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Meat has long been regarded as a significant source of protein in human life. Furthermore, with today’s hectic and demanding urban lifestyle, processed meat has become the most important source of protein in one’s diet. Consumers rely on food labels to determine whether or not the meat product they are purchasing is safe and reliable. To avoid consumer fraud, it is critical to verify that food labeling is completed correctly. Compared to the past, people are increasingly more concerned about food quality and safety. For food authentication, a variety of instrumental procedures have been proposed. Traditional methods are still employed, but emerging approaches like genomics, metabolomics, and proteomics are helping to supplement existing methodology for confirming claims made about specific foods. A few decades before, proteomics emerged as the most crucial technology for authentication of adulterated meat. Proteins can be employed as markers for a variety of qualities in meat and show the processes to which the meat has been treated so that they can add to the meat labeling claim.

The deep bispecies relationship of humans and horses have started from prehistoric times with horses playing vital roles in societies over the millennia, including ones related to diet, transportation, work, religion, property and commodities, military service, status, and sports. Obviously, horse owners were always keen to search for a better economical, easily available feed without compromising for the nutritive value for their companions. This search had led them to explore various economically available agricultural crop residues to be considered in equine ration. Regarding Asian countries, especially when India is considered, paddy straw is a cheap, easily available crop residue which has been effectively tried in ruminant ration. But the scope of this feed in horse ration is less studied. Current study aimed to review the scope of rice straw in equine diet.

The current study was aimed to assess the progression of hepatic fibrosis and to compare the therapeutic efficacy of pomegranate juice to the known anti-fibrotic drug, enalapril. In this study, a total of 24 rats were used and divided into 4 groups: groups I & II were kept as normal control & MTX controls, whilst groups III and IV were kept as MTX+ pomegranate and MTX+ enalapril, respectively, and the study was carried out for 28 days. Serum samples were collected on the 14th and 28th days for the estimation of AST, ALT, GGT, and TGF-1 levels. Rats were sacrificed at the end of the experiment, and liver samples were collected for further estimation of anti-oxidant levels and histopathology of the liver. The study results showed significantly elevated the activity of AST, ALT and GGT, TGF- β1 in MTX received rats group (II) compared to control group (I) along with elevated levels of TBARS and significant diminished antioxidant enzymes GSH, GPx, SOD and GST. However, group III receiving pomegranate juice revealed substantial improvement in all parameters and results were validated through the histopathology of the liver. The presence of phytoconstituents ellagic acid, gallic acid, anthocyanins and catechins, could abrogate MTX-induced hepatic fibrosis.

The rising tides of multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MDRSA) infection necessitate the development of potential antibacterial and antibiofilm agents. Essential oils derived from medicinal plants are gaining popularity as prospective antibacterial agents in recent years. Hence, the current investigation was carried out to evaluate the antibacterial and antibiofilm properties of cinnamon bark oil (CNBO) and thyme oil (THMO) against MDRSA isolated from bovine mastitic milk. Eighteen isolates of Staphylococcus spp. were recovered from 30 bovine mastitic sample collected, among which six were identified as MDRSA organisms. Further, chemical composition of CNBO and THMO were determined by GC-MS analysis, which revealed the existence of several terpenoids. The antimicrobial susceptibility of these MDRSA isolates against CNBO and THMO was tested by disc diffusion and microbroth dilution tests which specified significant antimicrobial activity of CNBO and THMO as evident from their zone of bacterial growth inhibition, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). Subsequently, antibiofilm assays were performed using Congo red agar method and tissue culture plate-based crystal violet assays. The CNBO and THMO produced remarkable inhibition of biofilm formation and preformed biofilm, manifested as significantly reduced minimum biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC) and minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC). Moreover, CNBO was found to be more effective as compared to THMO against the MDRSA isolates. Thus, the present findings are indicative of the vital role of cinnamon bark oil and thyme oil in inhibiting the multidrug resistant S. aureus and associated biofilm formation.

