102 Detecting coprophagy in foals and its relationship with foal gut health

Consumption of maternal feces is commonly observed in foals; however, the role of this activity in foal health is unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the occurrence of coprophagy in foals and how it relates to foal gut health. Milk samples and foal feces were collected from 12 mare-foal pairs at 12 h, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, and 21 d after foaling. Milk yield was estimated after muzzling foals for 2 h intervals at 7 and 14 d postpartum. To detect coprophagy in foals, nine mares were fed chromic oxide (10 g/d) with their concentrate in nosebags twice daily. Mares had ad libitum access to forage. Fecal samples were collected immediately after defecation and used to enumerate cellulolytic bacteria, lactobacilli, and lactate-utilizing bacteria using culture-based techniques. Enumeration data were log10 transformed before statistical analyses. Frozen feces were used to analyze neutral detergent fiber (NDF) using a Fiber Analyzer (Ankom Technology, NY, USA), then ashed and digested to analyze chromic oxide via atomic absorption. Fecal scores were recorded daily to monitor for signs of diarrhea. Changes over time were evaluated using repeated measures ANOVA and relationships between variables were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (SAS 9.4). Coprophagy was detected as early as 3 d after birth and detected in all foals by 7 d of age. Peak coprophagy occurred at 14 d after birth. Milk yield was negatively related to fiber and chromic oxide in foal feces (r = -0.64 and -0.70, respectively; P < 0.05). Chromic oxide in foal feces was positively related to the number of cellulolytic bacteria and NDF (r = 0.97 and 0.79, respectively; P < 0.05). Bouts of diarrhea tended to be negatively related to chromic oxide (r = -0.59; P = 0.0928). Maternal feces is likely an important source of fiber and microbial inoculum for foals, aiding in colonization of beneficial microbes.

Turning of Cow Stomach, a Slaughter House By-product into Value-added Products

This study investigates to turn the stomach of cow into exotic leather and then leather products that would add value to the end of leather industry. For this purpose, three pieces of cow stomachs are taken to convert into leather through pre-tanning, tanning and post tanning operations i.e. soaking, liming, deliming, bating, pickling, tanning, retanning, dyeing, fatliquoring, finishing etc. Some mechanical operations are also carried out, such as drying and stacking. Several mechanical investigations have been conducted, including tensile strength, stitch tear strength colour rub fastness and shrinkage temperature in order to assess the overall physical properties of prepared leather. Chemical analyses have also been carried out (chromic oxide content, fat content and pH) to find out the quality of leather. It is observed that tensile and stitch tear strengths are much lower than any of the grained upper leather. But the results demonstrate that colour rub fastness is good enough to meet the standard value. Among the different chemical analyses, pH and % of fat content meet the standard value, but chromic oxide content (%) of one sample is below than the standard value of grained upper leather. All these might be due to the prevalence of difference in composition between hide/skin and the stomach of animals. The prepared stomach leather could be used in making of fancy leather goods like key ring, wrist watch belt, hair clip, bracelet etc.

Synthesis, Characterisation and Application of Chromic Oxide-Lophira Alata Carbonized Sawdust Nanocomposite (COLACSN) in Removing Cd2+ and Pb2+ ions from aqueous solution

The aim of this research is to examine the efficiency of removing cadmium-II and lead-II ions from aqueous solution using chromic oxide-lophira alata carbonised sawdust nanocomposite (COLACSN) synthesized by modified co-precipitation and thermal degradation method. The physicochemical characterization of chromic oxide-lophira alata carbonised sawdust nanocomposite was evaluated with the use of x-ray diffractograms (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier-Transform infrared spectrophotometer (F-TIR). The nanocomposite was amorphous with some degree of crystallinity, smooth and spherical in shape with a particles size of 12.05 nm in apparently soft agglomerates. The quantity of cadmium-II and lead-II ions before and after treatment of the aqueous solution was evaluated using atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS). Adsorption experiments were conducted in batches and the adsorption property of COLACSN was studied using isotherm models and Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The adsorption isothermal study revealed that the adsorption manner was physical and favorable for the accumulation of Cd2+ and Pb2+ ions on to chromic oxide-lophira alata carbonised sawdust nanocomposite. The chromic oxide-lophira alata carbonised sawdust nanocomposite had high adsorption capacity for Pb2+ ions. The accumulation process of Pb2+ ions was exothermic and possesses a high interaction with the adsorbent chromic oxide-lophira alata carbonised sawdust nanocomposite. The optimization analysis revealed that the Pb2+ ions were more adsorbed compared to Cd2+ ions with optimum adsorption capacities of 191.50mg/g and 66.20mg/g respectively. These values agreed with the kF values obtained from Freundlich isotherm. This implies that the chromic oxide-lophira alata carbonised sawdust nanocomposite was more effective in the removal of Pb2+ ions.