bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Milk products and substitutes
Authors: Taylor S. J.
Published: June 2019

Refinements in the techniques used for incorporation of fat and spray drying have improved the nutritional value of milk substitutes. The significance of these developments in protein separation and evaporation/spray drying technology are demonstrated in the new range of substitutes for colostrum which not only have a high nutritional value but also contain active immunoglobulins.

Whilst milk replacers still remain a necessary outlet for excess skim milk powder production, progress has been made in the quality of novel ingredients available. The effect of European Community policy on the formulations used has been to divide milk replacers into two groups, those which do, and those which do not, contain at least 500 g/kg skim milk powder.

A whole range of products based on high protein whey powders has been developed in order to replace skim milk protein in milk replacers. Differences in these whey products reflect the method of manufacture and this has repercussions on their nutritional value. The benefits of ultrafiltration technology, developed for the human food industry, have recently become available to the whey-based milk replacer market.

Although the majority of milk substitutes are used for feeding calves, specific products have been developed for other species. Milk substitutes for lambs were introduced in the 1970s but there has been little commercial incentive for the use of alternatives to skim milk protein in the United Kingdom. Sow milk replacers are a more recent innovation and have taken advantage of developments in whey processing technology.
Effectiveness of substitute colostrum in preventing disease in newborn lambs
Authors: Hodgson J. C. , Moon G. M. , Hay L. A. , Quirie M.
Published: June 2019

The newborn lamb lacks circulating antibodies and relies on an early and adequate intake of colostrum for passive protection against disease and for energy (Black, Francis and Nicholls, 1985; Mellor, 1990). However, lambs may receive less colostrum than they require because of sibling competition, maternal undernutrition or udder disease. Colostrum insufficiency accounts for about 25% of perinatal lamb deaths world wide (Khalaf, Doxey and Baxter, 1979).

Powdered colostrum substitutes may be used to supplement ‘at risk’ lambs but, because the products are manufactured outside the United Kingdom (UK), mainly from bovine sources, their relevance to UK sheep enterprises is uncertain. Further, their available energy content is low because the main constituent, protein, is not catabolized by newborn lambs (Mellor and Cockburn, 1986). The present work measured the ability of one substitute derived from bovine whey (based on ProLAM, Fisons Animal Health Ltd), with or without supplementary glucose; to prevent disease and promote growth to 3 months in lambs reared in typical UK farm conditions.
The control of porcine adipose tissue metabolism by gut hormones before weaning
Authors: Oben J. , Morgan L. , Fletcher J. M. , Marks V.
Published: June 2019

The period of growth from parturition to weaning is a time of rapid fat deposition in many species. In the pig, body fat increases from about 10 g/kg at birth to 150 to 200 g/kg by 21 days of age (Wood and Groves 1965; Whittemore, Aumaitre and Williams, 1978). An adequate reserve of adipose tissue may be crucial to ensure health and survival, for example during the period of low food intake frequently observed after weaning.

It is likely that the nutrient composition of milk and the hormonal signals elicited by milk consumption play an important rôle in stimulating fat deposition. We have investigated the effects of milk ingestion on release of the gastrointestinal hormones GIP (gastric inhibitory peptide) and GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide one). In addition, we have studied the effects of these hormones on fatty acid synthesis in vitro.

Explants (0.4 to 0.6 mg) of adipose tissue were obtained from three anatomical sites of an 18-day-old pig fasted for 12 h. The explants were pre-incubated for 90 min and then incubated in the presence of hormones and [14C] acetate (0.2μCi/ml). Triacylglycerols were extracted from the explants and following saponification, fatty acids were separated and radioactivity counted.
2.1 The Nitrogenous Constituents of Fresh Forages
Authors: Mangan J. L.
Published: June 2019

The nitrogenous composition of forage is largely determined by the requirements of plant physiology, with variables such as anatomy, e.g. monocotyledons v. dicotyledons, maturity, fertilizer treatment, climate, light intensity, etc., superimposed. One would therefore expect to find many broad similarities in the composition of plants. Chibnall (1939) recognized this and gave a comprehensive review of early work on metabolism and nitrogenous composition of leaves. Present systems for the assessment of protein requirements of ruminants (e.g. Agricultural Research Council, 1980) require a detailed knowledge of the composition of feedstuffs in terms of rumen degradable and undegradable proteins and of non-protein nitrogenous compounds utilized by rumen microorganisms. It is also apparent that the biological value of protein which bypasses the rumen should be determined. Descriptions in terms of “crude protein” (Kjeldahl N × 6.25) are no longer adequate. The proteins of fresh forages may be considered in 3 main groupings (1) Fraction I leaf protein (2) Fraction 2 proteins and (3) Chloroplast membrane proteins.
3.1 The Nitrogen Supplied by and the Supplementation of Fresh or Grazed Forage
Authors: Thomson D.J.
Published: June 2019

Forage contributes between 70 and 80% of the metabolizable energy (ME) and in excess of 70% of the protein consumed by ruminant livestock in the U.K. (Baker and Wilkins, 1975). The contribution from forage to the energy and protein consumed is highest for sheep and lowest for dairy cattle. For all classes of stock in the U.K., a major proportion of the nitrogen (N) or crude protein (CP) consumed is obtained from fresh or grazed forage.

