<p><strong>Background:</strong> The House Sparrow (<em>Passer domesticus</em> L.), is a human-commensal bird species, belonging to the order Passeriformes. The rapid changes in our lifestyle resulted in the decrease of this bird population during the past four decades. Among the various causes <em>viz</em>., lack of food resources, pollution pressure, indiscriminate usage of pesticides <em>etc</em>. Habitat loss is found to be one of the main threats for their rapid decline. Installation of artificial nest boxes was found to be the best alternatives for raising the bird population.<br />
<br />
<strong>Methods:</strong> Jangareddigudem of West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India, was chosen as the study area. The nest boxes were designed by incorporating certain modifications to the basic model specified by British Trust of Ornithology. Installation of the nest boxes was initiated from an area with moderate food resources, located towards south-west edge of the town and was expanded in to other areas in a latitudinal wise towards north and south directions. Data was collected on a regular basis to study the occupancy of the nest boxes by the house sparrows.<br />
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<strong>Result:</strong> The model designed was proved to be protective from predators and also well accepted by the public. Out of 570 nests that were installed in the study area, 550 nests were occupied and being used for breeding, that comes to around 97.6% occupancy indicating the suitability and protectiveness of this model. The sparrow population in the study area has been increased with a count of sparrows from few to 300+ sparrows at each roosting site (two roosting sites) by the end of 2020 by utilizing the nest boxes.&nbsp;</p>


<p>Protective Nest Design for Indian House Sparrow (<em>Passer domesticus</em> L.) - with Reference to Predation and Reuse</p>


<div><strong>Background:</strong> Adequate housing is essential for wellbeing and welfare of any kind of livestock, which keeps them comfort and healthy thereby increases production and reproduction performance by exploiting their fullest genetic potential. As scanty information available on farmers practices on animal housing, the present study was undertaken to assess housing management practices followed by dairy farmers in Northern Telangana state of India.<br />
<br />
<strong>Methods:</strong> Data were collected from randomly selected 240 dairy farmers from 24 villages of 8 mandals from 4 districts. A pretested semi-structured questionnaire in precise language was employed for collecting data through interview and face to face discussion with the dairy farmers duly avoiding ambiguous, dichotomous and non-variant items for proper interpretation.<br />
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<strong>Result:</strong> Majority (59.58%) respondents kept animals in kutcha houses and 74.58% sheds located to nearby their dwellings. Majority (50.42%) of the sheds were in east-west direction and 82.08% of the respondents followed single line system of housing. Majority 91.25, 95.42, 84.16, 67.92 and 69.58% of the respondents protected animals against extreme weather conditions, maintained cleanliness, had earthen floor, backward slope in the floor and wooden pillars, respectively. Majority of animal houses had thatched roof (50.42%) and without walls (82.08%) and majority of them (89.58%) provided mangers but only 11.25% had pucca type mangers. Only a few respondents (14.58%) provided pucca drainage system and most of the farmers (58.75%) had manure pit adjacent to their animal houses. The study concludes that, the dairy farmers of the study area are well aware of advantages of keeping animals in hygienic animal houses under adverse tropical climatic conditions of the study area and providing them periodical trainings and visits to modern organised dairy farms helps them to optimize productivity from dairy animals.</div>


<p>​Study on Housing Management Practices Followed by Dairy Farmers in Northern Telangana State of India</p>


<div><strong>Background:</strong> In India, most of the farmers are shifting towards organized dairy cattle farming system from paddy cultivation and extensive system of rearing due to scarcity of water resources and intense variance in climatic conditions. Hence, the present study provided valuable information about the existing dairy cattle housing in Cauvery delta region of Tamil Nadu.<br />
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<strong>Methods:</strong> The study on existing management practices of dairy cattle was conducted randomly among 90 farmers of Cauvery delta region, Tamil Nadu. A structured interview schedule was developed and pre-tested and the data on existing management practices were collected with the help of a pre-tested interview schedule. The data were collected by personal interview of the respondents individually at their animal house. The information on dairy production system and management practices were collected and the micro climate of different dairy cattle shed were recorded and analyzed.<br />
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<strong>Result:</strong> In Cauvery delta region, the majority of farmers (48.89%) engaged in rearing crossbred dairy cattle were in the middle age group and educated. Further, animal husbandry is either the primary (25.56%) or secondary (74.44%) profession of the farmers. From the study, it is understood that more than 70 per cent of farmers housed their dairy cattle in loose type of housing, adjacent to their home with east-west orientation. The most common roofing pattern adopted for their cattle sheds is gable type (54.45%), with a roofing material of galvanized iron sheet (30.00%). The black globe humidity index (BGHI) and heat load index (HLI) calculated for dairy cattle shed with different roofing structures showed significant difference (P&lt;0.05) between thatched and tiled shed.</div>


