Food composition of Abramis brama was studied in the shallow, meso-eutrophic Hamry reservoir (Czech Republic). Fish were sampled during the daytime in the pre-spawning period (April), the post-spawning (June), summer (July) and autumn (October) in 2011. The bream sampled comprised two main size groups: small (124-186 mm) and large (210-315 mm) standard length. Twenty specimens of each size group (except April - 40 large fish) were taken for analysis on each sampling occasion. Food composition was evaluated using gravimetric methods. Over the whole season, detritus and aquatic vegetation were the dominant dietary items taken. During summer, the diet of large bream comprised mainly aquatic vegetation. Benthic macroinvertebrates and zooplankton formed a minor part of bream diet over the whole season. Specific food habits of bream could be explained by specific conditions within the reservoir and available food resources.

The effect of oral administration of three fungicides namely: Triadimefon, Carbendazim and Captan at low and high doses on body weight gain, food consumption, weight of certain organs and water content of the liver in male rats has been investigated. Significant reduction in body weight gain concomitant with significant loss in food consumption was detected in rats which had received high dosses of triadimefon and carbendazim.

Three experiments were undertaken to assess the Zimbabwean donkey. In the first study, 191 male and 144 female working donkeys from Matopos, Nkayi and Matobo districts were weighed. Age, sex and coat colour were recorded and heart girth, umbilical girth, body length and height were measured. There were no differences (P>0.05) in live weight, 142 and 141 kg, heart girth 115 and 115 cm, body length 89 and 90 cm and height 105 and 105 cm between males and females. This suggests that draught potential might be similar between the sexes. Heart girth was the best single predictor of live weight: live weight (kg) = heart girth (cm)2.83/4786 (R2 = 0.86). Donkeys were similar in size to others in Africa. In the second study, the voluntary dry-matter intake (DMI) of a poor quality hay was measured for 35 days in nine male (mean live weight 150 kg) and nine female donkeys (142 kg) allocated to one of three treatment groups: water available ad libitum, or given every 48 h, or every 72 h. There were significant differences in daily water (P<0.001) and DMIs (P<0.05): 8.5, 4.9 and 5.11 and 3.1, 2.8 and 2.7 kg for the three treatment groups, respectively. However even with restricted access to water, donkeys maintained a relatively high DMI. In the third experiment a 3 X 3 Latin square was designed with three teams of four male donkeys each, either working (5 h/day)/no access to food (5 h/day); not working/no access to food (5 h/day) or not working/access to food 24 h/day, for 63 days. For working and non-working donkeys, there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in DMI, DM apparent digestibility and mean retention time (MRT) of hay. Time of access to food did not influence DMI. The apparent lack of response was attributed primarily to the poor quality of the hay.