Research with fresh forage, both nutritional and production work, has been faced with the difficulty of measuring or estimating food intake by the animal while grazing. The measurement of protein supply from fresh or grazed forage is further made difficult as flow measurements throughout the alimentary tract are required. For forage, as with other foods given to ruminants, estimates of the supply of N or protein available to the animal are obtained from measurements of flow from the stomach or into the proximal duodenum and at the terminal ileum. The difference between these two flow rates, the disappearance of N, NAN (non-ammonia N) or AAN (amino acid N), is taken as the apparent absorption or supply of protein from the food. Values may be obtained for individual amino acids or for total amino acid N (TAAN).
6.1 The Adoption of a Protein System in Nutritional Advisory Work
Authors: Cottrill B. R.
Published: June 2019

The concept of feeding standards for farm livestock has developed in Europe during the last two centuries (Tyler, 1975). During that time, and in the light of both experimental findings and on-farm observations, feeding standards have continued to evolve both in concept and detail. Such developments are exemplified in the recent publications by the Agricultural Research Council (1980), Hagemeister and Kaufmann (1974), Burroughs, Trenkle and Vetter (1974), and Jarrige, Journet and Vérité (1978) containing new proposals for the evaluation of dietary protein for ruminants. In view of these developments, the time is right to consider the adoption of a new protein system in nutritional advisory work.
7.3 Protein Metabolism and Responses to Abomasal Infusion of Casein + Methionine in Growing Lambs Fed Fresh Primary Growth Ryegrass/Clover Pasture Ad Libitum
Authors: Barry T. N. , Manley T. R. , Davis S. R. , Redekopp Carolyn
Published: June 2019

A considerable loss of nitrogen occurred across the rumen when fresh New Zealand herbages were fed to sheep and live-weight gain of grazing sheep was positively correlated with predicted absorption of amino acids from the small intestine (MacRae and Ulyatt, 1974). This suggests that body growth of young sheep fed some fresh herbages ad libitum may be limited by protein absorption being low in relation to metabolizable energy (ME). The present experiment was designed to test this hypothesis, with special reference to body tissue protein deposition and metabolism, using a diet of ryegrass/white clover pasture.
9.2 A Complete Exchange Method for the in sacco Estimation of Rumen Degradability on a Routine Basis
Authors: Paine Christine A. , R. Crawshaw  , Barber W. P.
Published: June 2019

In sacco studies are at present the most practical way of estimating the rumen degradability of feeds. The commonly adopted procedure (Standard Method = SM) has a number of disadvantages, including night work and the need to select bags at each sampling time. The Complete Exchange Method (CEM), described here, has been developed to meet the need for a convenient routine procedure.
Current and future developments in dairy cattle breeding: a research viewpoint
Authors: Hill W. G. , Brotherstone S. , Visscher P. M.
Published: June 2019

Rates of genetic improvement in dairy cattle breeding programmes have increased substantially in the last decade, not only in Europe where there has been substantial immigration of North American stock. More accurate statistical evaluation procedures, including the use of best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) with the animal model, have been introduced; higher selection intensities have been achieved, particularly on production traits, through better organized and focused schemes; and developments in multiple ovulation and embryo transfer (MOET) have been both a stimulus and to some extent a cause. Continued rapid improvement can be expected as research and development enables more accurate and timely use to be made of recording data, because there is evidence that heritability values for milk production are rising, perhaps because of better cow management, and as competition among breeders internationally increases. There are a number of consequent challenges to geneticists and breeders. Attention will have to be given to maintaining the fitness of very high producing animals by recording health, fertility, longevity and parlour traits, and using the results of research to give them appropriate weight in selection decisions. Developments in molecular methods and in reproductive technologies present new opportunities, but are unlikely to do more for some time than complement progress from conventional selection on the important production traits.
Procedures of sire selection, sampling and application of new technology
Authors: Meland O.
Published: June 2019

The objective of any well designed progeny test programme is to identify those individuals that have inherited the favourable genes from his parents. Bulls that enter a progeny test programme have been highly selected on a set of selection criteria. The criteria vary among organizations based upon their breeding philosophy and their prediction of the future economic value of various traits. The accuracy of choosing among this highly selected group is quite low. Increasing the accuracy of selection before progeny testing is the greatest potential application of genetic marker technology. Markers associated with traits of importance can greatly enhance traditional selection methods by increasing the prospect of an individual having the desired characteristics. Genetic marker-assisted selection can greatly increase the actual genetic merit of traits of economic importance
Voluntary intake: a limiting factor to production in high-yielding dairy cows?
Authors: Forbes J. M.
Published: June 2019

