No abstract

No abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of using some sources of antioxidants on the productive and reproductive performance of turkeys.

his study was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding supplemented diets by ether niacin, thiamin or its mixture on the growth and fattening performance of buffalo calves. A feeding trial was carried out using twenty growing buffalo calves with average initial weight 275±2.6 Kg and aged 14 months. They were divided into four similar groups (5 calves each) in 120-day feeding trial periods using the randomized complete block design. All animals' groups were fed individually along the experimental period on a basal ration (BR) that consisted of 69.5% concentrate feed mixture (CFM), 17.4% rice straw (RS) and 13.1% corn silage (CS) on DM basis. A certain amounts of dietary niacin and/or thiamin were mixed thoroughly with CFM as in the following treatments. Animals were given BR without supplements (T 1 ) as control, BR supplemented with 0.5 g niacin/head/day (T 2 ), BR plus 0.5 g thiamin/h/d (T 3 ) and BR supplemented with 0.25 g niacin and 0.25 g thiamin/h/d (T 4 ). Animals were fed according to allowances of kearl (1982) for buffalo calves. Four digestibility trials were conducted to determine the digestibility and feeding values of the experimental rations. Results indicated that digestibility of DM and OM were insignificantly increased with T 2 and T 3 rations, but significantly (p<0.05) increased with T 4 one, compared with control (T 1 ). Digestibility of CF, EE and NFE followed the same trend of DM among treatments. Otherwise, CP digestibility was slightly improved with all tested rations. The values of TDN, DCP and DE were followed similar trends to that of nutrients digestibility among treatments. Daily feed intake wasn't affected significantly by the two supplements. Total weight gain and daily gain were significantly (p<0.05) higher in all tested rations in comparison of control one, while the highest value had occurred with T 4 . Regarding feed conversion measurement, significant improvement due to both supplements and its mixture were found respecting DM,TDN or DCP: gain, compared with unsupplemented diet (control). Concerning economic evaluation, net revenue and economical efficiency were markedly increased with supplemented rations compared with control one. No significant differences were found among treatments in blood total protein and creatinine. It could be concluded that either niacin or thiamin and its mixture had an effectiveness role for improving the performance of fattening buffalo calves when the concentrate feed mixture was high percentage in their rations.

The cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley is an invasive polyphagous pest species causing severe economic damage to a wide range agricultural crops. Five different toxicants of different groups were evaluated for their effectiveness in reducing mealybug incidence on cotton under both laboratory and field conditions as well as their effectiveness against its associated predators (Chrysoperla carnea (Steph.), Hyperaspis vinciguerrae Capra) under field conditions. Chlorpyrifos and Imidacloprid were the most toxic insecticides after 24h and 72h of exposure compared with Pyriproxyfen, Buprofezin and Emamectin benzoate against third instar nymphs of P. solenopsis under laboratory conditions. Based on field experiments, Chlorpyrifos significantly superior in reducing the cotton mealybug population followed by Imidacloprid, Pyriproxyfen, Emamectin benzoate and finally Buprofezin with average reduction between 96.24 to 43.99%. IGRs toxicants (Buprofezin and Pyriproxyfen) found to safer to the predacious insects than other toxicant groups.