Effect of management practices and animal age on incidence of mastitis in Nili Ravi buffaloes.

Buffalo is an economically important dairy animal in South Asia but mostly ignored in research priorities. In this retrospective study, the effect of management practices and age of animal on the incidence of mastitis in Nili Ravi buffaloes was investigated. A total of 1,560 quarters of buffaloes (n = 390) were screened by visual examination of the udder and milk (clinical mastitis) and California mastitis test (subclinical mastitis). Household data was collected on a predesigned questionnaire and analyzed. The prevalence of subclinical mastitis, clinical mastitis, and blind quarters was 41.8, 13.6, and 9.7 %, respectively. The highest prevalence was noted in the hind quarters and left side as compared to that in the forequarters and right side. This data significantly (p < 0.05) supported the idea that larger herd size has more chances of mastitis, with the highest prevalence (40, 32, and 27 %) in the large, medium, and small herds, respectively. Stage of lactation was significantly (p < 0.01) involved in mastitis, and the highest incidence (43.3 %) was noted in early lactation. Milk production of lactating buffaloes that ranged 6-10 l/day showed a higher rate of mastitis occurrence (p < 0.05). The cleanliness condition of a farm also contributed significantly. Animal age significantly affected the incidence of mastitis. Results revealed that age of the animal has a positive correlation (R (2) = 0.772) with mastitis. This study concluded that some factors alone or in combination with other factors influence significantly the occurrence of mastitis, and to minimize the infection, these factors should be considered. The outcome of the study will be valuable for policy-making for positive management practices and implementation of preventive measures.

Simultaneous assessment of zinc, cadmium, lead and copper in poultry feeds by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry.

In the present work four metals (Zn, Cd, Pb and Cu) were determined simultaneously in 28 commercial broiler poultry feeds by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) using hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE). The digestion of poultry feeds was carried out with concentrated nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide (2:1) with the help of microwave heating. Acetate buffer of pH 5 was used as a supporting electrolyte. The limit of detection for Zn, Cd, Pb and Cu was 0.69, 0.35, 0.68 and 0.24 microg/kg, respectively. The amount of Zn, Cd, Pb and Cu in the analyzed poultry feeds was ranged between 54.3-482.2, 3.8-33.6, 23.2-32.6 and 12.3-65.8 mg/kg, respectively. In most of analyzed poultry feed samples, the amount of Cd and Pb was found to be greater than the maximum tolerable level (MTL) which could be harmful for the poultry.