In principle, food intake by lactating dairy cows might be limited by rate of eating, capacity to produce saliva, rumen or intestinal capacity, rates of digestion and passage of food residues, or by factors such as chemicals and osmolality in the rumen. It is likely that a combination of these is used by the central nervous system to control intake. In practice, the positive relationship between digestibility and intake of forages means that high-quality material must be offered to cows during lactation if a reduced level of concentrate supplementation is envisaged but undue mobilization of body reserves avoided. Better supplementation is possible, both in terms of more frequent, smaller allocations, and of more appropriate concentrate composition with regard to the composition of the basal forage. Intake of maize silage dry matter is usually greater than for grass silage and a mixture of the two, perhaps offered in free or restricted choice, is likely to become more widely practised. Changes in body reserves are difficult to monitor and this has made it difficult to resolve the question of the magnitude of diet/environment interactions, i.e. is the same breeding and selection programme appropriate for those animals which are intended to be pushed to high yields in intensive systems and those intended to be given principally forages in semi-extensive systems?
Protein requirements and responses: a United Kingdom perspective
Authors: Oldham J. D.
Published: June 2019

Only as recently as 1992 was the digestible crude protein approach to the calculation of protein requirements for ruminants abandoned in favour of a scheme in which metabolizable protein (MP) became the nutritional currency (Agricultural and Food Research Council, 1992). Application of this scheme requires reliable methods to characterize foods in a number of ways and whilst there are deficiencies in current methodology for this purpose there is now a sufficient body of information available to sustain use of the scheme. Evaluation of the MP approach shows it to be a considerable advancement on what went before but still with some inadequacies. More attention needs to be given to the impact of food constituents on digestive processes within the rumen. Tests of the relationship between predicted MP supply and dairy cow performance show that rules are needed to predict partition of available MP between alternative routes of use. With such rules it will become more likely that a useful response prediction system can be developed. Ideas are put forward as to how some progress might be made to develop frameworks which will bring together ideas about responses to protein and energy yielding nutrients. Clarification of partition rules will be important in promoting improved feeding strategies for cows of different genetic index for milk production. However, it is felt that, given adequate partition rules, the MP approach applies equally to high genetic index and low index cows as regards calculation of requirements. A concern is expressed, however, that the current UK research environment may not be conducive to the open sharing of information which will be important to make rapid progress towards the development of nutrient response frameworks. A technology transfer system is needed which will enable advances in knowledge to be organized for translation into practice.
Genotype X environment interactions in dairy cattle: a New Zealand perspective
Authors: Holmes C. W.
Published: June 2019

In recent genotype X environment studies between New Zealand and Canada, yields of fat and protein from Holstein Friesian (HF) cows were similar for daughters of sires from both countries, but Canadian daughters produced larger volumes of milk (6500 kg v. 3300 kg) and were taller. There was no interaction between the sire's national strain and the daughter's environment but there was a significant interaction between-individual sires within-strain and the daughter's environment so that the correlations between the sire proofs in the two countries were approximately half of the expected values.

In New Zealand, milk production by cows of high or low genetic merit has been found to be affected similarly by differences in stocking rate, level of feeding and body condition at calving, providing no evidence of a large genotype X management interaction, although there is some evidence of an interaction between the effects of breed size and feeding, with smaller breeds being affected less severely by lower feeding level and clear evidence of genotype by milking management interactions. Over the past 40 years the need for pre-milking stimulation in New Zealand cows has been reduced or eliminated by inadvertent selection. Other recent evidence suggests that progress for genetic tolerance to once-daily milking may be possible.

It can be concluded that interactions between group-average genotype and nutritional environment are not likely to have important effects on milk solid yields, at least within the HF breed, within the range of conditions normally found in temperate dairy systems, and provided that the environment is imposed from birth. However, there are likely to be significant interactions between the genotype of individual sires and environment and thus appropriate assessment and ranking of sires in each environment is essential.
The development, use and application of the gas production technique at Cornell University, USA
Authors: Pell A. N. , Pitt R. E. , Doane P. H. , Schofield P.
Published: June 2019

Systems to measure gas production to study digestion kinetics have been developed at several locations. The system developed at Cornell University and the rationale behind its evolution are described with an emphasis on whether venting after each observation is necessary and on choice of sensors. Different non-linear-models used to fit gas production data are discussed with an emphasis on the dual-pool logistic model. The third section of the paper includes a theoretical discussion on how gas data can be integrated with data on passage to predict ruminal digestibility. The final section addresses the practical applications of these gas data and ways in which they can be used in models like the Cornell net carbohydrate and protein system. Also included are evaluations of ensiled and freeze-dried samples from the same source as an indication of how gas systems can be used to evaluate the soluble fractions of forages.
Models for interpretingin vitrogas production profiles from ruminant foods
Authors: France J. , Lopez S. , Dijkstra J. , Sanderson R. , Dhanoa M.S.
Published: June 2019

