bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Comparative studies of sheep and goats: milk yield and composition and growth rate of lambs and kids
Authors: Economides S. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryTwo trials were carried out to compare the milk yield, milk composition and the rate of growth of naturally or artificially reared kids and lambs of Damascus goats and Chios sheep.Milk yield until weaning was similar in sheep and goats, but goats produced significantly more milk after weaning. Sheep milk was higher in total solids, fat, protein, lactose, ash and calorific value.Lambs and kids grew similarly during thead libitummilk feeding period but lambs grew faster during the restricted milk feeding period. Solid feed intake of lambs until weaning was higher than that of kids and the results indicated that the rumen develops later in kids than in lambs. During the post-weaning period lambs consumed more feed, grew faster and utilized feed more efficiently than kids. Lambs were more sensitive to high copper supply than kids.
Male sterility in field beans (Vicia faba L.). III. Male sterility with a cytoplasmic type of inheritance
Authors: Bond D. A. , Fyfe J. L. , Toynbee-Clarke Gillian 
Published: March 2009

1. Male-sterile plants were discovered in the progeny of an open-pollinated plant which had undergone a much higher level of natural crossing than any of a group of fifty plants drawn from the same population.2. Some male-sterile plants produced a few viable pollen grains under some conditions but these rarely permitted self-fertilization. A few plants had both sterile and fertile tillers. Male sterility was not transferred by grafting. No effect on the proportion of fertile plants could be found, when progenies were observed early and late in the season, sown in the autumn and spring or grown at contrasting plant densities.3. Inbred lines, unrelated to the male-sterile plants and their derivatives, varied greatly in their ability to restore male fertility. Some lines maintained the sterility almost completely, two consistently gave all male-fertile offspring, but the majority were partial restorers.
The response of plasma minerals, free fatty acids and glucose to adrenaline and cortisol infusion in sheep
Authors: Bolton Sarah C. , Weekes T. E. C. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYAdrenaline was infused at three rates, 40, 15 or 3 μ/kg/h, in normal sheep and in sheep rendered hypercortisolaemic by infusion of cortisol at 150 μg/kg/h. In both normal and hypercortisolaemic animals, plasma concentrations of glucose and free fatty acids were increased by adrenaline treatment; plasma phosphate decreased with all treatments; plasma magnesium and potassium decreased on infusion of adrenaline at 40 or 15, but not at 3 μg/kg/h; plasma calcium decreased only on infusion of adrenaline in hypercortisolaemic animals, and plasma sodium concentration was unaffected by treatment.Induction of a degree of lipolysis likely to occur in the field was not associated with a marked decrease in plasma magnesium.
Hormone changes in milk at the onset of lactogenesis and parturition in Friesland sheep
Authors: Heap R. B. , Fleet I. R. , Hamon M. , Booth J. M. , Chaplin V. M. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYOestrone sulphate, progesterone, total protein, Na and K concentrations in mammary secretions of Friesland sheep have been determined from 11 days before until 8 days after parturition. Mammary secretions were obtained on most days for at least 1 week before parturition in 9 of 14 ewes, and in all animals after lambing. Oestrone sulphate concentration had doubled on the morning of parturition compared with the value 24 h earlier, and this sharp rise was a useful indicator that delivery was imminent. Values continued to rise during the day of delivery, remained high for a further 24 h and then declined over the next 2 days. Progesterone, in contrast, decreased linearly between day –2 and day +2 when it reached baseline values.Total protein concentration in pre-colostral and colostral mammary secretion (10–15 g/100 ml) was higher than that in goats, and decreased to a mean value of about 6 g/100 ml by day +8 after delivery. Na declined from about 55 mM on day –10 to 36 mM on day 0, whereas K increased from 20 to 29 mM. There was a sharp rise in K/Na, but this occurred after rather than before parturition and was not a useful predictor of parturition.The onset of copious milk secretion occurred when oestrone sulphate in mammary secretions was high and progesterone was low, which is consistent with the hypothesis that the cessation of progesterone secretion is an important regulator of the onset of lactogenesis in sheep. Efficiency of milk secretion in the first 14 days of lactation was correlated, however, with the maximum oestrone sulphate concentration in colostrum on the day of parturition.