The study was conducted to assess the effect of supplementation of graded levels of pulverized Jerusalem artichoke tuber on the growth performance of pre-weaned calves. Twenty-four Vrindavani calves (15 days, 23.64±0.57 kg BW) were distributed into four equal groups. The calves were fed graded levels of pulverized Jerusalem artichoke tuber (0, 1, 2 and 3 per cent of dry matter intake) mixed in milk in control, JAP-1, JAP-2 and JAP-3, respectively for a period of nine weeks. The weekly body weight, net body weight gain and average daily weight gain at the end of trial were comparable between the treatment groups. The weekly body measurements viz heart girth, abdomen girth, body length, wither height, chest width and hip width did not differ significantly (P>0.05) between the groups. The overall milk DMI, average concentrate intake (g/d, g/kg LW, g/kg W0.75), average roughage intake (g/d, g/kg LW, g/kg W0.75) and average total dry matter intake (g/d, g/kg LW, g/kg W0.75) did not differ between the groups. The feed conversion efficiency was also similar between the groups. It is concluded that pulverized Jerusalem artichoke tuber supplementation up to 3 per cent of dry matter was not sufficient to bring about a positive impact on the growth performance of pre weaned calves.

This study was conducted on 18 clinically healthy female dogs irrespective of breed, body weight and aged between 1 to 8 years. All the animals were randomly divided into three equal groups, with 6 animals in each group. Group I was subjected for ligation, group II application of bipolar electrocoagulation and group III for application of haemoclips to achieve haemostasis. Rectal temperature and heart rate significantly (p<0.05) decreased at intra-operative period of surgery in all the groups as compared to pre-operative and post-operative period. Exudation in group II was non-significantly higher as compared to group I and III. A significantly (p<0.05) longer surgical time was recorded in ligature and endoclip technique as compared to electrocoagulation technique. Time required for locating and ligating uterus was significantly (p<0.05) longer in group I as compared to group II and III. Length of surgical incision was higher in group I and III as compared to group II. Haemorrhage was significantly higher (p<0.05) in group I and III as compared to group II. An abdominal ultrasonography was performed on day 7 after surgery and it revealed no complication in any animal. At different intervals, all haemato-biochemical parameters fluctuated within normal physiological ranges. On the basis of the present findings, it can be concluded that bipolar electrocautery was superior to titanium clips and suture ligation for achieving haemostasis during ovariohysterectomy (OVH) in dogs.

In the present study, an attempt to isolate and identify E. coli from raw and pasteurized milk was made. A total of 120 samples comprising of raw milk (80) and pasteurized milk (40) were processed for the isolation of E. coli. These 120 samples of raw and pasteurized milk samples were collected randomly from local milk vendors, milk store , milk parlour, dairy booth and retail dairies located in different parts of Jaipur city, Rajasthan. Out of 120 samples, the prevalence of E. coli was recorded in raw milk and pasteurised milk as samples as 31.25% (25) and 27.5% (11) respectively. In the present investigation, 12 different antibiotics were used in to obtain antibiogram for 36 isolates of E. coli recovered from raw and pasteurized milk samples. The analysis of antibiogram revealed that the most effective antibiotic was Enrofloxacin (83.33%), followed by Nalidixic acid (75%) and Oxytetracycline (75%) of the isolates were sensitive. Also, 72.22% isolates were sensitive to Co-trimoxazole, 63.88% to Ceftriaxone and Trimethoprim respectively and other antibiotics were less effective. Erythromycin showed highest resistance (47.22%) followed by Trimethoprim (36.11%) and cefotaxime (30.55%). Out of 36 E. coli isolates, 17 (47.22%) were found to have MAR index more than 0.2, thus indicating injudicious use of antibiotics. On molecular profiling, all the 36 isolates were found to be positive for ITS gene, uidAgene and uspA gene. Out of the 36 isolates, one (2.77%) was positive for virulence gene (stx1).

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of Moringa oleifera meal on feed and nutrient intake, growth performance, feeding and drinking behaviour and feed conversion efficiency of Surti kids. Eighteen growing Surti kids of 6-8 months were randomly allotted to three dietary groups as T1 control, T2 - 25% compound concentrate mixture replaced by Moringa oleifera meal and T3 - 50% compound concentrate mixture replaced by Moringa oleifera meal. Dry matter and nutrient intake, body weight and feeding behaviour of experimental kids were statistically insignificant, while average daily gain and feed conversion ratio differed significantly (P<0.05) between treatment groups. Feed conversion ratio of T2 was significantly (P<0.05) lower than T3, while the FCRs of T2 and T3 were at par with the T1. It was concluded that 25% and 50% replacement of concentrate mixture with Moringa oleifera meal did not affect the nutrient intake, feeding behaviour and growth performance of Surti kids, whereas replacement by 25% Moringa oleifera meal showed significantly (P<0.05) better feed conversion efficiency.

