The present study found that 100 μM oleic acid, independent of insulin, enhanced the triglyceride accumulation and lipid droplet deposition in goat primary intramuscular preadipocytes, and was not affected by supplementation of insulin. Meanwhile, oleic acid significantly increased the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, CCAAT enhancer-binding protein alpha and fatty acid binding protein 4, and decreased the expression of lipoprotein esterase. Oleic acid, independent of insulin, may promote goat preadipocyte differentiation via the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and CCAAT enhancer-binding protein alpha.

Two strains of Aspergillus niger were tested for production of fermented wheat bran as a dietary supplement for poultry. Application of A. niger cultured wheat bran in reduced-protein diets had positive impacts on growth performance, carcass characteristics, blood parameters, meat malondialdehyde content, and ileal microflora population. The two strains of A. niger produced similar outcomes in many results; however, in some parameters such as ileal microbiota population, A. niger 2 induced a better response.

The ever increasing world population is putting intense pressure on the animal production sector to increase sheep and mutton production. In sheep-feeding systems, most feed sources are becoming expensive due to the effects of recurring droughts and climate change, necessitating exploration of alternative cheap feed sources. Observations from the study showed that ammoniated maize stover, an alternative feed source, may be successfully incorporated into sheep-feeding systems without a reduction in sheep production performance

The evaluation of technical and economic indexes, and the establishment of benchmarking are important for the financial management of dairy operations. We studied a broad spectrum of dairy farms, and analysed which indicators vary the most in high, intermediate and low return on assets’ farms. Lastly, we demonstrated the importance of categorising technical and financial indexes to create new benchmarks by region, and that this analysis must be periodically performed, aiming for greater profit.

This study investigated how transferring dairy cows from a group housing system into individual pens affected their behaviour and milk production. Cow behaviour was evaluated before the transfer, immediately after the transfer, after 5 weeks in the individual pens and on return to the group housing system. Milk yield was recorded daily. The observed changes in cow behaviour seemed to reflect attempts to adapt to the new environment and did not seem to be detrimental to the major research.