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Bacteria in the milk of sheep with or without mastitis- mini Review
47-52Views:304From a nutritional point of view, sheep milk is more valuable than cow and goat milk and the interest for sheep milk is increasing in many countries. However, sheep milk is easily contaminated during milking, handling, and transport and it is an ideal medium for bacterial propagation. Consequently, sheep milk spoils quite quickly. The proper, clean handling of milk is not only of sanitarian interest, but it also serves the farmers’ interests, because contaminated milk may not be distributed, and is unsuitable for producing good quality products. Following this technological trend, this review addresses the bacterial composition of sheep milk with and without mastitis. Even though sheep milk contains a lot of bacteria, this review article highlighted total plate count, Enterobacteriaceae, coliform, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter, Salmonella spp. and Streptococcus spp. Mastitis in sheep is a vital cause of mortality, reduction in milk production and early culling. The reported risk factors for mastitis in sheep were age, a case of mastitis, breed, husbandry systems, and location. The main priority should be implementation of programs to minimize human pathogenic bacteria and mastitis in raw ewe milk.
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Application of laparoscopic artificial insemination in conventional Lacaune sheep farm using frozen-thawed semen
133-138Views:237The complex anatomical structure of the ewe reproductive tract accompanied with low quality of frozen ram semen for artificial insemination, resulted in a challenge with regard to using superior genotypes for reproductive ovine performance. Hence, improved genetics in ovine management has not been efficiently and widely used especially in undeveloped countries. Therefore, intrauterine semen deposition by laparoscopic insemination should be adopted in the current sheep production systems. Thus, this study aimed to assess the pregnancy rate and lambing rate of ewe inseminated by laparoscopic insemination techniques using frozen-thawed semen. The research used imported frozen semen from two rams of the Lacaune breed. Ewes were grouped according to age in years (1, 2 and 4). Before insemination, the semen was examined microscopically for its motility and viability and thereafter the laparoscopic artificial insemination technique was performed to 19 Lacaune breed ewes using frozen-thawed semen. The overall pregnancy and prolificacy rates were 31.57% and 42.10% respectively. Out of 2 ewes in the 1-year age group that were inseminated, only 1 ewe lambed representing 50%. However, from 16 ewes inseminated of four-year age group, 5 ewes lambed representing 31.25%. Significant difference based on age group was not evaluated due disproportionate of the data, (such that the data included 2 ewes in one-year-old age, 1 ewe in 2-year-old age and 16 ewes in 4-year-old age). Based on the ram semen, 33.33% and 30% of the inseminated ewes were pregnant from ram A and ram B semen respectively. However, in the case of prolificacy rate, 44.44% and 40 % of the ewes lambed from using semen of ram A and B, respectively. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in pregnancy and prolificacy rates based on semen from the two rams. In conclusion, in this research study, ram semen had no significant effect on pregnancy and prolificacy rates using laparoscopic AI on Lacaune sheep. This could be due to the fact that the rams had very good quality semen. Evaluation of ram semen, accompanied with appropriate ewe selection based on age and rightful deposition of semen could lead to better and more consistent results. Overall this could contribute to the successful application of laparoscopic artificial insemination in Lacaune sheep production systems for enhanced productivity.
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The status of the Hungarian Merino sheep breed compared to the other merino breeds
151-156Views:229Merino and Merino-derived sheep breeds have been widely known and distributed across the world, both as purebred and admixed populations. They represent a diverse genetic resource which over time has been used as the basis for the development of new breeds. In spite of this, their gene-pool potential is still unexplored. The Merino sheep represent the most important sheep resource of the Hungarian husbandry. It has the largest amount of individuals between both of the stock and commercial flocks. But in Europe the Merino stocks went through a drastic reduction in number. Thus these breeds became endangered in several countries as well as in Hungary. In this study we would like to present the recent status of different Merino breeds of the world to ground our further phylogenetic research with the Hungarian Merino breed.
