As part of the development of a breeding programme for dairy goats to support sustainable production, we aimed to identify selection traits measured in regular milk recording. In summary, the length of the animal's productive life, lifetime efficiency, and the milk yield efficiency with respect the total number of lactating days are suitable traits to indicate lifetime productivity in dairy goats. Breeding associations must now decide which traits to implement in the breeding programme.

In this study, the meat quality traits and fatty acid composition of Hair Goat and Saanen × Hair Goat (G₁) crossbred kids fattened under intensive, semi-intensive and extensive conditions were determined. The conjugate linoleic acid contents of Hair Goat kids were respectively measured as 0.48 %, 0.55 % and 0.65 %. The conjugate linoleic acid contents of Saanen × Hair Goat (G₁) kids were respectively measured as 0.52 %, 0.58 % and 0.73 %.

Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) is one of the important endocrine hormones that plays a role in regulating growth and development of animals. In this study, we found two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the exon3 region of IGF1 in the Shitou goose. IGF1 mRNA was extensively expressed in various tissues, with high abundant expression in the liver, breast muscle and leg muscle at three growth stages. This provides a foundation for regulatory mechanisms of IGF1 in geese.

The aim of this study was to assess the performance and meat quality of meat-type guinea fowl fed commercial diets under two different feeding programs similar to those for turkeys and broilers. Findings of the study suggest that these diets can be used in meat-type guinea fowl rearing without affecting the productive traits and meat quality. However, due to the lower price of chicken feed (due to lower protein content), its use seems to be more justified from an economic point of view.

In this work, we analyzed the effects of trehalose on sheep EEC proliferation and possible mechanisms affecting its role. Our study suggested that exogenous trehalose exhibits antioxidant activity through increasing the activities of CAT, GSH-Px, and the expression level of GPX5. The cell line cultured provides a strong resource for elucidating the transcriptional networks that coordinate functions of sheep epididymis epithelium and have greatly enhanced our understanding of epididymis biology.

The regulation of glycolysis and heat shock proteins (HSPs) in Gannan yaks at different altitudes were determined. We found that HIF1A and PDK4 expression and glycolysis-related enzyme level were significantly increased, but CA level was significantly decreased with altitude. HSP27 and HSP60 were highly expressed with altitude. These results are useful to better understand the unique adaptability of Gannan yaks, allowing them to survive in hypoxia conditions.

The use of cull ewes has been an adopted practice to increase the profitability of the activity. The production of the ewes can be maximized with the adoption of feedlotting. However, feed is known to be the costliest factor in animal production. In this context, by-products such as cottonseed emerged as an alternative to replace the most commonly used ingredients without affecting animal productivity. Calcium lignosulfonate is a by-product that can be used to improve ruminal digestion.

The study aimed to highlight the general trend of indigenous Lao pig utilization and the altered reproductive performance with special reference to location and rearing systems. Indigenous pigs are not only important for household consumption, but they also serve as household savings that the households use anytime, i.e. to support their children's education and traditional activity performance. Proper management is needed to improve reproductive performance of indigenous pigs in Laos.

In this study, we found that 21 mutation loci and 3 haplotypes were significantly associated with litter size in Nubian goat. This would allow breeders to take more precise selection decisions, leading to significantly higher productivity and profitability within the Nubian goat.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the intake, digestibility, nitrogen balance, and performance of feedlot lambs fed diets containing crude glycerin. Although it did not affect the intake and digestibility of most nutrients, the inclusion of 100 and 200 g kg^-1 DM of crude glycerin in lambs' diets tended to worsen performance, indicating that the ideal level of inclusion should be below 100 g kg^-1 DM of crude glycerin.

Goats are produced in extensive systems with low productive yields. Therefore, intensive systems improve productivity; however, in this system, diet is the most costly parameter. The cottonseed cake has the necessary nutritional characteristics to be able to substitute traditional ingredients (such as soybean meal) and to reduce the diet cost. Thus, it is necessary to determine the best level of inclusion of cottonseed cake in feedlot goats' diets to improve meat production and quality.

This study aimed to detect a potential association between GHR/AluI polymorphism and milk yield and milk composition traits in dairy cows raised in commercial herds using the PCR-RFLP assay. In conclusion, the GHR gene should be regarded as potential candidate genes in marker-assisted selection programs to improve the performance of milk and related traits in Turkey dairy cattle populations.

This study investigated the interactive effects of weather conditions, transportation time and loading density on carcass damages and meat quality traits of pigs. Pigs exposed to short transportation at low space allocation during hot weather conditions produced the lowest pork quality. Pigs exposed to short transportation at high loading density during cold weather conditions produced the highest pork quality. Hence, weather and transport conditions are of great importance for the pork quality.

Packaging methods (vacuum packaging and modified atmosphere packaging) allow for maintaining high-quality meat during a long period of storage (30 d) under refrigeration conditions. An interaction between the storage time, packaging method, and mesophilic aerobic bacteria and coliform counts was observed. Storage time affected the number of aerobic psychrotrophic bacteria, redness, pH, shear force value, and desirability of the meat's aroma and taste.

The interaction between genotype and environment changes depending on the interaction of the sub-environments. The environments have a hierarchically structured impact. With regard to the growth of the chicks, nutrition seems to have a higher value than red mite infestation. While a clear interaction between genotypes and poultry red mite infestation was observed in ad libitum feeding, the genotypes reacted similarly to infestation under feed restrictions.

Our results suggest that estrous cycles may be associated with clock gene expression in the Small-tailed Han sheep (STH sheep). This is the first study to systematically analyze the expression patterns of clock genes of different estrous cycles in ewes, which could form a basis for further studies to develop the relationship between clock genes and the estrous cycle.

Circulating 17-β-estradiol (E₂), progesterone (P₄), and cortisol concentrations of 30 non-pregnant, pregnant, and lactating Nicastrese goats carrying single or twin fetuses were evaluated. E₂ and P₄ were higher during pregnancy and lower in non-pregnancy. In mothers with twins, P₄ was higher in mid-gestation and E₂ lower at >50–70 d of lactation. Different physiological conditions induced a temporal relationship with the endocrine profile in Nicastrese goats.

Our findings provide valuable genetic markers for litter size in sheep.