eChapters

The duck environment usually involves the presence of water bodies (man-made or natural) which may enhance the co-mingling of free-living waterfowl species with the domestic flock promote disease transmission. Besides, environmental conditions also influence disease manifestation in ducks. The most of the viral diseases in ducks are contagious and transmitted very easily among the healthy birds in contact. The infectious viral diseases most commonly seen in domestic waterfowl species includes duck plaque, duck viral hepatitis, avian influenza, musky duck parvo virus infections, duck pox etc. These viral diseases cause great economic loss to the poultry industry due to high mortality and morbidity rate.

A. Answer the following questions

1.    Why vitamin Ais called anti-infective vitamin?

Ans: Vitamin A is concerned with the synthesis of muco-polysaccharides distributed throughout the body as in respiratory tract,alimentary tract,reproductive tract,genitor-urinarytractetc. In thedeficiencyof vitaminA,theepithelium lining of these tracts becomes keratinized with the result that it becomes prone to infection. That’s why it is also called as anti-infective vitamin.

2.    Why ducks are less effective than chickens in converting tryptophan to niacin?

Ans: Ducks have a 3-4 folds higher level of picolinic acid carboxylase than chicken which enzyme converts the tryptophanto picolinic acid instead of niacin.

3.    Whyvitamin Cis dietaryessential tohumans, monkey, guinea pigs?

Ans: In these species, due to lack of L-gulonolactone oxidase enzyme which is required for synthesis of vitamin C (from 6 carbon sugars like glucose/ galactose in liver or kidney),they can not synthesize their own requirement in their bodies.

4.    What is vitamin?

Introduction

The basic components of diet include carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals. Vitamins are the essential nutrients which are not formed in our body and required in minute amount from the diet. Vitamins are crucial for the optimal functions of several enzymes; thus important for optimal growth and development. Vitamins perform various functions that help in regulation of metabolism, prevent chronic diseases, maintain natural appetite, mental health and immunity.

In 1912, Polish biochemist Kazimierz Funk coined the term ‘vitamine’;a substance that was present in rice polishing and foods that cured polyneuritis in birds and beriberi in humans. The name is from ‘vit’ for vital nutrient and ‘amine’ for its similarity as an amine. Vital signify that these factors are indispensable for life. Earlier they are identified and thought to contain amino groups, thus the word amine was used, which was true for thiamine but later work revealed that most of the vitamins do not have amino groups. Thus the word was shortened to vitamin in English. It should be noted that the term vitamin does not denote to some othern utrients such as essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, dietary minerals or other nutrients that contribute towards good health.

Vitamins may be defined as organic compound needed in minute amount through diet to perform specific biological functions for normal growth and health of the organisms.Vitamins should have following characteristics:

Introduction

A variety of glassware, plasticware, and other apparatus are used for experimental purposes in a laboratory. They need to be washed, cleaned, dried, and sometimes sterilized before they can be used in the next set of experiments. Glassware needs special care of handling during washing, drying, sterilization, etc. because even a minor mistake in handling of glassware may result in its cracking/breakage and it may become unserviceable. All of these may result in a delay in experimentation if spare piece of the glassware is not available or it may affect serviceability of the associated apparatus.

A large number of glassware such as beaker, flask, measuring cylinder, burette, test tube, etc. are regularly used in a laboratory, which requires careful handling during the different stages of experiment as well as after completion of the experiment while preparing them for another set of experimentation.

Glass being a complex silicate, its properties depends on the type of silicate anions in the structure and the cations formed. Thermal properties of glass changes by the addition of boron oxide (B2 O3 ); hence, borosilicate glass is extensively used in the laboratories. With this brief background information, let us discuss about the necessity, procedures, and precautions during washing, cleaning, drying and sterilization of laboratory-wares. Figure 3.1 shows various advantages of using borosilicate glass in a laboratory.

Good laboratory practices require clean glassware, because an experiment may give erroneous result if dirty glassware is used at any step of the experiment. Hence, the glassware must be physically and chemically clean; and in many cases, it must be microbiologically clean or sterile. The commonly used glassware in a laboratory include test tube, measuring cylinder, pipettes, beakers, flasks, microscopic slides, etc.

Introduction

Water resource is imperative for the survival of all life-forms on planet earth and defines the limits of sustainable development, without any substitute. Only 2.5% of all water on the earth is freshwater, and of that, around 0.5% is accessible through ground or surface water supplies. The increasing world population, industrialization and climate change is putting additional pressure on water resources. This is also true for livestock sector. As per prediction equations, the requirement of water for livestock will rise from 2.3 billion m³ in 2000 to 2.8 billion m³in 2025 and 3.2 billion m³ in 2050 (Hedge, 2012).

