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Rabbits are housed on various types of cages including single tier, multi- tier cages etc. The effect of housing system on the floor bacterial load is variable, and its effect on animal production is limited. An attempt has been made to evaluate and compare the floor bacterial load between single-tier and multi-tier caging system in rabbitary. The study was carried out in rabbitary which housed broiler rabbits. The samples were taken in sterile cotton tipped swabs. The floor bacterial load was determined by dilution method where serial dilutions were done with sterile normal saline. An aliquot of 1 ml was taken from dilution and poured in sterile petri plates in triplicate and mixed with liquefied sterilized plate count agar. Following incubation, the bacterial colonies were counted. The bacterial load in the single-tier was comparatively lower than the multi-tier cage even before washing of cages. There was significant difference (P<0.01) in the floor bacterial load before (1.73x1012±0.30) and after water wash (1.35x1011±0.29) and between single (1.50x109±0.30) and multi-tier cages (1.35x1011±0.29). The bacteria up to genes level found using Hi-Media bacterial kit were Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Flavobacterium sp, Micrococcus sp, Proteus sp, Mannheimia sp, Klebsiella sp, Bordetella sp, Bacillus sp, Actinomyces sp, Cornybacterium sp and Pseudomonas sp. This study concluded that reduced bacterial load found in single tier may be due to good aeration and better handling facilities.  In single tier cage the dung and urine gets settled at the floor which facilities easy washing which slows down the bacterial growth.

S heep rearing is an important livelihood for small and marginal farmers of India. Sheep are efficient converters of unutilized poor quality grass and crop residues into meat and skin (Ganesan et al., 2015). The sheep are distinct species among the domestic animals in the world since they have an excellent ability to survive over a prolonged period of drought and semi starvation and are less prone to extreme weather conditions. In the event of failure of seasonal rainfall in the rainfed areas, leading to crop failure, sheep gives the farmers a helping hand and uplifts them (Swarnkar and Singh, 2010). Sheep in India are mostly maintained on natural vegetation on common grazing lands, wastelands and uncultivated lands, stubbles of cultivated crops and top feeds (tree lopping). The scarcity of the fodder at any time is a function of the stocking rate and carrying capacity of the system at that time, the fodder shortage compels the farmers to adopt suitable coping strategies, among which migration is an important one (Bilegjargal et al., 2017). Some sections of the people practice migratory sheep management as a way of life and have acquired caste/community connotations as well, for example, the Raika community of Rajasthan and Gaddi community in Himachal Pradesh. On the other hand, the temporary migration is a coping strategy to farmers to the risk and uncertainty in the production research Article Abstract | A study was conducted to analyse economics of migratory sheep production and socioeconomic status of flock owners in southern agro-climatic zone of Tamil Nadu, India. A total of 100 migratory sheep farmers were randomly selected for the study and divided as small (< 175), medium (175-350) and large (> 350) flocks based on the average flock size for comparison. The migratory sheep flock owners were mostly Hindus and belonged to the backward classes, mainly Konars. The flock owners were mostly of old age group, illiterates and they had more than two decades of experience in migratory sheep farming. Majority of the flock owners were small and marginal dry land farmers with a mean land holding of 4 acres. The cost of rearing sheep was accounted through wages (56.06percent), food for shepherds (22.18percent), veterinary charges (15.41percent) and transportation between migratory places (6.35percent). The sources of returns were by sale of surplus lambs (72.41percent), culled adults (5.11percent), penning charges (19.69percent) and sale of manure (2.79percent). The overall average annual net returns per flock and per adult sheep estimated were Rs.

Intensive livestock production is one of the major sources of atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases. The microclimate of livestock sheds also influences the productivity and shelf-life of livestock products. The present study assessed the gaseous pollutants and microclimate in dairy and pig sheds in an organised farm. Three types of livestock buildings, viz. dairy cow, pig fattener sty and farrowing pen were selected for the study purpose. Microclimatic data was recorded daily during rainy, winter and summer seasons periodically. Indoor gaseous pollutants, viz. carbon dioxide (CO2), ammonia (NH3) and methane (CH4) were recorded using multi gas monitor. The assessed THI values were higher than the ideal value of 72 in all the livestock sheds irrespective of the seasons. With regards to gaseous pollutants, CO2 and NH3 emissions were less in the afternoon when compared to morning sessions in contrast to CH4 which was higher in afternoon sessions in all the sheds. All the three gaseous pollutants were within the recommended threshold limit level.

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