Malassezia pachydermatis is an opportunistic yeast found in the ear canal of small animals; however, the current azole-based therapy applied to it has failed to achieve clinical success due to the antifungal resistance. This issue has encouraged the studies in natural products, such as Origanum vulgare (oregano), Origanum majorana (marjoram) and Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) essential oils, although their mechanism of action remains unclear. Malassezia pachydermatis specimens deriving from otitis cases in dogs (n = 22) and cats (n = 2) were subjected to CLSI M27-A3. Sorbitol protection and ergosterol effect were analyzed to investigate their mechanism of action. Fungistatic (MIC) and fungicidal (MFC) activities were observed for oregano (MIC$_{90}$/MFC$_{90}$: 0.625 mg/mL); marjoram (MIC$_{90}$/MFC$_{90}$: 2.5 mg/mL) and rosemary MIC$_{90}$/MFC$_{90}$ > 2.5 mg/mL). Oregano showed superior antifungal effect even at lower MIC and MFC values. All three oils acted on cell wall and at complexation to fungal ergosterol. By gas chromatography (GC-FID), carvacrol was the major compound found in oregano (73.9%); 1,8-cineole was for marjoram and rosemary (20.9% and 49.4%, respectively). These findings support the potential use of these essential oils to treat canine and feline otitis caused by Malassezia pachydermatis.

This study was carried out to investigate the associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the growth hormone receptor (GHR) gene and growth and milk yields of Anatolian buffaloes. Growth records of genotyped 3012 Anatolian buffaloes and 467 lactations of 329 cows from them were used. The overall means of weights at birth, six and 12 months of ages and lactation milk yield were 29.377 ± 0.342 kg, 96.15 ± 1.48 kg, 165.54 ± 2.18 kg, and 976.3 ± 39.9 kg, respectively. Three mutations (g.31601787 G > A, g.31601784 G > A, and g.31601783 G > del) in GHR were detected. A least-squares analysis was carried out to determine the fixed effects of some environmental factors and these SNPs. The g.31601784 G > A mutation had a significant (p < 0.05) effect on weights at 12 months of age. The cows with GG genotype in the location of g.31601783 were superior (p < 0.05) in milk production. These results indicate that the SNP markers in the GHR gene could be associated with economically important traits and provide some advantages to breeders for the selection of buffaloes in early age.

In this study, production performance, stress, and immunity levels of native Turkish and imported commercial laying hens were investigated in two different cage densities. In the trial, a total of 06 groups were formed by using two different cage densities (312.50 and 468.75 cm$^{2}$/hen) on each of 03 different laying hen hybrids of Isa Brown (IB), Atak-S (A-S) and Novogen White (NW). The trial was carried out with 09 replicates in each group having 10 birds per replicate making 540 birds in total. Water and feed were provided as ad libitum. It was found that the native hybrid showed lower performance in comparison to the foreign hybrids in terms of production performance such as egg production (EP), feed consumption (FC) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) (p < 0.01), while its growth variables such as livability (L) and body weight (BW) were higher. In terms of stress and immunity levels, the native hybrid showed similar values to those of the brown foreign hybrid, while the stress levels were lower and immunity levels were higher in the white laying hens (p < 0.001). It was observed that the yield characteristics and stress levels were affected negatively in higher cage density (p < 0.01), while immunity levels were not affected (p > 0.05). It was concluded that the yield characteristics of the native hybrid were relatively lower in comparison to those of the foreign hybrids, while its stress and immunity levels were similar, and cage density decreased yield, increased stress and did not significantly affect immunity levels.

For successful fertilization, a transfer system named "rapid sperm transport" generated by uterine contractions plays a crucial role. The purpose of this in vivo study was to investigate the effect of buserelin, a GnRH agonist widely used for ovulation induction after mating or artificial insemination, on bovine uterine contractility which supports rapid sperm transport at estrus. In vivo uterine contractile activity was measured by intrauterine pressure recording technique. In the study, the spontaneous uterine contractile activities of 28 cows at estrus were observed for 30 min. The cows were randomly divided into 4 treatment groups which have 7 cows each of and were injected appropriate agents as follows; two different clinical doses of buserelin (10.5 μg, 21 μg), oxytocin (50 IU) and control (placebo). Following treatment, drug-induced uterine activity was measured for 60 min. There were no differences in terms of frequency in all groups observed. Oxytocin which is known as an effective uterotonic increased the amplitude and area under curve of contraction at estrus. Two different doses of buserelin were observed to have no effect on uterine contractile activity in cows throughout 60 min. It was concluded that GnRH has no function on bovine uterine contractility which plays a role in sperm transportation at estrus.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of feed restriction on histopathological changes associated with white striping and wooden breast myopathies in pectoralis major muscle and meat quality characteristics in broiler chickens. In total, 600 male broiler chicks were randomly divided into five groups with 8 replicate pens (15 chicks/pen). Treatments consisted of control, treatment 1 (T1), treatment 2 (T2), treatment 3 (T3) and treatment 4 (T4). Control group was fed ad libitum throughout experimental period. T1 and T2 groups received feed as 80% and 70% of amount received by the control group from 11 to 24 days of age, respectively. T3 and T4 groups received feed as 80% and 70% of amount consumed by control group from 25 to 39 days of age, respectively. T2, T3, and T4 groups had lower slaughter weight, breast fillet weight, ultimate pH value, cooking loss, and intra muscular fat content than control group. T3 and T4 groups had lower myodegeneration occurence ratio and myodegenearation severity in pectoralis major muscle and also lower mean values for yellowness index, intramuscular moisture content, compared to control group. In conclusion, myodegeneration occurrence and severity in breast muscle tissue of broilers at 49 days of age could be decreased, and, thus, meat quality characteristics could be improved by feed restriction to 80% of ad libitum consumption from 25 to 39 d of age. However, this feeding program may result in some reduction in slaughter weight and breast fillet weight. Further studies in commercial conditions are required to develop the management and feeding strategies that may reduce the occurrence of these myopathies with minimal effect on production performance in broiler chickens.