Duraisamy Rajendran

By Partha Sarathi Swain, Sonali Prusty, Somu Bala Nageswara Rao, Duraisamy Rajendran and Amlan Kumar Patra

Poultry production, health and wellbeing are highly dependent upon formulation of balanced rations in terms of energy, protein, and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Among all, minerals are required in fewer quantities, but they are very important to maintain the productivity in poultry. Minerals present in the feeds are less bioavailable and additional supplementation is obligatory to meet the physiological demands of poultry. Conventionally, minerals are supplemented as inorganic salts, which are less absorbed and, thus, a major proportion is excreted to the surroundings creating environment issues. Nano-minerals and organic mineral chelates are other alternative to be used as livestock and poultry feed supplements. Though organic minerals are more bioavailable than inorganic salts, their high cost limits its use. In contrast, nano-minerals are relatively easy to synthesize at a lower cost. Nano-minerals are of the size from 1–100 nm and due to such small size, there is an enormous increase in surface area and thus their biological responses. The biological response studies have signified better retention of nano-minerals as compared to inorganic salts, and consequently leached less to the environment preventing possible pollution. Apart from these, nano-minerals have been shown to enhance growth, egg production and quality, immune-modulation and antioxidant status, and at the same time economize the production by reducing the supplemental dose of minerals and improving the feed conversion ratio. Some nano-minerals and other nanoparticles have strong antimicrobial effects, which have been shown to reduce pathogenic microorganisms in the gut. Nano-minerals seem to be less toxic than conventional mineral sources. Though less, few studies have indicated toxic effects of nano-mineral supplementation at higher dose of application, which should be validated by more programmed studies. Nanotechnology in poultry production system is still in its budding stage and more detailed studies are warranted to validate, establish and search for new effects of nano-minerals as they sometimes produce effects beyond expectation. This review highlights the biological responses of nanominerals on poultry production performance, quality of meat and eggs, tissue retention, immunity, antioxidant activity and antimicrobial actions compared with their conventional mineral sources.

Part of the book: Advances in Poultry Nutrition Research

By Vishal Patil, Ravinder Singh Kuntal, Duraisamy Rajendran and Radha Gupta

One of the most important aspects of the livestock sector is ration cost optimization, which results in profit and ideal animal health. Manually preparing rations is time consuming and unsafe. Whereas computers can quickly formulate a ration that meets all of the nutritional requirements, after giving standard data on feeds. However, the existence of the ideal computer programme is questionable; if it exists, it is more expensive, less user-friendly, exclude local feeds, be limited to a particular region/country, feed composition may differ. As a result, in this chapter, the user will learn how to create and develop a self-made least-cost ration formulation using the locally available feeds, so that user may easily build their computer Programme using Visual Basic application of Microsoft Excel. There are three phases to ration formulation for any animal (ruminant or non-ruminant). The first phase requires the user to know the available feeds and their nutrient composition. The second part involves determining which nutrients are important for animals and creating nutrient equations. The third phase involves the creation of a linear programming model. Finally, the interface is being designed. Each phase is thoroughly explained in excel, with suitable data and reference coding.

Part of the book: Animal Husbandry

By Duraisamy Rajendran, Partha Sarathi Swain, Ayyasamy Manimaran, Muniswami Shobha, Subhashree Tripathy and Chinmayee Sahu

Mastitis is a problem associated with mammary gland and results in drop in milk production. The significance is more in milch animals as milk is the primary product. Use of antibiotics for treating mastitis is not only adds to expenses but also raises the concern of antimicrobial resistance among the consumers. Use of nano-minerals may be a good alternative for treating mastitis in domestic animals. Nano-minerals can be defined as minerals of 1-100 nm range. The nano-minerals have unique properties as compared to their counterparts. Due to the biocidal properties, mineral nanoparticles of Ag, Au, Se, Cu, Zn, etc., in the diet as feed additive can control or reduce the subclinical mastitis, and thus can be a potential alternative of antibiotics. The nano-minerals act efficiently against mastitis causing agents, thanks to their anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory properties. Though the results are encouraging, use of nano-minerals as a preventive and curative to subclinical mastitis is in its infancy. Further studies are warranted to validate the route of administration and evaluate its efficacy in long-term use in varied animal species. Moreover, the side effects of application of nano-minerals have to be studied before recommending in commercial scale.

Part of the book: Recent Developments on Bovine Mastitis