Oat (Avena sativa L.) is one of the most important cultivated winter fodder crops for livestock in Nepal, Yet, its production potential is not fully explored in Nepal for different locations and in combination with legumes. One of the major problems in ruminant feeding in Nepal is the shortage of quality fodder during the winter season where oats-legume mixture would play an important role. Oats are better adapted to different soil types and can perform better on acid soils in comparison to other small cereal grains. Intercropping is a traditional farming technique, which is important in farming systems of developing countries but far less widespread in mechanized systems; however, there is an increased interest in intercropping systems for developing sustainable farming systems mostly for grass-legume polycultures. The review concluded that oats in combination with legumes could be a potential model of intercropping to attain an increased forage dry matter (DM) yield without jeopardizing the quality issue, especially during winter and further, it is required to define the optimum management of these grass-legume species such as oats and vetch and oats and pea in various environments such as choice of grasses and legume species, seed rate, sowing time and fertilizer efficiencies, irrigation requirements and increase in herbage quality is possible if the legumes are dominant in grass-legumes mixture. The advantage of oat-legume mix farming is that it may be produced in a wider range of soil classes, which determines the ecological benefits. However, it further requires a series of experiments to conclude in all aspects.

Background and Aim: To combat enteric infections and antibiotic resistance in the poultry industry, researchers seek alternatives such as probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics as growth promoters. Synbiotics support probiotic growth through the supply of essential nutrients. The study’s objectives were to assess the most effective delivery methods for synbiotics and evaluate their growth, histomorphometric, and hematological impacts on Cobb-500 broilers. Materials and Methods: Two studies, independently conducted, employed a completely randomized design. One hundred and eighty viable eggs in the first trial were assigned to three groups: Control (T1), sterile water (T2), and synbiotic in sterile water (T3). On the 21st day of hatching, hatchability, day-old body weights, and ileum samples for histomorphometric analysis were recorded. In the second trial, out of 500 viable eggs, 200 eggs were fed in ovo with synbiotics (PoultryStar® sol, Biomin Singapore Pte Ltd, Singapore) on 17.5 days and 300 were set aside without in ovo injection. The treatments were control (T1), in water synbiotic (T2), in ovo synbiotic (T3), combination of in ovo synbiotic and synbiotic in feed (T4), and synbiotic in feed only (T5). On 21 and 42 days, blood, ileum, and visceral organ samples were collected for laboratory analysis. Data on weight gain, daily feed intake, and water consumption were recorded for 42 days. Results: The initial experiment’s results revealed a decrease in hatchability, slight weight increase, and significant intestinal morphological changes with the use of an in ovo synbiotic. Applying synbiotic through various methods in the second trial yielded better growth results, lower blood cholesterol, and significantly longer (p < 0.05) villi on 21 days. Conclusion: Using the in ovo method to administer synbiotics lowered hatchability. Use of synbiotics with any method or in combination enhances growth, ileum structure, dressing yield, feed efficiency, and cholesterol levels in blood. Synbiotics enhance gut health and overall performance in broilers when used through diverse approaches. Keywords: growth performance, gut health, histomorphometry, in ovo, synbiotic.

This study assessed the effect of parity in different seasons on the milk yield and composition of lactating cattle × yak hybrids (Dimjo Chauries) in the Nepalese Himalayan alpines. A pasture site typically grazed in summer and autumn was selected at 4200 m.a.s.l. The experimental animals were grouped into 2nd, 4th, and 6th parity groups (n = 18). The pasture characteristics, and milk and body parameters of the animals were measured in both seasons. Parity and season had a significant effect on the body weight of lactating hybrids, and almost constant daily weight gain was observed in 4th parity Chauries. The daily milk yield and fat content were affected by both season and parity, whilst parity did not affect milk protein or lactose content. The highest daily milk yield was obtained from the 6th parity Chauries in summer (3.42 kg day⁻¹) with unchanged fat content, and the lowest (1.46 kg day⁻¹) was from the 2nd parity in autumn. This implies that the older parity cattle × yak hybrids, especially of the 4th parity, are promising for persistently higher milk yield and composition than that of 2nd and 6th parity hybrids.

