A statistic to measure the level of connectedness achieved among flocks would help producers to assess the risk of comparing EBV of animals from different flocks. The objectives of this research were to evaluate the pattern of change over time in selected connectedness measures and to determine how effectively these measures quantify the level of risk due to potential bias in EBV comparisons ac...

We propose a novel shape-constrained flock animation system for interactively controlling flock navigation in virtual environments. This system is capable of making the spatial distribution of a flock meet static or deforming shape constraints while performing flock simulation. Such a capability can find many applications in the entertainment industry. Given a 3D constraining shape, our system ...

Let F be a flock of the quadratic cone Q: X 2=X1X3 , in PG(3, q), q even, and let 6t : X0 =xt X1 + t X2 +zt X3 , t # Fq , be the q planes defining the flock F. A flock is equivalent to a herd of ovals in PG(2, q), q even, and to a flock generalized quadrangle of order (q, q). We show that if the herd contains a monomial oval, this oval is the Segre oval. This implies a result on the existence o...

Flocks of birds are highly variable in shape in all contexts (while travelling, avoiding predation, wheeling above the roost). Particularly amazing in this respect are the aerial displays of huge flocks of starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) above the sleeping site at dawn. The causes of this variability are hardly known, however. Here we hypothesise that variability of shape increases when there are ...

Results of the analysis are presented of the effect of inbreeding on selected reproduction traits and body weight in a Booroola flock kept closed for 14 years at the Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Jastrzębiec. The mean inbred in lambs rose linearly until 2002, when it reached the level of 9.81%, ranging from 0 to 31.7%. No inbred effect was observed on ovulation rate, fertility, lit...

Flock health is one of the most critical areas of management that can affect the overall productivity and ultimately the profitability of a flock of sheep. Failure to provide adequate attention to flock health can have disastrous effects on both the welfare of your sheep and your bank account. However, by implementing proper flock health management practices, you can minimize your exposure to p...

Trials were conducted to determine general semen characteristics of the male native chicken and effects of mating ratio, cock number in the flock, and breeder age on fertility in the native chicken flock. The results revealed that the mature native male had the semen volume of about 0.4 ml/bird/ejaculation, spermatocrit value of about 13.86-15.60%, semen concentration of about 7031-8001 million...

Over the past several years increasing of cellulites in some regions of the country has been reported. During August and September of 2005, 4.48% of total slaughtered broilers were condemned due to cellulitis in Masjid Soleiman slaughterhouse. Four out of 98 slaughtered flocks were infected to cellulitis. The condemnation rates in infected flocks were: flock 1: 1.55%, flock 2: 0.993%, flock 3: ...

The present study was conducted to investigate the impact of breeding season on the productivity and profitability of Barki flock. Simulation technique was used based on technical coefficients derived from statistical analysis of the basic data. Basic data utilized in this study were obtained from the accumulated records collected over 34 successive breeding seasons from 1972 to 2005 of Barki s...

Roads through tropical forest create linear disturbances that have unknown consequences for forest birds. We studied how a narrow, rarely used road through otherwise undisturbed Amazonian forest affected the movements and area requirements of understory birds that form mixed-species flocks. Differences in road maintenance led to two distinct treatments along the same road. Trees along the “clos...