Growth studies in commercial broiler birds offered citric acid in formulated feed with low mineral density.

Study of 35 days was conducted to evaluate citric acid (CA) as an additive in poultry broiler feed with lower mineral content of calcium (Ca) and total phosphorus (TP) in commercial broiler poultry birds for its effect on growth, nutrient utilization, carcass characteristics, and economics. Vancobb-400 strain day old broiler chicks were divided into four main treatment groups T0, T1, T2, and T3. Treatment groups were further divided into eight replicates with ten chicks in each. T0 served as control, given standard corn-soy flakes-based ration (Pre-starter %: Crude protein (CP)-23, Ca-1.00, TP-0.70; Starter %: CP-22, Ca-1.10, TP-0.72, and Finisher %: CP-20, Ca-0.99, TP-0.70). Treatment T1 served as positive control with added 0.5% CA (Pre-starter %: CP-23, Ca-1.00, TP-0.70; Starter %: CP-22, Ca-1.10, TP-0.72 and Finisher %: CP-20, Ca-0.99, TP-0.70). Treatment T2 was given feed containing 0.5% CA with low Ca and TP content (Pre-starter %: CP-23, Ca-0.90, TP-0.66; Starter %: CP-22, Ca-0.99, TP-0.71 and Finisher %: CP-20, Ca-0.90, TP-0.69), whereas treatment T3 was given feed containing 0.5% CA with moderately low Ca and TP content (Pre-starter %: CP-23, Ca-0.80, TP-0.65; Starter %: CP-22, Ca-0.88, TP-0.70 and Finisher %: CP-20, Ca-0.79, TP-0.68). Birds offered moderately low Ca and TP with 0.5% CA addition, exhibited higher growth rate (P < 0.05), better nutrient utilization with positive influence on dressing percentage and forequarters weight. Economics of broiler feeding revealed that 0.5% CA supplementation fetched highest gross return above feed cost in broiler birds offered feed with moderately low Ca and TP content whereas lowest profit was recorded in feed with low content of Ca and TP. In conclusion, supplementation of 0.5% CA in feed with low and moderately low Ca and TP content positively influenced overall growth, and carcass characteristics. Economics of broiler feeding with moderately low Ca and TP content revealed highest profit with CA (0.5%) supplementation.

Effect of growth hormone gene polymorphism on growth traits in migratory Gaddi goats of Western Himalayas, India.

Goat production under migratory system is foremost meat resource in Western Himalayan region of India. Thus, selection of goats for superior growth rate is rewarding. Growth hormone (GH) gene is identified as main regulator of post-natal growth and development. The objective of this study was to identify GH gene variants in Gaddi goats reared under migratory system via polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP). Blood samples from 63 animals from different migratory flocks registered under All India Coordinated Research Project, Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University (HPAU), Palampur, were subjected to DNA isolation. A total of 422, 116, 389 and 181-bp amplicons were generated on amplification of four targeted regions of GH gene. GH1 and GH2 fragments were analysed using PCR-RFLP (HaeIII RE) that revealed three variants (AA, AB and BB) for GH1 having frequency as 0.27, 0.52 and 0.31, respectively whereas, two variants (AB and BB) were revealed for GH2 fragment having frequency of 0.24 and 076, respectively. GH3 and GH4 fragments were subjected to PCR-SSCP that detected three genotypes (AB, BB and AA) for GH3 with respective genotype frequency as 0.57, 0.21 and 0.22 respectively; however, GH4 was found to be monomorphic. The polymorphism information content values for GH1, GH2 and GH3 were 0.37, 0.36 and 0.34, respectively, which suggested the median level of polymorphism at studied loci and also indicated the effectiveness of the studied marker for population genetic studies. Significant associations (P ≤ 0.05) were detected for GH1 with 9-month body weight, GH2 with 9 and 12-month heart girth and GH3 with 6-month body weight, body height and body length, respectively. From the present study, it was concluded that SNPs and their association with some body measurements may be employed as useful markers for ongoing phenotypic selection programme.

Ophthalmic diseases and disorders in free-ranging rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) of Shivalik hill area of Himachal Pradesh, Northern India.

