These findings justify the folkloric use of P. daemia as an anti-diabetic and antibacterial agents for susceptible species.

Genetic improvement in commercial broilers worldwide is heavily focused on selection for higher nal body weight at a given age. Although commercial broilers are mostly sold by their nal body weight, it is important to pay attention to how this weight is attained and at what cost. The cost of feeding broilers, which constitutes about 70% of the total cost of broiler production, varies considerably at different stages of the bird. It is, therefore, important to pay attention to the growth curve of broilers and the parameters of the growth curve to maximise pro tability of commercial broiler production. The objective of this study was to model the variations of the growth curves of 4 commercial broiler genotypes reared in Ghana using the Gompertz and polynomial growth functions. Data on body weights at 1, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 days for 4 unsexed commercial broiler genotypes were used to model both the Gompertz and polynomial growth functions. The 4 genotypes ranked differently for Gompertz predicted early (1 -28 days), late growth (28 -42 days) and body weight at 42 days. Gompertz function predicted growth better for broiler chicken than the polynomial as the parameters of the Gompertz function are biologically meaningful and heritable. Selection of broiler genotypes for production based on their growth curve (slower early growth and faster late growth) could minimize cost of production and thereby increase the pro tability of commercial broiler production in the tropics.

No abstract

Genetic improvement in commercial broilers worldwide is heavily focused on selection for higher final body weight at a given age. Although commercial broilers are mostly sold by their final body weight, it is important to pay attention to how this weight is attained and at what cost. The cost of feeding broilers, which constitutes about 70% of the total cost of broiler production, varies considerably at different stages of the bird. It is, therefore, important to pay attention to the growth curve of broilers and the parameters of the growth curve to maximise profitability of commercial broiler production. The objective of this study was to model the variations of the growth curves of 4 commercial broiler genotypes reared in Ghana using the Gompertz and polynomial growth functions. Data on body weights at 1, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 days for 4 unsexed commercial broiler genotypes were used to model both the Gompertz and polynomial growth functions. The 4 genotypes ranked differently for Gompertz predicted early (1 - 28 days), late growth (28 – 42 days) and body weight at 42 days. Gompertz function predicted growth better for broiler chicken than the polynomial as the parameters of the Gompertz function are biologically meaningful and heritable. Selection of broiler genotypes for production based on their growth curve (slower early growth and faster late growth) could minimize cost of production and thereby increase the profitability of commercial broiler production in the tropics.

Puccinellia tenuiflora (Griesb.) Scribn. & Merr. has an outstanding tolerance to highly alkaline and saline soil and it is commonly grown for ruminants to graze or eat as conserved forage. Although salt-responsive mechanisms underpinning the growth of P. tenuiflora in high alkali and saline soil conditions have been reported, there have been few publications evaluating feeding value and digestive characteristics of P. tenuiflora in ruminants. Feeding fresh versus dried forage to ruminants has altered feed intake, digestibility and liveweight gain performance (Archimède et al., 1999;Pasha et al., 1994), but the nature and extent of responses seemed inconsistent (Andrade et al., 2016;Pasha et al., 1994). Furthermore, effects of moisture content of the grass on water intake were not investigated in these studies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of feeding fresh or dried P. tenuiflora on nutrient and water intake and digestibility by sheep. | MATERIAL S AND ME THODSAll procedures involving the use of animals were approved by the Animal Care Committee of the Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (#2016001). P. tenuiflora grass was harvested in a 6 year old paddock with high salinity and alkaline soil, located in a semi-arid region in Changchun, China (44°33′N, 123°31′E). Twenty-four male Ujumqin lambs (mean ± SD) 120 ± 10.5 days of age and 29 ± 0.8 kg of body weight (BW) were assigned to one of two dietary treatments (fresh versus dried grass), in a completely randomized design. Both treatments had a 7-day