6^th Global Veterinary Summit November 14-16, 2016 Atlanta, USA

Virginia Aida has completed her Bachelor of Arts & Science in Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She is currently pursuing her Master of Science in Biology at UAB studying traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury in both rodent and porcine models. In the past, she developed a training regimen designed to effectively acclimate pigs into the laboratory setting and to attenuate the pigs’ stress levels during the study. In the near future, she hopes to attain her Doctor of Veterinarian Medicine and study animal behavior and ecosystem medicine.

Porcine models are increasingly being utilized within the scientific setting due to their similarity to humans in many aspects of anatomy and biochemical processes. Unfortunately, when considering behavioral training, there is little information regarding appropriate training of pigs prior to inclusion within a scientific investigation. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to develop a method of porcine behavior training for the use of pigs within a scientific research setting. The described methods are based on the behavioral observations of Yucatan miniature pigs and the need to evaluate porcine behaviors over time as an experimental endpoint. The developed regime describes a step-wise approach to training pigs with defined milestones and recommended time frames. Sex differences in training and behavior were also assessed, given that sex differences in behavior and training have been observed across species. This study found that female pigs more consistently and successfully perform trained behaviors, despite males learning the tasks at a faster rate. Our findings and developed methodology can serve as a foundation to guide any scientific study in which pigs are routinely required to perform behavioral tasks such as walking, either leashed or unleashed, to a specific target.

Ayobami Adeyemo has completed his first degree from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Nigeria. He is a well committed and devoted Young Researcher with a vast experience in Animal and Poultry Science. He is currently pursuing MSc at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa and his interest is in animal health with the aim of resolving various distressing issues associated to animal health, exploring wide range of possibilities to reducing or eradicating parasites in livestock animal.

Endo-parasitic diseases, caused by gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) are one of the major causes of animal health deterioration and reduced productivity. Control of GIN solely relies on the use of synthetic therapy, which is becoming less effective and unacceptable, due to animals developing resistance as a result of overuse and the possibility of chemical residues finding their way into the human food chain. Few studies, if any, have evaluated the nutritional possibilities of reducing parasite burden which gaps are associated to cost and unavailability of feed in some regions. Little information, if any, is available on the biological control of GIN using various medicinal plant species that are readily available. Some in-vitro studies has proven that some plant species may be effective on GIN and few examples are Allium sativum, Vernonia amygdalina, Phytolacca dodecandra, Rhoicissus tridentate and Zingiber officinale. This paper will review the available information on some plant species with wide usefulness in controlling GIN, gaps, conclusion and recommendation on more effective model of administration.

Opoola Emmanuel has obtained his BSc, MSc in Poultry Production from Ahmadu Bello University and currently pursuing PhD in Poultry Production from same university, Nigeria. His research interest is on the nutrition and digestive physiology of farm animals, particularly poultry. He has published more the 10 papers in reputed journals. He is a Member of Nigerian Society for Animal Production (NSAP), Animal Science Association of Nigeria (ASAN) and a Registered Animal Scientist (RAS) in Nigeria.

It has been suggested that the amount of nutrients consumed, environmental temperature and season may affect nutrient requirements of animals, interaction between broilers and season of rearing remains an important problem especially under the tropical environment. The experiment was conducted with broiler chicks from 1 to 28 days of age to determine the optimum tryptophan requirement in the cold season under tropical environment. A total of 285 day old chicks were used in this experiment. The mean minimum daily temperature was from 14-24 oC. The experimental design was a completely randomized design, consisting of five treatments each with three replicates. There were five experimental diets with graded levels of supplemental tryptophan at 0.00, 0.04, 0.08, 0.12 and 0.16% to give total dietary tryptophan levels of 0.15, 0.19, 0.23, 0.27 and 0.31% respectively. The basal diet was based on corn (50.66%), groundnut cake (25%) and fishmeal (12.95%), 23% CP and 3008 Kcal/kg of ME. Dietary treatment had significant (p<0.05) effects on final weight, weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio. Chicks fed 0.24% dietary tryptophan gave the highest final body weight, average daily gain and better feed conversion ratio. Chicks fed 0.15% total dietary tryptophan had significantly (p<0.05) higher value for feed intake (1,789.90 g) and significantly lower weight gain (1,021.00 g). Based on this study, overall results suggest that broiler chicks need approximately 0.24% dietary tryptophan between 1-28 days of age.

Susanta Kumar Dash has completed his PhD in 2007 and presently serving as a Professor at the Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Odisha, India. He has registered 4 cattle, 2 buffalo and one sheep breed at national level, published more than 30 papers in reputed journals and completed 14 projects on animal genetic resources of the country and serving as a Member in livestock breeding policy of Government of Odisha.

