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The objective of this study was to evaluate whether probiotic supplementation to laying hens can improve the quality of eggs during storage. The trial was developed in a commercial farm, in which light-weight laying hens (36 weeks old) housed in cages were randomly selected for one of two different treatments: a control group fed non-supplemented diets, or birds fed with diets supplemented with 50 g/ton of probiotics. The trial lasted for 84 days, comprising three productive phases of 28 days each. The fresh egg quality was evaluated and then the eggs were stored and randomly separated for quality assessment at each storage interval (7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42 days). Means were compared using variance analysis considering differences at 5 and 10%. The probiotic was able to improve albumen weight, yolk length, yolk height, and yolk index (p < 0.05) during storage. Yolk color (fan) was also improved by 3.9% (p < 0.001), while increases of 1.35% (p < 0.001) in luminosity, 8.05% (p < 0.001) in red intensity, and 3.4% (p < 0.001) in yellow intensity were observed in comparison to the control group. Probiotic treatment was able to reduce by 2.03% (p < 0.001) yolk pH, and by 19.65% (p < 0.05) TBARS levels when compared to the control treatment. Therefore, the addition of probiotics to laying hen diets is an effective strategy to improve egg quality during storage.

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Every year, numbers and life expectancies of pets increase, especially for dogs and cats. Pets are exposed to environmental factors such as pollutants, pathogens, and oxidants that hamper the animals' ability to respond to stressors. Nutrition and hygiene are increasingly important among animal professionals and pet owners. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a commercially-available homeopathic herbal product formulated with plants, designed to stimulate canine immunity. We used 10 male dogs (beagles) weighing 5.5-6 kg and 5 months of age. Animals were randomly allocated to Control (C, n = 5) and Treated (T, n = 5) groups. The treated group received a basal diet with an additional dose of 0.5 mL/animal/day homeopathic solution and group C received only the basal diet (300 g/day). The product was supplied for 45 days. The animals were weighed and blood samples collected for complete blood counts and serum biochemistry on days 1, 15, 30 and 45 of the experiment. Higher numbers of lymphocytes were observed in conjunction with lower numbers of neutrophils in the T group on days 30 and 45. Total and neutrophil leukocytes decreased throughout the experiment in both groups, and lymphocytes increased with significant difference only in the T group. Erythrocytes and hematocrit increased in both groups over time, as did glucose, triglycerides, total protein, albumin and urea levels. ALT was higher in the control group on day 45. We conclude that the use of a homeopathic agent stimulated lymphocyte production in healthy dogs; and this suggests that homeopathic use is beneficial, because lymphocytes are directly related to cellular and humoral immune responses. Studies in adult animals and those focusing on infectious challenges may reveal more information about the actions of this homeopathic agent.

No abstract