Search results for "sheep"

Feeding Dairy Ewes with Fresh or Dehydrated Sulla (Sulla coronarium L.) Forage. 2. Effects on Cheese Enrichment in Bioactive Molecules

2022

Sulla is a tanniferous legume species largely used as fresh or preserved forage in the ruminants’ diets. Due to its content in polyphenols with antioxidant activity, especially condensed tannins (CT), fresh sulla forage (FSF), when eaten by ruminants, is able to enrich animal products with antioxidant molecules and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) that are beneficial for consumers’ health. Dehydration represents a valid alternative to haymaking to preserve these properties also in periods when FSF is unavailable. In this research, the effects of ewes’ diets based on sulla hay (SH), pelleted dehydrated sulla forage (DSF) or FSF were evaluated on cheese physico-chemical tr…

Effect of ewe feeding system (grass v. concentrate) on intramuscular fatty acids of lambs raised exclusively on maternal milk

2005

AbstractTwenty pregnant Comisana ewes were divided into two groups of 10. One group was allowed to graze a vetch pasture (grass). The second group of animals was housed collectively in a pen and was given hay and concentrates (concentrate). After lambing, all the ewes were allowed to stay with the respective lambs between 18:00 h and 07:00 h of the following day in two different pens. Therefore all the lambs were raised exclusively on maternal milk. The lambs were slaughtered at 38 days of age. Milk and lamb meat (longissimus dorsi muscle) fatty acids were analysed. Ewes on grass produced milk with a lower (P< 0·001) proportion of saturated fatty acids and with a higher proportion of bot…

The quality of Valle del Belice sheep’s milk and cheese produced in the hot summer season in Sicily

2013

In response to the growing consumer demand for fresh cheese in summer, this investigation was aimed to evaluate the chemical and microbiological characteristics of sheep’s milk and cheese produced in Sicily in the hot summer months. A total of 810 bulk milk samples collected from 17 farms rearing ewes of the Valle del Belice breed were analysed for chemical composition, somatic cell count, total bacterial count and clotting parameters. Samples (n = 18) of Protected Designation of Origin Vastedda della valle del Belice cheese produced in six dairies were collected in summer, autumn and spring and analysed for chemical composition, microbiological profile and fatty acid (FA) composition. Univ…

The Australian Sheep-Goat Scale: An Evaluation of Factor Structure and Convergent Validity.

2018

The Australian Sheep-Goat Scale (ASGS) is a commonly used measure of belief in the paranormal. The scale contains items that index extrasensory perception (ESP), psychokinesis (PK), and life after death (LAD). Although, research employs the ASGS as both a general (unidimensional) and factorial (multidimensional) measure, few studies have examined the appropriateness of these solutions. Accordingly, the present paper tested the psychometric integrity of the ASGS via two studies. Study 1 assessed ASGS factorial structure using confirmatory factor analysis. To achieve this, merging of ASGS data from previously published studies and ongoing work created a heterogeneous sample of 1,601 responses…

Genetic database development for the characterisation of Sicilian sheep population

2019

The most representative sheep in Sicily are Belicina, Comisana, Pinzirita, Barbarescaand the crossbred derived sheep from all this species. In this study, the allelic frequencies of the Sicilian sheep population were investigated. It currently represents the best way to determine the genetic identity and/or family even with limited amounts of sample or when the DNA is degraded. The aim of the study was to provide a reference data bank and to evaluate a microsatellite panel for pedigree analysis as suggested by the International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG). There are various studies on European sheep, but few datasets were developed on the population of Sicilian sheep. The reference d…

Sur les traces du mouton en Gaule

2005

Concerning the evidence for sheep in Gaul.- In northern Gaul, bones of sheep and goat are found in most Iron Age sites, farms, villages, graves and shrines. It is difficult to establish a good distinction between the bones of these two species, but sheep are more numerous than goat. This short paper deals with the use of these animals in domestic and ritual practices over a long period, from the Late Bronze Age to the beginning of Roman period. The fact that these animals are represented by bones encourages the study of meat consumption. Mutton is consumed in domestic contexts, but it is also offered during banquets in shrines, public areas in villages or other places, and plays a role duri…

The influence of somatic cell count on sheep milk composition and cheese-making properties

2005

Somatic cell count (SCC) is an important tool for monitoring intramammary infections in dairy cows. However, systematic generalization of this decision rule is not easy in small ruminants. Determination of SCC in sheep milk is important for the processors of milk (indicator of quality), for breeders (mastitis indicator) and could be useful for selection as well. SCC value can be affected by some non-infective factors such as breed, stage of lactation, parity, type of lambing, type of milking, etc. (Bergonier et al., 1994), as well the health status of the udder (Fruganti et al., 1985; Ranucci et al., 1988). In addition, EC Directive 92/46, which regulates the production and commercialisatio…

OPERATIONAL STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE VALLE DEL BELÌCE SHEEP BREED

2021

Assessing osseointegration of metallic implants with boronized surface treatment

2020

Background Modification of endosteal implants through surface treatments have been investigated to improve osseointegration. Boronization has demonstrated favorable mechanical properties, but limited studies have assessed translational, in vivo outcomes. This study investigated the effect of implant surface boronization on bone healing. Material and Methods Two implant surface roughness profiles (acid etched, machined) in CP titanium (type II) alloy implants were boronized by solid-state diffusion until 10-15µm boron coating was achieved. The surface-treated implants were placed bilaterally into 5 adult sheep ilia for three and six weeks. Four implant groups were tested: boronized machined …

Effect of weather conditions on somatic cell score in Sicilian Valle del Belice ewes

2010

Mastitis susceptibility of Valle del Belice ewes from the south of Sicily to temperature, humidity, precipitation, solar radiation, sun hours, air pressure, wind-speed and wind-direction measured by a public weather station was investigated using 65,848 test-day somatic cell score (SCS) records of 5,237 ewes. All weather parameters had an effect on SCS in a regression approach. Extreme values of maximum and minimum temperaturehumidity indices resulted in increased SCS. Higher precipitation, solar radiation and sun hours resulted in increased SCS, whereas higher air pressure and wind speed resulted in reduced SCS.