The study was structured to find out the seasonal influences on birth of piglets in tropical condition with the objective of probability in the birth of male and female piglets from 80 farrowing records for the period from 2017 to 2021. Depending on the season, male piglets are in more demand since they have to anticipate the demand for meat during festivals and other annual events. The parameters studied from farrowing records are litter size at birth and at weaning (42nd day). From this study, highest probability of male piglets were born during south west monsoon season where as the female piglets were born during winter season however, the pooled sex of piglets were born highest in winter season. It could be useful to the farmers who are in need of piglets for either meat production or breeding purpose.

The study was structured to find out the seasonal influences on birth of piglets in tropical condition with the objective of probability in the birth of male and female piglets from 80 farrowing records for the period from 2017 to 2021. Depending on the season, male piglets are in more demand since they have to anticipate the demand for meat during festivals and other annual events. The parameters studied from farrowing records are litter size at birth and at weaning (42nd day). From this study, highest probability of male piglets were born during south west monsoon season where as the female piglets were born during winter season however, the pooled sex of piglets were born highest in winter season. It could be useful to the farmers who are in need of piglets for either meat production or breeding purpose.

Logistic regression was used to develop models predicting preweaning survival in 334 neonatal swine. Measured risk factors included birth weight, litter size (live born), dam parity, serum IgG concentration, serum ELISA titers recognizing common gram-negative core antigens, and serum concentrations of the third component of complement. Larger birth weights were associated with increased probability of preweaning survival. The highest mortality was observed in litters with more than 12 pigs. Pigs with serum concentration of the third component of complement (C3) in the lowest stratum, < 20% adult pooled C3 standard (APC3), had reduced mortality, compared with high (> 38% APC3) and middle (20 to 38% APC3) groups. Associations between all other variables, including total serum IgG concentration and preweaning survival were not significant. Few pigs had hypogammaglobulinemia, < 3% of the study population had serum IgG concentrations < 1 g/dl. Of all measured variables, only birth weight and dam parity were significant predictors of preweaning gain. Larger pigs and pigs born to third or greater parity dams had more preweaning gain than other pigs.

New-born lambs have limited energy reserves and need a rapid access to colostrum to maintain homeothermy and survive. The object of this study was to investigate the importance of neonatal lamb behaviour in the maintenance of its body temperature and survival. The time taken to stand and suck after birth and rectal temperatures were determined in 72 crossbred lambs (progeny of crossing 1/2 Rhamani and 1/2 Finnish). In addition, blood samples were collected at 1, 24 and 72 h after birth. The obtained sera were assayed for thyroid hormones (T3 and T4), known to be involved in heat production and phosphorous element (ph) which is essential for energy metabolism. The obtained results revealed that, low birth weight and triplet lambs were behaviourally less active at birth and had less T3, T4, Ph and body temperatures values over the first 3 days of life than lambs of heavy or medium birth weight and single or twin lambs. Thus, light weight and triplet lambs were highly susceptible to hypothermia and were exposed to high rate of mortality (18.75 and 16.66%) during the neonatal period than other lambs (3.84, 10.00, 4.55, and 9.38 %, respectively). Therefore, the present study concludes that neonatal lamb behaviour, specifically success in standing and obtaining colostrum are extremely important for thermoregulation and survival of the neonate.

Six pregnant gilts were purchased from a high health herd and were found to be serologically positive for swine influenza virus (SIV) subtype H3N2. Three of the gilts, at 80 to 82 days of gestation, were experimentally exposed a second time to the same SIV subtype --- H3N2. No clinical signs resulted from the second exposure to SIV and hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) titers for SIV at 4 weeks postexposure were unchanged suggesting that the gilts had not been reinfected. However, the second exposure to SIV affected the number of pigs born alive. Each of the 3 litters from the twice exposed gilts suffered 2 or 3 stillborn piglets per litter. In contrast the 3 matched, sero-positive gilts that were not exposed to SIV (controls) had no stillborn piglets. These differences were statistically significant using a t-test for unequal variances (P = 0.0086). Sera from 2 of the stillborn piglets were negative for HI antibodies and there was no indication from the pigs born alive that the H3N2 virus had crossed the placenta.

Ocular examination, including gonioscopy and ultrasonographic biometry (biological measurement), was performed in healthy, purebred Samoyeds. When the dogs were subclassified according to the degree of kinship with cases of primary angle-closure glaucoma, it was found that the opening of the ciliary cleft was wider in dogs less related to dogs with primary angle-closure glaucoma than in more closely related dogs. Furthermore, multivariate analysis of the material indicated that parentage of a dog has a substantial effect on the intraocular distances studied in this investigation (relative depth of the opening of the ciliary cleft, relative corneal thickness, relative anterior chamber depth, relative lens thickness, and relative length of the vitreous body). Finally, heritability of the relative depth of the opening of the ciliary cleft was estimated at 56% and that of the common environmental factor at 19%. The results are indicative of a hereditary component in primary angle-closure glaucoma in the Samoyed breed.

The aerobic bacterial flora of the genital tract was characterized in 15 stud dogs in an 18-month study. The dogs represented 4 breeds and were from 3 kennels. Bacterial samples from the prepuce and semen were collected every month, except in connection with matings, when they were collected weekly (464 samples). The dogs that were included all mated at least once during the study. The mean pregnancy rate, litter size, and pup mortality for the bitches with which they had mated were all within normal limits. The most frequent bacteria isolated from the prepuce and semen were Pasteurella multocida, beta-hemolytic streptococci, and Escherichia coli. There was a tendency for breeds to differ in frequency of the most common bacterial species. Bacterial culture yielded no aerobic growth in 14.2% of the preputial samples and 69.8% of the semen samples. Bacteria were transferred between dog and bitch at mating. In this study of healthy breeding dogs, neither the fertility of the dog nor that of the bitch was affected by the bacteria transferred.