To obtain estimates for the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in ducks and geese in Germany, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were established based on affinity-purified T. gondii tachyzoite surface antigen 1 (TgSAG1) and used to examine duck and goose sera for T. gondii-specific antibodies. The results of 186 sera from 60 non-infected ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) and 101 sera f...

Impaired walking ability is an economically important welfare problem that affects poultry raised for meat production, including Pekin ducks. To gain a better understanding of the impacts of walking impairments on duck production, and to identify contributing variables and plausible remedies, an accurate measure of walking ability must first be defined. The viability of a 3-point gait score sys...

This paper was aimed at characterizing the wine obtained from Oblačinska, a native sour cherry cultivar. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper with the most comprehensive information on chemical characterization of Oblačinska sour cherry wine. The chemical composition was characterized by hyphenated chromatographic methods and traditional analytical techniques. A total of 24 com...

Poultry are domesticated species of birds. Birds were domesticated for eggs (chickens, ducks and geese), meat (chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, ostriches, emus, pigeons and game birds) or other uses including feathers (ostriches, ducks and geese), leather (ostriches), specific oils (ostriches, emus), cock-fighting (chickens) and homing (pigeons). Table 1 summarizes the approximate time when and...

In China, domestic ducks and wild birds often share the same water, in which influenza viruses replicate preferentially. Isolation of 2 novel reassortant highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N5) viruses from apparently healthy domestic ducks highlights the role of these ducks as reassortment vessels. Such new subtypes of influenza viruses may pose a pandemic threat.

To assess the effects of the combination of persistent hepadnavirus infection and chemical carcinogen exposure, aflatoxin B1 (AFB) was administered p.o. for 60 days to congenitally duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV)-infected and virus-free Pekin ducks, starting at 3 days of age, during a 28-month study. Hepatic neoplasia occurred only in AFB-dosed ducks. Hepatocellular carcinomas or biliary carcinom...

Ducks and in-contact backyard chickens on 20 smallholder backyard farms in 4 districts of Shiraz, Southwest of Iran, were monitored for antibodies against H9N2 avian influenza virus using hemagglutinationinhibition (HI) test. A total of 200 unvaccinated ducks and backyard chickens were sampled. The mean H I titers and seroprevalence in ducks and backyard chickens were 8.3, 5.7 and 78.4, 62.9%, ...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of tart cherry juice on serum uric acid levels, hepatic xanthine oxidoreductase activity and two non-invasive biomarkers of oxidative stress (total antioxidant capacity and malondialdehyde concentration), in normal and hyperuricemic rats. Tart cherry juice (5 ml/kg) was given by oral gavage to rats for 2 weeks. Allopurinol (5 mg/kg) was used a...

Numerous experiments under controlled conditions and extensive investigation of waterfowl die-offs have demonstrated that exposure to lead from spent gunshot is highly detrimental to the health of waterfowl. However, few studies have focused on examining the more subtle sub-lethal effects of lead toxicity on ducks in non-experimental settings. In our study, the health of ducks exposed to varyin...