Rumina! NOF and OM digestion and digestibility of OM decreased with increasing level of feed intake. Legumes had higher rates and lower extents of NOF digestion compared with grasses. Extent of digestion of legume NOF was lower than for grass because of lower cell wall content and higher lignification of the former. Rate of cell wall digestion was related to the anatomical structure of plant tissues, or greater microbial colonization of legumes than grasses. Increased intake and performance by ruminants can be obtained with the addition of alfalfa to grass based diet and this may be attributed to the positive associative affects of legumes, which had a higher digestion than grasses. Alfalfa supplementation increased the voluntary DM intake from 615 to 815 g/d for sheep fed ammoniated wheat straw and from 520 to 715 g/d for those fed untreated straw. Digestibility of treated straw increased from 39 to 43% and of untreated straw from 26-31% as a result of alfalfa inclusion in the diet. The digestibility of both treated and untreated straw was also increased. Legumes fed together with maize stover increased digestibility of cell-wall constituents compared with maize stover alone. The increased digestibility by legume supplementation could result from an improvement in the rumina! environment by supplying deficient nutrients or readily digestible cell wall substrate for cellulolytic bacteria. Fractional rate of NDF digestion was higher and extent was lower, respectively, in full bloom alfalfa (0. 075 h 1, 43.3%) compared with mature bromegrass (0. 043 h-1, 61.7%). Rate and extent oforchard grass NOF disappearance in situ was increased by 20 and 61 %in heifers fed early versus matured grass, respectively. Rate and extent of fiber digestion in vitro decreased with increased maturity and cell wall digestibility was 77% higher in immature grass than in immature legume stems. Rate and extent of NDF digestion in situ was increased by 24 and 35%, respectively. in prebloom versus bloom alfalfa hays. The decreased rate and extent of digestion in situ in late versus early matured forages was probably due to the increased fiber contents. Wethers fed forage with more stem had lower digestibilities of NDF and OM than those fed forages with less stem. Decreasing forage: concentrate ratio of diets led to greater reductions in the fractional digestion rate of cell wall components. Species of animal also had their influences on digestibility of forage consumed.

Fifty Fayoumi birds were kept under standard management conditions for 55 days. These were fed chick starter ration throughout the experiment. At 56 days of age, the birds were divided randomly into five equal groups and supplemented sulphur powder at the rate of 0 (control), 1, 2; 3 and 4 per cent in feed up to 140 days of age.
Serum total proteins were significantly decreased in birds given 2, 3 and 4 per cent sulphur at 84 days post-treatment compared with the control (P < 0 .05). Serum albumin was significantly lesser in birds supplemented with 3 and 4 per cent sulphur at 84 days post-treatment than the control (P<0.05). Serum globulins were significantly lesser in birds given 2, 3 and 4 per cent sulphur than the control (P<0. 05) at 84 days post -treatment. The study indicates that prolonged use of sulphur has adverse effects on serum proteins in the chicken.

Study on 27 broiler farms, in and around Faisalabad, during winter, revealed an overall morbidity of 0.60 per cent and mortality of 4.46 per cent. Maximum mortality observed was in birds of seven weeks of age and was 5. 95 per cent. The effected birds showed clinical signs including dullness, depression, slow movements, ruffled feathers, difficult breathing and distended abdomens. Postmortem examination revealed, flabby and broad base heart, swelling of liver with smooth or dimpled surfaces, swollen and congested kidneys, congested lungs. Microscopically, heart showed degenerative and inflammatory changes, similarly, liver showed necrosis and inflammatory changes, lungs showed oedema and congestion and kidney showed congestion and degenerative changes in tubular epithelium. Serum biochemical changes included higher than normal lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) (962.62 ±601.9 IU/L), low total proteins (4.02 ± 1.50 g/dL), albumin (1.89±0. 77 g/dL) and globulins (2.13 ±0.85 g/dL) and higher sodium (891.01 ±80.8 m.Eq./L) and potassium (78.94 ± 14.13 m.Eq./L) in affected birds. In ascitic fluids level of sodium was 189.24±14.53 ppm, potassium 77.40±8.70 ppm, total proteins 2.39±1.30 g/dL, albumin 1.50±0.77 g/dL and globulins 0.76±0.58 g/dL. Level of sodium in feed and water at various p.oultry farms was 5766.6±304.0 and 82.74±21.48 ppm, respectively.