The balance between humanity's demands and the quantity available is already precarious (Karin et al, 2002). Additionally, climate change poses a serious threat to water resources as the climate system and the hydrological cycles are intimately linked, and any variability in climate affects the hydrological cycle. The World Bank report on the water and climate change inter-linkages also reiterated that climate change could profoundly alter future patterns of both water availability and use, thereby increasing levels of water stress and insecurity, both at the global scale and in sectors that depend on water (Alavian et al., 2009).

Water is a critical and essential nutrient in poultry production, necessary in greater amounts than any other nutrient. It plays a vital role in various physiological processes such as digestion, metabolism, nutrient transportation, enzymatic and chemical reactions, regulating body temperature, and lubricating joints and organs. Water deprivation can have severe consequences on poultry health, impacting growth, egg production, and even leading to increased mortality if prolonged. Therefore, providing cool, clean water that is free from contaminants is crucial for maintaining poultry health and optimizing farm profitability.

Water Consumption in Poultry

Water consumption in poultry varies under different conditions. Generally, under thermo-neutral conditions, birds will consume approximately twice the amount of water as the amount of feed. However, water intake is influenced by several factors, including environmental temperature, relative humidity, dietary salt and protein levels, the productivity of the birds (growth rate or egg production), and the bird’s ability to reabsorb water in the kidneys. In poultry houses, water consumption tends to be higher in areas with more birds and higher ambient temperatures. Studies indicate that birds prefer water at about 10°C; when water temperatures exceed 27°C, both water intake and daily weight gain are significantly reduced.

Water is the most important and abundantly required nutrient for poultry. A continuous supply of clean, fresh and wholesome potable water is essential for poultry. Poultry rearing is becoming more and more intensive with which the chances of the infectious diseases being sustained in the different flocks also increase. Consequently, the need for effective disease control measures to be adopted also gains further importance.

Most often, poultry farmers get alarmed only when the mortality level or death rate in a farm is high. However, even the existence of disease at a sub-clinical level may hinder the performance of the birds, in terms of body weight or egg number; such economic losses, sometimes relatively less and unnoticed, may mean the difference between success or failure in the poultry business. Treatment of a sick flock after the onset of any disease becomes costlier and more frequently impracticable. The recovered birds may not regain their production to original levels and may also continue as source of infection to other healthy birds. Hence, the adage ‘prevention is better than cure’ applies more to poultry industry than any other field.

Riboflavin or Vitamin B₂
Introduction

Riboflavin (synonymous with lactoflavin, vitamin G and vitamin B2) is a yellow green, fluorescent, water soluble pigment widely distributed in plant and animal cells. The organic formula of riboflavin is (6, 7-dimethyl)-9-(D,1-ribtyl)-iso-alloxazine. The empirical formula is C₁₇H₂₀N₄O₆. Riboflavin is very sensitive to both visible and ultraviolet light. All manipulations with riboflavin or riboflavin containing materials should be carried out in subdued light or in low actinic glassware. Even subdued daylight may be destructive but artificial light of an intensity of 6 candles per squarefeet or less is permissible. Irradiation of alkaline solutions yields lumiflavin (6, 7, 9-trimethylis-alloxazine) and in acid solutions lumich rome (6.7 dimethyl alloxazine) is formed, which is characterised by a blue fluorescence. One of the distinguishing properties of riboflavin is its yellow-green fluorescence in neutral solutions which reaches a maximum at pH 6.7 to 6.8.