Manganese-mediated resistance to aluminium and antibiotics in strains ofAzospirillum brasilenseand their interaction with rice genotypes in acid soil
Authors: Rai R. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYManganese-tolerant strains Mnr-1 and Mnr-5 ofAzospirillum brasilense(RAU 1075) were isolated through step-wise transfer to higher levels of manganese chloride. One of the strains (Mnr-5) showed more growth at low pH and greater nitrogenase activity in 10 mM MnCl2. 4H2O than parental and Mnr-1 strains. These tolerant strains also showed cross-resistance to antibiotics such as gentamycin and neomycin but not to streptomycin. Mn-adapted strains also tolerated elevated levels of aluminium (2·5–3·5 mg/kg) and the stability of the Mn-resistance required the presence of Mn2+ ions in the growth medium. It has been demonstrated that the effect of inoculation with Mn-adapted strains was variable with different genotypes of rice in acid soil and that initial low level of nitrogen was essential for maximum associative N2-fixation.
Allogamy, varietal adulteration and the breeding of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus(L.) Moench.) in Nigeria
Authors: Akoroda M. O. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYField assessments of varietal contamination from entomophilous outcrossing in okra revealed that the plant characters employed in such assessments influenced the estimate of contamination expressed as percentage of offtypes. In Nigeria, complex cropping systems, land use patterns and the abundance of insects associated with okra flowers make the effective isolation of seed crops difficult. Also, the largely subsistence production where annual seed purchase is infrequent, and consumers' acceptance of variable and ungraded edible okra fruits, imply that breeding for uniform or pure varieties may not be appropriate. Consequently, a composite bulk variety is proposed for growing or seed multiplication in areas where edible fruit production is envisaged. In this way, the difficulty of pure seed production or unwanted adulteration of varieties will not pose problems to breeders or farmers.
Zinc pools and their availability to maize-wheat rotation
Authors: Brar S. P. S. , Singh B. , Deol Y. S. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYIn a long-term experiment with maize-wheat rotation, no response to zinc application was observed, even after 13 years of cropping though the status of zinc had decreased to a deficient level (0.35 mg/kg; DTPA). A study was, therefore, planned to find the reasons for lack of response, and the zinc fractions in the soil were analysed to assess their contribution to plant growth. All the zinc fractions other than organic zinc decreased as a result of continuous cropping without zinc application. Depletion was from the 0-30 cm layer and mainly from acid-soluble and weakly adsorbed Zn fractions. Applied zinc remained mainly in the 0-30 cm layer as acid soluble and weakly adsorbed Zn pools. All the fractions were strongly related to each other. The acid-soluble zinc fraction contributed 54 % to zinc uptake by the crops. Thus release of zinc from this pool was perhaps the main reason for lack of response to zinc.
Efficiency of the utilization of the energy of food in laying hens
Authors: Burlacu Gh. , Baltac Margareta 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYThe efficiency of utilization of the energy of food in White Leghorn laying hens for egg production was measured. A ration with a gross energy of 4469 kcal/kg dry matter and 19·4% crude protein had a metabolizable energy of 80·1±1·7% of the gross energy, and 78·5±5·3% of the metabolizable energy was present as net energy.The maintenance requirement of metabolizable energy of White Leghorn hens weighing 1·723±48·5 kg and a production of 19·3±0–49 eggs per month was 125·8 kcal/kg0·75/24 hr.The energy cost per g of protein and fat synthesized by laying White Leghorn hens was estimated to be 7·20 and 12·13 kcal metabolizable energy respectively.
Total serum protein and immunoglobulin concentrations in Scottish Blackface and Merino lambs at birth and during the first two days of suckling
Authors: Halliday R. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYMerino lambs had higher serum protein concentrations at birth than Blackface lambs. In both breeds single lambs had higher concentrations than twins. The maximum mean immunoglobulin concentrations in Merino singles, Blackface singles and Blackface twins were 2·50±0·12, 2·50±0·19 and l·96±0·15 g/100 ml serum respectively, and were recorded 18 or 21 h after birth.
