Search results for " Sheep"

L’impiego alimentare di orzo germinato nella produzione di latte ovino biologico

2011

Food use of barley sprouts in organic sheep milk production. Hydroponic forage, used when fresh forage is scarce, represents a good alternative feed for milking ruminants, also in organic farming systems, where it can reduce the forage/concentrate ratio. This study evaluated the effect of barley sprouts (BS) in the diet on nutrients utilization and milk production from organic ewes. Eighteen ewes were divided into 3 groups and fed with 3 diets. Animals was fed with hay ad libitum and supplemented by: 0.6 kg/d of concentrate and 4 kg/d of BS (B100); 0.9 kg/d of concentrate and 2 kg/d of BS (B50); 1.2 kg/d of concentrate (C). Supplied and residual feeds and milk yield were recorded and sample…

ORGANIC SHEEP MILK PRODUCTION AND QUALITY BY USE OF LEGUME GRAINS AS DIETARY SUPPLEMENT

2013

The aim of this study was to evaluate the sheep milk yield and quality as affecting by concentrate dietary supplements prepared on farm by mixing locally produced barley and legume grains, used as alternative to a commercial feed. A total of twelve milking ewes, averaging 92±9 days in milking and 56±6 kg of live weight, were housed in individual pens and divided homogeneously into four groups. Each group was fed ad libitum with a grass-legume hay and received, according to a 4x4 Latin square design with periods comprised of 21 days, one of the following isonitrogenous concentrates: 500 g chickpea and 300 g barley (CP); 450 g faba bean and 350 g barley (FB); 550 g pea and 250 g barley (PE); …

Ancient DNA polymorphisms analysis to investigate scrapie susceptibility in Sicilian sheep remains from medieval archaeological sites

2014

Encephalopathy in sheep was at first described in Ireland in 1732 and was called “scrapie“ because the animals tend to tear their hair. Historically it seems to be the result of an incestuous union as breeding practice in old farms. In Sicily the animal bones found in association with the human skeletal remains from the tombs or city-sites, comprised a broad range of domestic. Usually, species included in the collected bones are domestic animals commonly eaten as sheep or goats, cattle, pigs, chickens and a small partridge. In this contest, the assemblage and the species identification is often difficult. Based on DNA barcoding, all the investigated bones were confirmed as belonging to the …

Genetic selection for reduced Somatic Cell Counts in sheep milk: A review

2015

Mastitis is an inflammation of the udder, mainly caused by bacteria, and leads to economic loss, due to discarded milk, reduced milk production, reduced milk quality and increased health costs in both dairy sheep and cattle. Selecting for increased genetic resistance to mastitis can be done directly or indirectly, with the indirect selection corresponding to a prediction of the bacteriological status of the udder based on traits related to the infection. The most frequently used indirect method is currently milk somatic cell count (SCC) or somatic cell score (SCS). This review reports the state of the art relating to the genetic basis of mastitis resistance in sheep and explores the opportu…

Genetic parameters for somatic cell score according to udder infection status in Valle del Belice dairy sheep and impact of imperfect diagnosis of in…

2010

Abstract Background Somatic cell score (SCS) has been promoted as a selection criterion to improve mastitis resistance. However, SCS from healthy and infected animals may be considered as separate traits. Moreover, imperfect sensitivity and specificity could influence animals' classification and impact on estimated variance components. This study was aimed at: (1) estimating the heritability of bacteria negative SCS, bacteria positive SCS, and infection status, (2) estimating phenotypic and genetic correlations between bacteria negative and bacteria positive SCS, and the genetic correlation between bacteria negative SCS and infection status, and (3) evaluating the impact of imperfect diagno…

STUDY OF MASTITIS IN DAIRY SHEEP USING SURVIVAL ANALYSIS

2013

Mastitis is the most prevalent disease present in livestock species leading to economic loss. In dairy sheep, it caused mainly from bacterial infections. The aim of this work was to investigate the risk of having mastitis in Valle del Belice dairy ewes during the first lactation, due to environmental or contagious pathogens, using a survival analysis approach. All test‐day records from primiparous ewes were collected from five flocks. All test‐day were grouped in two data sets, one with mastitis due to environmental pathogens (ENV) and the other with mastitis due to contagious pathogens (CON). In this analysis the follow up period of a ewe was the lactation, consequently all the record bega…

Tick-borne pathogens in sheep and goats in Southern Italy

2010

Genome-wide analyses reveal population structure and identify candidate genes associated with tail fatness in local sheep from a semi-arid area.

2021

Abstract Under a climate change perspective, the genetic make-up of local livestock breeds showing adaptive traits should be explored and preserved as a priority. We used genotype data from the ovine 50 k Illumina BeadChip for assessing breed autozygosity based on runs of homozygosity (ROH) and fine-scale genetic structure and for detecting genomic regions under selection in 63 Tunisian sheep samples. The average genomic inbreeding coefficients based on ROH were estimated at 0.017, 0.021, and 0.024 for Barbarine (BAR, n = 26), Noire de Thibar (NDT, n = 23), and Queue fine de l'Ouest (QFO, n = 14) breeds, respectively. The genomic relationships among individuals based on identity by state (I…

Test-Day Model Heritabilities for somatic cvell score and production traits in primiparous Valle del Belice sheep

2006

A repeatability test-day animal model was used to investigate heritabilities of somatic cell score (SCS) and milk production traits in Valle del Belice sheep. The heritability estimate for SCS falls within the range reported in literature (0.14±0.03), while estimates for milk production and composition traits were below those obtained by others, 0.12±0.03, 0.09±0.02, 0.14±0.03, 0.14±0.03, and 0.12±0.03, respectively, for milk yield, fat %, fat yield, protein %, and protein yield. Flock-test-day had a substantial effect on milk production traits but not on SCS. These results provide the basic parameters required for discussion of selection strategies and objectives in Valle del Belice sheep.

Polymorphisms of β-defensin genes in Valle del Belice dairy sheep

2011

The aim of this work was to study β-defensin 1 (SBD1) and β-defensin 2 (SBD2) genes in Valle del Belice dairy sheep in order to identify polymorphisms that can be utilized as markers of the analyzed genes, and search for the functional effects and roles of the identified polymorphisms (variation of the amino acid sequence of the protein and stability of mRNA molecule). The study was conducted on 300 randomly selected animals belonging to four flocks. A total of seven SNPs were identified, two in SBD1 and five in SBD2. The two SNPs identified in SBD2 coding region, at position 1659 and position 1667, were non-synonymous, leading to amino acid changes in the protein product. Nevertheless, the…