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Background: Kashmir Valley, one of the temperate regions of India, has experienced an exponential increase in the milk-production over the last decades. This may be mainly attributed to massive cross-breeding of Local Cattle of Kashmir Valley with the worldclass dairy breeds like Jersey and Holstein-Friesian (HF), popularly known as Jersey-Crossbreds (JCB) and Holstein-Friesian Crossbreds (HFCB), respectively. However, no specific guidelines on their breed characteristics is available, which is crucial for their establishment, recognition and management. Precise and standardized morphological details are a primary requisite for application of advanced technologies like automation, Internet of Things (IoT) and robotics. Therefore, the present study aimed to characterize the HFCB and JCB cows. Methods: Morphologic and morphometric traits of 600 and 447 cows respectively, reared in the Srinagar district of Kashmir, were studied in detatil as per the standard methods. The null-hypothesis set was that the two crossbreds do not differ from each other. Result: It was observed that two crossbreds differed significantly (p<0.05) with each other in respect of the morphological and morphometrical traits like body size and weight. The study generated a baseline data on these two crossbreds, which is critical not only for their recognition, welfare and scientific management, but shall also act as a reference for global researchers to assess the results of crossbreeding superior dairy breeds in improving the genetic-merit of other breeds worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kashmir duck is an indigenous duck breed of India having its origins in the Kashmir Valley. Locally known as 'Batuk', it is reared for meat and eggs in all districts of the Valley, with highest population in the Bandipora district followed by Kupwara, Baramulla, Srinagar and others. This paper attempts to review the earlier work done on the characteristic features and production parameters of the Kashmir duck. The plumage colour varies from white, brown, black, grey and a mosaic of white, black, brown and grey with greenish or bluish patches in some as well. Bean, which is mainly black in colour, is prominent, whereas caruncles or crest is absent. Duckling weight at the time of hatching is 33.54 g. Adult male duck weighs 1790 g and female duck weighs 1620 g. Average bill-length in adult ducks is 5.58 cm and shank-length is 5.43 cm. Dressing percentage is about 64.98 to 76.21% whereas ready-to-cook weight is 941.75 g. Breast, drumsticks, thighs, back, neck and wings weight varies from 249.62 to 344.65 g, 81.48 to 97.90 g, 83.22 to 117.85 g, 191.62 to 243.85 g, 105.07 to 131.20 g and 121.80 to 138.15 g respectively. Skin, meat and bone weights of the local duck carcase is 342.95, 445.85 and 248.90 g respectively. Eggs of Kashmir duck are either white- or green-shelled and weighs 66.20 g on average. Shape index, specific gravity, yolk index, yolk weight, albumin weight, albumin index, shell-weight, shell-thickness and haugh-unit of kashmir duck eggs are reported to be 67.85, 1.07, 0.44, 23.90 g, 34.00 g, 0.07, 8.34 g, 34 mm and 69.37 ± 0.43 respectively. Average egg production per year is 138.67 eggs. Kashmir duck breed is an important indigenous poultry genetic resource with decent egg and meat production, which needs to be conserved, and promoted for rearing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Indigenous birds are low producer of egg and meat due to poor genetic potential. So, improved dual type backyard chicken rearing can increase egg and meat production in the rural areas. Scavenge feed resource is also an important factor on the performance of rural chicken. The nutrient status of these birds under scavenging system shall help to take future steps in this area. Methods: A study was conducted on 600 numbers (200 each of Indigenous, Vanaraja and Crossbred) chicken. The day old chicks were distributed in a contiguous area for convenience of the study. Accordingly 30 farmers (10 numbers of farmers for each group) were selected randomly and 20 numbers of chicks were provided to each of them for rearing. The chicks were brooded for initial three weeks by the beneficiaries by their traditional methods and different parameters were recorded. Result: The final body weights and part period egg production up to 52 weeks of age were found to differ significantly (P=0.05) among the types of chicken. The egg size was significantly (P=0.05) different. Significantly (P=0.05) higher percentage of Crude protein (CP) and Crude fibre (CF) and lower Nitrogen free extract (NFE) of the crop contents were recorded in Vanaraja than Indigenous and Crossbred chickens. The mean CP contents of crop were significantly (P=0.05) highest in Vanaraja (10.24±0.37%) and lowest (9.16±0.29%) in Crossbred chicken. The mean CF contents of crop were differed significantly (P=0.05) among the type of birds. The mean NFE content was significantly (P=0.05) different among the types of chicken. The study showed that the nutrient concentrations of scavengeable feed resources consumed by rural poultry were below the recommended levels for optimum growth and egg production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Feed is the single largest input which accounts for 60-70% of the total cost of poultry production. Sheep manure is an unconventional feed relatively high in protein and energy levels and can be used in poultry diet to reduce the cost of production. Inclusion of exogenous enzymes will improve its nutritional value as it contains relatively high fibre and utilization by birds. The performance of broiler chicken fed with heat treated sheep manure (HSM) based diets supplement with or without enzyme was studied. Methods: 210 broiler chicks were randomly distributed to five groups viz. T1 (Control), T2: 5% HSM without enzyme, T3: 5% HSM with enzyme, T4: 10% HSM without enzyme and T5: 10% HSM with enzyme containing 42 chicks in each group having three replicates of 14 chicks each. Result: The chemical composition of HSM like Dry matter, Organic matter, Crude protein, Ether extract, Crude fibre, Total ash, NFE, Calcium and Phosphorus were estimated as 90.15±1.85, 71.88±1.62, 15.24±1.23, 4.22±0.86, 17.09±0.92, 28.12±1.32, 35.33±1.28, 1.15±0.08 and 0.48±0.03%. The ME (Kcal/kg) was 1565.33. The final body weight at 6 weeks of age was highest in T3 (1998.25±13.29 g) and lowest in T4 (1949.22±15.14 g). The cumulative feed conversion ratio ranged between 1.79±0.083 in T1 to 1.83±0.078 in T4. The cost of production per kg live weight was highest (Rs. 89.78) in T1 and lowest (Rs. 83.76) in T5 group. The benefit cost ratio was 1.14, 1.17, 1.19, 1.20 and 1.22 for T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 groups respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Duckweed is a monocotyledon species of the family Lemnaceae. It is a small floating aquatic plant that grows very well on stagnant ponds and is commonly found throughout tropical countries in natural ponds, lakes and flooded rice fields. Duckweed has high crude protein content and a well-balanced amino acid profile and is also a good source of vitamins and minerals. Duckweed at different levels was utilized in the diet of broiler chicken to study their performance. Methods: One hundred and fifty day old broiler chicks of one week old were distributed randomly into five treatment groups viz T1: (Control), T2: 5% Duckweed without enzyme, T3: 5% Duckweed with enzyme, T4: 10% Duckweed without enzyme and T5: 10% Duckweed with enzyme having 30 chicks in each groups with three replicates of 10 chicks each. Result: The Duckweed contains 20.33% crude protein, 3.10% ether extract, 18.06% crude fibre, 2.80% calcium, 1.10% phosphorous and 1660.77 ME (Kcal/Kg). Significantly (P0.05) higher body weight was recorded in T1 (1889.67±13.28g) and T3 (1878.65±2.02g) groups followed by T2 (1831.67±3.51g), T5 (1798.31±1.76 g) and T4 (1728.63±2.60 g) groups, respectively. The average daily body weight gain was ranged between 37.87 to 41.66 g. The cumulative feed consumption was recorded to be highest in T1 (3050.13±14.01) and lowest in T4 (2943.17±8.54g) group. The Cumulative FCR was significantly (P0.05) better (1.74±0.01) in T1 and T3 groups in comparison to T2 (1.78±0.01), T4 (1.85±0.01) and T5 (1.78±0.04) groups. Total 3.3% mortality was recorded in all treatment groups except T3 group in which there was no mortality during entire experimental period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted on a total of 600 numbers (150 from each breed/variety) of Indigenous, Vanaraja, PB2 c Indigenous and Dahlem Red birds under intensive system of management for a period of 72 weeks. All the four genotypes were fed uniform diet of Chick (0-8) weeks, Grower (9-20) weeks and Layer (above 20 weeks) ration. The cost of production per bird from day old to 72 weeks was found to be higher in Vanaraja (Rs. 1072.20) followed by PB2 x Indigenous (Rs.876.87), Dahlem Red (Rs. 855.78) and indigenous (Rs. 811.40). Net profit per bird was calculated to be highest in Vanaraja birds (Rs. 235.55) followed by Dahlem Red (Rs. 197.97) and lowest in PB2 x Indigenous (Rs. 66.88) whereas for indigenous birds there is a loss of Rs. 15.65. It can be concluded that the performance of Vanaraja, PB2 x Indigenous and Dahlem Red birds can be improved under intensive system of management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experiment was conducted to study the comparative evaluation of carcass characteristics of PB-2 X indigenous and Dahlem Red chicken. Significant (Pd" 0.05) differences in live weight, neck weight, thigh weight, drumstick weight, wings weight and back weight were observed between PB-2 X indigenous and Dahlem Red chicken. However, no significant difference was observed in breast weight and giblet yield between both the groups. Also significant (Pd" 0.05) difference was observed in all the carcass traits between male and female birds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study that evaluates the comparative macro and micro element status of 21 tree fodder in Sikkim, India. It states that samples of 21 tree fodder species gathered in different season from various areas used for feeding goat, cattle, and sheep were used in the study. Results for different tree fodder trace elements show that jhingani (Eurya japonica) has the highest manganese concentration while khasre (Ficus hirta) has the highest cobalt concentration.