The automation of existingin vitrogas production methods (Beuvinket al., 1992) and the development of new ones (Theodorouet al., 1994) have created a need for suitable mathematical models to describe and interpret cumulative gas production profiles. Ideally a function is required which is capable of modelling a range of shapes with no inflexion point and also a range of sigmoidal shapes in which the inflexion point is variable. Several models have been proposed to describe gas production profiles (e.g. Blümmel and Ørskov, 1993; Beuvink and Kogut, 1993; Schofieldet al., 1994), sometimes blending empiricism with a more mechanistic view based on a compartmental scheme. The primary objectives of this paper are to present a unifying analysis of this area, pointing out compartmental interpretations of some of the candidate models and to link the gas production technique to animal performance by determining the extent of ruminal degradation for each model.
Can cell-free enzymes replace rumen micro-organisms to model energy and protein suppty?
Authors: Broderick G. A.
Published: June 2019

New ruminant feeding systems being developed in Europe and North America have greatly increased the need for rapid measurement of rate and extent of ruminal digestion of complex carbohydrates and proteins in individual foods. Application of these systems is lagging because of a lack of reliable kinetic digestion data. This has increased interest in using cell-free enzymes to assess ruminal breakdown of carbohydrates and proteins. The simplest kinetic model describing ruminal digestion divides carbohydrates and proteins into three fractions: A (that already digested and/ or that soluble), B (that digestible) and C (that completely indigestible). Fractions A, B and C sum to 1·0; proportion of digestible fraction B that is degraded is given by: [kd/ (kd+ kp], where kpand kdare, respectively, rates of ruminal passage and digestion. Some models divide fraction B into two or three subfractions while others include a digestion lag. Fully successful, cell-free enzyme systems would yield accurate estimates of digestion fractions and rates and, where appropriate, lag time. As a minimum, results with enzymes should be well correlated to in situ extents of digestion. In vivo total tract digestibility of organic matter (OM) and energy was predicted accurately when food samples were pre-treated with acid-pepsin or neutral-detergent solution, followed by treatment with cellulase from Trichoderma viride (T. reesei). Pepsin-cellulase and neutral detergent-cellulase methods have predicted in vivo digestibility more precisely than Tilley and Terry methods in some cases. Two-stage cellulase assays have given good results with many forages and, when including an amylase treatment, with mixed foods; OM digestibility of straws was not well predicted. Many different cell-free proteases have been tested to estimate ruminal protein degradability. Generally, effectiveness of proteases was assessed by correlating proportions of food nitrogen solubilized after specific incubation times with extents of in situ protein degradation. The broad specificity protease fromStreptomyces griseushas been used most extensively for this purpose in incubations at pH 8·0. However, somewhat better correlations have been reported for ficin, bromelain, papain and neutral proteases of fungal and bacterial origin in incubations at pH more similar to the rumen. Prior treatment with amylases improved correlations for concentrate foodstuffs. As yet, cell-free proteases have not accurately predicted rates and extents of protein degradation observed in ruminal in vitro and in situ systems.
Use of in vitro digestion by protease from Streptomyces griseus, ficin or pancreatin for the estimation of ruminal effective degradability of dried lucerne forage
Authors: Antoniewicz A. , Kosmala I.
Published: June 2019

Lucerne forage can provide significant amounts of both degraded and undegraded protein to ruminants. Changes in chemical composition taking place during advancement of maturity also affect ruminal degradability of protein. Therefore, forages harvested in a wide range of vegetation stages represent a good set of samples suitable to test and validate in vitro methods. The aim of the study was to elaborate the best conditions of using protease from Streptomyces griseus (PSG) to estimate ruminal degradability of dried lucerne forage and compare the results with those obtained when the same material was digested with ficin (FIC) or pancreatin (PNC).
The contribution of chemical constituents of fodder tree and shrub leaves to gas produced during in vitro fermentation in nitrogen-free and nitrogen-rich media
Authors: Rosales M. , Gill M. , Wood C. D. , Romney D. , Speedy A. W. , Stewart J.
Published: June 2019

In the tropics, fodder trees and shrubs are a very important source of nutrients, especially nitrogen. In vitro gas production methods used for food evaluation were originally developed for investigation of temperate forages and used a nitrogen-rich medium. Evaluation of fodder tree leaves in this medium may mask the effect of their nitrogen which it is important to understand. This trial studied the fermentation of a range of tropical fodder trees and shrubs in both nitrogen-rich and nitrogen-free media, in order to identify the main chemical entities contributing to gas production and the time within which such contributions were most important.
Use of the Cornell University gas production technique to measure kinetics of carbohydrate degradation in five foods: a comparison between laboratories
Authors: Moss A. R. , Pell A. N. , Givens D. I.
Published: June 2019

Pell and Schofield (1993) described a gas production technique where cumulative pressure is related to gas production and hence organic matter (OM) fermentation. This technique has been used to describe rates of carbohydrate degradation for use in the Cornell net carbohydrate and protein system (CNCPS, Barry et al., 1994). Increasingly the CNCPS model is being utilized in the United Kingdom (UK) to ration dairy cows and, as a result, a UK foodstuff database has been developed containing the chemical description of the protein and carbohydrate pools. It was necessary to establish whether the gas production technique could be reproduced in a UK laboratory in order to provide rates of fermentation of the carbohydrate pools. Gas production techniques commonly used in the UK do not allow the vessel gas pressure to accumulate so a comparison of methodology was required.
Improved differentiation of carbohydrate pools using a multiphasic model to describe gas production from cell wall and cell content fractions compared with that from the whole food
Authors: Moss A. R. , Givens D. I.
Published: June 2019