Output of dairy products from animals, output from the poultry, goats, sheep, exotic birds, animal growth, their living environments and diseases affecting them, are known to be governed by weather conditions. Development of quantitative climate-animal relationships and efficient utilization of daily weather data for monitoring the various aspects, continues to be a significant research priority. Traditionally the major climatic factors on which attention has been focused are: temperature, humidity, solar radiation and length of day. The effects of these climatic elements on reaction of animal physiological parameters have been studied by measurements of (a) animal?s ability to prevent heat loss by such means as increased evaporative cooling from the body surface, (b) its ability to reduce heat production by lowering its metabolic rate through more efficient energy utilization (c) its ability to put up with a rise in body temperature or with the consequences of compensatory reactions. Experiments are usually done in climate chambers since field measurements often involve difficulties of interpretation in separating out the effects of climate from those of nutrition. Water consumption, water intake, insensible perspiration (diffusion moisture, different from the moisture which is actively secreted), protein intake, intra- and extra cellular volumes, plasma and blood volumes, body temperature, respiratory activity etc., of animals are all known to be affected in relation to changes in air temperature and humidity. Airflow also is an adjutant factor since it affects temperature and humidity. Significant seasonal changes have also been frequently recorded. These in turn, have profound effect on output of milk yield and several other animal products. Development of predictive techniques for assessment of milk yield or other products had been recognized as a thrust area, so as to develop suitable and viable strategies for storage; transport, marketing and distribution of several livestock products. Several gross relationships between climate and its influence on physiological and biochemical aspects of animal behaviour have been worked out in the past on seasonal basis but a more intensive study on short period stress effects on the output products in relation to prediction of output is the need of the hour. For pursuing research on these aspects, an appropriate understanding of the specific meaning and use of terminology such as ?thresholds?, ?optima?, ?normal?, ?extreme events? in more detail is considered appropriate. Methods of analysis also need to be addressed and evolved.

One of biggest challenges facing animal science is to increase the production in the context of climate change. Animal performance may be limited by adverse climatic focus (Sejian et al., 2010; Sejian et al., 2012). The economic impact of climate changes in relation to livestock production are widely reported, and several losses are predicted if current management systems are not modified to reflect the shift in climate. Climate change poses formidable challenge to the development of livestock sector in India (Sejian et al., 2013; Naqvi et al., 2013). Global warming could increase water, shelter and energy requirement of livestock for meeting projected milk demands. The anticipated rise in temperature between 2.3 and 4.8°C over the entire country together with increased precipitation resulting from climate change is likely to aggravate the heat stress in dairy animals, adversely affecting their productive and reproductive performance, and hence reducing the total area where high yielding dairy cattle can be economically reared. A preliminary estimate indicates that global warming is likely to lead to a loss of 1.6 million tonnes in milk production in India by 2020.

Seasonal variations in climatic conditions impact the availability of feed in the livestock (Sejian et al., 2014; Bagath et al., 2016). Over and above the effect of seasonal variations that cause considerable economic hardship, it is the unforeseen and unexpected periods of inclement and severe weather conditions which exacerbate the gross economic losses in livestock industry (Sejian and Srivastava, 2010; Sejian et al., 2010). In addition to mortalities of livestock associated with severe climatic conditions, reductions in reproductive and productive performances generate sizeable economic setback. Impressive advances in research have been made to assess the impact of climatic stressors on the physiological and dynamic responses of livestock (Shaji et al., 2015; Maurya et al., 2015). At the same time livestock managers and farmers continue to search for management options which can alleviate and reduce the effects of severe weather on livestock performance and productivity. This chapter will address in detail the impact of environmental stresses on livestock production and reproduction. These attempts will help the scientific fraternity to develop appropriate mitigation strategies to improve ruminant livestock production in these agro-ecological zones. This might pave way to improve the livelihood securities of poor and marginal farmers of this tropical environment via an appropriate universal research agenda.

The sole science of meteorology is to deal with weather forecasting while livestock advisory based on weather forewarning is dealt with multidisciplinary approach in the field of livestock meteorology for the benefit of the livestock farmers. In this context, the current status of livestock advisory based on medium range weather forecasting is highlighted so that the tools for livestock advisory can be initiated and developed by the concerned for the benefit of livestock farmers in similar lines. Information on weather forecasting is used in various society linked sectors and animal husbandry component is one of them (Fig. 17.1).

A. Answer the following questions:

1.    What is proximate analysis?

Ans: Proximate analysisis a systemforapproximatingthenutritive valueof a feedstuff without actually usingit in a feedingtrial.

2.    Why proximate analysis is called Weende analysis?

Ans: In 1865, two scientists namely Wilhelm Henneberg and FriedrichStohmanndeviseda methodcalledWeende analysis/ proximate analysis at Weende Experiment Station, near the University of Goettingen, Germany. Hence, it is called ‘Weende Analysis’.

3.    Write the six proximate principles?

Ans: Water (moisture), ether extract (crude fat), crude fibre, total ash, crude protein and nitrogen free extract (NFE).

4.    Why ether extract is also called as crude fat?

Ans: As it is composed of true fats (glycerides of fattyacids) along with other substances like hydrocarbons, free fatty acids, fat solublevitamins,pigmentslike carotene & chlorophyll,waxes, sterols,lecithin(phospholipids), alkali substances,volatile oils and resins.

