Lice infestation is one of the major problems to the duck farming, causing irritation that lead to lowered feed intake, retarded growth, reduced weight gain and decreased egg production. The present communication deals with occurrence of different species of lice in a desi duck from Cauvery delta region of Tamil Nadu. A farmer from Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu brought five dead two year old native ducks for necropsy at Dept. of Veterinary Pathology, Veterinary College and research Institute, Orathanadu, Tamil Nadu. External examination of ducks revealed presence of 13 lice specimen in one bird. They were examined and identified as Trinoton querquedulae (n= 8), Anatoecus dentatus (n= 4) and Anaticola crassicornis (n= 1) morphologically. This study is the first to establish the presence of mixed lice infestation in native ducks from Cauvery delta region of Tamil Nadu and also first repot of Trinoton querquedulae in ducks from India.

A four-month-old male Labrador retriever puppy was presented to Referral Veterinary Polyclinic, Indian Veterinary Research Institute with the history of anorexia, vomiting, haemorrhagic diarrhoea and signs of hypovolaemic shock. The case was diagnosed as parvovirus gastroenteritis by rapid antigen detection test. Shock was managed by infusion of polyionic isotonic fluid.  Haematological examination revealed severe leukopenia with WBC count of 0.3×10³/µL, which was treated with administration of recombinant human granulocyte colony stimulating factor (Filgrastim) at 5 mcg/kg subcutaneously along with supportive therapy. Dog showed elevated WBC count and improvement in clinical signs after 48 h. Administration of granulocyte colony stimulating factor along with routine therapy enhanced the survivability in canine parvovirus gastroenteritis.

A 2  month old male German shepherd dog was presented to Veterinary Clinical Complex, Small Animal Surgery Unit of Madras Veterinary College, Chennai with the history of persistent regurgitation for 15 days. Plain and positive contrast radiographic evaluation revealed the dilated oesophagus cranial to the heart and tracheal deviation with constriction at the base of the heart. Surgical correction through resection of persistent ligamentum arteriosum around the oesophagus under general anaesthetic procedure. Post operative plain and contrast radiographic procedure revealed no evidence of barium stasis in the course of oesophagus and complete resolution of regurgitation. Recovery was good and normal feeding habit noticed 14th post operative day.

The study was conducted to find out the effect of age on carcass, meat quality characteristics and nutritional composition of Nandanam Turkey-II. Totally twelve birds were separated into two different age groups viz., young (20 weeks) and adult (40 weeks). The birds were slaughtered and breast muscle was obtained. The carcass, meat quality characters, proximate composition, amino acid, fatty acid and cholesterol content of meat of two age groups were analysed. The carcass characteristics viz., edible offal weight, in-edible offal, blood weight, feather weight and head weight had significant difference (P<0.01) between two age groups. Meat quality characteristics viz., pH (P<0.05), muscle fibre diameter (P<0.01) and myofibrillar fragmentation index (P<0.01) of young turkey meat were significantly lower than adult turkey meat. The young turkey meat had significantly higher moisture content (P<0.01), while it showed significantly lower protein, fat and total ash content than adult turkey meat. The significant difference (P<0.05) was observed in lysine and phenylalanine and highly significant difference (P<0.01) was observed in arginine, isoleucine, threonine, valine, alanine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid and glycine contents of meat from young and adult age groups of turkey. The meat of young turkey had significantly lower total saturated fatty acids (P<0.01), mono unsaturated fatty acids (P<0.05) and higher poly unsaturated fatty acids (P<0.01), P/S ratio when compared to adult turkey meat. The cholesterol content of young turkey meat was significantly (P<0.01) lower than adult turkey meat. Based on the results it was concluded that the meat of young Nandanam Turkey-II had the superior meat quality characters and nutritional composition than the meat of adult birds.

The research on Integrated Farming System (IFS) was conducted from 1987 onwards at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, involving different components (Jayanthi and Balusamy 2017). The IFS is an integrated resource  management strategy for obtaining economic and sustained crop and livestock production and preserving the  resource. It also includes capturing the new market opportunities through enterprise including post-harvest / value addition, from Low value to High value crops, from Water Loving crop to Water Saving crop, from Single crop to Multiple crop. The impact of technology of improved farming system: Productivity, Economic return, Energy input-output, Employment, Equity (gender issue) and Environment. This paper focuses on the development of Integrated Farming System (IFS) and its impact on the economy of agriculture, animal husbandry and standard of living of the farmers of the country as a whole.