Whilst it is recognized that most foods contain a number of different carbohydrate pools most applications of the gas production technique do not allow them to be differentiated despite their likely different nutritional attributes. Schofield and Pell (1995) reported that improved fermentation kinetics of the carbohydrate pools could be obtained by making gas production measurements on the whole food and on its neutral-detergent fibre (NDF) fraction, the data on the neutral-detergent solubles (NDS) being calculated by difference. More recently Doane et al. (1996) proposed an expansion of this to include incubation of the ethanol insoluble residue, to enable the NDS fraction of the food to be separated into a soluble carbohydrate and organic acids fraction and a starch and pectin fraction. Another approach is that of Groot et al. (1996) who used a multiphasic model of whole food gas production to show that the gas is produced from more than one food fraction. The objective of the present work was to combine these two approaches to examine the value of the multiphasic model applied to gas production from the isolated NDF and NDS fractions.
Effect of malate on in vitro (RUSITEC) rumen fermentation
Authors: Carro M. D. , Lopez S. , Valdes C. , Ovejero F. J.
Published: June 2019

In the last few years there has been an increasing concern regarding the use of antibiotics in ruminant feeding and the potential for selection of antibiotic-resistant pathogen micro-organisms. Some authors (Martin and Streeter, 1995; Callaway and Martin, 1996) suggested that organic acids (aspartate, fumarate, malate) potentially provide an alternative to currently used antimicrobial compounds. Several in vitro studies (Martin and Streeter, 1995; Callaway and Martin, 1996) showed that incorporation of DL-malate into fermentations with both Selenomonas ruminantium HD4 and with mixed ruminal micro-organisms resulted in changes in final pH, methane and volatile fatty acids (VFA) that are analogous to ionophore effects. Nisbet and Martin (1993) hypothesized that malate acted as an electron sink for hydrogen. However, the mechanism of action is not well known. Malate is a key intermediate in the succinate-propionate pathway and therefore could stimulate propionate production. The objective of this study was to study the effects of DL-malate and propionate on the in vitro rumen fermentation of a 50:50 foragexoncentrate diet.

The study was carried out using the rumen simulation technique (RUSITEC) following the general incubation procedure described by Czerkawski and Breckenridge (1977). The complete unit consisted of eight vessels with an effective volume of 700 ml each. The vessels inocula (solid and liquid) were obtained from three ruminally fistulated ewes given a diet consisting of 700 g alfalfa hay and 300 g concentrate per kg dry matter (DM) (Table 1) and transferred to the RUSITEC system within 30 min of the 1st day of the experiment. The flow through the vessels was maintained by continuous infusion of artificial saliva at a rate of 533 ml/day. Each vessel received daily a nylon bag containing 7 g alfalfa hay, 7 g concentrate and 0·10 g vitaminsminerals mix. From the 1st day of incubation three vessels received daily 5·62 mmol DL-malate (disodium salt; Sigma-Aldrich Quimica, S.A., Spain), three vessels received 5·62 mmol of propionate (monosodium salt; Sigma-Aldrich Quimica, S.A., Spain) and two vessels received no addition (control). DL-malate and propionate were weighed into the nylon bags and carefully mixed with the food.
Effect of microbial isolates on microbial yield estimation in RUSITEC system
Authors: Carro M. D. , Miller E. L.
Published: June 2019

The estimation of rumen microbial protein synthesis is one of the main points in the nitrogen (N)-rationing systems for ruminants, as microbial protein provides proportionately 0.4 to 0.9 of amino acids entering the small intestine in ruminants receiving conventional diets (Russell et al., 1992). Methods of estimating microbial protein synthesis rely on marker techniques in which a particular microbial constituent is related to the microbial N content. Marker : N values have generally been established in mixed bacteria isolated from the liquid fraction of rumen digesta and it has been assumed that the same relationship holds in the total population leaving the rumen (Merry and McAllan, 1983). However, several studies have demonstrated differences in composition between solid-associated (SAB) and fluid-associated bacteria in vivo (Legay-Carmier and Bauchart, 1989) and in vitro (Molina Alcaide et al, 1996), as well in marker : N values (Pérez et al., 1996). This problem could be more pronounced in the in vitro semi-continuous culture system RUSITEC, in which there are three well defined components (a free liquid phase, a liquid phase associated with the solid phase and a solid phase), each one having associated microbial populations.

The objective of this experiment was to investigate the effect of using different bacterial isolates (BI) on the estimation of microbial production of four different diets in RUSITEC (Czerkawski and Breckenridge, 1977), using (15NH4)2 SO4 as microbial marker, and to assess what effects any differences would have on the comparison of microbial protein synthesis between diets.