Different semen assays were employed to determine the post -thaw fitness of buffalo and Sahiwal bull spermatozoa. Semen (two ejaculates) was collected from buffalo and Sahiwal bulls (six each) once a week for three consecutive weeks. Semen was diluted in lactose-fructose-egg yolk glycerol extender, equilibrated at 4 ac for 4 hr and frozen in liquid nitrogen vapors. A highly significant difference between fresh and post-thaw motility of both buffalo and Sahiwal bulls was observed (P<O.OOl). Post-thaw percentage of swollen spermatozoa and normal acrosomes were 24 ± 9.4 and 27.3 ± 12.2 in buffalo bulls and 23.4±9.5 and 26.4± 10.4 in Sahiwal bulls, respectively. The respective percentages of buffalo and Sahiwal bull spermatozoa involved in head to head agglutination were 12.1 ±6.7 and 12. 4±6.7 at 0 hr and 25. 6 ± 10. 8 and 28. 5 ± 7. 2 at 2 hr. Fluorescent microscopy revealed that buffalo and Sahiwal bulls had 22. 8±9. 1 and 20. 1 ±8. 3 per cent spermatozoa with intact, 8. 2± 1. 6 and 11.6±4.4 per cent partially damaged, and 68. 8 ±9. 6 and 68. 5 ± 10.4 per cent completely damaged plasma membrane. After thawing, there was no significant difference between buffalo and Sahiwal bulls in all semen characteristics. The significant relationships between various semen assays indicate their validity in evaluation of buffalo and Sahiwal bull semen.

Studies were conducted on the haematological and biochemical changes in rabbits due to high doses of crude hydatid cyst tluid (CHCF) of sheep origin. Significant reduction in the body weight of rabbits was noted due to continuous inoculation of CHCF (P<0.001). However, a considerable increase in their red blood cell counts (27 .28% ), white blood cell counts (58.58%) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (18.30%) was noted alongwith reduced packed cell volume (P<0.001). The values of erythrocyte indices (MCV, MCH, MCHC) and Hb contents correspondingly increased (P<0.00l).
Estimation of enyzme activity showed increased values for glutamic oxaloacetate transaminase while the activity of glutamic pyruvic transaminase was decreased (P<0.001) when compared with their rcspcl􀆧tivc comrols. Among the biochemical metabolites, bilirubin and total proteins increased (P<0.001) with decreased glucose level (P<0.001).

Twelve dairy herds and 6 Awassi sheep flocks were used in this study. Milk samples were obtained and cultured from 169 reported clinical cases which occurred during the study period and comprised of 108 quarters and 61 udder halves (60 cows and 45 ewes). The incidence of clinical mastitis expressed as the number of clinical cases per 100 cow or ewe-months was 3.35±0.6 and 2.23±0.33 percent, respectively. Of the 169 mastitic. milk samples, 15 samples grew no microorganism in culture. Of the total of 170 poitive samples, 40 (29 from cows and 11 from ewes) samples indicated the presence of more than one type of bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common (31.35%) and Streptococcus agalactiae was the second common (22. 70%) bacterium isolated from all examined milk samples. The sediment technique proved to be superior to pre-culture incubated milk technique. Penicillin was the least effective antibiotic (in vitro) against bacteria in cows and ewes. Streptococcus agalactiae was found to be highly susceptible to neomycin.

Some physio-chemical characteristics of camel were studied in 56 clinically healthy one-humped (Came/us dromedarius) camels in summer. Twenty eight of these were males: up to 4, 5 to 6, 6 to 7, and more than 7 years. The remaining 28 animals were heifers, not pregnant dry, pregnant dry, and not pregnant lactating camels. Each of eight subgroup thus contained seven animals.Irrespective of sex and age, 56 camels gave the following means + SE values for different parameters:-

Respiration Rate (/min.)  11.00+0.03     (7-16)
Pulse Rate (beats/min.)   43.46±1.09     (31-72)
Rectal Temperature (°F)  99.63+0.14     (97.8-101.8)
Coagulation time (Sec.)   317.25+12.77 (135-480)
Blood pH                           7.62+0.03       (7.1-8.1)

Males showed significantly (P<0.05) higher pH values than in females. Lowest value of coagulation time (CT) 􀁼d a highest value of pH ware recorded in the youngest group (up to 4 years age). Lactation and/or pregnancy showed no influence on any parameter studied.

High environmental temperatures are known to have an adverse effect on the fertility of both male and female goats. The main objective of this study was to examine the effect of seasonal variations in environmental temperature on buck's semen characteristics of a local breed of goats in Saudi Arabia. Semen samples were collected from twelve adult bucks during the month of July and December using an electroejaculator. Semen were examined for its volume (Vol. ), sperms mass motility (MM), individual motility (IM), sperms density (D), the percentage of live and abnormal sperms. No significant differences were found in smeen quality of bucks during the month of July compared to that of December. However, the density of sperms was found to be significantly higher (P < 0 .05) in the semen collected during the month of July (2.5 x 109) compared to that collected in December (1.5 x 109). These results suggest that bucks indigenous to Saudi Arabia are adapted to high environmental temperatures without any noticeable adverse effects on their apparent semen quality.