<p>Housing Management Practices and Microclimate of Cattle Shed in Cauvery Delta Region of Tamil Nadu</p>


<div style="text-align: justify;">The aim of this study was to assess the effect of modified housing system on physiological parameters like rectal temperature, skin temperature, plasma cortisol level, respiration rate and pulse rate (counts/min) of Murrah buffaloes during autumn and winter seasons. A total of 14 lactating Murrah buffaloes were randomly selected and divided into two groups, on the basis of age, body weight (BW) and parity (P). T1=First group (n=7; BW=544.86kg; P=2.14) of buffaloes was housed under existing loose housing system and T2=Second group (n=7; BW=547.71kg; P=2.28) of buffaloes was housed under modified shed. In the present study, in autumn and winter season the mean rectal temperature were (T1=101.56&plusmn;0.06 vs. T2=100.94&plusmn;0.12&ordm;F and T1=100.71&plusmn;0.10 vs. T2=100.22&plusmn;0.08&ordm;F), skin temperature were (T1=95.19&plusmn;0.61 vs. T2=93.01&plusmn;0.57 &ordm;F and T1=90.27&plusmn;0.23 vs. T2=89.06&plusmn;0.27 &ordm;F) and plasma cortisol level (T1=4.04&plusmn;0.23 vs. T2=3.31&plusmn;0.21 and T1=3.19&plusmn;0.12 vs. T2=2.70&plusmn;0.14 ng/ml) respectively. These parameters were significantly (P&lt;0.05) lower in buffaloes housed under T2 as compared to T1 in autumn season, respiration rate (T1=37.39&plusmn;1.02 vs. T2=30.99&plusmn;1.21 and T1=26.56&plusmn;0.84 vs. T2=23.81&plusmn;0.66 counts/min.) was significantly lower in autumn (P&lt;0.01) and winter season (P&lt;0.0) and pulse rate (T1=60.91&plusmn;1.17 vs. T2=52.52&plusmn;1.44 and T1=55.01&plusmn;0.52 vs. T2=51.27&plusmn;0.53 counts/min) was significantly (P&lt;0.01) lower in buffaloes housed under T2 as compared to T1 in both seasons. The Murrah buffaloes housed under modified shed were improved physiological reactions during the autumn and winter seasons.&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Effect of modified housing system on physiological parameters of Murrah buffaloes during autumn and winter season&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Shelter management is the manipulation of microclimate of the animals to suit best to their welfare reducing climatic stress without affecting much to cost of construction. House should be designed to meet the requirements health and comfort to the animals, convenience and comfort of the operator, efficiency of labour and materials handling and compliance with applicable health regulation. Problems related with the cost of housing,ventilations, scare resources, hygiene, manifestationof disease,behavioural concerns etc. Amelioration of these problems could be achieved by management intervention with respect to various components of housing and installation of cooling system to reduce heat. The major physiological changes involved in this acclimation and acclimatization while animals do acclimatize by gradually adapting to such stressors within their natural environment. During extreme weather condition open sides of shed can be covered temporarily with gunny bags, plastic sheet, bamboo mats, straw panels etc. Area-wise housing strategies for different kinds of the animals can be indentified and evaluated of new housing design to suit for different local condition based on locality available resources in this context could be explored. Also some modification in loose house can be very useful for example, in summer the thatch roofing succeeded in ameliorating heat stress but in winters, modification of floor with sand or rubber mat improved productive performance of dairy animals. Mist foggers, mist fogger with heavy duty dairy fans and ceiling fans are used to reduce thermal load during ambient temperature when body thermoregulation mechanism are not able to maintain normal physiological parameters.</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">Physiological parameters of cattle and buffalo in different seasons under different housing modification systems-&nbsp;A review&nbsp;</div>

<div><strong>Background: </strong>The winter chill in temperate zones of the country affects animal production. It is understood that during cold winter animals have to maintain their body temperature through increased heat production, thus energy partitioning towards the production is compromised. Since sheep has a thick wooly coat that insulates the animal from harsh ambient temperatures, hence present study was undertaken to assess the impact of housing during cold winter on basic physiological, hemato-biochemical indices and growth in crossbred sheep in temperate Kashmir.&nbsp;<br />
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<strong>Methods: </strong>Twenty crossbred weaners of same age, sex and body weight were selected and divided into two groups of ten animals each. One group of sheep was managed under conventional closed shed and another group was managed under open fenced shed during winter from January to March. All the animals were maintained on a uniform nutritional regime. Physiological, hemato-biochemical parameters, body surface temperature, body weight and stress hormones were measured fortnightly.<br />
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<strong>Result: </strong>Body weight of animals was significantly higher in closed shed (21.04&plusmn;0.23 kg) as compared to open shed (18.20&plusmn;0.19 kg). Heart rate, respiratory rate, body surface temperature differed significantly among the groups. NLR was significantly higher in animals under open shed (0.70) as compared to closed shed animals (0.63). Significant difference was observed in stress hormone cortisol with higher values in open shed animals (12.44&plusmn;0.07 ng/ml) than in closed shed animals (9.97&plusmn;0.08 ng/ml). No significant difference was observed in plasma total protein and A/G ratio, however, glucose was significantly higher in animals of open shed as compared to closed shed. Present study revealed that housing management during winter in sheep was essential to maintain production.&nbsp;</div>