Lantana camara is a weed which affects both livestock production and the growth of other plants near them. It is a sturdy plant with multi-colored flowers which can grow well in diverse climatic and soil conditions. Initially cultivated as an ornamental plant and transferred to various regions of the world; the plant has now become one of the  common weeds in agricultural land and forest regions. It is found in almost all parts of India and its invasion in forest cover of the country is a great concern as the plant has inhibitory effect on growth of other plants. It has been listed among the ten most toxic weed in the world. Although grazing animals primarily do not consume this plant, scarcity of pasture lands cause the animals to eat this plant. Consumption of this plant cause hepatotoxicity and secondary photosensitization in animals. The toxic compound in this plant is ‘Lantadenes’ and is predominantly found in leaves of the plant. The history, phytochemistry, toxicity in animals, toxicopathology, treatment and prevention of toxicity are reviewed in this article.

Twenty four Nellore brown ram lambs (15.32 ± 0.39 kg body weight) of 3-6 months aged were used to assess the effect of different floor types on body condition score (BCS), dirt score, eggs per gram (EPG) count of faeces and hoof condition under intensive rearing system for a period of 120 days. Lambs were assigned randomly to one of three treatments. Treatment groups were mud/gravel floor-control (T1; n = 8), concrete floor (T2; n = 8) and elevated plastic slatted floor (T3; n = 8). Significantly higher BCS observed in experimental groups in first (P<0.01) and eighth (P<0.05) fortnights, whereas the difference observed in other fortnights was not-significant. Significant (P<0.05) difference in dirt score was observed among three floor types and lowest dirt score was observed in lambs kept in T3 group. Higher dirt score indicated that the lambs reared on concrete floor were dirtier than lambs on mud floor whereas, lambs reared on elevated plastic slatted floor (low score) were cleaner than other two groups. There was a significant difference in EPG count of faeces among treatment groups. The EPG count of T3 group was significantly (P<0.05) lower from second to fourth month and T2 group also recorded lower EPG value in third month of the experiment indicating lesser incidences of parasitic infestation. The study also revealed significant (P<0.05) difference in hoof length among three treatment groups. Higher hoof length (cm) was recorded in T3 group throughout the experiment except the first fortnight. It is concluded that, elevated plastic slatted floor is recommended for rearing of ram lambs for higher BCS, cleanliness (dirt) score and lower EPG count of faeces together with a periodical hoof trimming for early marketability of healthy ram lambs.

Displacement of the abomasum is one of the important incidence recorded in dairy cattle especially after calving that lead to huge economic loss. A six year old Holstein Friesian female cow calved fifteen days back was presented to the Large Animal Outpatient Unit, Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal with the history of not voiding dung and anorexia for past three days. The animal was fed with corn and ragi feed. Clinical examination revealed pale pink mucous membranes, right side distension of abdomen, ping sound on right paralumbar fossa to 11th intercostal space on simultaneous auscultation and percussion. On rectal examination balloon like structure was noticed and the liptak test revealed pH of 2. Ultrasonographic examination of abomasal contents and post mortem examination confirmed RDA.

Ranula rarely resolve without surgery and marsupialisation is easily applicable technique to manage sublingual salivary mucocele. A two year old male German shepherd dog was presented to Veterinary Clinical Complex, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal with the history of swelling on ventral aspect of the tongue for the past one and half month. The fine needle aspiration cytology revealed macrophages mixed with coccobacillary clumps, haematobiochemical parameters were within the physiological range. Based on the clinical signs, the case was diagnosed as ranula. Under atropine sulphate and xylazine hydrochloride premedication, induction of anaesthesia with ketamine and diazepam followed by isoflurane maintenance, marsupialization was done.  Postoperatively, the animal was treated with broad spectrum antibiotic and antiinflammatory drugs for five days, and the animal recovered uneventfully after 15 days.

Bacterial infection followed by implant fixation is a common complication after surgery. In order to reduce the incidence of implant-associated infections, several biomaterial surface treatments have been proposed. In this study, the effect of in vitro antibacterial activity of magnetron sputtered silver nanoparticles was studied. Sputtering was done using radiofrequency magnetron sputtering technology. Film applicator coating assay was used to assess the antibacterial effect of the coated titanium implants. SEM examination revealed successful deposition of silver nanoparticles on the titanium surface. The average diameter of the nanoparticles was 40-60 nm. SEM examination before incubation and after incubation of bacteria was done. The bactericidal ratio between the uncoated and coated implant was determined.