Background and Aim:Indiscriminate and injudicious use of antibiotics in layer farms is a common practice of Bangladesh for the compensation of Poor management practices and ignorance. Despite this scenario, there is no published documentation on antibiotic usage pattern and farm management practices in layer farms. This study was undertaken to understand the farmers’ perspective in small-scale layer farms regarding antibiotics usage and farm management.Materials and Methods:A questionnaire survey was conducted in 120 small-scale layer farms of Mymensingh district during January-February 2017. We only considered farms in production. Data were analyzed on antibiotic usage, purpose, egg management, understanding of antibiotic residue, withdrawal period, and other issues.Results:Among 120 farmers, about 94.16% of farmers are using antibiotics without respecting the withdrawal period. Only 39.1% of farmers possess knowledge of residues. In our surveyed farms, 91.83% of farmers are not practicing egg washing before supplying to the market and 52.67% of farmers are unaware of cleaning and disinfection of egg tray. Ten different types of antibiotics of seven classes have found in the survey. Most antibiotics are in the Watch (49%) and Reserve (8%) groups according to the WHO AWaRe categorization and 73% antibiotics are critically important for human medicine and are considered as last resort.Conclusion:This study found that due to the lack of knowledge and poor management, farmers consider using antibiotics as the most effective practices to control disease and enhancement of egg production. These indiscriminate uses of antibiotics are responsible for antibiotic residual and resistance problem. Here, we also provide some suggestion and guidelines to improve management practices to minimize the emerging problems of antimicrobial resistance through small-scale layer farms.

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This study evaluated the effect of ginger on the growth performance, carcass quality of broiler chickens. 20 broiler chickens were randomly selected into two treatment groups identified as T1 and T2 with a positive control and a negative control group. Each treatment contained with five birds. Birds on T1 were treated with 1% ginger extract and T2 was treated with 2% ginger extract via drinking water. Significant variations (p<0.05) existed between the control and other treatments in mean final body weight, dressed weight, daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio. At the end of experiment (35 th day) for 1% ginger extraction treatment the live body weight is 1746gm (p<0.05), dressing weight 1106.4 (p<0.05) and FCR is 1.67(p<0.05). The usage of the test ingredients had a significant effect (p<0.05) on dressing percentage. Supplementation of ginger improves the performance of broilers when added at the rate of 1% of broiler ration and can be a possible alternative to antibiotic growth promoter in the feeding of broiler chicken.

There is a serious public health concern of the use of antibiotics sub-therapeutically and/or as growth promoter in poultry feed and water. Therefore, there is an urgent need for alternatives. Moringa oleifera is a phytobiotic, which has been reported to possess antimicrobial and immuno-modulatory properties. This study aimed to investigate the effects of aqueous M. oleifera leaf extract (MOLE) supplementation on growth performance and hematological indices of broiler chickens. The 36 day-old broiler chicks (Cobb 500) were randomly divided into three dietary groups (group A, B and C) having 12 birds in each. The group A was considered as negative control which had received the basal diet and fresh drinking water. The group B was fed with basal diet and antibiotics (Ciprofloxacin) plus Vitamin B-complex mixed drinking water(Positive control). The group C was fed with basal diet and drinking water supplemented with 1% MOLE. Body weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratios of the birds were recorded on weekly basis. On day 35th of the feeding trail, blood samples from five birds per replicate were used for the study of hematological indices. Birds under Group C attained intermediate body weight (1892 g) and best FCR (1.48) those were comparable with that of Group B but better (p<0.05) than those of Group A. There was a trend of decrease (p>0.05) internal organs weight in Group C compared to other groups. However, zero mortality rate and similar hematological indices were observed in the birds across the treatments. Here, the results suggested that, the aqueous MOLE can be included in the drinking water of broiler chicken for reduced feed intake and improved feed conversion efficiency and it can be considered as an alternate to synthetic antibiotics as growth promoter to fight the emergence of antibiotic resistance phenomena in poultry industry.J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 16(2): 266-270, August 2018

