American Journal of Animal and Veterinary Sciences 

About: American Journal of Animal and Veterinary Sciences is an academic journal published by Science Publications. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Biology & Population. It has an ISSN identifier of 1557-4555. It is also open access. Over the lifetime, 505 publications have been published receiving 3444 citations.

Randomly amplified polymorphic dna-a brief review

Abstract: RAPD is a PCR based technique which involves the use of single arbitrary short primers (8-12 nucleotid es), resulting in the amplification of many discrete DNA . The segments of DNA that are amplified are random. The technique was developed independently by two different laboratories and called as RAPD and AP-PCR (Arbitrary Primed PCR). This procedure detects nucl eotide sequence polymorphisms in a DNA amplification based assay using only a single prime r of arbitrary nucleotide sequence. The RAPD technology has provided a quick and efficient scree n for DNA-sequence polymorphisms at a very large no of loci. The present communication gives emphasis on basic knowledge about RAPD, procedure, its advantages disadvantages, limitations and applicati ons of RAPD.

Nutrient Digestibility and Gas Production of Some Tropical Feeds Used in Ruminant Diets Estimated by the in vivo and in vitro Gas Production Techniques

Abstract: Some feedstuffs which used in ruminants diet (corn grain, soybean meal, wheat bran and alfalfa) were analyzed for chemical composition, apparent in vivo nutrient digestibility, in vitro fermentation gas production and metabolizable energy. Chemical composition of test feeds differed in nutrient contents. Initially apparent in vivo digestibility of alfalfa nutrients were obtained then digestibility of nutrients for the other test feeds were determined by difference method, using 16 Ghezel mature rams (mean weight of 43.9±4 kg). In vivo DM, CP, NDF and OM apparent digestibility were different among the test feeds (p<0.05). Regarding to the results, corn grain had a high DM and OM digestibility between test feeds and soybean meal had a high CP and NDF digestibility between test feeds (p<0.05). Cumulative gas production was recorded at 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 36, 48, 72 and 96 h of incubation and the equation of p = A (1-e-ct) was used to describe the kinetics of gas production. Potential gas production (A) and rates of gas production (c) differed (p<0.01) among feeds. Corn grain showed higher potential gas production (A) (326.5 mL g -1 DM) and wheat bran had higher rate of gas production (c) (0.097 h -1 ) than the other feeds, inverses alfalfa (257.6 mL g 1 DM) and corn grain (0.048 h -1 ) had lower potential gas production and rate of gas production than the other test feeds, respectively. The metabolizable energy (MJ kg -1 DM) content of feeds was calculated using in vivo organic matter digestibility and gas production data. According to in vivo organic matter digestibility data, the ME values ranged from 9.2 in alfalfa to 13.3 MJ kg 1 DM in corn grain. It was concluded that regarding to different chemical composition of test feeds, the in vivo digestibility, in vitro gas production and ME of feeds showed different values.

Adding medicinal herbs including garlic (Allium sativum) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris) to diet of laying hens and evaluating productive performance and egg quality characteristics.

Abstract: Problem statement: In trying to finding phytogenic antibiotic-substitutes this study was done and effects of adding graded levels of Medicinal Herbs (MH) including garlic (Allium sativum) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris) to laying hens’ diet on productive performance investigated. Approach: A total number of 108 Lohmann LSL-Lite hens after production peak were randomly divided in 18 cages (n = 6). Three iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous experimental diets (ME = 2720 Kcal Kg-1 and CP = 154.2 g Kg-1) including three levels (0, 1 and 2 g kg-1) of ground mixture of garlic and thyme (1:1) were fed to hens with 6 replicates per diet during 6 week trial period. Collected data of Feed Intake (FI), Egg Production (EP), Egg Mass (EM) and calculated Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) as well as egg traits were analyzed based on completely randomized design using GLM procedure of SAS. Results: Dietary treatment did not have significant effect on EP, EM and FCR in laying hens (p>0.05). Dietary inclusion of MH decreased FI in weeks 1-6 (p≤0.05). Including diet with 0.1% MP improved means of egg weight (g) comparing to the other two experimental diets. Adding 0.2% MH to diet increased egg yolk color as well as blood lymphocyte counts and decreased egg shell weight comparing to other dietary treatments (p≤0.05). Conclusion: In conclusion, dietary inclusion of garlic and thyme can have beneficial effects on performance of laying hens in terms of improving egg weight and yolk color.

Effects of Betaine Supplementation to Methionine Deficient Diet on Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Broilers

Abstract: Problem Statement: The efficacy of Methionine (Met) sparing effect of Betaine (BET) has been shown to be associated with dietary compositions, animal physiological stage and living conditions. This study was to determine the extent to which dietary Met could be replaced by BET in broiler chickens under the feeding conditions specific to Chinese poultry industry.Approach: A total of 900 day-old Arbor Acres broiler chicks were fed three corn-soybean meal-based starter rations (d 1-21) and grower rations (d 22-42) for a total of 42 days. Met levels in the diets were: Diet 1, Met content at the recommended level (Control); diet 2, Met level at 85% of the Control supplemented with BET at the level of 400 (starter) or 300 (grower) mg kg-1 DM; Diet 3, Met level at 75% of the Control supplemented with BET at the level of 600 (starter) or 500 (grower) mg khg-1 DM. The broilers were raised in a temperature controlled house with 3 pens (replicates) per dietary treatment. Results: In general, treatment had no effect on body weight, feed intake or feed efficiency. Concentrations of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1 in the serum of broilers fed Diet 3 were higher (p<0.05) than that of broilers of other treatments. Supplementation of BET at the level of replacing 25% of total Met increased (p<0.05) breast meat yield and protein content of breast meat and liver, but decreased (p<0.05) abdominal fat yield and ether extract content of liver. Conclusions/Recommendations: Supplementation of BET to replace up to 25% of total dietary Met did not affect the growth performance but improved the carcass quality of the broilers. BET could be used to spare 25% of the total Met in broiler diet that was formulated based on the Feeding Standard of China.

Prevalence and Distribution of Mastitis Pathogens and their Resistance Against Antimicrobial Agents in Dairy Cows in Jordan

Abstract: The primary objective of this study was to determine the aetiology of bovine mastitis in ten herds of Holstein Friesian cow in Jordan, the prevalence of mastitis pathogens in dairy cows and their resistance to selected antimicrobial agents. Milk samples were collected from 220 lactating cows to determine the clinical and subclinical mastitis by white side test and confirmed by cultural tests. It was found that 138 quarters 15.7% had been diagnosed as clinical mastitis with definite gross pathological lesions and change in udder secretion, in addition to that 276 quarters 31.4% showed subclinical mastitis. The incidence of mastitis was found to be increased in older cows. Staphylococcus aurous was considered to be the most common cause of both clinical and subclinical mastitis and followed by coli forms, streptococcus spp., corynebacterium spp., proteus spp. and pseudomonas spp. Sensitivity tests was applied to different isolated strains using tertracycline, ampicillin, neomycin, erythromycin, penicillin G and sulphamethoxazol trimethoprim.