ABSTRACT Twenty four (24) cross bred rabbits of both sexes, made up of twelve (12) males and twelve (12) females were used for the experiment to investigate, the growth and carcass characteristics of weaner rabbits fed four(4) dietary levels of Moringa oleifera leaf, meal (MOLM). Treatments 1, 2, 3, and 4 received 0, 10, 20, and 30% MOLM, respectively. Results obtained showed that rabbits on T3 diet achieved the highest weight gain (1600.00 ±56.27g) while T2, T4 and T1 recorded weight gains...
ABSTRACT Double muscling is a heritable trait. It has been revealed that myostatin (MSTN) or growth differentiation factor 8(GDF8) is the genetic agent of this trait. The gene is a myokine, a protein that inhibits myogenesis (muscle cell growth and differentiation). In-Silico genetic analysis was done to analyze the sequences of the Myostatin gene in cattle, sheep and goat. A total of thirty-seven (37) nucleotides with their corresponding amino acid sequences comprising (26 for goat, 9 for c...
ABSTRACT The effect of dietary supplementation of organic selenium at different levels on the reproductive performance of rabbit does was investigated using 16 (12 does and 4 bucks) rabbits. The rabbits were of New Zealand white, Dutch and chinchilla breeds. The twelve rabbit does were randomly assigned to four experimental treatment groups (T0, T1, T2 and T3) according to the amount of organic selenium supplementation in a completely randomized design (CRD). Rabbits in T0 served as the cont...
ABSTRACT The study was carried out in Caprivi region situated in the North East of Namibia. The region was divided into three predominant vegetation types with substantial grazing potential. Nine (9) sites (three in each vegetation type) were randomly selected for data collection. The objective of the study was to estimate and compare the biomass production of the rangelands of the three vegetation types in the Caprivi. At each site 200m X 100m transect was laid down for collecting herbaceou...
ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to characterize phenotypically, indigenous Ghanaian rabbit resources of northern Ghana. When characterization of the indigenous rabbits is complete, selection and breeding for specific objectives can be systematic. Three hundred local rabbits from the three northern regions of Ghana were randomly sampled. Frequencies for colour varieties were computed. The effects of variety, region and sex on body measurements were analyzed and phenotypic correlations be...
ABSTRACT Salmonella and Escherichia coli are the two most important food-borne pathogens of public health interest incriminated in meat worldwide. These bacteria are widely distributed in food and the environment. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Salmonella and E. coli in fresh beef and related samples obtained from 15 beef retail points in Techiman Municipality. Consumers' attitudes towards fresh beef colour as its aesthetic quality in display was also determined. A t...
ABSTRACT Beef contamination with Salmonella and their resistance to antibiotics is a concern and a threat to the public health. This study determined the knowledge of ruminant farmers and veterinary officers in antibiotic usage, and the presence of antibiotic residues in beef samples in the Wa Municipality of Ghana. The microbiological quality and prevalence of resistant Salmonella spp. in the beef samples were also determined. Two hundred and fifty ruminant farmers and six veterinary offic...
ABSTRACT Most pork produced in Ghana tend to be very fatty as most famers do not feed balanced diets to their animals because of the high cost of feed ingredients. High levels of cholesterol and fat from animal products have been associated with coronary heart diseases and stroke in humans and fear of this has led to some instances of negative impact on acceptance of pork for human consumption. Dietary manipulation to reduce fat and cholesterol in pork, if feasible will therefore be important...
ABSTRACT This study was conducted to assess the effect of replacing soybean meal in concentrate with dried rumen digesta (DRD) on digestibility and growth performance of Djallonké sheep. Sixteen (16) Djallonké rams with an initial average body weight of 12.4±2.4kg of 10-12 months old were randomly assigned to four treatment diets and replicated four times over a 63 day period in a completely randomized design (CRD). The treatments were T0 (0% DRD), T1 (4% DRD), T2 (8% DRD) and T3 (12% DRD...
ABSTRACT Infectious diseases of livestock are difficult to control in Africa due partly to lack of vaccines. In the absence of these vaccines, livestock production in endemic regions is constrained by the need for repeated acaricide use and/or the loss of opportunity to genetically improve the productivity of the indigenous breeds. Indigenous cattle have innate resistance to majority of diseases but are of low productivity. There is evidence that resistance to severe disease and death upon in...
ABSTRACT This study was conducted to determine the effect of feed supplementation during the postpartum period on the growth and reproductive performance of 40 grazing Sanga and Friesian x Sanga cows in the coastal savannah zone of Ghana. Twenty out of the total of 40 cows (10 Sanga and 10 Friesian x Sanga crossbred cows) were supplemented with 2.5 kg of concentrate per day during the period of study. All cows were weighed weekly and scored for body condition once every week using the 9-point...
ABSTRACT Two experiments were conducted concurrently to determine the effects of charcoal incorporation at 3 and 6% in diets containing 5%sun-dried false yam tuber meal (SDFYTM) and 15%soaked false yam tuber meal (SFYTM) on growth performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens, and a digestibility trial to determine nutrient digestibility of the experimental diets. False yam tubers were peeled, diced with some sun-dried and milled for a feeding trial in Experiment 1. The other d...
SUMMARY Detection of Toxoplasma gondii infection by the direct demonstration of parasites is difficult due to the intracellular development of the organism, whilst the tissue culture technique is cumbersome and slow. Several workers have, therefore, relied on the demonstration of specific anti-f. gondii antibodies in serum and body fluids of both human and animal populations to obtain epidemiological data on toxoplasmosis. The applicability of this approach is based on the ability to differen...
ABSTRACT This study was carried out to investigate the effect of different marinades on the quality characteristics of chevon jerky. Chevon (Hindquarter muscle) was treated with marinades containing different levels of vinegar (0, 2.5% or 5% v/v) and papain (0, 0.004g/0.04gw/v). A 3x3 factorial design which composed of nine treatments with three replicates was used. Chevon was cut into 1.5cm x 1.5cm cubes and samples were marinated for 12h and dried in an oven for 10h at a temperature of 65o...
Abstract Schistosomiasis is an economically important disease of man and livestock caused by trematode parasites of the genus Schistosoma. The disease is wide-spread and endemic throughout many parts of the world infested by the intermediate freshwater snail hosts belonging to the family Planorbidae. The affected areas include; Africa, Madagascar, S. America, India, Sri Lanka, South East Asia, China, Japan, Philipines, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Caribbean (Rollinson and Southgate, 1987), 75 co...