Inheritance of resistance to bacterial blight of cotton: I. Allen (Gossypium hirsutum) derivatives
Authors: Innes N. L. 
Published: March 2009

In a replicated trial the high resistance to bacterial blight of the Allen derivatives Reba W296 and Albar strains was confirmed. Only one major gene, Lagière's B9, was detected in Reba W 296. The very high resistance of this variety is due to B9 fortified by genes of small effect.The key to resistance in Albar derivatives is the major gene B2: the presence of B3 awaits confirmation. It was found that Albar 49, maintained in Uganda, had deteriorated in resistance to leaf infection in the Sudan. Possible reasons for this change are discussed. All Albar derivatives selected in East Africa for stem and boll resistance were found to be variable for leaf resistance under Sudan conditions.
Effect of the apetalous flower character on radiation distribution in the crop canopy, yield and its components in oilseed rape (Brassica napus)
Authors: Rao M. S. S. , Mendham N. J. , Buzza G. C. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYA Brassica napus line that produces flowers with virtually no petals (Apetalous) was compared for its physiological significance with Marnoo, a related cultivar bearing conventional yellow petals. Experiments between 1984 and 1987 used different growth regulators, plant population densities and irrigation treatments. Apetalous allowed 30 % more short-wave radiation to reach the base of the inflorescence, and reflected only half as much radiation as Marnoo at peak flowering. This allowed leaves to persist and remain active for longer. Apetalous then consistently retained more seeds/pod, each of greater mean weight, at all heights within the crop canopy, resulting in substantially greater yields than Marnoo in most instances. At the highest population density, it retained productive secondary branches, whereas Marnoo had none. Irrigation after flowering increased the yields of both lines by allowing more seeds/pod to be retained, particularly at lower heights in the canopy. In Apetalous, however, even without irrigation, yields remained high. Apetalous does have larger flower parts, other than petals, which could contribute to the larger pods and seeds. This, combined with lower plant populations than Marnoo in some experiments, could have explained some of the effects seen, but the characteristic is worthy of further study in a range of genetic backgrounds and environments.
Effects of sodium hydroxide and of energy and protein supplements on the voluntary intake and digestibility of barley, oat and wheat straw by cattle
Authors: Ng'ambi J. W. W. , Campling R. C. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYThree change-over experiments with yearling cattle examined the effects on voluntary intake and digestibility of treating barley, oat and wheat straws with NaOH. Increases in intake due to the NaOH treatment were: with barley straw 31 %, oat straw 9% and with wheat straw 1 %, and the corresponding improvements in digestibility were 36, 13 and 24%. A further three experimentswith yearling heifers and steers measured the effects of supplements on the responsein feeding value to NaOH treatment of wheat straw. Increasing the daily supplement of rolled barley from 10 to 3·4 kg led to a decrease in voluntary intake of treated straw from 4·6 to 3·6 kg organic matter (OM), while including urea, to increase the concentrationof nitrogenin a beet pulp supplement from 19 to 24 gN/kg dry matter (DM), gave an increasein intakeof straw from 3·4 to 4·8 kg OM. Providing more than c. 15 gN/kg dietary DM did not lead to a significant increase in voluntary intake or digestibility. In a further experiment, isonitrogenous supplements of rolled barley and soyabean meal, or rolled barley and fishmeal, led to similar intakes and digestibilities of treatedstraw. The variation in response to NaOH treatment is discussed.