This study was conducted in conjunction with an in vitro experiment described by Carro and Miller (1997). Two 14-day incubation trials were carried out with the rumen simulation technique RUSITEC (Czerkawski and Breckenridge, 1977). The general incubation procedure was the one described by Czerkawski and Breckenridge (1977) and more details about the procedures of this experiment are given elsewhere (Carro and Miller, 1997).
Dry matter and neutral-detergent fibre degradation profiles of roughages obtained using the ANKOM in vitro system
Authors: Mould F. , Nordheim H.
Published: June 2019

In vitro systems to estimate foods nutrient quality at the rumen level are becoming increasingly attractive. From an economic aspect these systems provide considerable savings in terms of the number of animals, quantity of foods and labour input required, as well as the time taken to conduct a study. Equally important, from an ethical standpoint they have the potential of substantially reducing the number of surgically modified animals required. In addition, as the systems are, to varying degrees, artificial they tend to be highly repeatable and therefore ideally suited to routine analysis. With consideration to the above, the ANKOM in vitro fermentation system (Fairport, NY 14450, USA) was examined to determine its potential as an alternative to in situ rumen degradability studies. The results reported here are from part of that work.
The pig producer's perspective
Authors: Guise J.
Published: June 2019

This paper is designed to demonstrate that practical, applied research, which is popular with the farming community, is an important part of the decision-making process. Three recent or current projects are described in areas where strategic and basic science has made an important contribution to the debate but has not provided solutions. Confinement at farrowing, tail biting and fully slatted finishing systems are all areas of concern to producers and legislators alike and these concerns are not confined to the UK. The results of surveys of industrial practice have suggested that: (a) non-confined systems may perform as well as farrowing crates, (b) tail-docking appears an effective control measure for tail biting but more importantly, the relative influence of different management practices is measurable using the techniques described and could provide solutions to the tail-biting problem, and (c) experimental studies of finishing systems have produced ambivalent results and a new approach may be of value. The recent Scientific Veterinary Committee Report of the European Union is used extensively as the basis for the discussion.
Development of acceptable standards
Authors: Black W. J. M.
Published: June 2019

UK welfare standards have evolved and are continuing to develop, as our knowledge increases and with the greater interest of a larger proportion of the general public. The government issues official ‘codes of practice’ on animal welfare, one for each of the major categories of farm livestock, addressed personally to every registered farmer in the country. UK legislation is continually updated, so that those with responsibility for keeping livestock have a basic set of rules which are relatively specific and which are enforced by random inspection, usually by the State Veterinary Service. The Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) is responsible to the Minister and, with an element of independence, is asked to assist with the development of animal welfare standards in the UK FAWC is made up of 23 independent members, with a wide variety of skills, knowledge and experience, who, usually in working groups of about six people (with MAFF advisers and secretariat support), are commissioned to investigate and report on particular areas where farm animal welfare standards require attention or revision. The way in which FAWC operates is described using, as examples, recent reports on sheep and laying hens, to demonstrate how the government makes use of FAWC reports in revising codes of practice and legislation. Reference is also made to the way in which quality assurance schemes are being developed. These add a further dimension to the ‘rules’ which affect UK farm animal welfare standards
Framing legislation: a legislator's viewpoint
Authors: Milne J. C.
Published: June 2019

Well balanced and effective legislation is required to protect animals and to address the concerns of organizations with interests in animal welfare. The principal aim of animal welfare legislation is the protection of animals by the prevention of suffering, pain and distress. This can be achieved by identifying animals’ needs and by the prohibition of procedures having a detrimental effect on welfare. Welfare policy and legislation are determined by many factors, including the results from government-funded research, advice from bodies such as the Farm Animal Welfare Council and other interested organizations and pressure groups, and compliance cost assessments. The mechanisms and processes of consultation and drafting legislation, and of the passage of a bill through parliament, are lengthy procedures and take a considerable time to complete. Although animal welfare issues in Scotland will be devolved to the Scottish Parliament, it is not envisaged that there will be a divergence of policy within the UK as a whole. The legislation itself is clearly important but it is also imperative that it is actively and effectively enforced by all the relevant authorities. All aspects of animal welfare legislation are continually reviewed on both a UK and an EU basis.
A review of dairy heifer rearing and its effect on heifer performance, longevity, rearing costs and farm income
Authors: Margerison Jean K
Published: June 2019

The length of time dairy heifers survive in a herd and longevity of dairy cattle, was found to decrease significantly between 1981 and 1992, with the average herd life of a dairy cow in the 1990's declined to 33 (± 0.38) months or 2.75 years (Durr, Monardes, Cue and Philpot, 1997). In the UK, 21 % of dairy heifers are culled during the first lactation (MDC, 1998) while in the EU 33.4 % of heifers complete only one lactation (Durr et al., 1997). In the UK dairy herd 48 % of heifers complete three lactations (MDC, 2000), while in the EU as a whole only 17 % of heifers remain in the herd for their third lactation (Durr et al., 1997).
Longevity
Authors: Logue David N. , Stott Alistair W. , Santarossa John , Gunn George J. , Offer Jill E.
Published: June 2019