BACKGROUND: The studies on ophthalmic diseases and disorders in a population of rhesus macaques, in particular with free-ranging macaques, are limited mainly by the difficulty in capturing animals and obtaining samples. METHODS: From October 2011 to 2013, prevalence of various ophthalmic affections was recorded and analyzed on the basis of sex, age-group, and disease condition both in urban and peri-urban free-ranging rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) from various locations in Shivalik hill areas of Himachal Pradesh in northern India, as a part of clinical health examination. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Ophthalmic diseases were more prevalent in macaques captured from urban settings than those from peri-urban, and difference between two groups was statistically significant (P < 0.01). Further classification of ophthalmic diseases revealed that traumatic injuries, corneal opacity, and cataract were significantly higher in urban than those in peri-urban macaque (P < 0.01). Similarly, the ophthalmic disorders among different age-groups were also found statistically significant (P < 0.01). The effect of sex on ophthalmic disorders was not found significant. Overviewing these results, disturbances in environment, close proximity to humans, and increasing age may lead to ophthalmic occurrences in these free-range macaques.

Principal component analysis of biometric traits to reveal body confirmation in local hill cattle of Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, India.

AIM: In the present study, biometric traits (body length [BL], heart girth [HG], paunch girth (PG), forelimb length (FLL), hind limb length (HLL), face length, forehead width, forehead length, height at hump, hump length (HL), hook to hook distance, pin to pin distance, tail length (TL), TL up to switch, horn length, horn circumference, and ear length were studied in 218 adult hill cattle of Himachal Pradesh for phenotypic characterization. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Morphological and biometrical observations were recorded on 218 hill cattle randomly selected from different districts within the breeding tract. Multivariate statistics and principal component analysis are used to account for the maximum portion of variation present in the original set of variables with a minimum number of composite variables through Statistical software, SAS 9.2. RESULT: Five components were extracted which accounted for 65.9% of variance. The first component explained general body confirmation and explained 34.7% variation. It was represented by significant loading for BL, HG, PG, FLL, and HLL. Communality estimate ranged from 0.41 (HL) to 0.88 (TL). Second, third, fourth, and fifth component had a high loading for tail characteristics, horn characteristics, facial biometrics, and rear body, respectively. CONCLUSION: The result of component analysis of biometric traits suggested that indigenous hill cattle of Himachal Pradesh are small and compact size cattle with a medium hump, horizontally placed short ears, and a long tail. The study also revealed that factors extracted from the present investigation could be used in breeding programs with sufficient reduction in the number of biometric traits to be recorded to explain the body confirmation.

Genetic characterization of Gaddi goat breed of Western Himalayas using microsatellite markers.

AIM: In the present study, genetic characterization of Gaddi goat breed, a native to north temperate western Himalayan region of India, was carried out for the purpose of breed characterization and assessing existing intra-population genetic diversity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Totally, 75 blood samples procured at random from genetically unrelated animals of two sexes and different age groups and true to breed type were collected from different locations in the breeding tract of these goats in Himachal Pradesh, of which only 51 samples with desired quantity and quality were subjected to further processing for DNA isolation. The multi-locus genotype data were generated on 51 Gaddi goats sampled across different regions of the breeding tract in Himachal Pradesh using 15 FAO recommended goat specific microsatellite markers, which gave amplification and observed and effective number of alleles, gene frequency, observed and expected heterozygosity were estimated through PopGene software (1.3.1). RESULTS: A total of 135 distinct alleles were observed with mean observed and effective number of alleles as 9.0000±0.82 and 6.5874±0.56 respectively across all 15 studied loci. The maximum (15) alleles were contributed by loci DRBP1 and P19/DYA and the least (5) by SRCRSP5. The mean heterozygosity was observed to be 0.8347±0.01 ranging from 0.7584 (SRCRSP5) to 0.9156 (P19-DYA) across all loci. The mean observed (HO) and expected (HE) heterozygosities across all loci were 0.7484±0.02 and 0.8431±0.01 respectively. The polymorphism information content (PIC) value ranged from 0.7148 (SRCPS5) to 0.909 (P19-DYA) with mean PIC of 0.8105±0.01 in the present study. The average heterozygosity was observed to be 0.8347±0.01 ranging from 0.7584 (SRCRSP5) to 0.9156 P19 (DYA) across all loci. CONCLUSION: Microsatellite analysis revealed high level of polymorphism across studied microsatellite markers and informativeness of the markers for genetic diversity analysis studies in Gaddi goats. This high level of polymorphism can be utilized to plan future association studies to exploit the uniqueness and adaptability of indigenous Gaddi goat breed of Western Himalayas. Most studied microsatellite markers had desired neutrality, thus proving to be good candidates for genetic characterization and diversity analysis in Gaddi breed of goats also.