<p>Housing Effect on Growth, Physiological and Blood Indices in Crossbred Sheep During Winter</p>


<div style="text-align:justify">An investigation was carried out to study the housing and feeding management practices followed by the dairy farmers in five districts of Telangana state. From each district one mandal and from each mandal five villages were selected. The data was collected from 150 farmers through personal interview utilizing a schedule developed for the purpose. It was observed that most of the dairy farmers (59.33%) had medium herd size and 59.33% of farmers housed their animals beside their houses while 14.67% and 26% of the farmers housed the animals in a separate shed and below the shade of tree, respectively. Most of the animal sheds (66%) in the study area had mud flooring. Majority of farmers (52%) were not taking any measures to protect animals from extreme heat in summer. Grazing and group feeding were most commonly practised except in Rangareddy district where most of farmers (56.67%) followed individual feeding. Majority of the farmers from Medak (50%) and Mahaboobnagar (60%) districts were following one time feeding of their animals, whereas, most farmers from Vikarabad (66.67%) fed two times in a day. In Rangareddy and Nalgonda, majority (66.67% and 63.33%) of the farmers were offering feed three times. Most of the farmers were producing fodder by themselves in Vikarabad, Medak, Nalgonda and Mahaboobnagar districts and their percentages were 66.67%, 63.33% 93.33% and 86.67%, respectively. Most of the farmers of Rangareddy district were procuring fodder from outside.&nbsp;</div>


<p class="ql-align-justify">​A Study on the Housing and Feeding Management Practices Followed by&nbsp;Rural&nbsp;Milk&nbsp;Producers&nbsp;of&nbsp;Telangana State</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">A field survey was conducted to collect the information on existing housing and breeding management practices followed by the dairy animal owners in Tarai region of Uttarakhand. The results revealed that 91.25 per cent of farmers adopted group housing system for their animals. Kuccha type of floor and asbestos roof was observed in 79.38 per cent and 26.25 per cent of animal houses respectively. Poor drainage facility was observed in 41.50 per cent of animal sheds. About, 89.38 per cent farmers provided their animals with provision of shade from trees. Around, 87.50 per cent farmers considered body weight as the main criteria to consider first time mating and 83.00 per cent farmers relied on mucus discharge along with bellowing as most important signs of heat detection. 98.12 per cent of farmers preferred artificial insemination over natural service as method of mating in their animals, but only 9.00 per cent farmers relied upon the views given by experienced veterinarians. About, 88.13 per cent of farmers practiced mating through A.I or natural service between 8 to 12 hours after heat detection. Pregnancy diagnosis was preferred by only few of farmers 6.00 per cent however, it was performed by qualified veterinarian in 2.50 per cent cases. All of the farmers adopted the practice of maintenance of breeding records of their animals.</p>


<p style="text-align: justify;">Existing housing and breeding management practices adopted&nbsp;by dairy farmers in Tarai region of Uttarakhand, India</p>