Investigations of culling and particularly involuntary culling (“functional” longevity) have often used different criteria on herds of varying size in different regions and with divergent average milk outputs (Young, Waddington, Sales, Bradley and Spooner, 1983; Esslemont and Kossaibati, 1997; Forbes, Gayton and McGeogh, 1999; Whitaker Kelly and Smith, 2000; Figure 1). Thus the evidence of increasing or decreasing culling for any particular entity is uncertain.
Towards a common equine rationing system across the European Union
Authors: Martin–Rosset W
Published: June 2019

Since the 1980’s, two feed evaluation systems, the NRC and the INRA, have been proposed, suggesting allowances for energy and protein (Cuddeford, 1998). NRC recommendations include suggestions for digestible energy (DE) and digestible crude protein (DCP in 1978) and later crude protein (CP in 1989). INRA, (from 1984-1990), have firstly suggested the Net Energy System (NE), also referred to as the UFC system in French, (so called, as the NE system relies on expressing the NE value of a feed relative to a reference feed [barley], or Horse Feed Unit). The INRA have also gone on to recommend the Horse Digestible Crude Protein system (HDCP, or MADC in French). Whilst the INRA and NRC systems have both proposed nutritional requirements, the NRC is exclusive in its use of a protocol called the ‘factorial method’.The factorial method was initially contrived to allow for the determination of physiological expenditure, where the efficiencies of the nutrients were known and relevant. Other influences could then be considered by implementing feed trials to determine allowances which would take into account most environmental factors. Both the NRC and the INRA have proposed a range of Dry Matter Intake (DMI) values, which intend to meet the nutritional requirements of differing types of horses. DMI values provided by the INRA have been drawn directly from feeding experiments conducted over the last 30 years. Ingestibility of the main types of forages have also been extensively measured in horses, using feeding trials devoted to that purpose. The following chapter will review existing methods and suggest a progression strategy towards a common rationing system.
Analyses of the moisture content of hoof horn from horses, donkeys and laminitic donkeys
Authors: Hopegood L , Collins S N , Latham R J , Reilly J D
Published: June 2019

The moisture content of keratinous materials such as hoof horn is important as the presence of moisture has an inverse relationship on the mechanical properties of hoof horn and may have a subsequent effect on the function of the hoof. Methods previously used to dehydrate samples to calculate the moisture content of hoof horn vary considerably (Hopegood, 2002). Subsequent comparison of results is therefore unreliable. A comparison of different methods of dehydrating hoof horn was therefore carried out to establish a standardised protocol for dehydrating hoof horn to assess its moisture content. The moisture content of donkey hoof horn from normal animals and those with laminitis has not been reported. Maclean (1971) established that the moisture content of cattle suffering from laminitis was significantly higher than normal hooves. The resultant standardised protocol from the first part of this study was then used to compare the moisture content of hoof horn samples taken from horses, donkeys and those donkeys that had suffered from laminitis.
Study of crib–biting and gastric ulceration and mucosal inflammation in foals
Authors: Badnell–Waters A J , Wilson A D , Harris P A , Davidson H B , Nicol C J
Published: June 2019

Crib–biting is a stereotypic behaviour performed by approximately 5% of captive domestic horses. Dietary factors have been strongly associated with the development of oral stereotypies and risk factors for crib–biting, identified in recent epidemiological studies, include feeding high concentrate and/or low forage diets (Waterset al., 2002). Experimental work has shown that such diets are likely to result in increased gastric acidity (Murray and Eichorn, 1996; Nadeauet al., 2000). We therefore propose that young horses initiate crib–biting in an attempt to produce alkaline saliva to buffer their stomachs when alternative opportunities for mastication are limited. The aim of this study was to determine whether there was an association between crib–biting behaviour and stomach condition in foals.

Foals that had recently started to perform crib–biting were recruited into the study and compared with non–stereotypic foals. The stomachs of 15 crib-biting foals and 9 normal foals were examined using a video endoscope.
The effect of mirrors for the control of stereotypic weaving in the stabled horse
Authors: Grime E , Northrop A , Rosbotham M E , Howells K L
Published: June 2019

The exhibition and aetiology of abnormal behaviour in the equine is a coping response to a sub-optimal environment (McBride and Cuddeford, 2001). Physical prevention of performance of these behaviours could however lead to compromised welfare so alternative welfare enhancement methods have been sought as alternatives. Nicol (1999) indicated that the cause of weaving as a specific stereotypic behaviour is related to the management of the stabled horse. Enrichment devices have been successful in reducing abnormal behaviour and fostering increased expression of more normal behaviours in many animal species but studies have remained limited in relation to the equine. By strategic placement of mirrors in the stable the current study aimed to reduce the stabled horses need to perform stereotypic weaving behaviour without the use of physical restraint in order to enhance the welfare outcome.

