bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Measurement of the rate and extent of cell wall degradability in forages; a comparison of three methods
Authors: Deaville E. R. , Givens D. I. 
Published: November 2021

Forage cell wall content (CWC), accounting for 400 to 600 g kg-1 dry matter (DM) (Van Soest, 1982) and its rumen degradability (CWD) are major factors influencing the animal's energy supply from forages. Therefore, in order to maximise the nutritional potential of forages for ruminants, the ability to accurately and rapidly measure CWD is crucial. This is becoming increasingly important as feed evaluation methods move towards assessing nutrient supply. While the measurement of CWD is largely based on the polyester bag technique an experiment was undertaken to study the potential of measuring CWD in vitro for different forage types.Three methods of measuring CWD were compared using four samples each of grass (G), grass silage (GS), maize silage (MS) and straw (S) in a factorial design. The methods were; 1) fresh (undried) forage, chopped to 1 cm lengths using an homogeniser, was incubated in the rumens of sheep in polyester bags (pore size 43um) for different lengths of time (0, 3, 8, 16, 24, 45 and 72h).
Suckler cow colostrum yield and immunoglobulin concentrations and their calves' serum immunoglobulin concentrations
Authors: McGee M. , Drennan M.J. , Caffrey P.J. 
Published: November 2021

The objective of this experiment was to study colostrum yields and immunoglobulin (Ig) concentrations and subsequent calf serum Ig concentrations using mature suckler cows adequately fed pre-partum or severely feed restricted for the last 2 weeks of preganancy and 2 year old replacements heifers.Cows from a Limousin x Friesian spring calving suckler herd were used. There were 3 treatments 1) cows adequately fed pre-partum (second cut grass silage) (n=12) 2) , cows severely feed restricted for 2 weeks pre-partum (straw diet) (n=6) and, 3) two year old heifers calving for the first time and adequately fed (n=6). All animals were offered a suitable mineral/vitamin supplement. Colostrum yield was obtained by hand milking half the udder following an intramuscular oxytocin injection. Colostrum was then sampled. The objective was to feed the calf an allowance of 50g of colostrum /kg bodyweight via stomach tube. Actual colostrum intakes (g/kg bodyweight ± S.E.) were 47 ± 1.4, 48 Â± 2.3 and 46 ± 1.9 for treatments 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Following an eight hour period when the calf was prevented from suckling (but left in the presence of the dam) a colostrum sample was obtained (2nd milking), the calf was blood sampled and then allowed to suckle as normal.
The handling of sheep at markets and the occurrence of bruising
Authors: Jarvis A M , Cockram M S 
Published: November 2021

Most sheep sent for slaughter in the UK are sold through livestock markets. This study quantified potentially traumatic events (wool-pull, tail-pull, fall, hit structure, riding, head-butt, other) at two markets (549 groups of sheep, n=12119) and recorded the occurrence of carcase bruising on sheep from these markets. Carcase bruising of sheep sent to the slaughterhouse direct from farms was also recorded.For every event the body site affected was classified as foreleg, thorax, abdomen, hindleg or back. Handling at the markets was categorised into 4 procedures: unloading (unloading from a vehicle, movement via walkways to a weighbridge, grading, division and marking of groups, placement in a holding pen), pre-sale and sale (movement from the pen through walkways to the auction ring, then to a new pen), post-sale (movement from the pen through walkways to a loading bay area) and loading (loading onto a vehicle via the vehicle tail-gate and a fixed unloading ramp). There was a total of 1324 and 744 events per 1000 sheep at markets A and B, respectively. The unloading of 40 groups of sheep (n=1501) and pre-slaughter handling of 60 groups (n=1085) was observed at the commercial slaughterhouse where the bruising observations were made. The overall occurrence of events at the slaughterhouse was 694 per 1000 sheep.
Suckler Beef Production; Where do we go now?
Authors: Fuller R J 
Published: November 2021

Most suckled calf producers depend on various CAP premium schemes to achieve profitability. Some must continue to look at ways of improving the performance of our suckler herds. One area that has been neglected and under-researched is suckler cow type and breeds. The Holstein has had an influence on suckler cow conformation particularly when they are sired by Aberdeen Angus or Hereford bulls. Both these breeds go for size using poorly fleshed Canadian bloodlines.There is debate on whether suckler producers should breed their own replacements. In fact many are doing just that, but how successful is it? Is reproductive and whole herd performance suffering? Many farmers will have 'gut' feelings but we really do not know the answers. This massive gap in our knowledge deserves serious research.
Future suckler beef production systems
Authors: Drennan M.J. 
Published: November 2021