The experiment was designed to study TMTD and CdCl2-induced toxicity in broiler birds. 100-day-old chicks were distributed into 4 groups of 25 each. Group 1 birds were fed with a basal diet, group 2 fed with 60 ppm of TMTD, group 3 fed with 100 ppm of CdCl2 and group 4 fed with TMTD + CdCl2 for 35 days. Six birds from each group were sacrificed on the 14th, 28th and 42nd day of the experiment and the serum samples were collected. Significantly, increased levels in serum creatinine, uric acid and TBARS and decreased levels of GSH in groups 2, 3, and 4 were recorded on the 14th, 28th and 42nd day. Kidney sections showed degeneration followed by desquamation of cells and presence of casts on the 14th day, severe congestion of renal artery, and intertubular haemorrhages were observed on the 28th day. Additional lesions like degeneration of tubular epithelial cells with pyknotic nuclei, swollen to shrunken glomeruli with hypercellularity and increased Bowman’s space were also observed on the 42nd day of the experiment. In conclusion, the present study suggested that TMTD, CdCl2 and its combination are responsible for significant changes which could be due to free radicals which led to impairment of antioxidant defences and resulted in macroscopic and microscopic pathological changes in kidneys.

Protothecosis is an emerging algal disease which has not been much reported from India. Canine protothecosis typically involves a broadly disseminated infection mainly colitis (with or without hematochezia), a common presenting complaint. Four male dogs out of total 69 cases presented to University Hospital with history of hematochezia for more than 2 months in all cases, high grade fever, inappetance, poor body condition and chronic weight loss. On rectal examination, anal saculitis (n=1) and hematochezia (n=4) was seen. Hemogram revealed hemoconcentration, neutrophilic leucocytosis. However, no apparent change seen in biochemistry, fecal examination, radiography and ultrasonography. Acute phase protein and other inflammatory markers were also undertaken to rule out other causes of gastrointestinal signs. Rectal brush cytology was done to rule out rectal mucosal abnormality which revealed large number of prototheca organisms round to oval, having basophilic cytoplasm with an unstained theca within the cytoplasm along with increased no. of normal microflora. Three out of four cases succumbed to disease as of its fatal occurence. Hypoallergenic diet was given in one case for 2 weeks followed by a course of antibiotic and B-complex. Patient did not respond and then was shifted to Arsenic album 30, a homeopathy medicine 4 drops q.i.d for 1 week PO, followed by Arsenic album 200 4 drops q.i.d once weekly PO for 4 weeks to which animal responded well. It was concluded that protothecosis carries a grave prognosis in canine patients; however, homeopathy should be tried as an alternative therapy in more number of affected dogs.

The present study was conducted on 75 bitches affected with pyometra. Majority (70.67%) of them were positive for SIRS. The criteria used in the present study to evaluate SIRS in pyometra-affected bitches were temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, TLC, percentage of band neutrophils, albumin, C- reactive protein (CRP) and Serum amyloid A (SAA). Among these parameters temperature (102.57 ± 0.15 vs 102.01 ± 0.11˚F), heart rate (111.06 ± 1.92 vs 104.59 ± 1.46 bpm), TLC (23.34 ± 1.33 vs 14.98 ± 1.56×103/µl), percentage of band neutrophils (22.57 ± 1.07 vs 11.00 ± 1.59) and SAA (67.45 ± 2.49 vs 44.36 ± 2.64 mg/L) were significantly (P<0.01) higher in SIRS positive bitches compared to SIRS negative bitches.

In a field study covering 240 farmers spread over 60 villages in 15 mandals, data were collected on socio-economic characteristics of goat rearing farmers. Majority of goat rearers belonged to backward castes (59.17%) followed by scheduled tribes (17.50%), other castes (12.50%) and scheduled castes (10.83%). Most of the goat keepers belonged to Hindu religion. Majority of respondents belonged to middle age (62.08%) followed by old age (20%) and young age (17.92%). Majority were illiterate (80.42%) and remaining were low literates (19.58%) with primary education. Majority of the goat rearers (51.25%) were landless people followed by marginal farmers (41.25%) possessing less than 2.5 acres of dry/ rainfed land. Most of the goat rearers (61.25%) had large family size. Majority of goat rearers (53.75%) possessed medium flock size (21-40) followed by large flock i.e. 41-70 goats (31.25%) and small flock less than 20 goats (15%). The overall mean flock size was 37.16 ± 1.34 per farmer. It was significantly (P<0.01) higher in Narasaraopeta division (47.91 ± 2.62) than that in Guntur (34.73 ± 2.03) and Tenali (28.85 ± 1.70) divisions of Guntur district.

