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Endometritis in cow is actually the inflammation of endometrium that is inner lining of the uterus. It occurs after bacterial contamination of uterus at calving, during A.I. following dystocia, retention of placenta, abortion etc. There is expulsion of white or whitish-yellow muco-purulent discharge from vagina. The animal does not shows systemic signs like increase in temperature, increase in respiration rate, anorexia, toxemia etc as in metritis. However, the animal fails to conceive even after repeated inseminations.

In subclinical endometritis (SCE), there is inflammation of the internal lining of uterus (endometrium). It is one of the major causes of repeat breeding in cattle and causes significant reduction of reproductive performance. Cervico- vaginal mucus in subclinical endometritis is clear in contrast to endometritis. It is also called cytological endometritis and is associated with increased proportion (percentage) of polymorphonuclear cells (PMN) in endometrial cytology samples. SCE affected cows have delayed first service and subsequent pregnancy causing significant economic losses due to reduction in reproductive performance, feed intake increase per lactation, milk yield reduction and increase in culling rate.

Sub estrus (Weak or Silent Estrus) is a condition in which there are normal cyclical changes in the reproductive organs of a cow but the heat signs are not exhibited to a level of intensity as in normal cows leading to failure of estrus detection by a farmer. This condition is common during post partum period. It is a common reproductive problem in cattle affecting the productivity and economics of a cow due to increase in inter-calving interval, production loss, treatment expenses etc.

Anoestrus in cows is a condition in which there is absence of observable estrus signs. Anoestrus in cattle is suspected when estrus in not expressed by the female animal or in case the farmer fails to detect it. Among reproductive problems, it is one of the most commonly occurring conditions in cattle. It affects the production and economics of a cow to a great extent and the economic losses occur due to increase in inter-calving interval, poor net calf crops, loss of production, expenses incurred on treatment etc. It is caused by multiple factors including mostly inadequate or unbalanced nutrition, environmental stress, uterine or ovarian pathologies and poor managemental practices.

Diagnosis

• Rectal examination of animal. The ovaries are small and smooth. Should be confirmed by repeated examinations at 10 days interval.

• Ultrasound examinations at regular intervals can be done to diagnose and confirm anestrous.

• Progesterone estimations at intervals of 10 days would aid in confirmation. Low progesterone levels at both times indicate true anestrous.

A cow is called repeat breeder when it has failed to conceive even after three or more number of services, has normal estrus cycle length, no abnormal vaginal discharge, no palpable abnormality in the reproductive tract, has calved at least once before and is less than ten years of age. Repeat breeding is one of the most important infertility problem faced by field veterinarians.

Causes

1) Fertilization failure

2) Early embryonic death

Main Points that Need to be Known by a Farmer About Repeat Breeding Cow

• Signs of estrus like vaginal discharge and its color, bellowing, mounting etc

• Time of estrus as observed by owner (morning, evening etc)

• Vaginal discharge whether clear or mucopurulent/purulent

• Duration of estrus

• Inter-estrous interval

• Number of inseminations

Introduction

Nutrients are essential substances present in different types of foods which perform various life-sustaining functions in the body. They are required for growth, maintenance and the reproductive process. Poultry require more than 40 such nutrients, which are classified into six major groups - water, carbohydrates, protein (amino acids), fats, minerals and vitamins. Poultry diets must be formulated to provide all these essential nutrients as per the bird’s requirement to achieve optimum growth and production. Several ingredients including cereal grains, cereal by-products, fats, plant protein sources, animal by-products, vitamin and mineral supplements, crystalline amino acids and feed additives are commonly used to prepare poultry diets. Further, specialist areas such as immuno-nutrition are rapidly gaining attention due to continued advancement in the field of poultry nutrition (Beski et al., 2015).

Introduction

Feed is the main contributor to economic and environmental costs of poultry production. This applies in particular to the protein fraction of the diet as the protein constitutes the second abundant and the most expensive nutrient in the broiler diets. Quantitatively, protein rich feed sources constitute 25 to 40 per cent of the diets, next to cereal grains as energy sources accounting for 60 to 70 per cent. In terms of input cost, protein sources account for 40 to 50 per cent of feed cost as these ingredients are highly expensive and play a major role in determining the cost of broiler production.

Introduction

Limited feed supply and poor quality of the available feeds are the major constraints for optimal livestock and poultry productivity in all developing nations like India. Most of the regions in India are characterized by irregular rainfall and thus livestock have to survive on persistent shortage of feed resources of low nutritive value for most part of the year. The poultry industry is an important livestock sub-sector in India with a potential to solve the problem of malnutrition, unemployment and augmenting rural economy. However, high feed cost decreases animal production which contributes to lower animal protein availability for human consumption. This vicious cycle of low productivity and intake of animal protein has been maintained and sustained by the scarcity of feedstuff.

Introduction

The huge nutritious potential of agricultural based byproducts has generated an interest of nutritionist for utilizing them in efficient ways in order to improve the production of animals. In this concern, solid state fermentation (SSF) is a promising and novel technique. The lignocellulosic structural characters of plant residues provide them a solid support and act as substrates for the microbial fermentation to produce certain value added products through SSF. The scope of SSF in the field of animal nutrition is wide, in terms for the production of enzymes, bioactive components, organic acids, vitamins, and feed additives, bio-transforming products, biological degradation and detoxification of agricultural residues/wastes. 

