Animal Sciences Commons^™

Foraging And Roosting Behaviors Of Rafinesque's Big-Eared Bat (Corynorhinus Rafinesquii) At The Northern Edge Of The Species Range, Joseph S. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

Bat populations in the eastern United States are currently declining at unprecedented rates as a result of habitat loss, commercial wind energy development, and white-nose syndrome. Effective conservation of these declining populations requires knowledge of several aspects of summer and winter ecology, including daytime habitat use (day-roost selection and social behaviors), nocturnal habitat use (foraging habitat selection, prey selection, and prey abundance), and winter hibernation (torpor) patterns. This dissertation addresses these questions for Rafinesque’s big-eared bat (Corynorhinus rafinesquii), a species of conservation concern in the southeastern United States. Kentucky represents the northern edge of the range of Rafinesque’s …

In Ovo Selenium (Se) Injection Of Incubating Chicken Eggs: Effects On Embryo Viability, Tissue Se Concentration, Lipid Peroxidation, Immune Response And Post Hatch Development, Lizza M. Macalintal

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

Studies were conducted to investigate the effects of in ovo injection of selenium (Se) either as seleno-methionine (Se-Met) or sodium selenite (Na₂SeO₃) into the yolk of incubating eggs on tissue Se concentration, embryo livability, lipid peroxidation, immune response and growth performance. When white-shelled eggs were injected with 0.1ml of solutions providing 0, 2.5, 5, 10 or 20 μg Se/egg, no detrimental effects on embryo viability at 20 days of incubation were noted. The effects on tissue Se concentrations suggested that Se-Met and Na₂SeO₃ were metabolized differently by the chick embryo. In a subsequent …

The Influence Of Selenium Status On Immune Function And Antioxidant Status In The Horse, Mieke Brummer

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

Selenium (Se) has received a lot of attention for its antioxidant and immune modulating properties. Yet, comparably few studies have focused on the horse. Therefore the objectives of this research were to evaluate the influences of Se status on immune function and antioxidant defense in horses. Twenty eight horses were allocated to one of 4 dietary Se treatments: low (LS), adequate (AS), high organic (SP) and high inorganic (SS). First, horses assigned to LS, SP and SS were depleted of Se and received a low Se diet (0.07 ppm Se) for 35 wk, while AS received an adequate Se diet …

Evaluating The Effects Of Maternal And Progeny Dietary Supplementation Of Selenium Yeast And Vitamin E On The Performance Of Broiler-Breeder Hens And Performance And Meat Quality Of Progeny, Anthony D. Quant

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

The objectives of these experiments were to evaluate the effects of selenium (Se) and vitamin E (Vit.E) supplementation in maternal and progeny diets on the performance of breeder hens and the performance and meat quality characteristics of progeny.

Inclusion of Se, as Se yeast, in the diets of developing broiler breeder pullets resulted in greater Se accumulation of Se (P<0.01) in liver, pancreas, and breast tissues than when Se yeast was not provided. Improving the overall Se status of breeder pullets in the early stages may help maintain adequate tissue Se concentrations during egg production.

Maternal supplementation of Se yeast and Vit.E increased the liver and breast Se concentration (P<0.05) of newly hatched chicks compared to the chicks originating from hens not receiving dietary Se. At 7d of age, Se yeast supplementation in either the chick or maternal diet increased breast and liver Se concentrations (P<0.01). At 14d of age, breast and liver Se concentrations remained the highest for chicks supplemented with Se yeast (P<0.01), however there was no effect of maternal Se supplementation. Vitamin E supplementation in either the chick or maternal diets did not affect the liver Vit.E concentrations of chicks at 7 or 14d of age.

Supplementing broiler diets with Se yeast and Vit.E improved the meat quality characteristics of raw and marinated breast fillets. The Se …

Changes To The Equine Hindgut Microflora In Response To Antibiotic Challenge, Brittany E. Harlow

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

Antibiotics are important to equine medicine, but can cause detrimental side-effects including reduced feed intake, allergic reactions, and diarrhea. Antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) is attributed to disruption of the hindgut microflora, permitting proliferation of pathogenic microbes. The objectives were to evaluate the effects of antibiotics on beneficial fecal bacteria, AAD-associated pathogens, microbial species richness and fermentation. Horses were assigned to treatment groups: control (no antibiotics, n=6), trimethoprim-sulfadiazine (oral, n=6), or sodium ceftiofur (IM, n=6). Fecal samples were taken during adaptation (3 wk), antibiotic challenge (1 wk), and withdrawal (1 wk). Fecal cellulolytics decreased by >99% during challenge and did not recover …

The Effects Of Slow Release Urea On Nitrogen Metabolism In Cattle, Vaughn B. Holder

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

The objective of this research was to investigate the effects of slow release urea on N metabolism in cattle. The ruminal behavior of Optigen®II and the effect of basal diet on the in situ degradability of urea and Optigen®II were evaluated. The effect of slow release urea and its interaction with degradable intake protein (DIP) level in the diet on N retention and excretion was evaluated utilizing 8 Holstein steers in a 4 x 4 Latin square experiment. In addition, the effect of slow release urea and DIP level on ruminal and systemic urea kinetics was evaluated using stable isotope …

Effect Of Feeding A Blend Of Naturally-Contaminated Corn On Nutrient Digestibility And Feed Preference In Weanling Pigs, Carlos Santiago Escobar

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of feeding diets with a 2009 and 2010 naturally-contaminated corn to weaning pigs. For both experiments three diets were blended to contain 100% 2010 naturally-contaminated corn (control), 50-50% blend of the 2009 naturally-contaminated corn and 2010 corn (Diet 2), and 100% 2009 naturally-contaminated corn (Diet 3). In Exp. 1, 24 crossbred pigs with an average body weight of 7.64 ± 0.70 kg were allotted to 4 replicates of 3 treatments with 2 pigs per pen, on the basis of gender, litter mate, and BW in a randomized complete block design. Fecal and …

Influence Of Dietary Selenium Supplementation Form On Hepatic Transcriptome Profiles Of Maturing Beef Heifers, Zhi Zhang

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

Our objective was to know how the hepatic transcriptome expression of growing beef (Angus-cross) heifers (0.5 kg gain/day) was affected by the feeding of different sources of dietary (3 mg/day) Se supplements: inorganic Se (ISe, sodium selenite), organic (OSe, Sel-Plex®), or a blend (1.5 mg:1.5 mg) of ISe:OSe (Mix), compared to the adequate but non-Se supplemented “Control”. The biopsied hepatic tissues of these four groups heifers collected at day 168 (when liver Se assimilation had stabilized) after supplements of Se, was subjected to the microarray analysis to assess Se treatment effects.

The results suggest that there were clear differences in …