Hot environmental conditions can put immense stress to animals touching health and production. Therefore, a study was embarked on Sirohi goat from un-organized sector from Semi-arid tracts of southern Rajasthan to assess the effect of moderate, humid-hot, dry-hot and cold environmental conditions. Bang of environment on animals was assessed by determining heat load index and the values obtained were 67.82, 81.70, 83.80 and 54.80, respectively during the moderate, dry-hot, humid-hot and cold environmental conditions. Serum isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICDH) and malate dehydrogenase (MDH) were determined by the standard protocol as representatives of cellular metabolic regulators. Serum enzymatic activities divulged remarkable changes during dry-hot and humid-hot environmental conditions. Maximum activity of serum ICDH was noted during cold EP. During cold, the per cent variation in the value of serum ICDH was found to be maximum (+21.69), While during humid-hot, the per cent variation in the value of serum MDH was found to be maximum (+75.25). The model of changes expounded the lilt of cellular activities in animals of different age groups during dry-hot and humid-hot ambiences. The snarl of the effects was higher during humid-hot than dry-hot. Animals of female group and older age group were observed to be more affected.

The present study was undertaken in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts of Jammu and Kashmir to categorize and prioritize different factors influencing the application of Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITKs) by dairy farmers in animal husbandry practices. 150 dairy farmers from three districts of Jammu division (Jammu, Samba and Kathua) were chosen as respondents who had a minimum of one milch animal and also practicing ITKs during the period of this study. The results of this research study revealed that, locally available medicinal plants were the main factor followed by the dairy farmers with perceived knowledge of ITK. Along with this lack of door-step availability of veterinary services coupled with their high cost was perceived as the third most important factor that determined the utilization of ITKs by the dairy farmers in maintaining animal health and productivity. Localized and plentiful availability of indigenous plants, familiarity and confidence concerning ITK were the main reasons that determine the use of ITKs by the dairy farmers. Different rationale behind embracing of ITKs may be owing to the fact that it is part of their way of life, behavior and long-established standards and can be performed using available resources.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the combined effect of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and exogenous fibrolytic enzymes (EFE; Cellulase, Xylanase and ß-glucanase) at 2 levels 10 and 15g/animal/day on growth performance and nutrient utilization in cross bred calves. Twenty-four male Jersey × Sahiwal crossbred calves were randomly divided into 3 groups (5-6 months age, 80- 90 kg B.Wt) and were fed with ad libtumAPBN-1 and concentrate feed @ 1 % of body weight as a basal ration (T1) which is supplemented with RumEest-ESF at 10 and 15g/animal/day to make groups T2 and T3 groups, respectively for a period of 90 days. The average daily gain was higher (P>0.05) in T3 (599.6 g/d) over T2 (578.3 g/d) and T1 (543.6 g/d). No differences were observed for initial and final body weights of the calves. Improved Feed efficiency was observed in yeast and EFE supplemented groups compared to control. The digestibility coefficient of OM, CP, CF, NDF and Hemi-cellulose were found to be significantly (P< 0.05) higher in T3 among treatments. The DM intakes (kg/day) were 2.46, 2.55 and 2.42 in T1, T2 and T3, respectively. The % DCP and % TDN were significantly (P<0.05) higher in yeast and EFE supplemented group compared to control. Further, the behavioural traits were non-significant, except for total ruminating time (P< 0.05) which was higher in T2 and T3 than T1. It was concluded that supplementation of probiotics and EFE has shown improved feed efficiency, growth rate and rumination time in crossbred calves.

