African Journals OnLine
Zimbabwe Veterinary Journal

Vol. 31, No. 4 QUARTERLY December, 2000

EFFECTS OF DIETARY JATROPHA CURCAS ON THE HAEMATOLOGY OF WEANED PIGS

E. Chivandi , S. M. Makuza, K. H. Erlwanger, J. P. Mtimuni, J. S. Read, M. Tivapasi

Summary
In a study to determine the effects of dietary Jatropha curcas on the haematological profile of pigs, 15 eight week old newly weaned Large White X Landrace gilts were used. The pigs were randomly allocated three dietary groups (D1, D2 and D3) and individually penned. Diets were formulated to be iso-nitrogenous and iso-calorific. The D1 group 
served as the control and had a diet based on soya bean meal. In the D2 group, 12.5% of the soya bean meal was replaced with processed Jatropha curcas meal whilst there was a 25% replacement with J. curcas in the D3 group. The three groups were fed twice daily on a restricted feeding regime starting at 1kg feed/animal/day increasing 
weekly by 100g. Supply of water was ad libitum for the three groups. After four weeks of feeding, 10 ml of blood was collected into tubes containing EDTA from each pig by venapuncture. The packed cell volume (PCV) was determined by microcentrifugation and haematology was performed using a Coulter counter. Osmotic fragility of the red blood cells was determined by calorimetric measurements of lysis in phosphate buffered saline of concentrations ranging from 0-0.85% saline. Animals fed diets with Jatropha meal had reduced fragility of the red blood cells. Their packed cell volume, platelet count, white blood cell count, haemoglobin and mean corpuscular volume were 
significantly lower (p<0.05) than the D1 group. There was no significant difference observed between the groups in the mean corpsucular haemoglobin. The pigs fed the Jatropha based diets had lower average daily gains than the control group.


SYNDACTYLYSIM IN A MASHONA CALF: A CASE REPORT

R. M. Busayi and A. Murondoti

Summary
A three-week old female Mashona calf was presented to the University of Zimbabwe Veterinary Teaching Hospital with congenital malformations. On clinical examination, syndactylysim in all four feet, brachygnathia, arthrogryposis and kyphosis were observed. The calf was euthanized and post-mortem findings were consistent with the clinical diagnoses.


VETERINARY PROBLEMS OF FARMED OSTRICHES UP TO 12 WEEKS OF AGE: A REVIEW.
Part II: CHICK REARING

B. M. Dzoma and G. M. Dorrestein

Introduction
Ostrich chick rearing up to the age of 12 weeks is regarded as one of the major areas limiting the expansion of the ostrich industry (Blue-Mclendon, 1993; Deeming and Ayres, 1994). Most ostrich paediatric problems are management related and more study is required to elucidate the etiologies of certain diseases (Blue-Mclendon, 
1993). The most commonly encountered problems in ostrich chick rearing include yolk sacculitis, yolk retention, weak edematous chicks, gastro-enteric problems, leg problems, stunting chicks and the fading chick syndrome (Bertram and Burger, 1981; Blue-Mclendon, 1993; Smith, 1993; Terzich and Vanhooser, 1993; Deeming and Ayres, 
1994; Ashash et al., 1996; More, 1996). Below are some of the problems associated with chick rearing.