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Strategic Steps in the Sheep and Goat Branches
61-68Views:122The balance of the sheep and goat branches can be summarised as follows:
If the increase in stock size, specific yields, genetic improvement and modernisation are not realised, several thousand shepherds will lose their jobs and possibilities to work, and their families will lose their only source of livelihood.
Several hundred hectares of grassland will become weedy and the costs of crop protection will increase in these regions. Pollen pollution, the number of allergic ailments and medical costs will increase, mentioning only the main disadvantages. Its financial requirement is nearly equal to the one required for development without any essential compensation or production.
In order to develop a competitive branch, a subsidisation of 10-20 billion HUF is needed until the accession of Hungary to the EU, depending on the scale and progressivity of development. The subsidisation and realisation of the strategic steps would result in:
– the establishment of a registered livestock with 1.5 million ewes, which would ensure better market position for the branch in the EU (5%),
– the establishment of a competitive and marketable branch with a production value of 15-25 billion HUF, calculated using the present price level (after accession, the branch would be self-operating and profitable, with the 6-8 billion HUF/year normative subsidisation by the EU),
– the establishment of a genetic potential which would ensure our participation in profitable international breeding animal market, which provides extra profit,
– the establishment of a sheep husbandry with better genetic potential and phenotypic performance, producing a quality of international level,
– the maintenance of the workplace of more than 10.000 people (saving 3-5 billion HUF/year of the budget),
– the maintenance of the condition of growing areas of grasslands with their advantages (crop protection and public health) whose financial effect is considerable. -
Yield and sward composition responses of a native grassland to compost application
35-38Views:170A major part of the animal products are based on the grasslands, due to the fact that the grassland ecosystems can be found all over the globe. In places where economical and successful crop production cannot be realized, the grassland based animal husbandry can be an efficient way of food production. In addition these ecosystems have an important role in carbon sequestration, and with their rich flora – and the fauna connected to it – in conservation of biodiversity. The protection of nature, and the sustainable agriculture is getting more and more attention in the European Union, but looking at the consumers’ needs, the production of healthy food cannot be neglected either. Because of these facts, the effects of two specific composts - which are officially authorized in organic farming, in Agri-environment Schemes and Natura 2000 programs – on grass yields and sward compositions were investigated in a field trial. The investigation took place in Hungary, on a natural grassland based on solonetz soil. The first type of compost was a natural one (N) without any additional material and the other one was enriched in phosphorus (E). Both was produced by the research institute, made of sheep manure. Three rates of compost (10 t ha-1, 20 t ha-1,30 t ha-1) were tested on 3 m×10 m experimental plots. Every treatments had four replications and both type of compost had four-four control plots too, this way 32 experimental plots were included in the investigations. The yield of the pasture was harvested two-times (in May and in September) and before cutting the plots measurements on botanical compositions were made. Samples for laboratory analysis were also taken. Dry matter yield and crude protein content was measured in laboratory and with the received data the yield per unit area was calculated. Based on the research results we can say that the application of compost in any dose inflicts higher dry material and crude protein yield. The changes were partly due to some positive changes in sward composition, because of the better nutrient conditions. The research results indicate, that use of organic compost can be an efficient way to increase grass yields in a sustainable way.
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Investigation of the heat shock gene Hsp70 polymorphism in different sheep genotypes
41-45Views:126Nowadays the climate change has an increasing effect on the animals. The warming climate brings up several problems on the area of the animal husbandry, which ones are really important. From the first time the living beings have defensive mechanisms against the heat shock. In current examination we use– from Hungary and from other countries collected –samples of sheep breeds, which are living on different climate. Our fundamental assumption was, that the animals living on other climate adapted to the changes of the environment and there are differeces in their genetic background. These fixed mutations we are looking for in the HSP70 heat shock gene, but we haven’t found any polymorphism yet. We are going to involve further breeds and more individuals in the investigations.