A feature of EU beef production following the introduction of milk quotas in 1984 has been the decrease in calf supplies from the dairy herd and increased supplies from the suckler herd. As a result, suckler cows have increased from 20% of the cow herd in 1984 to 32% in 1993. Corresponding increases for Ireland were 21 to 42% and for the UK 29% to 39%.A major concern has been the decline in beef consumption in recent years (Food and Drink Information Service 1994). Although total meat consumption per capita in the EU 12 increased from 80.2 kg in 1987 to 82.6 kg in 1993 beef consumption declined from 17.0 to 15.1 kg over the same period. While price may have been a contributing factor to the decline, other factors are also involved. These factors can collectively be described as meat quality. Quality factors which are measurable include leaness, tenderness, flavour and colour.
The effect of synchronising the supply of energy and protein to the rumen on the short and long-term diet selection of sheep
Authors: Kyriazakis I. , Anderson D.H. , Lewis M. , Oldham J.D. , Papachristou T.G. , Stegeman T. 
Published: November 2021

An experiment was carried out to investigate the hypothesis that the diet selection of ruminant animals from two foods of different rapidly rumen degradable protein contents could be affected by the differences in the rate of synchrony between carbohydrate fermentation and degradation of protein in the rumen. The diet selection of the animals was measured both in the 'long-term' (daily) and 'short-term' (2h intervals within the day).Twelve rumen fistulated mature female sheep (liveweight 59.1 kg) were used. Four foods (A,B,C and D) with the same ME (9.6 MJ/kg fresh food) and similar, high metab/sable protein contents were made into pellets. Two of the foods were based on a rapidly fermentable carbohydrate source (barley, A and B foods) and the other two on a slowly fermentable carbohydrate source (plain sugar beet pulp, C and D foods). Within each source one food (A or C) had a low (70) and the other a high (140 g/kg) concentration of effective rumen degradable content (RDP).
The influence of system of production on the performance and meat quality of entire, castrated and female lambs
Authors: Webster G. M. , Masters Gillian A. , Anderson Jennifer M. L. , Ellis M. , Avery P. J. 
Published: November 2021

The purpose of this experiment was to quantify the seasonal variations in lamb meat quality and identify the contributory factors associated with the various production systems used in the UK. The approach taken was therefore largely a systems one, with the various production systems used in the project mimicking those typical of the British sheep industry supplying lambs onto the market from April to January.Material and methods 504 spring-born lambs [equal numbers of entire male (E), castrated male (C) and female (F)] which were the twin-reared progeny of Mule ewes (Bluefaced Leicester x Swaledale) and Suffolk rams were allocated to one of 7 finishing systems (n=72 per system). These were combinations of 4 diets and 4 slaughter periods (at 2 monthly intervals between June 1992 and January 1993) in an incomplete factorial design: concentrates (CS1), grass (GRI, GR2), silage (SL2, SL3) and roots (RT3, RT4); all but the grass diet were fed indoors.
The Influence of a dietary supplement of a dried yeast culture on milk yield and composition in dairy cows on grass silage
Authors: Rowlinson P. , Marsh S.P. , Tufnell C. , Taylor W. 
Published: November 2021

There is considerable interest in the effect of dietary supplementation with probiotics or yeast cultures on diary cow performance. Yeast cultures such as Diamond V 'XP' are produced by growing selected yeast strains on a semi-solid medium under stressed conditions, which are then dried. Yeast cultures are now used by a majority of the high yielding herds in North America (McCullough 1995). The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of feeding 'XP' Yeast to a moderate-high yielding (X, 6800kg) herd of dairy cows fed a typical UK diet based on grass silage.72 recently calved Holstein-Friesian dairy cows were allocated to one of two dietary treatments on which they remained throughout 150 days of winter feeding. Both groups received ad libitum grass silage which had a Dry Matter of 224 g/Kg, an estimated ME of 10.8 MJ/Kg DM and a Crude Protein (CP) of 156 g/Kg DM.
The effect of restricted suckling and non-suckling systems on dairy cow and calf behaviour
Authors: Margerison J. K. , Phillips C. J. C. , Preston T. R. 
Published: November 2021