Environmental and managerial factors affecting the growth of Friesian heifers from six months of age to calving
Authors: Ridler B. , Broster W. H. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryThe growth of 120 Friesian heifers born into one herd over a period of 12 years was studied for the period from 6 months of age to calving at about 30–35 months of age. Live weights were recorded weekly and rates of live-weight gain were calculated for each 3-month period for each animal. Δt 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of age the heifers weighed 360, 590, 800 and 950 lb. The coefficients of variation of live weight did not vary with age and averaged ±10·0%. Coefficients of variation of live-weight gain increased from ± 20% at 6–9 months of age to ±60% at 24–27 months of age. Growth rate declined by 0·02 lb/day from 12 months to 30 months of age for animals under constant managerial conditions. Heifers wintered indoors grew faster than those wintered outdoors. The growth of younger animals was decreased more by outdoor wintering (a reduction of 0·6 lb/day at 15 months) than was the growth rate of older animals (a reduction of 0·3 lb/day at 21 months of age). When live-weight gain was low in winter there was marked compensatory growth at grass the following summer. Pregnant heifers grew 0·1 lb/day faster in early pregnancy and 0·6 lb/day faster in the last 4 months of pregnancy than did barren heifers.There was no appreciable difference between the live-weight gain of spring- and autumn-born heifers. With an autumn calving policy spring-born heifers were served and conceived 135 days earlier and weighed 106 lb less at calving than did autumn-born heifers. There was little difference in the milk yield of the two groups in 305 days of the first lactation.The regression equation of live weight (lb) on age (months) to 3rd calving was W = 1449 – 2027 e-0·042t. It was concluded that in the interests of economic rearing the dairy farmer could with advantage exercise greater control of the relationship between nutrition and growth during high cost winter periods and low cost summer periods.
The application of an improved artificial rumen technique to the study of the effects of non-protein nitrogen on fermentation and nitrogen distribution in the rumen
Authors: Griffiths T. W. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryAn artificial rumen technique which simulated in vivo conditions was applied to the study of the effects of non-protein nitrogen on fermentation and nitrogen distribution in the rumen. Using this technique it was possible to reproduce in vitro a series of biochemical and other effects on fermentation that had been produced in vivo by the addition of various sources and levels of non-protein nitrogen to the rumen. It was shown that with a basal diet of cellulose, protein was synthesized from urea both in the presence and absence of starch over a period of 24 h and a typical rumen fermentation pattern was maintained.
Nutritional evaluation of kale (Brassica oleracea) diets:2. Copper deficiency, thyroid function, and selenium status in young cattle and sheep fed kale for prolonged periods
Authors: Barry T. N. , Reid T. C. , Millar K. R. , Sadler W. A. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYAnimals fed sole diets of kale (Brassica oleracea) were compared with animals fed ryegrass-clover pasture grown on the same soil type in two experiments. In Expt 1 young cattle grazed the two forages for 24 weeks, with supplementary copper and iodine being administered by injection. In Expt 2 young sheep were individually fed the two forages indoors at equalD.m.intake.Animals grazing kale in Expt 1 showed the characteristic symptoms of haemolytio anaemia from ruminal fermentation ofS-methyl cysteine sulphoxide (SMCO) (Smith, 1974). This was most severe over the first 6 weeks, during which live-weight gains were very low (250 g/day). In the absence of copper supplementation animals grazing kale showed symptoms of copper deficiency. This was characterized by live-weight gain remaining low throughout the experiment (mean 280 g/day), rapid depletion of liver copper reserves, progressive reductions in serum copper concentration, reductions in erythrocyte copper and reduced glutathione (GSH) concentrations and a massive hepatic accumulation of iron. Copper deficiency only slightly lowered heart muscle copper concentration in kale-fed cattle, and this was counteracted byheart hypertrophy. The major effects of copper deficiency in kale-fed cattle were in erythrocytes, and a metabolic diagram is presented showing these effects to be biochemically similar to those produced by ruminal fermentation of SMCO.Copper supplementation of animals grazing kale increased live-weight gain (mean 425 g/day), reduced Heinz body formation, allowed the animals to recover gradually from the haemolytic anaemia and prevented other symptoms of copper deficiency. In contrast, animals grazing ryegrass-clover pasture showed only a very mild depletion of copper, there being no response in live-weight gain to copper supplementation.Activity of the enzyme glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in whole blood was dependent upon blood selenium concentration in cattle fed both diets. In cattle fed on kale, bub not on pasture, reductions in erythrocyte GSH due to ruminal fermentation of SMCO and to copper deficiency were also associated with depressed blood selenium status.Glucosinolates were present in the kale (11μM/g D.M.) but absent from the pasture diet. Despite this, neither T4production from the thyroid gland nor the conversion of T4to T3appeared to be impaired by kale feeding in either Expt 1 or Expt 2. In Expt 1 serum T3concentration was better relatedto live-weight gain than was serum T4concentration, in accord with T3being the active form of the thyroid hormone.It is concluded that supplementation with copper but not iodine is essential where growing cattle are fed sole diets of kale for periods in excess of 12 weeks
Nitrogen metabolism in indigenous Malawi goats
Authors: Reynolds L. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYFour mature castrate Malawi goats, mean live weight 29·66 kg, were offered diets of poor quality Rhodes grass hay, or hay plus a concentrate comprising either maize bran or maize bran-cotton seed cake mixed in varying proportions, so that N intake varied from 4·76 to 20·81 g/day in a series of four metabolism trials.By extrapolation metabolic faecal N loss was estimated to be 9·94 g/kg faecal D.M. and that of endogenous urinary N to be 0·121 g/kg W0·75. The daily maintenance requirement for nitrogen was shown by a factorial method to be 0·682 gN/kg W0·75, and by use of regression equations to be 0·688 g N/kg W0·75 or 0·314 g apparent digestible N/kg W0·75. The mean daily requirement was 8·8 g N, with a mean apparent digestibility of N of 43·4%, and a true digestibility of 80·0%.
