Journal of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine

Number 3(2), 2018

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Effect of coat colour on morphological characteristics of Red Sokoto, Sahel and West African Dwarf goats

Authors: A. J. Shoyombo, O. O Alabi, A. A. Musa, M. Wheto, M. A. Popoola and U. D. S Bunjah

Abstract

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The need to classify animals into breeds has necessitated the study of coat colour and its overall impact on livestock productivity. There exists paucity of information on the impact of coat colour on morphometrics of goats in Nigeria and this study was designed to fill that knowledge gap. Color morphological character was used to determine the relationship among Red Sokoto, Sahel and West Africa Dwarf at different ages (Less than one year, one to two years and above two years). 300 each of Red Sokoto, Sahel and WAD goats, with 150 males and females per breed and 100 across ages (<1year old, 1-2 years old and 2-3 years old) from Sokoto, Borno and Ogun state were sampled and were sorted into colour groups within breeds and different age groups and the effect of this on body measurements and body weight were evaluated. It was generally observed that coat colour influence varied with sexes and ages and moderately influenced many body mensuration traits with no definite pattern between breeds, ages and sex. Brown goats with white spots weighed heavier (body weight), grew taller (height at wither and stature) and had greater depth (D) and girth (HG); followed by white and brown, brown (B) and dark red (DR) coat coloured goats. The black with black spotted pigments had the least figures for production parameters on the average. It was concluded that although, coat colour appeared as a weak factor influencing body growth, it nevertheless, is a moderate factor that influences body morphometry.

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Improvement of growth performance, immunity and disease resistance in Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, by using dietary probiotics supplementation

Authors: M. F. Dowidar, Sameh Abd ElAzeem, Khater A. M., Awad Somayah. M. and Metwally S. A.

Abstract

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This study evaluated the effect of probiotics on the growth performance, some immunological, biochemical and hematological parameters of Nile tilapia. Eight weeks feeding trials were conducted to examine the effect of three types of probiotics, multi-strain probiotics (6×107 cfu/g), Bacillus subtilis (1×1011 cfu/g) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (2.6×1010 cfu/g) in commercial names Protexin, Biogen-S and Diamond V respectively. Nile tilapia (24±0.02 g) was fed probiotic-incorporated diets as well as control diet (free of probiotics) in triplicates. At 4th and 8th week of feeding trial, the growth performance of fish fed different probiotics was higher than those fed the control diet. No significant difference was observed among fish fed different probiotics for 4 or 8 weeks. Blood profile showed an increase in hemoglobin (Hb), red blood cell (RBCs), packed cell volume (PCV), total protein, and globulin while aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels decreased in fish fed different types of probiotics. Probiotics supplementation improved fish innate immunity based on lysozyme and respiratory burst activities over the control diet evaluated at 4th and 8th week. Likewise, significant up-regulation of the expression of cytokine genes, interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF α) estimated at 8th week by using quantitative RT-PCR were significantly higher than the control. After experimental period (8 weeks) fish from each group were challenged by pathogenic Aeromonas hydrophila (4×108 cfu/ml) which exhibited better relative survival percentages than the controls. Dietary supplementation of probiotics improves growth performance, immune status and disease resistance in Nile tilapia. Also, the best results related to growth obtained from groups fed multi-strain probiotic.