<div style="text-align:justify">The main objective of the current experiment was to assess the seasonal variation on seminal attributes in 109 Murrah buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) bulls using infrared thermography, maintained at commercial semen production stations with ideal nutrition and management conditions in Karnatka (south India). Data were collected on 6 ejaculates in three different seasons through &nbsp;a year with different age groups of bulls. Infrared thermograms and data were collected using an infrared FLIR i5 camera and analyzed by Quick report 1.2 SP2 softwere to determine the temperature gradient (TG, difference between the PPT and DPT) scrotal surface and Ocular temperature. Immediately after semen collection by AV method. Semen evaluation were performed twice per season throughout the year. The ejaculates were subjected to general linear model (GLM) analysis to determine the effect of various non-genetic factors viz., season (summer, rainy and winter), age (&lt;4, and &gt;4 year), housing (group and individual housing) on semen quality attributes of Murrah bull. The overall least square mean volume (VOL), sperm concentration (SCON&times;10v /ml), initial motility (IM), percent live spermatozoa (LIVE), acrosome integrity (AI), plasma membrane integrity (PMI), head abnormalities (HAN), midpiece abnormalities &nbsp;(MPAN), tail abnormalities (TAN) in fresh semen whereas post-thaw motility (PTM), acrosome integrity (AIPT) and plasma membrane integrity in post-thawed semen (PMIPT) were 3.88&plusmn;0.07 mL, 1041&plusmn;14.64 million/mL, 64.62&plusmn;0.50 %, 76.42&plusmn;0.51 %, 66.56&plusmn;0.48 %, 2.90&plusmn;0.05 %, 3.35&plusmn;0.05 %, 5.88&plusmn;0.10 %, 68.39&plusmn;0.47 %, 41.48&plusmn;0.55 % and 61.66&plusmn;0.47 %, respectively.The statistical analysis of variance revealed significant effect (P&lt;0.05) of season on semen quality attributes viz., VOL, SCON, IM, PTM, LIVE, HAN, MPAN, TAN, AI, AIPT, PMI and PMIPT. Age had significant effect on &nbsp;VOL, IM, LIVE, HAN, MPAN and &nbsp;house on SCON, PTM, AIPT and PMIPT.Thus, it may be concluded that the summer season adversely affected the various bio - physical characteristics of semen in Murrah buffalo bulls. Rainy season was the most favourable season for good quality semen production and the winter season might be considered as the intermediate between the two extremes.</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">Digital infrared thermography as a tool to assess the effect of season, age and housing on seminal traits in Murrah bulls</div>

<p><strong>Background:&nbsp; </strong>The study highlights the impact of temperature and humidity fluctuations on cortisol and glucose concentration in small ruminants, emphasizing the significance of various housing systems in livestock performance. The study aims to investigate the impact of multiple housing systems during different seasons on the stress levels of sheep.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
<strong>Methods: </strong>Eighteen (18) healthy Madgyal sheep of either sex were equally divided into three different experimental groups: conventional housing system (T1), slatted housing system (T2) and simple housing system (T3). Blood samples were collected during rainy, winter and summer seasons and analyzed for serum cortisol and blood glucose levels. This study recorded environmental data, including Dry Bulb Temperature (DBT) and Wet Bulb Temperature (WBT), to calculate the temperature humidity index throughout the year.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
<strong>Result:</strong> In this study, the average mean THI was recorded in rainy, winter and summer seasons in T1(81.86&plusmn;0.37, 78.83&plusmn;0.83,79.11&plusmn;0.82); T2 (81.68&plusmn;0.43, 77.37&plusmn;0.82, 77.86&plusmn;0.84) and T3 78.87&plusmn;0.43,75.51&plusmn;0.92,76.39&plusmn;1.18), respectively, which was statistically significant. The average serum glucose levels in the T1, T2 and T3 study groups during rainy, winter and summer seasons were 70.17&plusmn;2.61, 53.70&plusmn;1.35, 63.25&plusmn;2.20; 56.86&plusmn;2.12, 42.68&plusmn;2.49, 59.58&plusmn;2.20 and 67.28&plusmn;0.77, 49.99&plusmn;1.33, 59.33&plusmn;1.03, respectively and were found statistically significant within the housing system during different seasons. The study revealed that serum glucose levels were higher during the rainy season compared to the summer and winter seasons. The average serum cortisol concentration in the experimental groups T1, T2 and T3 during rainy, winter and summer seasons was 77.67&plusmn;5.04, 20.25&plusmn;2.92, 41.17 &plusmn;6.09, 29.00&plusmn;2.45, 14.58&plusmn;1.46, 25.00&plusmn;2.68 and 47.83&plusmn;4.35,26.67&plusmn;1.61 and 34.50&plusmn;2.39 nmol/L, respectively and was found significantly higher within all the treatment groups. The blood glucose levels (mg/dl) and serum cortisol levels (nmol/L) were highest in the Madgyal lambs housed in a conventional housing system (T1) and lowest in the raised wooden slatted floor housing system (T2).</p>


Protective Nest Design for Indian House Sparrow (Passer domesticus L.) - with Reference to Predation and Reuse

Study on Housing Management Practices Followed by Dairy Farmers in Northern Telangana State of India

Housing Management Practices and Microclimate of Cattle Shed in Cauvery Delta Region of Tamil Nadu

Effect of modified housing system on physiological parameters of Murrah buffaloes during autumn and winter season

Physiological parameters of cattle and buffalo in different seasons under different housing modification systems- A review

Housing Effect on Growth, Physiological and Blood Indices in Crossbred Sheep During Winter

A Study on the Housing and Feeding Management Practices Followed by Rural Milk Producers of Telangana State

Existing housing and breeding management practices adopted by dairy farmers in Tarai region of Uttarakhand, India

Digital infrared thermography as a tool to assess the effect of season, age and housing on seminal traits in Murrah bulls

Evaluation of Cortisol (Stress Hormone) Levels in Madgyal Lambs under Various Housing Systems in Different Seasons