectly confirming the PROG decrease. Straightness (STR), linearity (LIN), wobble (WOB), amplitude of lateral head displacement (ALH) and beat cross frequency (BCF) mostly remained unaltered at all time periods for GOS FIL, where as some minor alterations were noticed in GOS UNFIL category for STR, LIN, WOB, ALH and BCF parameters at Time 0, 60 and 120. The present study confirms the dose and time dependent alterations of rabbit spermatozoa motility parameters by GOS. The GOS dynamics in our experiment shows that rabbit spermatozoa as a biological material can indicate a GOS inhibition of motility. Obtained data for the first time indicates a higher immobilizing potential of unfiltered GOS in comparison to filtered GOS in its inhibitory action of spermatozoa motility parameters in rabbits.

Regional and circadian variations of sweating rate and body surface temperature in camels (Camelus dromedarius).

It was the aim of this study to investigate the regional variations in surface temperature and sweating rate and to visualize body thermal windows responsible for the dissipation of excess body heat in dromedary camels. This study was conducted on five dromedary camels with mean body weight of 450 ± 20.5 kg and 2 years of age. Sweating rate, skin and body surface temperature showed significant (P < 0.001) circadian variation together with the variation in ambient temperature. However, daily mean values of sweating rate, skin and body surface temperature measured on seven regions of the camel body did not significantly differ. The variation in body surface temperature compared to the variation in skin temperature was higher in the hump compared to the axillary and flank regions, indicating the significance of camels fur in protecting the skin from daily variation in ambient temperature. Infrared thermography revealed that flank and axillary regions had lower thermal gradients at higher ambient temperature (T(a) ) and higher thermal gradients at lower T(a) , which might indicate the working of flank and axillary regions as thermal windows dissipating heat during the night. Sweating rate showed moderate correlation to skin and body surface temperatures, which might indicate their working as potential thermal drivers of sweating in camels.

Daily Rhythms of Physiological Parameters in the Dromedary Camel Under Natural and Laboratory Conditions

Camels are well adapted to hot arid environments and can contribute significantly to the economy of developing countries in arid regions of the world. Full understanding of the physiology of camels requires understanding of the internal temporal order of the body, as reflected in daily or circadian rhythms. In the current study, we investigated the daily rhythmicity of 20 physiological variables in camels exposed to natural oscillations of ambient temperature in a desert environment and compared the daily temporal courses of the variables. We also studied the rhythm of core body temperature under experimental conditions with constant ambient temperature in the presence and absence of a light-dark cycle. The obtained results indicated that different physiological variables exhibit different degrees of daily rhythmicity and reach their daily peaks at different times of the day, starting with plasma cholesterol, which peaks 24min after midnight, and ending with plasma calcium, which peaks 3h before midnight. Furthermore, the rhythm of core body temperature persisted in the absence of environmental rhythmicity, thus confirming its endogenous nature. The observed delay in the acrophase of core body temperature rhythm under constant conditions suggests that the circadian period is longer than 24h. Further studies with more refined experimental manipulation of different variables are needed to fully elucidate the causal network of circadian rhythms in dromedary camels.

Correlation of blood triiodothyronine (T3) level with some production traits in male goat kids

Khalid ABDOUN*, Emad SAMARA, Aly OKAB, Mohamed AL-BADWI, Mohamed EL-ZAREI, Ali AL-SEAF, Ahmed AL-HAIDARY Department of Animal Production, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Department of Environmental Studies, Institute of Graduate Studies and Research, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt Department of Animal Production and Breeding, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Qassim University, Qassim, Saudi Arabia