A three years old male pigeon weighing 400g (racing homer) was presented to Madras Veterinary College Teaching Hospital with the history of soft tissue growth on the keel region for the past six months and gradually increase in size was noticed. Physical examination revealed large tennis ball size soft tissue mass on the keel region. Cytological examination revealed the presence of inflammatory cells with serosanguineous background. Radiological examination revealed presence of soft tissue mass on the keel bone with no bony involvement. Surgical resection of tumour mass was performed under general anaesthesia. Histopathological examination confirmed liposarcoma in a pigeon. The bird recovered uneventfully on 10 th post-operative day without any complications.

 The experiment was conducted to assess the effect of replacement of maize by wheat bran on growth and feed conversion efficiency in Large White Yorkshire (LWY) pigs. Thirty weaned piglets were randomly divided into three groups and were allotted to the three dietary treatments, T1 (control ration as per NRC, 1998), T2 (50 per cent of maize of control ration replaced by wheat bran) and T3 (100 per cent of maize of control ration replaced by wheat bran) and maintained for 70 days. The daily feed intake, fortnightly body weight were recorded and average daily gain and feed conversion efficiency were calculated. The average daily gain and feed conversion efficiency were 813.00, 769.86, 678.43 g and 2.80, 2.88, 3.08, respectively for three dietary treatments. There was no significant difference in the performance between pigs belongs to T1 and T2 treatments but had higher average daily gain and feed conversion efficiency than that of T3 treatment. This study reveals that pigs fed diet with 50 per cent of maize replaced by wheat bran performed in a similar way to that of control fed group and was better than those fed diet with 100 per cent replacement of maize by wheat bran.

The present study was conducted to study the white blood corpuscles of Emu. The blood samples were collected from eight apparently healthy adult Emu birds and blood smears were stained with modified Wright stain for cyto-morphological studies of various white blood corpuscles. The Heterophils were round cells with lobed nucleus which was placed eccentrically. The Eosinophils often had a bi-lobed nucleus with abundant small, round, red - to - pink granules and light blue cytoplasm. The basophils cytoplasm had densely packed metachromatically stained granules. The small lymphocytes were irregularly round with round nucleus and a lacy chromatin pattern. The large lymphocytes had a homogeneous and an abundant cytoplasm which was more basophilic. The Monocytes were large cells with moderate amounts of blue - gray cytoplasm that occasionally had small discrete vacuoles. Their nuclei were pleomorphic with a lacy chromatin pattern. Deviation from the normal morphology of White Blood Corpuscles indicates disease and pathological conditions in Emu.

Milk marketing agencies (Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Marketing (TNCMM) co-operatives and private agency) and Department of Animal Husbandry (DAH) of the Government of Tamil Nadu were providing different services viz., breeding, therapeutic, preventive, input and extension services related to dairy farming. Availability and accessibility of the above services to the dairy farmers need to be judged from the perspective of the dairy farmers, so as to streamline the services in a more efficient manner. This study was conducted following exploratory research design to understand the perceptions of the milk producers on the availability and accessibility of these services in Salem district. Multistage random sampling was adopted for selection of 150 respondents (75 milk pourers of TNCMM co-operatives and 75 milk pourers of private agencies) from the blocks of Salem district. Randomly selected respondents were interviewed personally for collection of primary data. Majority of the respondents (80 %) of both the groups perceived that AI services were accessible to them both at institution as well as at doorstep. The study also reveals that none of the agencies were able to deliver the dairy husbandry services to the farmers in a comprehensive manner. The dairy farmers preferred to have services delivered at their doorsteps for the obvious reason of the difficulty of taking the animal to the established centres. 

A study was carried out to check the prevalence of Salmonella spp. in ice cream marketed in Thrissur city, Kerala. Altogether 80 ice cream samples belonging to 10 different brands were randomly collected from different retail outlets of the city and were analysed for total viable count, coliform count and for the presence of Salmonella spp. The mean total viable count and coliform count in ice cream samples were 11.90±0.06 and 3.72±0.17 log cfu/g respectively. Thirty per cent of the ice cream samples exceeded the standards prescribed for coliform count by Food Safety and Standards Act (2006). Salmonella spp. was isolated from one of the ice cream samples. The presence of potential pathogen such as Salmonella in ice cream samples reveals the importance of strengthening the quality control measures to be followed during manufacture as well as storage and distribution of ice cream in order to reduce public health risk.

