The seasonal influence on the seminal characteristics of Shikabrown breeder cocks was evaluated weekly during the three seasons in Northern Guinea Savannah zone of Nigeria. Semen samples were analyzed by gross and routine laboratory methods for volume, motility, concentration, colour, percent dead and percent total abnormality. The highest volume and concentration values of 0.50±0.03ml and 3.60...

To understand the hepatic metabolic changes during postnatal liver maturation process in breeder roosters, we investigated the hepatic metabolites composition of 1-day-old, 42-day-old, and 35-week-old breeder roosters using gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). Comprehensive multivariate data analyses were applied to identify the distinguishing metabolites of liver. 84 different kinds o...

An essential role of several specific intestinal bacteria in the intestinal IgA level is suggested. Fecal IgA concentration in mice from one breeder was significantly higher than that in mice from two other breeders. The level of segmented filamentous bacteria and four particular clostridia in mice from the former breeder are of particular importance in developing the IgA production and secreti...

The aim of this study was to determine the presence of genes coding for alpha (cpalpha), beta (cpbeta), epsilon (epsilontx), iota (iotaA), enterotoxin (cpepsilon) and beta2 (cpbeta2) toxins in Clostridium perfringens isolates from broiler chickens and parent broiler breeder hens, using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. The prevalence of C. perfringens in the intestinal segments a...

The importance of individuals to the dynamics of populations may depend on reproductive status, especially for species with complex social structure. Loss of reproductive individuals in socially complex species could disproportionately affect population dynamics by destabilizing social structure and reducing population growth. Alternatively, compensatory mechanisms such as rapid replacement of ...

PPROXIMATELY one-fifth of the females in a swine herd fail to conceive during a breeding season and about one-third of all matings are infertile (Phillips and Zeller, 194i ). Warn/&, Grummer and Casida (1949) reported that in a group of 63 "repeat-breeders" bilateral barriers to fertilization were present in 5o.o~o of the nonparous females (gilts) and i5.8~ of the sows. In addition, unilateral ...