A biological trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of glyceryl polyethylene glycol ricinoleate (GPEGR) supplementation on the production performance in broiler chicken. A total of two hundred day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments  containing forty birds in each  group with five replicates in each treatment group and thus constituting  eight birds per replicate . The control group (C) received basal diet, T1 group received the basal diet and GPEGR, while the T2, T3, and T4 groups received GPEGR-supplemented diets with graded reductions in energy density by 20, 40, and 60 kcal/kg, respectively. All the birds were maintained under uniform and standard managemental conditions with  access to ad-libitum feed and water. The study found that the final body weight and average daily gain (ADG) in the T1 group (1804.99 g and 50.21 g, respectively) were significantly (P<0.05) higher than the control group (1662.80 g and 46.16 g, respectively). While the energy reduced diets (T2, T3, T4) supplemented with GPEGR did not show significant improvements in body weight and ADG compared to the control. The cumulative and average daily feed as well as the feed conversion ratio (FCR), showed no significant (P>0.05) differences among the groups. It can be concluded that the feeding of GPEGR supplemented diet containing 3000 Kcal per kg enhanced the growth rate  in broiler chicken 

A six-month-old pregnant female grey rabbit was presented to the outpatient unit of Madras Veterinary College, with a history of discharge from the vagina, dullness, inappetence and owner was not aware of the mating details. Physical examination revealed a distended abdomen, pain on palpation, skin turgor for more than 2 seconds, with a dull woebegone appearance. On abdominal palpation, there was a hard mass suggestive of pregnancy. There were moderate purulent secretions from the vagina. The temperature was within normal range. The ultrasonographic assessment revealed pregnancy with visualization of fetal bones. However, none of the fetus had heartbeat and no clear visualization of fetal organs. However, fetal bones like skull and ribs were visualized. Ultrasonographic assessment revealed a bi-parietal diameter of 11.43 mm in a few fetus and which was tentatively diagnosed at approximately 19-20 days of pregnancy. Emergency surgery was performed, a hysterectomy was done and fetal contents were collected in sterile swabs were sent for microbial testing.  

A Kankrej cow was presented to the Large Animal Obstetrical Unit of the Veterinary Clinical Complex, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Theni, with a history of foul-smelling vaginal discharge persisting for past one month and the cow had been previously treated for fetal maceration six months earlier during gestation. Per-vaginal examination revealed that the external os of the cervix was dilated to one finger width, with mucoid, foul-smelling discharge and per rectal examination revealed a hard mass in left uterine horn. Ultrasound examination confirmed the presence of hyperechoic mass in the left uterine horn. Based on the case history, rectal examination and ultrasound findings, the case was diagnosed as foetal bone remnants due to incomplete evacuation of macerated foetus. Despite administering prostaglandin (500 µg IM) to induce cervical dilation, the cervix did not sufficiently dilate. Therefore, laparo-hysterotomy was planned to remove the foetal bone remnants under local and paravertebral nerve block using 2 per cent lignocaine hydrochloride. Post-operative care included antibiotics, anti-inflammatory, antihistamine and supportive therapy for five days along with wound management. The cow had an uneventful recovery, with complete wound healing. Skin sutures were removed 14 days post-operation. The cow exhibited normal estrous cycle after a month of surgery. 

Food bait preferences of house flies were evaluated using olfactometry bioassays. A single cage dual port glass olfactometer was used to assess preferences of house flies towards sugar, fish meal and molasses in no choice and choice bioassays. Flies were allowed into olfactometer individually, observed for five minutes. Time spent in bait port and decision chamber, number of entries into test/control port and port selected five minutes post-exposure were recorded. In the second study in a four arm acrylic olfactometer, three food baits viz., high fish meal low molasses cake, low fish meal high molasses cake and mango essence were tested In the glass olfactometer, flies showed positive response towards food baits compared to control in no choice bioassay. In choice bioassay, flies preferred fish meal than both sugar and molasses and molasses was preferred over sugar. In four arm acrylic olfactometer bioassay, 43.87, 30.96 and 25.16 per cent flies were attracted to high fish meal low molasses cake, low fish meal high molasses cake and mango essence, respectively. Results revealed that molasses and fish meal based baits can be used in housefly traps. Olfactometry bioassays were found effective in bait preference studies of house flies.

Chlortetracycline (CTC) is a broad-spectrum antibiotic belonging to the tetracycline group of drugs. It is commonly used in the poultry industry for the treatment of bacterial infections and is also used as a growth promoter. This study was aimed at validating the sensitive HPLC method for the assay of CTC in chicken plasma. The method consisted of isocratic elution with separation using a C]8 column. The mobile phase used in the study was aqueous oxalic acid (0.03M), acetonitrile and methanol in the ratio of 60:30:10. The HPLC conditions included a flow rate of Iml/min with UVdetection at 375nm. CTC in chicken plasma was extracted with Mcllvaine buffer followed by dilution with water in the ratio of 1:1 andfiltered using 0.22p filters. The peak of chlortetracycline was noticed at 5-6 minis. The method was linear from 0.05mg/ml to 10mg/ml. The recovery percentage from plasma was recorded as 110%. Thus, from this study it is inferred that this method is optimal for the assay of CTC in plasma for pharmacokinetic studies.

