Reproductive Ability of Doe-Rabbits and Growth and Preservation of the Offspring by Feeding Sulfur Compounds

The use of organic minerals in the form of nanocompounds as a substitute for mineral inorganic salts is promising, but insufficiently studied. Therefore, the purpose of the search was to determine the influence of drinking sulfur citrate and sodium sulfate 14 days before insemination and up to 20th day of lactation on the reproductive capacity of rabbits and the preservation of the offspring up to 40th day of life. The research was carried out on rabbits of the second breed of Hyla breed in “Horlytsia”. Сontrol group were fed without restriction complete ration granular feed with free access to water. 1st experimental group were fed with the ration of the control group and during the day were watered with sulfur citrate, at the rate of 8 μg S/kg of body weight. II experimental group were fed with the ration of the control group and with water was given sodium sulfate in the amount of 40 mg S/kg of body weight. Additives to rabbits were watered 14 days before insemination and for up to 20 days of lactation. It was found that on the first day of life of young rabbits their number in the I and II experimental groups was respectively higher by 8.5 and 4.2% compared to the control. The number of young rabbits at 20 and 40 days of age in the I and II experimental groups was respectively higher by 10.4 and 4.4% and 14.0 and 4.6% compared to the control group. The weight of rabbits in the nest of the II experimental group at 1, 20 and 40 days of life was respectively higher by 2.8; 6.1 and 7.0%, which is based on the average mass of one rabbit for these periods and amounted to 1.1, respectively; 2.7 and 4.3% compared with animals in the control group. The average amount of milk produced by rabbits of I and II experimental groups was respectively higher by 10.2% and 6.6% per day and for 20 days of the lactation period compared to the control. The preservation of rabbits in the I and II experimental groups was respectively higher by 6.4 and 6.4% and 3.6 and 4.4% at 20 and 40 days of life of young rabbits compared to the control group. The results of the research indicate the possibility of additional use in the ration of rabbits of the addition of sulfur citrate in the amount of 8 μg S/kg of body weight to increase metabolism and reproductive capacity during periods of increased physiological load

Efficiency of using Artemia salina as part of a feed additive for chickens

Main problem: The development of the genetic potential of poultry, as well as the receipt of high-quality eggs for collection or further incubation, are possible only if rational and correct feeding of the broodstock and, more importantly, the young during its rearing period is observed. During this period, high-quality protein nutrition occupies an important place, which determines the level of productivity, stable growth, reproductive ability of the bird, as well as the state of health during the feeding period. Protein deficiency always remains an urgent problem for agricultural land, whose main activity is aimed at breeding dairy and meat animals. In this regard, research in the field of finding the use of non-traditional protein feed is of great need. If we summarize the modern achievements in the field of protein and aminoacid nutrition of poultry, we can find the most profitable way to obtain feed additives in industrial production. The studies, the results of which will be described in this article, are aimed at studying the possibility, experimental substantiation of the optimal dosage and the effectiveness of using the feed additive from crustaceans Artemia salina in the diets of chickens of the egg-meat direction of productivity [1]. Purpose: To study the possibility, experimental substantiation of the optimal dosage and the effectiveness of the use of the feed additive from crustaceans Artemia salina in the diet of chickens of the egg-meat direction of productivity. Methods: Analysis and generalization of theoretical information Results and their significance: This article presents the results of the analysis and generalization of theoretical material. The theoretical significance is determined by the fact that it is invested in scientific and practical problems related directly to solving urgent problems, increasing the efficiency, competitiveness and quality of domestic poultry products.

Reproductive ability of black currant cultivars after pollen cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen

Background. Studying the reproductive ability of black currant cultivars after long-term cryopreservation of their pollen in liquid nitrogen is very important for plant diversity conservation and for the effectiveness of breeding efforts.Materials and methods. Five black currant cultivars served as the material for the research. The viability of black currant pollen after cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen was analyzed. Pollen viability was tested on an artificial medium containing 10% of sucrose and 0.8% of agar. The viability of pollen was tested on the black currant collection at Pushkin and Pavlovsk Laboratories of VIR. The cultivar ‘Andreevskaya’ (k-15630) was pollinated with pollen stored for one year in liquid nitrogen (–196°C) as well as with fresh pollen (control test).Results and conclusion. After 12 months of conservation under ultralow temperatures there was a change in the level of pollen viability depending on the genotype: it varied from 10.4% (cv. ‘Pozdnyaya poslevoennaya’, k-7654) to 50.4% (cv. ‘Kriviai’, k-42517), while its mean value was 0.9% higher than the mean initial viability. The fruit setting rate in the control option was 81.3–94.2%. When pollinated with pollen kept in liquid nitrogen for one year, the fruit setting rate varied from 69.2% (‘Kacha’, k-44185) to 93.3% (‘Belorusochka’, k-41978); the remaining cultivars (‘Pozdnyaya poslevoennaya’; ‘Chereshneva’, k-42481; and ‘Kriviai’) demonstrated intermediate values of this indicator, i.e., the reproductive ability of pollen after cryopreservation was high even despite its low viability. As for the fruit weight, no differences were shown by cvs. ‘Kacha’, ‘Chereshneva’ and ‘Kriviai’ in both pollination options, while this indicator in cvs. ‘Belorusochka’ and ‘Pozdnyaya poslevoennaya’ was lower than the control by 0.31 and 0.24 g, respectively.

Automated Microclimate Regulation in Agricultural Facilities Using the Air Curtain System

Creating and maintaining the microclimate in livestock buildings is associated with numerous engineering and technical challenges. Together with adequate feeding, the microclimate determines the health, reproductive ability, and production potential of the animals (obtaining a maximum amount of high-quality products). One of the deciding steps in improving the parameters of microclimate, i.e., temperature and humidity in agricultural facilities, particularly in livestock buildings, is to develop reliable and highly efficient air curtains in the vestibules. The objective of the manuscript is to investigate the parameters of the microclimate in livestock buildings using the air curtain, supported by automation and ICT technologies for rational operating modes. The presented theoretical and experimental studies on improving the microclimate parameters in livestock buildings were carried out using an innovative air curtain system. Its power is calculated based on the dimensions of the room, and the flow rate of warm air near the floor level is three times lower than at the installation site. The use of air curtains reduces consumption of thermal energy needed to maintain an optimal microclimate for livestock by 10–15%. Furthermore, the use of an automated digital control system maintains an optimal microclimate in the building. The developed energy-saving system for creating an optimal micro-climate in livestock buildings using air curtains was tested in a pigsty of the Research and Training Farm “Vorzel” of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, located in the Kiev region. The developed automated microclimate system using air curtains significantly improves the microclimate parameters and significantly reduces power consumption. The system can be further developed by adding remote control based on the Internet of Things (IoT) technology.

Flight and Reproduction Variations of Rice Leaf Roller, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis in Response to Different Rearing Temperatures

Understanding how species that follow different life-history strategies respond to stressful temperature can be essential for efficient treatments of agricultural pests. Here, we focused on how the development, reproduction, flight, and reproductive consequences of migration of Cnaphalocrocis medinalis were influenced by exposure to different rearing temperatures in the immature stage. We found that the immature rice leaf roller that were reared at low temperatures (18 and 22 °C) developed more slowly than the normal temperature 26 °C, while those reared at high temperatures (34 °C) grew faster. Female adults from low immature stage rearing temperatures showed stronger reproductive ability than those at 26 and 34 °C, such as the preoviposition period (POP) significantly decreased, while the total lifetime fecundity obviously increased. However, 34 °C did not significantly reduce the reproductive performances of females compared to 26 °C. On the contrary, one relative decreased tendency of flight capacity was found in the lower immature temperature treatments. Furthermore, flight is a costly strategy for reproduction output to compete for limited internal resources. In the lower temperature treatments, after d1-tethered flight treatment, negative reproductive consequences were found that flight significantly decreased the lifetime fecundity and mating frequency of females from low rearing temperatures in the immature stage compared to the controls (no tethered-flight). However, in the 26 and 34 °C treatments, the same flight treatment induced a positive influence on reproduction, which significantly reduced the POP and period of first oviposition (PFO). The results suggest that the experience of relative high temperatures in the immature stage is more likely to trigger the onset of migration, but lower temperatures in the immature stage may induce adults to have a greater resident propensity with stronger reproductive ability.