Four horses, two males and two females were housed individually in 10*12m loose boxes and provided with straw bedding.
Comparative methods of preventing stereotypic behaviour in horses
Authors: Lebatteux E , Rosbotham M E , Northrop A , Howells K L
Published: June 2019

Over fifteen per cent of domesticated horses exhibit a form of stereotypic behaviour (Luescher, McKeown and Halip, 1991). These behaviours can represent or develop into health and welfare disequilibrium and crib–biting and weaving are two of the most commonly performed behaviours of this type. As these behaviours have been described as having no obvious function (Mason, 1991), procedures concerned with their ultimate prevention have been promoted within the equine industry. The aim of this study was to review the success of the physical, pharmacological, dietary, environmental and surgical methods available to horse owners for the prevention of equine stereotypies.

A total of 300 questionnaires were distributed between riding schools, trekking centres and livery yards throughout the Northern counties of England along with horse owning BSc Equine students at Myerscough College, Lancashire. Of the total, 200 were distributed by post and the remainder researcher administered.
Oxidative DNA damage in equine peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) induced by acute natural allergen challenge
Authors: Kingston D A , Marlin D J , Smith N C , Deaton C M , Saunders K , Kydd J , Harris P A
Published: June 2019

Oxidative stress occurs when antioxidant defence mechanisms are overwhelmed by free radicals and may lead to damage to DNA, which has been implicated in processes such as ageing and cancer. The Comet assay allows detection of oxidative DNA damage in individual cells. As horses with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) have been shown to demonstrate low antioxidant status and oxidative stress, we hypothesised that peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of horses with RAO would demonstrate increases in DNA damage following natural allergen challenge.

Six horses (mean age 15 years, range 8-23 years) diagnosed with RAO (in remission) and 6 healthy breed matched controls (mean age 9 years, range 5-15 years) were studied. Blood samples were collected 7 days prior to challenge and immediately and 3 days after stabling on mouldy hay and straw for 24h. All animals were kept at grass prior to and after the challenge period. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed and neutrophil counts determined.
A comparative analysis of population characteristics of the competing progeny (within UK) of UK elite show jumping sires and all competing show jumping horses within the UK
Authors: Whitaker T C , Hill J
Published: June 2019

The UK currently has limited success at producing show jumping horses of international standard (WBFSH, 2002). For improvement to occur a greater understanding of the population dynamics of the show jumping population is required

A selected group of progeny (n=304) sired by elite show jumping stallions was examined. Elite sires were defined as those that were ranked 1-10 in the 2001 Sport Horse Annual (British Horse Database, 2000) by total lifetime earnings of progeny competing in 2000. Comparative analysis was conducted with all competing show jumping horses (n=22421) in 2000 (British Horse Database, 2000). Data collected comprised of total lifetime money won at show jumping, total lifetime points won at eventing and dressage. Descriptive statistics were produced for each data set (Table 1). Product Moment Correlations were performed for all discipline areas (Table 2). Data transformation was applied using LOG+1(Hassenstein, Roehe and Kalm, 1996) to account for the skewness in all data sets.
The occurrence and outcome of multiple ovulation and pregnancy in the Thoroughbred mare
Authors: Davies Morel M C G , Dennis S
Published: June 2019

Multiple pregnancies (MP) are almost always the result of multiple ovulations (MO) (Ginther and Bergfelt, 1988). Twinning is the most common non-infectious cause of abortion in the mare (Roberts and Myhre, 1983) and represents a significant economic loss. As a consequence, further investigation into its occurrence and outcome is warranted in order to determine effective management practices.

Ultrasonic scanning was used to monitor and classify ovulation in 1582 Thoroughbred mares. Further ultrasonic scanning at Day 13 was used to identify and classify the resulting pregnancies (single pregnancy (SP), or MP)) in varying samples of mares. All MP mares underwent manual reduction of the smallest embryo at Day 13. 1170 mares, both SP and crushed MP, were monitored for the remainder of pregnancy with regard to pregnancy failure or success. Chi squared was used to test for significance throughout.
Gender differences in cognition and perception may affect equine performance
Authors: Murphy J , Waldmann T , Arkins S
Published: June 2019

Horses and their owners participate in an increasingly diverse range of equestrian pursuits including such activities as racing, show-jumping, endurance riding, carriage driving, dressage, hunting, pony club games, polo and leisure trekking. The majority of owners and riders within the disciplines of equitation appear to have a general preference toward using male horses as the chosen competition animal. Although not exclusively so, stallions and geldings are quite often physically bigger and stronger than fillies and mares and may enjoy some athletic advantage as a result. However, it is known from studies involving humans and small laboratory animals (mice and rats) that some gender differences in cognitive function may also affect performance where tasks involve 3-dimensional objects and elements of depth perception (Morris, Garrud, Rawlins, and O’ Keefe, 1982). The horse has laterally placed eyes (Budiansky, 1997 and Figure 1) and therefore a stereoscopic (binocular) visual field of approximately 65-70°.