This review paper provides an in-depth analysis of three critical metabolic diseases affecting dairy cattle such as subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA), ketosis, and hypocalcemia. SARA represents a disorder of ruminal fermentation that is characterized by extended periods of depressed ruminal pH below 5.5–5.6. In the long term, dairy herds experiencing SARA usually exhibit secondary signs of the disease, such as episodes of laminitis, weight loss and poor body condition despite adequate energy intake, and unexplained abscesses usually 3–6 months after an episode of SARA. Depressed milk-fat content is commonly used as a diagnostic tool for SARA. A normal milk-fat test in Holstein dairy cows is >4%, so a milk-fat test of 4 cows out of 12 and 1.0 mmol/L or 1.4 mmol/L blood or serum BHB are considered diagnostic of subclinical ketosis. The standard threshold used for blood is 1.2 mmol/L, which corresponds to thresholds of 100 mcmol/L for milk and 15 mg/dL for urine. Oral administration of propylene glycol (250–400 g, every 24 h for 3–5 days) is the standard and most efficacious treatment, as well as additional therapy with bolus glucose treatment. Hypocalcemia is a disease of adult dairy cows in which acute hypocalcemia causes acute to peracute, afebrile, flaccid paralysis that occurs most commonly at or soon after parturition. Dairy cows are at considerable risk for hypocalcemia at the onset of lactation, when daily calcium excretion suddenly increases from about 10 g to 30 g per day. Cows with hypocalcemia have a more profound decrease in blood calcium concentration—typically below 5.5 mg/dL. The prevention of parturient paresis has been historically approached by feeding cows low-calcium diets during the dry period. Negative calcium balance triggers calcium mobilization before calving and better equips the cow to respond to the massive calcium needs at the onset of lactation. Calcium intake must be limited to <20 g per day for calcium restriction to be effective. The most practical and proven method for monitoring hypocalcemia is by feeding cows an acidogenic diet for ~3 weeks before calving. Throughout the review, emphasis is placed on the importance of early diagnosis and proactive management strategies to mitigate the impact of these metabolic diseases on dairy cattle health and productivity. The comprehensive nature of this paper aims to serve as a valuable resource for veterinarians, researchers, and dairy farmers seeking a deeper understanding of these prevalent metabolic disorders in dairy cattle.

The worrying and constant increase in the quantities of food and beverage industry by-products and wastes is one of the main factors contributing to global environmental pollution. Since this is a direct consequence of continuous population growth, it is imperative to reduce waste production and keep it under control. Re-purposing agro-industrial wastes, giving them new life and new directions of use, is a good first step in this direction, and, in global food production, vegetables and fruits account for a significant percentage. In this paper, brewery waste, cocoa bean shells, banana and citrus peels and pineapple wastes are examined. These are sources of bioactive molecules such as polyphenols, whose regular intake in the human diet is related to the prevention of various diseases linked to oxidative stress. In order to recover such bioactive compounds using more sustainable methods than conventional extraction, innovative solutions have been evaluated in the past decades. Of particular interest is the use of deep eutectic solvents (DESs) and compressed solvents, associated with green techniques such as microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE), pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and pulsed-electric-field-assisted extraction (PEF). These novel techniques are gaining importance because, in most cases, they allow for optimizing the extraction yield, quality, costs and time.

The increasing integration of sensing devices with smart technologies, deep learning algorithms, and robotics is profoundly transforming the agricultural sector in the context of Farming 4.0. These technological advancements constitute critical enablers for the development of customized, data-driven farming systems, offering potential solutions to the challenges of agricultural intensification while addressing societal concerns associated with the emerging paradigm of “farming by numbers”. The Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) systems enable the continuous, real-time, and individual sensing of livestock in order to detect subtle change in animals’ status and permit timely corrective actions. In addition, smart technology implementation within the housing environment leads the whole farming sector towards enhanced business rentability and food security as well as increased animal health and welfare conditions. Looking to the future, the collection, processing, and analysis of data with advanced statistic methods provide valuable information useful to design predictive models and foster the insight on animal welfare, environmental sustainability, farming productivity, and profitability. This review highlights the significant potential of implementing advanced sensing systems in livestock farming, examining the scientific foundations of PLF and analyzing the main technological applications driving the transition from traditional practices to more modern and efficient farming models.

Objective: This paper aimed to evaluate the effects of a multi-strain probiotic (MS-Prob) as natural feed additives on the productive performance, blood parameters, antioxidant defence, caecal short-chain fatty acid profile as well as the effectiveness on the intestinal morphology and on the equilibrium modification of caecal microbiota of growing rabbits.Methods: Eighty-six-week-old Italian White rabbits were assigned into two dietary groups: the control group was fed without any additive, while the test group received a diet supplemented with a MS-Prob (Slab51) at a dosage of 250 mg/kg diet. The feeding trial lasted up to 12 weeks of age.Results: Rabbits MS-Prob diet had significantly higher daily and final body weight recording also the best of feed efficiency compared to control group. Rabbits in MS-Prob group showed improved slaughter weight and carcass dressing yield. No significant effect was found on meat protein, lipids and ash contents. Serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein and triglycerides decreased significantly in rabbits fed the test-diet. In rabbits fed MS-Prob, the activity of glutathione peroxidase, glutathione S-transferase, catalase and superoxide dismutase increased significantly, whereas the level of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance decreased significantly. Caecal pH, ammonia-N and total volatile fatty acids (VFAs) were not significantly influenced by dietary treatments. Conversely, VFAs molar proportions were statistically affected by diets, with higher acetic and butyric acid concentrations in caecum of rabbits fed MS-Prob. Feeding of MS-Prob reduced harmful bacterial growth (Escherichia coli, Bacillus spp., Clostridium spp.) while promoting beneficial bacteria (Lactobacillus spp., Bacteroides spp.). Moreover, MS-Prob positively influences rabbit gut histomorphology, showing higher villus height, villus width, and crypt depth.Conclusion: This study indicated that MS-Prob (Slab51) supplementation stimulated the performance of growing rabbits and positively affected blood serum parameters, intestinal morphology, and caecal environment and microbiota.

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of dietary 3% oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) waste in enhancing the anticoccidial effects in broilers challenged with Eimeria tenella infection. The experiment involved a total of 600 Japanese quails, raised from one to thirty-five days of age, which were divided into four treatment groups. These included a negative control group that received a basal diet (BD) without any anticoccidial or antibiotic supplementation in the non-challenged birds (negative control, NC); a positive control (PC) group consisting of NC birds challenged with E. tenella; a group that received the BD with an anticoccidial drug (standard); and a group that received the BD supplemented with 3% waste from oyster mushrooms (3% Pleurotus ostreatus). The results showed that the feed intake, body weight gain, and feed efficiency were significantly lower in the PC (p < 0.05). However, the growth traits were similar in the standard and 3% Pleurotus ostreatus-treated groups. Similarly, there was no difference (p < 0.05) in the mortality rate, oocyst count in the feces, and lesion score between the standard and 3% Pleurotus ostreatus groups. Based on intestinal histology evaluation, the villi height and width were significantly higher in the standard and 3% Pleurotus ostreatus-treated groups compared to those of the PC (p < 0.01). In conclusion, it was found that 3% Pleurotus ostreatus effectively mitigated the low growth rate of Japanese quails induced by coccidial infection.