Transhumance pastoralism is a traditional sheep management strategy adopted by the herders in the Himalayas to address environmental stress. The changes in haematological parameters in the transhumant sheep may well give insights of changes in physiological changes at pasture sites of various elevations in the transhumance cycle. For that purpose, 32 healthy Baruwal sheep were selected and divided into four groups: male (8) below 1 year, male (8) greater than 1 year, female (8) below 1 year, and female (8) greater than 1 year; the animals were selected based on similarity on body weight within the groups. The herd was clinically inspected for the presence of any infection. Adaptation period was set for 3 weeks at each pasture site. The blood samples were taken from designated groups at both grazing sites, i.e. from low (2431 m.a.s.l) to high stopover (3885 m.a.s.l) at the seventh day of the experimental period. Climatic data were recorded at both altitudes over the period of measurements from manually installed weather stations. Later, the herbage species were collected based on the visual sign of grazing at both sites and subjected to chemical composition analysis. The research results revealed that RBC (red blood cell), Hb (Haemoglobin), and PCV (packed cell volume) were significantly increased (p < 0.05) at high altitude, while MCH (mean corpuscular haemoglobin) and MCHC (Mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration) were higher at low altitude. Sex and age had a similar effect (p > 0.05) on haematologic parameters, except for PCV and MCH. The altitude had a big impact on leucocyte (p < 0.05), being greater at low altitude than high, which could be an indicator of the increased immunologic response at low altitude irrespective of age and sex. The research result revealed the changing haematological responses of Baruwal sheep to changing pasture sites at different altitudes in the transhumance movement. The results further gave a hint of the nutritional stress at low altitude when the herd arrives in the winter season. It is rather difficult to draw an immediate conclusion that pasture quality might be the contributory issue for a decline in the nutritional status of grazing sheep when the herbage species vary by altitude. The measurement of blood metabolic stressors could further facilitate description of the nutritional stress alongside the transhumance when the grazing species and quality are different. Strategic feed supplementation for a much better performance of Baruwal sheep is needed at low altitude to deal with the declined herbaceous quality during winter.

Management of grassland is one of the important factors in traditional livestock farming systems. A survey was conducted in Madi of Chitwan Nepal to understand the perceptions of the farmers/graziers about grassland and feed management. For that, a well-prepared pretested set of questionnaires was used to collect information related to feeds and grassland ecological knowledge of the farmers. The questionnaire consisted of a set of questions about the household, factors affecting grassland productivity and alternative feeding resources. The survey revealed variations in household livestock ownerships, mostly for cattle (1–3) and buffalo (1–5), whilst goat ownership was similar across the survey sites. Grazing duration in months was similar in the study sites (about 7 months per year). Likewise, there was no conflict for grazing livestock, whereas it is believed that goat and buffalo have the same level of detrimental effect on grassland. A significantly higher number of respondents reported that flooding had a negative impact (p = 0.032) on grassland productivity. The Imperata cylindrica (L.) P. Beauv. locally known as Siru was a dominant forage species followed by the mosaics of Saccharum spontaneum L. locally known as Kaans in Nepali and Jhaksi in Tharu language, Saccharum bengalense Retz. locally known as Baruwa in Nepali and Narkat in the Tharu language. The respondents also pointed out that at least 2 to 3 years were needed for the recovery of grasslands when hampered by flooding and riverbank cut-off. Similar species dominated in the recovered grasslands over time of flooding. The seasonal fodder plantation was a major area of grassland improvement issue across the survey sites. There were high dependencies of the graziers on natural herbages and crop residues for feeding livestock in summer and winter, though the herbage species and preferences remained different. This study provides the primary background of the biophysical factors of grassland management for sustainable uses that require institutional support. The study further provides an insight into the need for implementation of the demand-based grassland technology interventions, possibly at a higher rate of adoption than the current local scale. However, the social-ecological consequences of grassland systems, i.e. the impact of climate change, herd dynamics and nutrient flow in vegetation and soil, have to be monitored in a long run.

The productive and reproductive performances of dairy cattle along with the management aspects of the farm have a direct effect on farm profitability. The present study was carried out from a sample of 120 dairy herds using pretested and well-organized semi- structured questionnaire in Bharatpur Metropolitan City, Chitwan. Productive and reproductive performances of two common breeds, Jersey Cross and Holstein Cross were analyzed. The average daily milk yield, lactation length, lactation milk yield, peak yield and dry period for Jersey Cross and Holstein Cross with the Nepalese hill cattle were observed to be 7.39±0.87 and 9.30±0.76 L./day; 303.31±8.12 and 314.18±12.75 days; 2253.39±265.28 and 2936.36±237.55 L.; 12.77±0.92 and 15.11±0.85 L. and 65.26±7.71 and 70.83±10.27 days respectively. The age at first calving (29.08±1.99 and 30.42±1.81 months), Service period (82.37±10.99 and 100.64±13.44 days), Service per conception (1.71±0.54 and 1.82±0.58 times/cow) and Calving interval (365.37±10.92 and 385.56±13.46 days) respectively for Jersey crosses and Holesteinc crosses. The significant relationship (p<0.05) was found between farms having single breeds and double breeds on the productive performances. Likewise, the significant relationship (p<0.05) was also found between farms having single and double breeds on reproductive performances. The significant relationship (p0.05) between the herd size and productive parameters. Further research on needs to be carried out see the particular relationships among production, reproduction and management aspects.