Effects of Housing and Management Systems on the Growth, Immunity, Antioxidation, and Related Physiological and Biochemical Indicators of Donkeys in Cold Weather

Factors affecting measurement of basal adrenocorticotropic hormone in adult domestic equids: A scoping review

Measurement of basal adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) concentration is the most commonly used diagnostic test for pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID). Although several pre-analytical and analytical factors have been reported to affect basal ACTH concentrations in equids, the extent to which these have been evaluated in the context of PPID diagnosis is unclear. The objectives of this scoping review were to identify and systematically chart current evidence about pre-analytical and analytical factors affecting basal ACTH concentrations in adult domestic equids. Systematic searches of electronic databases and conference proceedings were undertaken in June 2022, repeated in October 2022 and updated in August 2023. English language publications published prior to these dates were included. Screening and data extraction were undertaken individually by the authors, using predefined criteria and a modified scoping review data extraction template. After removal of duplicates, 903 publications were identified, of which 235 abstracts were screened for eligibility and 134 publications met inclusion criteria. Time of year, exercise, breed/type and transportation were the factors most frequently associated with significant increases in ACTH concentration (n = 26, 16, 13 and 10 publications, respectively). Only 25 publications reported inclusion of PPID cases in the study population, therefore the relationship between many factors affecting basal ACTH concentration and diagnostic accuracy for PPID remains undefined. However, several factors were identified that could impact interpretation of basal ACTH results. Findings also highlight the need for detailed reporting of pre-analytical and analytical conditions in future research to facilitate translation of evidence to practice.

A survey report on the donkey original breeding farms in China: Current aspects and future prospective

Introduction

The number of the large-scale donkey breeding farms in China has increased dramatically. However, information regarding the situation of a Chinese donkey population under large-scale donkey breeding farms is limited.

Methods

This survey report was conducted using questionnaires online to investigate the current situation of the donkey original breeding farms in China, in terms of donkey stock, local breeds, reproductive parameters, growth and lactation performance, and future perspectives. China has developed the donkey reserve system based on national, provincial and non-governmental (self-own) donkey original breeding farms.

Results

In the present study, a total of 38 donkey original breeding farms concentrated in Northern of China were studied, and 52% of them keep their donkeys with a stocking density of 100-500 donkeys. China is rich in various local donkey breeds, and 16 local donkey breeds including large-sized, medium-sized and small-sized breeds were collected in our survey. Dezhou donkey are prevalent with a percentage of more than 57% of the total donkeys, while the Cullen donkeys belong to small-sized donkey breeds are scare. The reproductive efficiency and donkey productivity were different across donkey farms, indicating potential differences in management and breeding practices between different donkey original breeding farms. The artificial insemination has been performed in these donkey farms with an average proportion of 73%. Regarding the donkey productivity, the national and provincial donkey original breeding farms showed a higher birthweight and fat content in donkey milk than self-own farms. Furthermore, our results indicate that the donkey breeds with different body size also have important influence on the reproduction parameters and donkey productivity, with the large-sized donkeys had better performance compared to the small-sized donkeys.

Discussion

In summary, our survey provided valuable baseline information on the situation of donkey population dynamics in the donkey original breeding farms. However, further study is required in the future to investigate the factors such as donkey health care, management and nutrition during breeding, fattening and lactation that influence donkey productivity under large-scale farm systems.