An ex post facto investigation was conducted to study the constraints perceived by flood affected dairy farmers of Ernakulam and Thrissur districts. Total of 150 livestock farmers were selected from both districts. The information generated through farmer-research interaction formed the items for the structured interview schedule that was used for data collection. A total of 23 such items were generated and these were edited appropriately and grouped under five broad domains viz. economic, communication, technical, infrastructural and socio-psychological constraints before being included in the structured interview schedule. Data were collected by personal interviews on the homestead of the farmers during the months of October, November and December, 2020. Analysis of the data indicated that the high cost of feed and fodder (100%), the non-availability of green fodder during the floods (100%) and feelings of depression among studied farmers (100%) were perceived to be the most important constraints by them. Among the domains the most important constraints perceived by the respondent farmers were economic constraints followed by technical constraints, communication constraints, infrastructural constraints and psychological constraints in the said order. The study sheds light on the importance of both economic inputs coupled with technical support and capacity building among the dairy farmers so as to equip them to face any calamites in future.

The presence study was designed to identify shiga toxin producing E. coli Non O157:H7 isolates from meat samples, to detect the presence of virulence markers and to characterize isolates for ESBL resistance by PCR. A total of 150 meat samples (50 of each beef, chicken, and mutton) were collected from retail outlets in Chennai and subjected to conventional and molecular methods for isolation of E. coli. Out of 150 samples, 71 presumptive E. coli isolates recovered by conventional method, among which 61 isolates were confirmed by PCR targeting uspA. All these 61 isolates were tested for presence of virulence markers viz., stx1, stx2, eae, hlyA by multiplex PCR and found 45 isolates were harboured the virulence markers either in combination or alone. Further, all the shiga toxin E. coli isolates were streaked on CT-SMAC and found that 21 isolates had shown pink colour colonies representing them as E. coli non O157:H7. PCR assay of ESBL resistance genes revealed that 40 (66 %), 7 (11.5%), 37(60.7%) E. coli isolates were harbouring CTX-M gene, SHV and TEM genes. Presence of virulence markers in E. coli Non O157:H7 isolates coupled with ESBL resistance is a real threat to food safety and consumer point of view which warrants the need for devising intervention strategies to combat virulent and anti-microbial resistant E. coli at both household and industrial level.

The study was conducted in Dahod and Kheda districts of middle Gujarat, with a view to find out the knowledge level of the Goat keepers regarding improved goat husbandry practices. The data were collected from 240 respondents with the help of structured interview schedule through personal interview technique. Majority of the goat keepers belonged to middle age group (64.58%) having primary level education (52.50%) belonged to backward class, schedule tribe and schedule caste, marginal and landless type. The goat keepers had least knowledge about health care and marketing practices (mean per cent scores 35.0%) and maximum knowledge regarding feeding practices (mean per cent scores 75.18%) in terms of bushes/trees’ leaves fodder and colostrum feeding. The goat farmers are ignorant about ideal direction of goat shed (2.08%), flushing, disbudding (0.83%), goat insurance and deworming schedule of kids (0.83%). Nearly half of the goat keepers had medium to low level of knowledge whereas only 16.25 per cent of the goat keepers had very high level of knowledge about goat husbandry practices. Therefore, it is suggested that special awareness programmes or farm training related to goat production should be organized by the state department/ NGOs to educate the goat keepers about standard and valuable practices of profitable as well as sustainable goat farming in these areas.

Research  study inspected  the performance of Japanese quails nourished with commonly fed accessible termites as a protein source during the rainy season, with the goal of boosting small-scale low-cost quail farming in Assam. 180 no. unsexed Japanese quail young-ones were randomly allocated treatment groups: T0 (control), T1 (5 percent dried termite), T2 (10 percent dried termite), and T3 (15 percent dried termite) each included 45 chicks, which were subsequently split into 3 replicates of 15 chicks each. The quail chicks were housed in a cage environment and fed according to regular feeding and management techniques. The T3 group (903.41 g) had the highest overall feed consumption per Japanese quail, whereas the T0 group had the least (849.07 g). T3 group (269.51±3.13 g) had the maximum final body weight per Japanese quail, followed by T2 group (264.61±2.84 g), T1 group (256.45±4.50 g), and T0 group (251.19±5.05 g). T3 group (3.35) had the best overall total  F.C.R during the full period of the research  experimental groups, followed by T2 (3.36), T1 (3.37), and T0 (3.38) respectively. Overall, these findings suggest that incorporating dried termites to a Japanese quail’s diet enhances performance by improving in body-weight, total feed consumption and feed conversion ratio.