Introduction

The Indian poultry industry has emerged as the most dynamic and fastest expanding segment in animal husbandry sector with an annual growth rate of 23% in broiler chickens and 5% in egg production. The production performance of birds in terms of meat and egg has also improved significantly; however, the sector has crippled many times due to various reasons among which the important ones were rising feed cost, non-availability og feed ingredients, fluctuating market price of produce (eggs and broilers) and emergence of new or re-emerging of existing diseases. In future, poultry industry may face more such challenges.

Introduction

Poultry production is practiced at levels ranging from subsistence to large scale commercial operations. Commercial operations depend on hatcheries for the supply of day-old chicks while the subsistence farmers hatch their chicks by natural incubation. The hatchery plays a central role in the poultry production chain. Optimization of hatchery and breeder farm management can lead to improvement of the result throughout the production chain (Heier and Jarp, 2001). Generally, the success of hatchery management is monitored by the percentage of eggs set that are hatched (hatchability) and the number of chicks that are placed for grow-out (saleable chicks). 

Introduction

Poultry industry is one of the quickest developing sectors in India. Poultry involves a remarkable position in the livestock economy of India by coexistence of intense technology, capital, and scale with integrated production, marketing and the others based on the traditional knowledge and practices. The annual growth rate is more than 11% and 8 % in broiler production and egg production respectively. The general development rate of poultry industry is around 7-8% for every annum, most outstanding among all sectors of agriculture. In poultry industry, poultry meat accounts for two third of the value of output and one third by eggs. 

Introduction

There has been a steady increase in the poultry meat and egg production globally during the past few decades. Though the high biological value of eggs and poultry meat have resulted in an increasing demand for these two products, growing awareness for food quality and safety are becoming increasingly significant in determining the market value of such products. The importance of mycotoxins as one of the major detractor of poultry productivity and also of product quality, hence, becomes more relevant now than ever.

Introduction

The term ‘mycotoxin’ coined in 1962 in the aftermath of death of about 1,00,000 turkey poults in London, due to “Turkey X disease” in 1960, linked to a peanut meal contaminated with aflatoxins. Now, about 300 to 400 toxic fungal metabolites have been identified as mycotoxins, of which some are capable of inflicting deleterious effects to animal and avian health. The most commonly affected feedstuffs are cereals (maize, sorghum, barley, wheat, and rice meal), oilseeds (groundnuts) and oilseed meals (cottonseed meal). There are three major genera of fungi that produce mycotoxins: Aspergilius, Fusarium and Penicillium (Bennett and Klich, 2003). Among these, the Aspergillus species are of much concern as they are responsible for the production of aflatoxins, the most potent fungal toxin causing aflatoxicoses that have detrimental effects on living beings (Barret, 2000).

Introduction

The poultry industry is under pressure to produce safe and good quality meat in the welfare conditions. Many areas such as genetics, biosecurity, and immunoprophylaxis were improved, and hatchery is one of the areas in which welfare could be improved for better production output. Under commercial hatched conditions, poults hatch over a 36 to 48 hour period (called hatching window) and after additional processing are transported to the farm. Hatch window is the time gap from first chick hatched to last chick hatched (Noiva et al., 2014). This causes early hatched chicks to be deprived of feed for longer duration (Kadam etal., 2013). 

Feed additives

Feed additives may be defined as those substances that are added in livestock feeds to improve quality, digestibility and utilisation of feeds. It is also aimed at production improved quality of livestock produce, performance and health of the livestock and birds.

Classification of Additives

Introduction

Feeding cost and the price of poultry products have recently increased due to increasing competition between humans and animals for the same feed resources having different valuable nutrients. As you know that like other living creatures, the birds do need several nutrients in their diets to maintain optimum body growth, normal health and maximum production of edible egg and meat. Accordingly the efforts should always be made to feed poultry with a diet adequately balanced with almost all essential nutrients so that they do perform efficiently within a normal physiological form.

Introduction

During last four decade poultry has taken giant step and become corporate sector with double digit growth. Especially in India poultry play pivotal role in fight against malnutrition, unemployment and also contributing in women empowerment. In poultry production the biggest single expense is of feed, which accounting for 70% of total production cost per bird (Kumar et al., 2011). So, obviously more Research and Development focus and new innovative technology need to be implemented in poultry nutrition area. Since last 40 years, feed enzymes have played a major part in helping radically to improve the efficiency of meat and egg production by changing the nutritional profile of feed ingredients. 

Introduction

Over the years, antibiotics have been used at sub therapeutic levels for enhancing the production and immunity of birds. The advantages of using antibiotics as feed supplements in terms of improvement of growth and feed efficiency have been well documented. However, the growing concern over the transmission and the proliferation of resistant bacteria via the food chain led to a ban on the use of antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) in livestock within the European Union in 2006.Thus, quest for alternatives to AGP gained momentum in the first decade of this century. There has been emergence of various feed additives like prebiotics, probiotics, organic acids, enzymes, essential oils, fatty acids, phytobiotics etc. Feed additives are used in to elicit the production performance and health of chicken.

Introduction

Improvement of growth rate and feed efficiency through formulating effective diets are mostly considered for its effect on gut health. Several factors need to be well thought-out such as genetic makeup of the birds, feed source and quality, environmental condition and disease incidence. Apart from these factors, maintenance a good gut ecosystem or enhancement of it is essential for the welfare, optimum performances and productivity of birds.