Objective: This study was aimed at clinical evaluation of surgical wound healing in goats treated with ethanolic extract of turmeric (Curcuma longa) rhizomes through topical route. Materials and methods: Eighteen surgical wounds were made in nine goats. The goats were divided into three groups; Group 1 (test group) was treated with ethanolic extract of turmeric, Group 2 (standard group) was treated with Povidone iodine, and the Group 3 was kept as untreated control. Follow up information was recorded from day 0 to day 21 postoperatively. Some morphological characters such as swelling area of wound, elevation of suture line from the skin surface, width of the suture area and contraction length per week were considered to determine the healing process. Bacteriological evaluation was done by conventional bacteriological techniques, and the tissue biopsies were stained by hematoxylin and eosin stains for histopathological studies. Results: Swelling of suturing area (11.51±0.36 mm) and elevation of suture line (2.65±0.41 mm) were lowest in wounds treated with ethanolic extract of turmeric. In histopathological studies, it was seen that tissue debris and hemorrhages disappeared and a thin line of keratin layer reappeared on the epidermal surface of the wound treated with ethanolic extract of turmeric. Conclusion: Ethanol treated turmeric enhances wound healing process in goats. This result could help the veterinarian and the researchers to consider herbal product especially ethanolic extract of turmeric for the treatment and better healing of surgical wounds with minimal complications.

Background and Aim: Global trend to remove the antibiotic growth promoter (AGP) from animals contributes to the exploration of successful measures to sustain production and reduces the intestinal diseases in the post-AGP era. Plant extracts, therefore, have been used to improve performance and intestinal health. Here, we conducted a study to evaluate the effects of neem (Azadirachta indica) leaf extracts (NLE) as alternatives to AGPs in broiler chickens. Materials and Methods: Sixty day-old broiler chicks were assigned to 12-floor pens, each stocked with five birds and divided into three treatment groups of four pens per treatment. The groups were: Negative control, basal diet without additives; positive control, basal diet with antibiotics and vitamins; and NLE treated group, basal diet supplemented with 0.1% aqua extract of neem leaves. Results: Overall feed intake was significantly (p≤0.05) highest in the positive control. Higher body weight, higher dressing percentage, and lower feed conversion ratio were observed in birds treated with NLE compared to the negative control group (p≤0.05) but not the positive control group (p>0.05). There was no significant variation in hematology between different groups. Furthermore, the economic evaluation indicated that the NLE treatment was found cheaper than control and antibiotic treatment in cost-benefit analysis. Conclusion: We suggest NLE might be a cheaper alternative to antibiotics in broiler production as indicated by improved body weight and feed efficiency.

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The present study was conducted to evaluate the status of chromium concentration in broiler feeds with the risk assessment of chromium in broiler meat. Seven broiler farms were selected to collect the feed and meat samples of broiler. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) was used to determine the chromium concentration in broiler feed and meat samples. The highest concentration of chromium in broiler meat samples was 1.31±0.20 µg/g and in feed samples was 1.71±0.24µg/g. In this study, the mean (± SE) concentration of chromium in feed samples from Gazipur Sadar, Gazipur; Sreepur, Gazipur and Tangail Sadar, Tangail were 1.71(± 0.24) µg/g,1.64(±0.61) µg/g and 1.64(±0.61) µg/g respectively. The mean (± SE) concentration of chromium in meat samples from Gazipur Sadar, Gazipur; Sreepur, Gazipur and Tangail Sadar, Tangail were 1.139 (±0.26) µg/g, 1.31 (±0.20) µg/g and 0.61 (±0.23) µg/g respectively. The concentrations of chromium in broiler edible tissues were much higher than permissible levels determined by FAO and WHO. Precocious steps must be taken to avoid use of such health hazardous concentrations of heavy metals in poultry feeds. Considering these findings, there is a critical need to set legal limits and surveillance system for detection of heavy metals in poultry industry of Bangladesh.