The relationship between milk productivity and reproduction in cows in highly productive Ayrshire herds

The purpose of the study is to study the relationship between the rates of dairy productivity and reproduction of cows in the highly productive Ayrshire herds of the Republic of Karelia.Materials and methods. The work was performed on the basis of the four Stud of the Airshire rock at the "Megrega" trivial, "Ilyinskoe", Mayak LLC, Agrocomplex OJSC. V. M. Zaitseva "(Republic of Karelia). Data on dairy productivity and reproductive ability are collected and processed in 24,720 cows. Materials of zootechnical accounting and bonitations for 2004-2020 were used. At the end of the observation period, the productivity of the Stud was 7500-8500 kg of milk.From indicators of the productivity of cows, the amount of fishing, fat products for full lactation and 305 days of lactation, from the reproduction indicators - the duration of the service period, a dry period, an interstitial period (MOP), the age of the first calf, the age of cows during the selection, the causes of the selection are taken.The main biometric constants (X ̅, ϭ, CV) were calculated, the grouping method was used to characterize the signs of signs calculated the correlation coefficients.Results. The relationship between milk productivity and reproduction was studied in 4 Ayrshire herds of 24,720 cows with an average productivity of 7500-8500 kg of milk. A high positive relationship of milk yield and milk fat production with the duration of the service period (SP) was established, the correlation coefficient was up to 0.929 (P<0.001), which is consistent with the data of other researchers of this problem. It is shown that in herds with a milk yield of 8500-9000 kg of milk, the SP duration of 135-140 days is justified. It was noted that the decrease in the age of the first calving of cows led to an increase in the milk yield of the entire herd (r =-0.676; -0.686; P<0.05).A relatively short period of use of cows in herds was recorded – 3.5-3.7 lactations, while the milk yield of cows aged six lactations and older significantly exceeded the average milk yield for the herd. This leads to a positive correlation of the period of use of cows (r =0.935; P<0.001) and the proportion of cows with six lactation and older (r =0.788; P<0.05) with the milk yield of the herd. Cows with six lactations and older can stay in the herd, provided that their performance exceeds the average level of the herd. The influence of milk yield on the length of the service period and the MOP is manifested not only within one lactation, but also in adjacent lactation. It was found that with an increase in milk yield from less than 6000 kg of milk to 9500-10000 kg or more in the previous lactation, the duration of SP in the subsequent lactation increased from 112 to 170 days, MOP – from 391 to 436 (correlation coefficients from 0.138 (P<0.01) to 0.870 (P<0.001).Conclusion. The results obtained indicate the need to develop operating conditions for cows that provide a combination of high and record milk yield with normal reproductive abilities. In particular, to ensure maximum optimization of feeding conditions, maintenance, breeding and veterinary services, and control of animal health.

INFLUENCE OF THE TYPE OF FEEDING ON THE REPRODUCTIVE ABILITIES OF SERVICE DOGS

The article presents the results of a study of indicators of reproductive ability of dogs of the German Shepherd breed when fed with natural products and dry food. The indices of reproductive function of dogs, multiple births, stillbirth and preservation of puppies for weaning were studied. Statistically significant differences were established in some indicators of the reproductive ability of the German Shepherd, which allows us to conclude about the possible influence of the type of feeding on these traits.

Worker-Born Males Are Smaller but Have Similar Reproduction Ability to Queen-Born Males in Bumblebees

Queen-worker conflict over the reproduction of males exists in the majority of haplodiplioidy hymenpteran species such as bees, wasps, and ants, whose workers lose mating ability but can produce haploid males in colony. Bumblebee is one of the representatives of primitively eusocial insects with plastic division labor and belongs to monandrous and facultative low polyandry species that have reproductive totipotent workers, which are capable of competing with mother queen to produce haploid males in the queenright colony compared to higher eusocial species, e.g., honeybees. So, bumblebees should be a better material to study worker reproduction, but the reproductive characteristics of worker-born males (WMs) remain unclear. Here, we choose the best-studied bumblebee Bombus terrestris to evaluate the morphological characteristics and reproductive ability of WMs from the queenless micro-colonies. The sexually matured WMs showed smaller in forewing length and weight, relatively less sperm counts but equally high sperm viability in comparison with the queen-born males (QMs) of the queenright colony. Despite with smaller size, the WMs are able to successfully mate with the virgin queens in competition with the QMs under laboratory conditions, which is quite different from the honeybees reported. In addition, there was no difference in the colony development, including the traits such as egg-laying rate, colony establishment rate, and populations of offspring, between the WM- and the QM-mated queens. Our study highlights the equivalent reproductive ability of worker-born males compared to that of queens, which might exhibit a positive application or special use of bumblebee rearing, especially for species whose males are not enough for copulation. Further, our finding contributes new evidence to the kin selection theory and suggests worker reproduction might relate to the evolution of sociality in bees.