Comparison of the effects of immunisation against somatostatin on the Malin and the Malin x Dorset Horn sheep [Malaysia]
1995
Zainur, A.S. | Tan, C.S. (MARDI, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia))
Two experiments were conducted to study the effects of active immunisation against somatostatin (SS), an inhibitor to growth hormone secretion, on the Malin (Trial I) and Malin x Dorset Horn (Trial II) sheep. Both trials used similar antigen (a conjugation of cyclic SS14 to alpha human globulin), antigen dosage (250 microgram per animal), immunisation schedule (every 3 weeks), concentrate diets given ad libitum and experimental protocols. At the end of the trials, 3 of the Malin non responders, 3 uninjected controls, 3 animals injected with adjuvant from trial I and all the Malin x Dorset Horn sheep from trial II were slaughtered and their carcases analysed. The results showed that only the Malin produced antibodies to the antigen and these antibody responders showed that only the Malin produced antibodies to the antigen and these antibody responders showed greater improvement over the controls in terms of feed conversion efficiency as compared to all the immunised animals. The Malin x Dorset Horn sheep showed no such results even though a trend was apparent. The immunisation against SS did not affect the carcass composition of the sheep, but the carcass size of the Malin non responders was reduced, a result of a reduced proportion of meat and bones. These trials thus indicated that the antigen against SS had a greater potential in improving performance of the native Malin than the improved Malin x Dorset Horn sheep
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