RESUMEN
Feather pecking and cannibalism are behavioral disorders that cause animal-welfare-relevant and economic problems. To mitigate these problems, the beaks of conventionally reared turkeys are usually already trimmed in the hatcheries. To find an alternative to beak trimming, we conducted this study with male turkeys of three breeds: B.U.T. 6, B.U.T. Premium and, Auburn (200 turkeys per breed). Half of the birds had infrared-trimmed beaks; the other half had intact beaks. For each treatment combination (breed, beak status), 25 turkeys were housed in one section. A screed grinding wheel was installed in each feed pan of the non-beak-trimmed turkeys as of week six to facilitate natural beak abrasion until slaughter. Eight randomly selected turkeys per section were regularly examined to record injuries, plumage condition, and beak dimensions. In addition, 96 beaks from randomly slaughtered birds were examined macroscopically and histologically. The results concerning injuries and plumage condition showed in most cases no differences between the beak-trimmed turkeys and the ones provided with the blunting disks. The histological examinations revealed alterations in only the beak-trimmed birds. We can conclude that the blunting method smoothens the beak during feeding and thus may be a possible alternative to beak trimming.
RESUMEN
It is well known that dog shelters are a common source for parasitic infections in different countries worldwide. The present study was conducted in order to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites and the frequency of polyparasitism in dogs living in two private shelters in Belgrade, Serbia. For this purpose, 134 faecal samples were examined for gastrointestinal parasites with the merthiolate-iodine-formalin concentration (MIFC)-method as well as for Giardia-coproantigen with an enzyme-linked-immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Taeniid eggs were identified by PCR and sequence analysis. Overall, at least one of nine different endoparasites was detected in 75.4% (101/134) of the dogs. Giardia duodenalis coproantigen was found most frequently (45.5%; 61/134), followed by eggs of Ancylostomatidae (41.0%; 55/134), oocysts of Hammondia/Neospora (11.2%; 15/134), eggs of Toxascaris leonina (9.7%; 13/134), oocysts of Isospora canis (8.2%; 11/134), eggs of Trichuris vulpis (6.7%; 9/134), cysts of Sarcocystis spp. (4.5%; 6/134), eggs of Toxocara canis (3.0%; 4/134) and eggs of Taenia spp. (1.5%; 2/134). The results of the study confirm a high parasitic burden in the investigated shelter dogs and call for an effective deworming program including an improved hygiene management in the affected facilities.