The morphology of the abducent nucleus of the buffalo has been described by materials collected from eight buffalos. Nissl and myelin stained serial and semi serial sections of brain stem were used for the study. The abducent nucleus in the buffalo extended from the cranial pole of the rostral cochlear nucleus to the caudal pole of the motor nucleus of the trigeminal nerve. An accessory abducent nucleus which is present in amphibians, reptiles, birds and some mammals could not be identified in the buffalo. The nucleus appeared as a rounded body in its caudal pole and was roughly triangular at rostral pole in transverse sections. The average length of motor nucleus of abducent nerve in the buffalo was 2.4 mm. The average maximum width and height of the nucleus was 1.48mm and 1.75 mm respectively.

The present study was carried out to optimize the space and height for placement of baited delta traps to lure and kill house flies in Japanese Quail layer unit at Poultry Research Station, Madhavaram, Chennai where birds were raised in Californian caged system. Red acrylic delta traps with Z-9-Tricosene-Fish meal pellet baits were used for the optimization study. Height optimization of placement of traps was estimated by placing the traps at four different heights in poultry units, viz., ground level, 0.3 m above ground level, 0.6 m above ground level and 0.9 m above ground level. The optimal distance for placement of the acrylic delta trap was estimated by placing the traps at four different distances within poultry units, viz., close to each other, 0.3 m distance between two traps, 0.6 m distance between two traps and 0.9 m distance between two traps. Trap height optimization trial results revealed that maximum number of flies were trapped at ground level, followed by 0.3 m above ground level, 0.6 m above ground level and 0.9 m above ground level in the descending order of preference. Trap distance optimization trials revealed that more flies got trapped when the distance between two traps was 90 cm followed by 0 cm, 60 cm and 30 cm distance between traps. Results revealed that house fly delta traps deployed at ground level at a trap distance of 90 cm could be effective in house fly trapping and can play a vital role in integrated house fly management strategies. 

In the present study, the expression pattern of OAS-1 and MX-2 gene in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was associated with the early pregnancy in cattle. A total of 60 animals were selected and divided into 2 groups, treatment (50) and control (10) group and synchronized using double PGF2α protocol by 11 days apart followed by insemination at 72 and 96 hrs after second dose of PGF2α. The cows were subjected to blood collection on day 0, 14, 18, 20 and 25 post insemination and Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMC) were harvested using Histopaque® solution, followed by RNA isolation and cDNA synthesis. A significantly (P≤0.01) higher expression of OAS-1 and MX-2 gene was observed on days 18 and 20 post oestrum by quantitative real-time PCR and concentration of MX-2 protein in serum were significantly higher (P≤0.05) on day 18, 20 and 25 in pregnant cows when compared with that of non-pregnant cows. Hence, the present study is concluded that the expression of OAS-1 and MX-2 genes and their encoded proteins may be used to develop a marker for early pregnancy diagnosis in cattle.

A five-year-old intact male non-descript dog was referred to the Madras Veterinary College Teaching Hospital with a history of blindness, persistent fever, inappetence, lethargy and corneal opacity for a week. Clinical examination revealed pale mucous membrane, pyrexia, and enlarged superficial lymph nodes and ophthalmic examination confirmed bilateral corneal opacity (5/5) and related vision loss. Hemato-biochemical profile revealed anemia, thrombocytopenia, hypoproteinemia, hypoalbuminemia and elevated creatinine levels. The wet film examination was positive for Trypanosoma evansi (+++) and following which the animal was treated with Diminazene aceturate @ 3.5 mg/kg deep IM, tab. Prednisolone @0.5 mg/kg, oral hematinics and evaluated after 2 weeks. Corneal opacity cleared After 14 days of treatment; haemato-biochemical parameters were back to normal range, and after one week of clinical recovery, the dog showed neurological signs. Abdominal ultrasonography revealed mild splenomegaly, ocular ultrasonography revealed normal ocular structure. CSF was positive by PCR for Trypanosoma evansi upon which the animal succumbed to death.

Sound plays an important role in animal behaviour, welfare and production. It also helps the animal attendant in communicating with and controlling the animal. When sound becomes unpleasant and disturbing it is termed as noise and causes sound pollution. The threshold of bearing sound is different among animals and is affected by several factors such as age, shape of the ears, species and breed of the animal and health condition. Noise pollution affects behaviour, breeding, growth and well-being of birds. Noise was noted to cause sleep disturbances and affect the endocrine and cardiovascular systems, in laboratory animals. A review is presented on the effect of noise on animals based on the work of various researchers. Methods on how to keep animals safe from sound pollution has also been suggested.