The present investigation was conducted to study the changes in the haemato- biochemical indices in normally calved crossbred cows with retention of placenta (n=60) and dystocia with retention of placenta (n=25) and compared with normally calved crossbred cows without retention of placenta (n=10) during the period between July 2022 to December 2023. Result showed that marked leukocytosis, lymphopenia, neutrophilia and eosinophilia in retention of fetal membrane (RFM) affected cows. Serum biochemical indices revealed significant increase (p<0.05) in the concentration of enzymatic parameters (aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase), decreased mineral parameters (calcium and phosphorus) and metabolic parameters in RFM affected cows. In conclusion, enzymatic, mineral and metabolic parameters can be used as biochemical indicators for the prediction of RFM in Jersey crossbred cows.

Post mortem examination of two duck carcasses revealed the presence of worms in the gizzard and caecum. The worms from gizzard were identified as Acuaria hamulosa and caecal worm were identified as Heterakis gallinarum based on the morphological features. In addition, lice were collected from the feathers and identified as Holomenopon leucoxanthum. This study reports the occurrence of Acuaria hamulosa, Heterakis gallinarum and Holomenopon leucoxanthum in native ducks from Cauvery delta region of Tamil Nadu.

Food bait preferences of house flies were evaluated using olfactometry bioassays. A single cage dual port glass olfactometer was used to assess preferences of house flies towards sugar, fish meal and molasses in no choice and choice bioassays. Flies were allowed into olfactometer individually, observed for five minutes. Time spent in bait port and decision chamber, number of entries into test/control port and port selected five minutes post-exposure were recorded. In the second study in a four arm acrylic olfactometer, three food baits viz., high fish meal low molasses cake, low fish meal high molasses cake and mango essence were tested In the glass olfactometer, flies showed positive response towards food baits compared to control in no choice bioassay. In choice bioassay, flies preferred fish meal than both sugar and molasses and molasses was preferred over sugar. In four arm acrylic olfactometer bioassay, 43.87, 30.96 and 25.16 per cent flies were attracted to high fish meal low molasses cake, low fish meal high molasses cake and mango essence, respectively. Results revealed that molasses and fish meal based baits can be used in housefly traps. Olfactometry bioassays were found effective in bait preference studies of house flies.

Reducing crude protein (CP) level in the feed without altering the amino acid contents by supplementing synthetic amino acids to reduce nitrogen excretion, adding ofexogenous protease enzyme infeed to improve nitrogen utilization and treating litter with the culture ofMethylomonas methanica (MM) to prevent methane emission from litter are the proven methods in commercial poultry production, especially in broiler farming to protect the environment. However, the efficacy of these nitrogen emission reduction strategies on the performance and economics of guinea fowl in intensive production has not been studied adequately. Therefore, a biological experiment was conducted with high protein (HP) diets with (Tl) or without (T2) fish meal (FM) and low protein (LP) diets added with exogenous protease enzyme with (T3) or without (T4) FM. The levels of critical amino acids in all the feed were balanced with the supplementation of synthetic amino acids. These treatments contained six replicates of each with 15-day-old keets. At the start of ninth week, the litter of three replicates from each treatment was sprayed with MM culture additionally, forming four more treatment groups, from T5 to T8 respectively. The results of the study indicated that replacing FM with plant protein sources did not affect body weight. The overall trend revealed that the reduction of CP by 2% had a negative (P<0.05) impact on body weight; while, the addition of protease in feed had no notable effect. The feed consumption was not affected by the withdrawal of FM or reducing CP level by 2% ordietary protease supplementation or MM litter treatment. The feed efficiency was negatively impacted (P<0.05) by withdrawal ofFMin high and low protein diets; -while, feed efficiency -was not improved by protease supplementation in LP diets. The level of CP or -withdrawal FM or protease enzyme supplementation in the ration did not affect livability. The MM litter treatment did not affect gro-wth rate, feed consumption, feed efficiency and livability of guinea fowls. The results indicated that the benefit-cost ratio could be improved in guinea fowls by using low CP feed.

Food business incubation centre (FBIC) under the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University established during 2014 hadfacilitated the farmers, students and entrepreneurs in terms of training, consultancy, external project and incubation services. To evaluate the performance of the Food Business Incubation Centre on incubation services, data were collected for a period of 10 years from 2014-15 to 2023-24 and analyzed. The study also included the available data from the financial year 2018-19 to 2023-24 to assess the types ofvisitors and their purpose of visit to the incubation centre and the data were analyzed. It was concluded that majority of the incubatees utilized the FBIC for the incubation services in the area of dairy processing. Totally 14 members successfully graduated of which 50 % of them were female. The highest number of visits was recorded during the financial year 2022-2023 and the maximum of the visitor category was students from schools and colleges and only 9.7 % of the visitors were business aspirants out of the total visitors during the study period.