A total of sixteen commonly available medicinal herbs (different parts) used in Indian traditional medicine were collected. The collected parts were, shade-dried, ground to fine powder and stored in air-tight containers. The samples were analyzed for proximate principles, acid-insoluble ash, gross energy, minerals and fatty acids. Emblica officinalis fruits had significantly (P < 0.05) highest moisture (88.67%), Moringa oleifera leaves had significantly (P < 0.05) highest crude protein (26.99 %), Coriandrum sativum seeds had significantly (P < 0.05) highest crude fibre (32.53%), Syzygium aromaticum buds had significantly (P < 0.05) highest crude fat (18.57 %), Mentha spicata leaves had significantly (P < 0.05) highest total ash (11.53 %), Allium sativum bulbs had significantly (P < 0.05) highest nitrogen-free extracts (90.14 %) and Murraya koenigii leaves had significantly (P< 0.05) highest acid insoluble ash (4.71 %). The gross energy content was significantly (P < 0.05) highest in Coriandrum sativum seeds (4605.33 Kcal/Kg). Azadirachta indica leaves had significantly (P < 0.05) highest calcium (2.99 %), Phyllanthus niruri leaves had significantly highest (P < 0.05) phosphorus (0.53 %), Andrographis paniculata stem and leaves had significantly (P < 0.05) highest copper (41.27 ppm), E. officinalis fruits had significantly (P < 0.05) highest iron (596.78 ppm) and S. aromaticum buds had significantly (P < 0.05) highest manganese (286.96 ppm). C. sativum seeds had significantly (P < 0.05) highest levels of oleic acid (73.76 %), T. foenum seeds had significantly (P < 0.05) highest levels of linoleic acid (36.43 %) and P. niruri leaves had the significantly (P < 0.05) highest levels of linolenic acid (51.78 %) Further studies are needed to quantify other bioactive compounds, to study their antioxidant and antimicrobial properties so that they could be used as alternatives to antibiotics / other drugs for livestock and poultry.

The sheep lungworm Dictyocaulus filaria is of world-wide distribution and causes verminous pneumonia which may result in weight loss and death of the infected sheep. The current investigation was carried out in an organized farm in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu, India during the period from 2012 to 2014. Infected sheep showed clinical illness varying from dullness, depression, moderate coughing, dyspnoea and labored breathing with little mortality. On necropsy, both larval and adult stages of lungworm were recovered from trachea, bronchi and bronchioles. The identity of the nematodes was confirmed as D. filaria based on the socks shaped spicules in males and anterior knob in the larva. Of the 55 animals, including 17 lambs examined during the study period, eight animals were confirmed to have died due to verminous pneumonia. Apart from that, in a few lambs, lung abscess was noticed. Though the infection was present throughout the year, the clinical illness was pronounced in dry summer (n=23) and rainy season of south west monsoon (n=19). The disease was managed by minimizing the exposure of lambs to the contaminated pasture and by deworming with two doses of levamisole hydrochloride @ 7.5 mg/ kg body weight at 21 day interval to control the lungworm infection in sheep.

A study was carried out in the month of September, 2022 to know the economics on rearing of indigenous (local) comparative broiler birds at the Poultry Unit of SCS college of Agriculture, Rangamati, Assam Agricultural University, Dhubri, Assam. For the study, day old chicks of indigenous and broiler, 100 numbers each were introduced in deep litter system of management. Broilers were marketed at the completion of 6 th week, while the indigenous birds were kept up to 8 th week and then marketed. Mean body weight was found to be 2082.67±14.85 g and 658.29±3.49 g in the case of broilers and indigenous birds at 6 th week and 8 th week respectively. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) was recorded as 1.64 and 2.29 for broiler and indigenous birds, respectively. The cost of production per kg bird is Rs.114.70 and Rs. 227.90 for broiler and indigenous birds respectively. The net profit calculated in production of broilers and indigenous was Rs. 5100.00 and Rs. 7450.00 respectively. Benefit cost ratio (BCR) in broiler and indigenous bird was found to be 1.22.1.00 and 1.53:1.00, respectively.

An intact female non-descript dog was brought to University Veterinary Hospital, with a complaint of a mass in the ventral abdomen and in-appetence. Clinical examination revealed a round ulcerated hard tumour like mass on the right inguinal mammary gland and a nodular friable tumour like mass on the vulval lips. Examination of the impression smears of the masses revealed, plasmacytoid pattern of canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT). On thoracic radiography, pulmonary metastasis was observed and the tumour was staged as T4N0M1. The tumour mass on the right inguinal mammary gland was surgically excised under general anaesthesia. Chemotherapy was adopted with vincristine sulphate (0.025 mg/Kg) at weekly intervals. Complete regression of vulval tumour was observed after 21 days of chemotherapy. Immunocytochemical localisation of vimentin antibody was done to assess the response to chemotherapy.

Cattle temperament is defined as the fear-related behavioral responses when exposed to human handling. As cattle temperament worsens, their response to human contact or any other handling procedures becomes more pronounced. The agitated and/or aggressive response expressed by cattle with excitable temperament when exposed to human handling can be attributed to their fear and consequent inability to cope with this situation. In addition to altered behavior, temperamental cattle may also experience changes in their body physiology, and the hormones produced during this fearrelated stress reaction influence several factors, such as growth and health. Within the cattle industry, producers select cattle for temperament, primarily for safety reasons. However, our recent studies demonstrate cattle temperament may also have productive and economic implications to beef operations. Stress increases stress hormones such as cortisol levels and results in lowering the levels of  reproductive hormones. Most cattlemen recognize that cattle under stress may not eat as well but may not know of its effect on reproductive behavior and physiology. This article will summarize our findings that could have an impact on the beef herd.

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.