Data on phenotypic characters, production and reproduction performance of 1332 numbers of Kendrapada sheep, recently registered as the 42nd sheep breed in India, were collected through an in-depth monitoring survey conducted in the native tract in Odisha, India. The area is situated between 19o 87’ N to 20o 96’ N latitude and between 85o 79’ E to 86o 76’ E longitude. The climate is hot and moist sub-humid to hot and humid in nature. The average annual rainfall is around 1500 mm. Odisha is gifted with sizable population of small ruminants distributed all over the state. Kendrapada sheep has been identified as second prolific sheep breed in India, which carries FecB mutation, responsible for prolificacy and found in eastern coast of Bay of Bengal in Odisha, India. More than 75% of Kendrapada sheep owners possess less than half hectare of cultivable land. Only 3.31% of the farmers rearing this sheep own more than a hectare land, reflecting poor resource profiling of Kendrapada sheep farmers in the native tract. The flock size ranges from 5 to 27. Predominantly deep brown, coat color ranges from light grey to blackish grey. Both the sexes are polled. Ears are medium and little drooping. The ewe of this sheep comes to heat at around 10 to 11 months and drops its first lamb at around 15 to 16 months of age. The average lambing interval in these sheep is 8 months with gestation period of 150 days. The reproductive performance of these sheep is the uniqueness of this sheep population with more than 80% multiple births; 71% twinning, 9% triplet and 1% quadruplets. The present study reveals that the mean body weight at birth, weaning/3 months, 6 month and 12 month were 1.70±0.03, 6.76±0.04, 11.18±0.07 and 16.98±0.10 kg, respectively in males and the corresponding values for females were 1.57±0.02, 6.42±0.04, 10.84±0.06 and 16.54±0.09 kg, respectively. Adult weights were recorded as 27.33±0.12 kg and 27.19±0.11 kg, respectively in male and female sheep. Endowed with the resistance to tropical diseases, these sheep have been proving their worth under extensive system of management under hot and humid climatic conditions, contributing to the livelihood of resource poor farmers.

Tohid Tolouei is currently a PhD student in Department of Poultry Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Iran.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Echinacea purpurea and probiotic (Protexin) in turkey poults on systemic immune response against Newcastle disease virus (NDV) following vaccination. A total number of 288, day old male turkey poults (premium) were obtained from Zarin Jooje Company (local company). Poults were divided into 6 groups with 4 replicates. Groups were followed: Birds received ND vaccine and water treated with 1 per 1000 liter of Echinacea purpurea (T1), birds received ND vaccine and water treated with 1 kg per 1000 liter of probiotic (T2), positive control or poults were vaccinated against NDV without additives (T3), water supplemented with 1 kg per 1000 liter Echinacea purpurea without vaccination (T4), water supplemented with 1 kg per 1000 liter probiotic without vaccination (T5) and negative control group, neither vaccinated against NDV nor given additives (T6). At the age of 10 and 20 days all poults were vaccinated with VG/GA strain ND vaccine by eye dropper according to the recommendation of the manufacturer. For systemic and mucosal antibody analyses, blood samples were collected and the titers of antibody against NDV were measured by ELISA and HI tests. The addition of Echinacea purpurea to water (T3) ameliorated the systemic IgG, IgA and HI antibody production as compared to the positive control; however, it was not significant for all time. Protexin supplementation of the water (T4) increased (p<0.01) IgG and HI antibody production against NDV compared to the positive control, only at 28 day of age. However, an increase (p<0.01) in systemic IgA antibody titers against NDV was observed compared to the positive control at 20 and 28 days of age. The birds supplemented with EP (T3) had higher specific and total mucosal IgA antibody levels than positive control birds, but it was not significant (except for total tracheal IgA at 23 day). First scientific evidence on the application of the EP and the Protexin in turkeys supports an improvement of systemic and mucosal immunity.

Nabaa Kamal Badawi Babikir has completed her PhD from Benha University, Egypt. She is a Staff Member in Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biochemistry. She has published more than 10 papers in reputed journals.

The present work was carried out to represent a review of the chemical composition and nutritive value of browse plants in the Sudan especially in arid and semiarid areas. The a proximate analysis for this samples showed that browse plants studied in most cases constitute an excellent forage content, which had higher nutritive value, particularly protein 8.75-21.0%. The browse plants were found to have high content of macro elements and low content of trace elements. The samples in this studied were found to have low content of anti-nutritional factors in term of tannin and high content of lignin. Three fistulated goats were used; the nylon bags containing the browse plants sample Acacia albida, Acacia nubica, Acacia seiberianae, Blanetes aegyptiaca and Ziziphus spina-chresti were administered directly throw the fistula to the rumen of goats. The digestion of the dry matter of the browse plants in the rumen of goat was found to be high in one sample and other samples have middle digestion rate and the rest were low. It is possible to conclude that browse plants complement grasses especially in the dry season, as dry season grasses extremely deficient in protein and some minerals which cannot alone meet livestock maintenance requirement.