5.    What is NFE?

Introduction

In a research laboratory, we frequently need weigh chemicals and prepare different solutions of varying strength, as per the requirements. Accuracy in weighing and preparation of solution, with respect to weight/volume and strength, determines the success of experiment. In turn, the accuracy depends on weighing of solid chemical and/or measuring the volume of liquid chemical/making up the volume. In this Chapter, weighing of chemicals using appropriate weighing balance, preparation of solutions of different strength, their dilution, and precautions while preparing will be discuss in brief.

Weighing of Chemical

The primary method to determine the amount of chemicals to be used is weighing the chemical by using a balance.

In general, there are two types of balances to weigh chemicals in a laboratory:

1. Standard laboratory balance

2. Analytical balance

Standard Laboratory Balance

Generally, a standard laboratory balance is used for weighing a chemical when an error of ±0.02 g is acceptable. It is also used for pre-weighing, where approximate mass needs to be determined. Precise mass of the chemical is then determined using an analytical balance. Following are the steps in using a weighing balance in a laboratory.

All farmed animals are transported at some stage in their lives, sometimes to places where food is more readily available, sometimes to a different owner or a different place of keeping and sometimes to slaughter. The handling, loading, transporting and unloading of animals can have very substantial effects on their welfare. Wherever   poor welfare associated with the transport of animals is prevented, there is an immediate financial advantage because mortality rates and carcass downgrading are reduced. The attitude towards animals has major consequences on animal welfare during transportation. Therefore, laws and codes of practice can also have significant effects on animal welfare during transport. In order to produce guidelines that can be used to prevent or minimise poor welfare in animals during transport, it is necessary to be aware of the biological functioning of the animals concerned and the attitudes and actions of the people involved in the handling and transport procedures.

In India, the cow is a worshipped as symbol of wealth, strength, abundance, altruistic giving and full of earthly life. Cows are traditionally treated as a sacred animal. Dairy products are extensively used in India and are one of the most essential nutritional components of meals.
 
The laws governing cattle slaughter is shown in entry 15 of the State List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, meaning that State legislatures have exclusive powers to legislate the prevention of slaughter and preservation of cattle. Some States allow the slaughter of cattle with restrictions like a “fit-for-slaughter” certificate which may be issued depending on factors like age and gender of cattle, continued economic viability etc. Others completely ban cattle slaughter, while there is no restriction in a few states. Prohibition of cow slaughter is a Directive Principles of State Policy contained in Article 48 of the Constitution.

Introduction

Wet ashing is suitable for the determination of Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, K, Na, Se and Zn in biological samples and may be applicable to the determination of other elements as well.

The organic matter of the sample is oxidized with concentrated nitric acid and perchloric acids. The acids are partially removed by volatilization and the solube mineral constituents remain dissolved in nitric acid. Any silica present is dehydrated and made insoluble.

Introduction

Wet ashing is suitable for the determination of Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, K, Na, Se and Zn in biological samples and may be applicable to the determination of other elements as well.

The organic matter of the sample is oxidized with concentrated nitric acid and perchloric acids. The acids are partially removed by volatilization and the solube mineral constituents remain dissolved in nitric acid. Any silica present is dehydrated and made insoluble.

Whole blood, plasma, serum, and blood transfusions are critical life-saving therapies in veterinary medicine. They are used to restore blood volume, correct anemia, provide clotting factors, and address protein deficiencies in various disease conditions. This chapter discusses their administration doses, species-specific considerations, and disease conditions where these fluids are essential.
Key components of blood therapy
1. Whole blood: Contains red blood cells (RBCs), plasma, clotting factors, and platelets.
2. Plasma: The liquid portion of blood with clotting factors, albumin, and immunoglobulins but without RBCs and platelets.
3. Serum: Plasma without clotting factors.
4. Packed red blood cells (pRBCs): Concentrated RBCs used to treat anemia without volume overload.

India is a “Winter / Summer Home” for most of the Siberian birds such as Siberian Cranes, Greater Flamingo and Demoiselle Crane, also numerous species of birds from other regions of the world. These beautiful birds migrate to India every year during the winter and summer season for food, breeding and nesting. The migratory birds mainly arriving from Siberia and South East Asia move to the different wetland spots of the national parks/ wildlife sanctuaries etc. in India and are also seen in parts of the lakes and settling down in shallow or fresh water ponds.