Artificial rearing necessitates stressful cow-calf separation (Lefcourt and Elsasser, 1995; Hopster et al, 1995) and precipitates cross-suckling (Lidfors, 1993). Thus, suckling systems may improve the welfare of cows and calves, by alleviating 'stressful' cows-calf separation and satiating suckling motivation. The aim of this experiment was to compare behaviour in cows and calves in restricted suckling and non-suckling systems.Thirty six multiparous dairy cows and calves were divided at 4 days postpartum into three groups. The treatment groups were; non-suckled (NS) cows with calves artificially reared (AR), cows suckled by their own calf (RSM) and cows suckled by a foster calf (RSF). Suckling took place for 15 minutes following mechanical milking only.
Effect of creep feed intake on weaning weight of piglets
Authors: Kavanagh S. , Lynch P.B. , Caffrey P.J. , Henry W.D. 
Published: November 2021

The benefits of creep feeding in a 3 - 4 week weaning system is uncertain. Sow milk yield peaks at 3 - 4 weeks postpartum and the need for supplementary feed to maintain growth rates of suckling pigs is minimal. The objective of this study was to quantify creep feed intake by suckling pigs and to assess the effect of creep feeding on piglet growth and weight at weaning when weaned at 26.0 (s.e. 0.6) days of age.The results reported here were obtained by combining data from 296 litters of suckling pigs on 5 creep feeding trials. The five trials involved comparison of diets and management systems as follows: (A) effect of quality of creep feed (high quality starter diet vs medium quality starter diet vs a pelleted cooked cereal); (B) comparison of meal and pelleted diets; (C) the effect of form (reconstituted calf milk replacer - 20 % dry matter vs solid pellet vs peat primer offered with a solid pellet); (D) effect of feed freshness (fresh creep vs 30 day old creep vs 60 day old creep feed); (E) effect of creep feeding piglets on pre-weaning performance.
The effect of feeding varying levels of barley and dried molassed sugar beet feed compared to a commercial creep on the performance of intensively reared Iambs
Authors: Minter C.M. , Perrott G. , Legendre E. 
Published: November 2021

Feed is the major cost of indoor lamb production, it accounts for up to Â£12/lamb reared (MLC, 1994) which is equivalent to 23% of the output value. Most intensively produced lambs are fed expensive specially formulated lamb creep diets. The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the effect varying the proportions of the starch (barley, WB) and digestible fibre (dried molassed sugar beet feed; SBF) and a protein pellet compared to a commercial lamb creep (LC) on lamb physical and financial performance.180 early weaned lambs, (weaned at 6 weeks of age), weighing on average 17.5 kg liveweight were allocated to one of six treatments; 0% SBF, 20% SBF, 40% SBF, 60% SBF, 80% SBF and LC. Each diet contained 20% protein balancer pellets with the remainder being whole barley. The LC diet was offered alone.
The effect of castration and ewe proximity on the behaviour, growth, carcass composition and meat quality of male lambs reared outdoors
Authors: Anderson Jennifer M.L. , Webster G.M. 
Published: November 2021

This trial sought to increase the knowledge of the changes in the endocrine status of male sheep as they mature, and to link this with sexual and agonistic behaviour when they are reared in the presence or absence of females from weaning.80 twin-reared Suffolk x Mule lambs were selected at birth. 32 of the male lambs were castrated (C) and 32 were left entire (E); there were 16 female lambs (F). The ewes were stocked at a rate of 20 ewes per hectare. The lambs were weaned at 12 weeks of age in late June, when they were separated into two groups. The first group (+F) comprised 16 entire males, 16 castrated males and 16 females that were run together until the end of July. Thereafter, raddled vasectomized rams were run with the ewe lambs to show when the first oestrous cycles occurred.
The absence of any effect of constant long or short photoperiod on growth, sexual development and behaviour of male lambs from birth to 9 months of age
Authors: Anderson Jennifer M.L. , Webster G.M. 
Published: November 2021

