Purpose: The aim is to study the effects of stocking density on the performance characteristics, egg quality, and nutrient composition of the eggs of Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica). Study Design: Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Subjects and Methods: Two hundred and ninety-six (296) day-old sexed Japanese quails assigned to four different stocking densities (treatments) with four replicates conducted in the rainy season. The groups (I to IV) contained 11, 16, 21, and 26 quails in the approximate sex ratio of 1:1 (male: female) with stock densities 252.20 cm2, 173.43 cm2, 132.10 cm2, and 106.73 cm2/quail respectively. Standard procedures were adopted in data generation, collation and analyses. Results: The results showed significant differences (p < 0.05) in weight gain, hen-day production, hen-housed production, total egg /hen, external and internal egg parameters across the treatments. The lowest feed conversion ratio (FCR) of 2.38 % and lowest mortality (2.27 %) were obtained from group one and compared with those in groups two and three. The highest mortality rate was observed in group IV (12.50 %). The proximate analysis and mineral composition of the eggs recorded the highest values from group I which was also compared with the rest of the groups. Conclusion: It was concluded that 173.43 cm2 and 132.10 cm2/quail bird compared well with the standard (252.20 cm2/quail bird) and hence could still be adopted in quail farming without compromising their welfare and performance.

This experiment was conducted for eight weeks to evaluate the haematological and serum biochemical indices of broiler chickens infected with Salmonella Gallinarum (Gr. D1-1, 9, 12) and treated with ethanolic leaf extract of Chrysophyllum albidum (G. Don). The experimental design was a factorial arrangement in a completely randomised design (CRD) involving one hundred and sixty two (162) unsexed day-old Arbor Acre broiler chicks. The chickens were allotted to nine (9) groups of three (3) replicates with each replicate comprising six (6) birds of infected, non-infected, treated and untreated group. Phytochemical screening of C. albidum revealed the presence of tannins, saponins, cardiac glycosides, steroids, terpenoids and flavonoids. The extract and the standard drug were th administered at 7 day post infection. There were significant differences (P< 0.05) in Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), Packed Cell Volume (PCV), Red Blood Cell (RBC), Haemoglobin (Hb), Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin (MCH), Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV), Lymphocyte (LYM) and none in Heterophil (HET), Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin Concentration (MCHC), Monocytes, Basophils and Eosinophils at all levels. The highest values of PCV (33.67±1.86a ), RBC (3.02±0.4a ) and Hb (11.23±0.62a ) though normal were observed in the standard drug (Doxygen®) group. Most of the serum biochemical parameters were found to be within range usually seen in avian species. It was concluded that ethanolic leaf extract of C. albidum had no deleterious effect on haematological and biochemical indices of broiler chickens and hence can be further explored pharmaceutically for its usefulness in treating fowl typhoid.

Background: This research work focused on ascertaining the presence of virulence and antibioticresistant genes in Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157 and non-O157 recovered from drinking water sources. Methods: Identification of E. coli O157 and non-O157 was carried out using standard serological and PCR techniques. Virulence genes (rfb O157, fliC H7, stx1, stx2, eae and hly genes) and antibiotic-resistant gene (BlaTEM) were detected using PCR method on selected isolates (n= 15) from different water sources which demonstrated multiple antibiotic-resistance in a previous study. Results: The serological identification result revealed that a total of 68 out of 382 E. coli isolates, recovered in a previous work, were identified as a presumptive E. coli O157. These included 19.1 %, 21.7 %, 33.3 %, 14.3 % and 9.1 % of E. coli isolates from wells, boreholes, sachets, streams and pipe-borne respectively. Statistical analysis revealed that there was no significant difference in the frequency of E. coli O157 from the different water sources (p > 0.05). Also, there was a statistically significant positive correlation between the E. coli isolates and E. coli O157 (Pearson's r = 0.996). Detection of virulence and antibiotic-resistant genes showed that only 46.7 %, 33.3 %, 33.3 %, 93.3 %, and 66.7 % carried rfb O157, fliC H7, stx1, stx2 and rpoS gene respectively. In contrast, all the isolates possessed hly and BlaTEM genes but none had eae gene. Conclusion: The presence of one or combination of these genes in these isolates depicts their virulence and resistance nature. Plate 3. Gel electrophoresis for stx1. Lane 1-8 (E. coli non-O157), Lane 9-15 (E. coli O157), Lane M (100bp DNA size marker) Lane 4 -(S70), Lane 10-(S3B), Lane 12 (S35), Lane 13 (S82R), Lane 14 (S30) and Lane 15 (S10) were positive for stx1 gene. Plate 4. Gel electrophoresis for stx2 gene. Lane 1-8 (E. coli non-O157), Lane 9-15 (E. coli O157), Lane M (100bp DNA size marker) Lane 1 (S71), Lane 2 ((S177), Lane 3 (S31), Lane 4 (S70), Lane 5 (S89), Lane 6 (S152), Lane 7 (S202) from pipe-borne water sample), Lane 8 (S34), Lane 9 (S33), Lane 10(S3B), Lane 11 (S2), Lane 12 (S35), Lane 13 (S82R) and Lane 14 (S30) were positive for Stx2 gene. Plate 5.Gel electrophoresis for hlyA gene. Lane 1-8 (E. coli non-O157), Lane 9-15 (E. coli O157), Lane M (100bp DNA size marker). All isolates in all the lanes were positive for hlyA gene.

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