BACKGROUND: Excessive use of antibiotic growth promoters leaded in the creation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and by consuming animal products, humans are at risk of receiving their residual. Therefore, instead of using antibiotics as growth promoters, some alternatives must be identified and introduced to animal breeders. Objectives: The purpose of this research was to study the effect of anise seed on performance, digestibility, and infectious microbes in the intestine of suckling calves. Methods: Twenty four female Holstein calves with average weight of39.8±3.8kg from the fourth day after birth to two weeks after weaning were examined in a completely randomized design to evaluate the effects of anise powder on dry matter intake, weight gain, age and weight of weaning, feed conversion ratio, apparent digestibility of dry matter, NDF and ADF, and intestinal infectious and harmful bacteria. The diets were: 1- Control, 2- 0.25% and 3- 0.5% anise/DM of diets. Results: Dry matter intake of calves did not affected by diets (p>0.05). At 70 days old the final weight of calves that consumed diets containing 0.25% and 0.5% of anise was significantly more than control diets. There was no significant difference between diets for the mean of total weight gain in whole period of experiment. The digestibility of NDF and ADF after weaning for diets contain anise was significantly more than control diet (p<0.05). Feed conversion ratio did not affected before weaning, but after weaning significantly improved compared with the control group for diet contain 0.25% and 0.5% anise (p<0.05). The age and weight of weaning were not affected by treatments. The Ammonia and pH of rumen fluid showed increase for anise diets compared with the control group (p>0.05). The adding of anise to the diets resulted in significantly decrease of E.coli of intestine of calves. Conclusions: Therefore, use of anise seed as a medicinal herb additive improved the performance of calves. Also, with the decline of E.coli population had beneficial effect on animal health and the environment. So it may be taking into account as good alternative for antibiotics.

Introduction: This article presents the analysis of the correlation between the category and health status of calves and the results of their rearing and levels of selected blood parameters.Material and Methods: The study included 105 Polish Holstein-Friesian and beef (Limousine, Charolaise and Hereford) crossbred calves. Young bulls were purchased at the age of two to four weeks. The animals underwent quarantine, were dehorned, and 46 young bulls were castrated. The germ horns were removed by burning out. Castration was carried out with a bloodless method using a rubber band. The calves were kept in groups and fed a milk replacer administered via teats from automated milk-feeding stations. After the period of milk feeding, the calves were fed grass silage ad libitum and a concentrate at 2.5 kg/animal/day. The calves were weighed every two weeks. Blood for analyses was sampled at 43 d of age.Results: After the rearing period finished at the age of six months, young bulls and steers had similar body weights (176.17 and 176.55 kg) and approximate average daily weight gains from birth (0.756 and 0.767 g/day). The healthy calves at six months of age weighed 180.47 kg, whereas the animals which at least once suffered from some diseases during rearing were lighter by approx. 30 kg (P ≤ 0.01). A statistically significant (P ≤ 0.01) difference was found for the count of red blood cells and white blood cells. In comparison with healthy individuals, the diseased animals had less RBC (8.33 and 9.42 10¹²/L respectively) and more WBC (27.03 and 12.26 10⁹/L respectively).Conclusion: Castration of young bulls did not have any impact on the results of rearing and health status of the calves. The magnitude of the analysed parameters depended on the health status of the calves. Thus RBC and WBC parameters may be used to predict the health status of calves during rearing.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of tulathromycin as a bovine respiratory disease (BRD) metaphylactic treatment on rumen fluid parameters in feedlot cattle in an intensive livestock production farm. One hundred beef cattle, immediately after housing, were divided in 2 equal groups: 50 animals with metaphylactic treatment against BRD (treated group; tulathromycin at 2.5 mg/kg BW) and 50 animals with placebo treatment (control group). Rumen fluid samples were collected from each animal by rumenocentesis in 3 periods: 1 d (T1), 8 d (T8), and 15 d (T15) after treatment. Rumen pH was determined by ruminal fluid using portable pH meter. Total volatile fatty acids (total VFA) were evaluated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). All animals were singularly weighed at T1 and T15. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to determine significant effects of treatment (treated group versus control group) and period (T1, T8, and T15) on rumen fluid parameters and body weight. No clinical signs of BRD or other related diseases were recorded during the periods of study from any animal. Statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) were found between treated group and control group for mean values of ruminal pH (6.02 versus 5.89) and total VFA (5.84 versus 5.13) at 8 d after treatment. The weight gain (Δ) showed an average increase of 8.6 kg in treated group (P < 0.05). The trends of ruminal pH and VFA values suggest an effect of tulathromycin as BRD metaphylactic treatment on the modulation of rumen fermentation, particularly 8 d after administration.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) can be devastating to commercial breeding operations. The objective of this study was to evaluate a novel European PRRSV vaccinal strain for safety and efficacy in bred gilts. In 2 experiments, 110 gilts were vaccinated intramuscularly and the vaccine was evaluated for safety and efficacy. Gilts in Experiment 1 were evaluated for local and systemic reactions and gilts in both experiments were observed for clinical signs of disease through farrow. In both experiments, piglet clinical observations, piglet average daily weight gain (ADWG), gilt serology [determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)], gilt and piglet viremia [determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)], as well as piglet lung lesion scores and PRRS virus in lung tissue (qPCR) were determined. The vaccine was shown to be safe as there were no significant differences among groups in either experiment. Efficacy was established in Experiment 2 as both vaccinated groups were associated with desirable significant differences in percentage of gilts with abnormal clinical findings; gilt viral load post-challenge [day 125, day of farrowing (DOF), and DOF + 13]; percentages of alive, healthy live, weak live, and mummified piglets per litter at farrowing and weaning; percentage of piglets per gilt that were positive for viremia; percentage of piglets per gilt with clinical disease; and piglet viral load on DOF. It was concluded that a vaccine formulated from the PRRSV modified live virus (MLV) strain 94881 is a safe and effective method of protection against the detrimental effects of virulent PRRSV infection in breeding female pigs.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) can be difficult to manage in commercial settings. A novel type I PRRSV vaccinal strain (94881) was evaluated for safety and efficacy/onset of immunity (OOI) in piglets. In 2 experiments, groups of piglets were vaccinated intramuscularly (IM) at approximately 14 d of age with a maximum-range commercial dose, an overdose, or a placebo in experiment 1 and either a minimum-range commercial dose or a placebo in experiment 2. The piglets in experiment 1 were evaluated for local and systemic reactions from days -2 through 14 after vaccination. The piglets in experiment 2 were challenged with a virulent heterologous type I PRRSV isolate 14 d after vaccination and observed once daily for general health from days -1 through 12 after vaccination and once daily for clinical signs associated with challenge from days 13 through 24 after vaccination. The average daily weight gain (ADWG) and the results of serologic and viremia testing were evaluated in experiments 1 and 2. Lung lesion scores and results of testing for PRRSV in lung tissue were evaluated in experiment 2. In experiment 1 the vaccine was shown to be safe, as there were no relevant differences between the vaccinated piglets and the piglets given a placebo. In experiment 2 the vaccine's efficacy, with an OOI of 14 d after vaccination, was established, as the vaccinated and challenged piglets exhibited significantly lower lung lesion scores, viremia, viral load in lung tissue, and total clinical sign scores, along with a significantly greater ADWG, compared with the placebo-vaccinated and challenged piglets.

The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of 2 different commercial Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae vaccines and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) vaccines in regard to growth performance, microbiological and immunological analyses, and pathological observation from wean to finish (175 d of age). Pigs were administered M. hyopneumoniae and PRRSV vaccines at 7 and 21 d of age, respectively, or both at 21 d old and then challenged with both M. hyopneumoniae and PRRSV at 49 d old. Significant (P < 0.05) differences were observed between the 2 vaccinated challenged groups in average daily weight gain, nasal shedding of M. hyopneumoniae, M. hyopneumoniae-specific interferon-γ secreting cells, and macroscopic and microscopic lung lesions. Induction of interleukin-10 following PRRSV vaccination does not interfere with the immune responses induced by M. hyopneumoniae vaccine. The present study demonstrated that the single-dose vaccination regimen for M. hyopneumoniae and PRRSV vaccine is efficacious for controlling coinfection with M. hyopneumoniae and PRRSV based on clinical, microbiological, immunological, and pathological evaluation.