Testosterone levels are generally higher in entire male sheep when photoperiod is short as this coincides with the mating period and oestrous cycles of the female. This may increase management problems of entire male sheep through augmented agonistic and sexual behaviour. By delaying puberty in the entire male lamb, management problems may be avoided, while retaining the full benefits of some testosterone secretion to promote growth and leanness. This experiment was initiated to examine the possibility that lamb growth will be enhanced under either constant long or constant short photoperiod without increased behavioural problems.At birth (mean birth date 19 March 1994 Â± 3 days), 24 twin male lambs were assigned as pairs to either long (L) or short (S) photoperiod treatments alternately. One lamb from each pair was left entire (E) and the other lamb was castrated (C) at 12 hours of age using elastrator bands.
A comparison of methods of characterising feeds for the prediction of daily liveweight gains in ewe lambs
Authors: Rymer C. , Redman S. 
Published: November 2021

A variety of in vitro methods have been developed to characterise feeds. For routine analysis, any such method needs to be relatively rapid, cheap and reproducible, as well as providing data that may enable the accurate prediction of animal performance (Graham, 1993). The objective of this experiment was to determine which of a number of methods of feed characterisation best predicted the observed daily liveweight gain of ewe lambs fed those feeds.The feeds used in this experiment were grass silage, (GS), molassed sugarbeet feed (MSBF), citrus pulp (CIT), wheat distillers' grains (WDG) and fishmeal (FM). Forty ewe lambs were randomly allocated between four groups and fed GS (0.7 kg DM/d) supplemented with either MSBF/FM, MSBF/WDG, CIT/WDG or CIT/FM.
Pre-incubation of microbes for use in the Pressure Transducer Technique (PTT) of feed evaluation - effect of basal feed composition
Authors: Harris D M 
Published: November 2021

The use of the Pressure Transducer Technique (PTT) to evaluate feed degradation as described by Theodorou et al (1994) recognises the presence of a lag phase (1-2h) after introducing the microbial innocula to the feed under investigation. Previous work has shown that this can be reduced by incubating the microbes with a basal feed for 24h prior to the addition of a test feed. This work considered the effect of the composition of this basal feed.Four basal mixtures, Grass silage/conc(G), Hay/cone (H), Maize silage/conc: (M), Whole crop wheat/caustic wheat/cone (W) were prepared plus two mixtures based on purified nutrients to give high Starch (St) and high Cellulose (Ce) contents. 20ml strained, homogenised bovine rumen liquor was added to bottles containing 180ml of media and 1.5g DM of each basal mixture. After 24h of vented incubation at 39Â°C 1g DM of test feed, (either barley grain or straw both milled to 1 mm) was added and gas production measured at decreasing frequencies over the next 72h. Cumulative gas production at 72h were calculated (Table 1).
Tissue specific differences in insulin receptor characteristics in the mature bovine animal
Authors: McGrattan P.D. , Wylie A.R.G. , Steen R.W.J. , Nelson J. 
Published: November 2021

Insulin is believed to play a key role in the partitioning of nutrients towards fat and protein deposition. The biological effects of insulin are a function of plasma insulin concentration, insulin-receptor concentration and the affinity of the receptor. The number and affinity of insulin receptors on adipocytes differs between genetically lean and obese pigs (Camara and Mourot, 1996) while receptor number, but not affinity, was shown to differ in a variety of bovine muscles (Boge et al., 1995). The objective of the current work was to determine if insulin receptor affinity and number vary between the principal target tissues (i.e. liver, muscle and adipose tissue) in the bovine animal.Five Charolais-cross steers were offered grass silage ad libitum from 18 months of age until slaughter, at 701± 22.9 kg, at a commercial abattoir. Samples of liver [L], of two skeletal muscles [Ml, M3] and of subcutaneous [S], omental [0]and renal [R] fats were taken as soon as possible after slaughter (typically <30min for L, M3, S and O and <45min for Mland R), wrapped and snap frozen in liquid nitrogen prior to storage at -70 °. Insulin receptors were partially purified by solubilising tissues in 1% Triton X-100 for 24 hours at 4 °C followed by centrifugation (100000 x g, lh, 4°) and affinity chromatography of the supernatants on 0.5 ml wheatgerm agglutinin Sepharose 6MB columns. Bound receptors were eluted from the column with 0.3M N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. Receptor binding was assessed using a tracer amount of A-14 125I-insulin (∼35 pM) and increasing concentrations of unlabelled insulin (0-10 μM) in a total volume of 150 μl of pH 7.4 buffer as described by Magri et al (1990).
Proanthocyanidin (PA) content of Calliandra leaves and the effect of polyethylene glycol and pH on complexes formed between Calliandra tannins and Bovine serum albumin (BSA)
Authors: Salawu M.B. , Acamovic T. , Stewart C.S. , Hovell F.D.DeB. 
Published: November 2021