Effects of infusing the rumen with acetic acid and nitrogenous constituents in maize silage extracts on food intake, ruminal osmolality and blood acid–base balance in sheep
Authors: Phillip L. E. , Buchanan-Smith J. G. , Grovum W. L. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYFour experiments were conducted to determine whether the products of fermentation in maize silage could limit food intake by lambs. In all experiments the lambs were fed ad libitum adietoi dried and pelleted lucerne, but were deprived of food for 4 h on the morning of intraruminal infusion. The infusions were made according to latin-square designs and commenced after 1 h of food deprivation. In Expt 1, the infusion of 3·5 I acetic acid solutions to provide 15, 30 and 60 g acetic acid had no effect (P > 0·05) on cumulative food intake compared with water. In Expt 2 infusion of three maize silage extracts differing in their composition of nitrogenous constituents suppressed (P < 0·05) food intake relative to acetic acid alone, but there were no significant (P < 0·05) differences among the extracts. When 2·71 of an extract from a low dry matter (D.M.) maize silage were infused in Expt 3 cumulative food intake was significantly (P > 0·05) decreased compared with acetic acid, but ruminal osmolality was increased to 430 mosmol/kg and ruminal pH declined to less than 5·5. In Expt 4, 1·5 1 of the low D.M. maize silage extract, an amount actually consumed by lambs during 4 h, decreased voluntary intake by 25% compared with the control but the effect was not statistically significant. Estimates of ruminal osmolality and pH ranged between 250 and 360 mosmol/kg and between 68 and 6·2 respectively. Measures of acid-base status were not affected (P < 0·05) by the infusion of acetic acid or maize silage extract. Whether specific soluble constituents of maize silage fermentation could limit food intake by ruminants was not proven.
Relationship between the blood composition of Friesian (Holstein) bulls and their improved contemporary comparisons for production traits
Authors: Rowlands G. J. , Bunch Kathryn J. , Brookes P. A. , Manston R. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYBlood samples were taken from 428 Friesian (Holstein) bulls on three occasions, on average at approximately 3-monthly intervals, between 3 and 15 months of age, and also from 214 of them on three occasions at 6-monthly intervals when they were between 2 and 6 years of age.The average concentrations of blood glucose and haemoglobin and of serum cholesterol, urea, albumin, globulin, inorganic phosphate, Ca, Mg, Na, K and Cu were calculated for each of these periods and correlated with improved contemporary comparisons of milk yield and quality.Repeatability estimates were similar within each of the two periods but were lower when mean concentrations calculated between 3 and 15 months of age were compared with those between 2 and 6 years. The main exceptions were cholesterol (0·52) and Cu (0·54) for which repeatability estimates were similar to those derived within the above two periods. The constituents with the next highest levels of repeatability were magnesium (0·44), globulin (0·43) and inorganic phosphate (0·39), which were approximately 30% lower than those obtained within the two periods.Correlations between blood concentrations and improved contemporary comparisons were negligible, indicating that it is not possible to use these blood constituents to predict the milk production potential of a bull's daughters.