The article evaluates the comparative nutritional status of twenty one commonly available tree fodder species found in Sikkim, India. Ficus Bengalensis, Artocarpus lakoocha, Reevesia Pubescens and Ficus nemoralis were some of the tree fodder species collected. These samples were analyzed for nutrients such as crude protein, ether extract, crude fiber, nitrogen free extract and neutral detergent fiber, among others. The study concludes that Melato, Chiple, Khasre, Tanki, Sirish, lute Khanyum and Lali were better source of nutrients compared to other species.

The article discusses a study which assessed the effect of fish meal (FM) supplementation on performance of crossbred jersey calves. The study found no difference in average dry matter intake of assessed calves. However, findings reveal that the total dry matter intake was lower in higher F< supplemented group than the other groups, while the average live weight gain was higher in calves supplemented with FM.

Chicken meat or white meat is an alternative meat for health conscious consumers, as it contains low cholesterol and fat also indigenous chicken meat is more chewy and tasty. Poultry carcass composition is mainly affected by breed (Jaturasitha et al. 2008). The objective of this study was to compare carcass quality traits (breed and sex-wise) between PB-2 X indigenous and Dahlem Red chicken under the semi-intensive condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study that examined nutrient and mineral retention in broilers fed with silk worm pupae meal (SWPM) by replacing conventional fish meal. The study showed that nitrogen retention is higher in broilers fed with 100 percent SWPM. It suggested that higher nitrogen retention in SWPM may be due to better digestion, absorption and assimilation of dietary protein. It also discussed calcium, phosphorus, and ether extract retention in broilers.

The article discusses a study on the characteristics of the carcass of the Vanaraja bird and the mineral content of its meat as well as other local birds seen in Arunachal Pradesh, India. Results show that blood loss in Vanaraja bird is lower compared with local birds. The study also found that the percent weight of gizzard was lower in local birds.