Calliandra is a proteinaceous leguminous browse for ruminants. Its PA content may however reduce its nutritive value. The negative effects of PA can be reduced by treatment with polyethylene glycol (PEG). Tannin-protein complexes are stable at pH values up to the isoelectric point of the individual protein, and may dissociate at lower or higher pH values. The aim of the study was to determine the PA concentration of Calliandra, and to evaluate the effect of PEG and pH on the formation of complexes between BSA and compounds from Calliandra extracted with aqueous methanol.Leaves (containing the leaflets and petioles) were harvested from Kenya Agricultural Research Institute regional research center, Embu, in the central highlands of Kenya. Leaves were oven dried (50 °C for 48 h) and were milled (1 mm aperture). The top 30 and lower 30 cm leaves were harvested from 2.5 year old plants.
Effect of concentrate supplementation on lactation performance of pregnant and non-pregnant Holstein-Friesian dairy cows
Authors: Hobley M.W. , Fisher W.J. , Dewhurst R.J. 
Published: November 2021

The effect of pregnancy on the rate of decline in milk yield from month 5 of gestation onwards has been documented for some time, (Brody et al., 1923), and has been a key factor in choice of calving interval. There has been renewed interest in the possibility of extending the traditional 365 day calving interval, because of higher genetic merit cows and difficulties over live calf exports. The objective of the current work was to look for an interaction between pregnancy status and concentrate supplementation.Sixty-five autumn-calving Holstein-Friesian cows (26 non-pregnant (B) and 39 pregnant (P)) were selected for the experiment; prior to the experiment they were managed on a flat-rate concentrate allocation with forage available ad libitum. The pregnancy-status groups were randomly allocated to receive ad libitum grazed grass and either 0 or 3 kg of 18% crude protein dairy concentrate. The animals were grazed and milked together as one group. The non-pregnant cows were deliberately not inseminated for management reasons (e.g. failure to use Calan gates). During the 10 weeks before imposition of the concentrate treatment, there was no significant difference in milk yield between treatment groups (21.9 (s.e.=1.71) kg/day). The main recording period ran from 10 June until 16 September 1996. Milk yield was recorded daily, milk composition, live-weight and condition scores fortnightly. Data were summarised as means (for milk yield and composition) or slopes (rates of change; for live-weight and condition score (CS; 0-5 scale)) over the period from 3 to 13 weeks after the imposition of the concentrate treatment.
Supplementation of grass silage-based diets for dairy cows with concentrates containing high levels of cereal starch
Authors: Dewhurst R.J. , Fisher W.J. , Davies D.W.R. , Marsden M. 
Published: November 2021

Starchy feeds favour the high protein / low fat milk that the market is increasingly demanding, though they place a considerable acid load on the rumen and there is a danger of acidosis at high levels of inclusion. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the use of maize starch, which is perceived to be more slowly and less extensively fermented in the rumen, when compared with wheat starch, in supplements for grass silage.Thirty-two autumn-calving multiparous Holstein-Friesian cows were balanced for parity and calving date, randomly allocated to the 2 treatment groups and trained to Calan gates during the dry period. Covariance recording on a standard concentrate, was undertaken in lactation weeks 3 and 4 whilst from lactation weeks 5 to 22 cows received one of the 2 concentrate treatments (‘maize’ or ‘wheat’) in a continuous design experiment. Concentrates were fed through the Calan gates at 10 kg/day until lactation week 12 and 7 kg/day from lactation weeks 13 to 22 inclusive in two equal meals at approximately 09.30 and 16.30 h. The concentrates were formulated to be iso-energetic, iso-nitrogenous and iso-starch and balanced for minerals and vitamins. The principal starch sources were (inclusion levels in g/kg as-mixed): maize gluten (230), maize (200), maize germ (123) and barley (75) for the ‘maize’ concentrate; and wheat (425), maize germ (100) and maize gluten (100) for the ‘wheat’ concentrate.