Supplementation of nano-selenium (SeNPs) improved growth, immunity, antioxidant enzyme activity, and selenium retention in broiler chicken during summer season.

The present experiment was aimed at finding the optimal supplemental dose of nano-selenium in broiler chicken during the summer season for better performance in terms of growth, blood metabolites, immune response, antioxidant status, and selenium concentration in vital organs. Three-hundred-day-old Vencobb broiler chicks were randomly distributed into five dietary treatment groups with six replicates of 10 chicks each. The dietary treatments were as follows: T1 (control group), basal diet; T2, basal diet with 0.0375 ppm of nano-Se; T3, basal diet with 0.075 ppm of nano-Se; T4, basal diet with 0.15 ppm of nano-Se; T5, basal diet with 0.3 ppm of nano-Se. The experiment was carried out for 35 days. The average gain and feed conversion ratio were best observed in T4 and T5. The antibody titres were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the treated birds. At the 5th week, erythrocytic glutathione peroxidase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase activities were significantly (P < 0.05) higher and lipid peroxidation values were significantly (P < 0.05) lower in all the nano-Se-treated groups. The Se levels in the liver, breast muscle, kidney, brain, and gizzard were significantly (P < 0.05) increased with increased dietary nano-Se. Histological studies of the liver and kidney in the highest nano-Se-treated groups (T4 and T5) did not show any abnormal changes. It is concluded that supplementation of nano-selenium at 0.15 ppm over and above the basal level improved the performance and protect the birds from summer stress without any adverse effect on the vital organs of chicken.

Effect of age and sex in determining cognitive ability in Vanaraja chickens.

(1) To evaluate the cognitive ability of male and female Vanaraja birds, three hundred and sixty 1-d-old sexed chickens were reared under similar conditions in three treatment groups with 4 replicates in each group: 120 females in Treatment 1, 120 males in Treatment 2 and both males and females (60 + 60) as a mixed group in Treatment 3. (2) To assess learning ability, the birds were trained in T- and Y-mazes and tested at 3-week intervals in 4 test schedules (21, 42, 63 and 84 d). The birds were put into tonic immobility (TI) in each test schedule. (3) In each maze test, the latency to find the feed was regarded as a successful completion of the task. In the TI-test, the time taken to stabilise on a plane surface after swinging in the hanging cradle for 20-25 s was recorded. (4) The results indicated that male birds appeared to be cognitively superior to females in terms of learning and cognitive evolution in all the mazes, but by d 84, the females performed as well as the males. With increasing age, spatial memory gathering and processing improved. In the TI-test, the effect of sex or grouping system had no significant effect on the performance of birds at the various ages.

Comparative evaluation of hormonal protocol on the performance of crossbred cattle.

A total of 60 animals (38 cows, 22 heifers) were selected and were divided into three groups of 20 animals each (containing both anoestrus and repeat breeder) in which treatment was performed for 60 days. Group I: control (farmer practice), T1 group: group I + hormone (double synch), and T2 group: group I + hormone (Estra double synch). The growth performances were measured in terms of body weight and average daily gain (ADG). Blood collection was done at the start and end of the experiment for assessment of blood biochemical, hematological, and reproductive status of the animals. Results revealed significant improvement in growth and reproductive performances in treatment group as compared to control group. Higher percentage of conception was achieved in group III (60%) followed by group II (55%). The least percentage was in group I (15%), i.e., in control group. So it was found that the effect of treating the reproductive-disordered animals with Estra double synch gave comparatively better result than double synch hormonal application.