bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Beef production from formic acid-treated and wilted silages
Authors: Hinks C. E. , Edwards I. E. , Henderson A. R. 
Published: September 2010

SUMMARY1. Herbage was ensiled, fresh at 17% DM or wilted to 32% DM, with and without the addition of formic acid (19·2 kg/tonne DM). The silages were fed individually ad libitum to 36 fifteen-month-old British Friesian steers of about 280 kg initial live weight (nine animals per treatment).2. Wilting and the application of formic acid both inhibited fermentation, resulting in silages with higher levels of water-soluble carbohydrates, lower concentrations of volatile nitrogen and lower organic acid contents.3. There were no significant dry matter × formic acid interactions in dry-matter intake or daily live-weight gain.4. Treatment with formic acid did not enhance significantly either dry-matter intake or daily live-weight gain. Furthermore, it had little effect on digestibility, nitrogen retention or metabolizable energy (ME) concentration.5. Wilting before ensiling increased dry-matter intake from 5·0 to 8·3 kg/head per day with consequent marked increases in ME intake, nitrogen retention and live-weight gain. Wilting, however, had little effect on digestibility, ME concentration, or the efficiency with which dietary nitrogen intake was retained.
A note on detection of oestrus in cattle bred by artificial insemination, and the measurement of embryonic mortality
Authors: Wood P. D. P. 
Published: September 2010

SUMMARYInsemination and calving dates were obtained for 2618 British Friesian cows served twice by artificial insemination, the first time unsuccessfully, the second time successfully. The intervals between the two inseminations formed a multi-modal set of normal distributions with peaks at 21-day cycles. The standard deviation of the Kth distribution was 3·0y/K days, with about 58·5% of eligible animals submitted at each cycle. Nearly 84% of all intervals conformed to the normal distributions, suggesting that embryonic mortality occurred in about 16% of cases following the first oestrus after insemination.
Changes in live weight and body condition of rams of three breeds throughout the year
Authors: Russel A. J. F. , MacDonald A. J. , Kerr C. D. , Rudd Brenda 
Published: September 2010

SUMMARYMeasurements of the live weight and body condition of 105 Scottish Blackface, North Country Cheviot and South Country Cheviot male sheep (rams) per year were made at three locations over a period of 2 years.A distinct cyclical pattern of change in live weight and body condition throughout the year was apparent in all rams. Maximum values recorded in the autumn were followed by rapid and substantial losses throughout the mating period, with recovery of both weight and condition during the spring and summer months. The amplitude of the annual live-weight curve was of the order of 20 kg (22%) and that of body condition was more than 1 unit.The patterns of annual change in live weight and of inferred change in body composition of rams are compared with those of ewes, and some of the probable effects on production are considered.
Mixed grazing of cattle and sheep versus cattle only in an intensive grassland system
Authors: Dickson I. A. , Frame J. , Arnot D. P. 
Published: September 2010

ABSTRACTDuring the period 1974-77 six blocks of a perennial ryegrass/white clover sward were each divided into two for rotational paddock-grazing and silage cutting in alternate years. For each use an annual total of 360 kg nitrogen per ha was applied. Six livestock treatments of cattle only or cattle and sheep were grazed on the blocks. The stocking rates per ha and combinations of cattle (yearling steers) and sheep (ewes nursing twin lambs) respectively were low, 7·5 + 0; medium, 10 + 0, 7·5 + 5, and 5+10; and high, 7·5 + 10 and 5 + 15.The annual quantities of herbage organic matter accumulated (6·6 to 7·2 t/ha) and consumed (5·6 to 6·7 t/ha) did not differ markedly according to grazing treatment during an individual year, nor was there an effect on organic matter accumulation in subsequent conservation years (11·3 to 12·0 t/ha). Between-year effects were significant. As judged by persistence of sown species there was no evidence of sward deterioration over the 4 years.Total live-weight gain per ha increased with increasing stocking rate but with a decreasing increment. The ranges were 106 to 1·42 t/ha within treatments, 102 to 1/45 t/ha within years and 0·97 to 1·8t/ha within treatments × years. Individual gains of cattle (0·67 to 0·88 kg/day) and lambs (0·20 to 0·27 kg/day), and the proportion of lambs ready for slaughter (0·53 to 0·97), were lowest at the highest stocking rate. Mixed grazing compared with cattle-only led to improved cattle gains and improved total gains per ha. The benefits of mixed grazing for a species tended to increase as the proportion of that species in the mix decreased.
Effects of plane of nutrition and season of birth on the age and body weight at puberty of British Friesian heifers
Authors: Little W. , Mallinson C. B. , Gibbons Diana N. , Rowlands G. J. 
Published: September 2010

ABSTRACT1. Four groups of British Friesian heifers born in April (no. = 30), July (no. = 29), October (no. = 30) 1977 and January 1978 (no. =27) were allocated to one of six treatments (planes of nutrition) at a mean age of 91 days. From 91 to 365 days of age heifers on treatments 1 to 5 were given individually, according to body weight, a proprietary pellet to 126 days of age, and thereafter a diet of dried lucerne and barley. Heifers on treatments 1 and 2 were fed at the same rate whereas heifers on treatments 3 to 5 were fed at successively higher rates. Heifers on treatment 6 were fed ad libitum the proprietary pellets to 126 days of age and thereafter a 'barley beef diet. Mean live-weight gains between 91 and 365 days of age for treatments 1 and 2 combined and 3 to 6, respectively, were 0·58, 0·68, 0·75, 0·82 and 1·06 kg/day.2. Plasma progesterone concentrations were determined twice weekly in each animal. Puberty was assumed to have occurred 2 days before the start of the first period in which the progesterone concentration exceeded 1μg/1 for at least 10 days.3. There was no significant difference between treatments in mean body weight at puberty (242 kg), but age at puberty (347, 305, 288, 301 and 239 days for treatments 1 and 2 combined and 3 to 6, respectively) was inversely related to rate of live-weight gain between 91 and 365 days of age. However, within each treatment group the fastest growing heifers reached puberty at the same age but at a heavier body weight than the slowest growing heifers.4. There were significant seasonal effects on age and body weight at puberty. The most rapidly reared animals (treatment 6) born in January and April were, on average, 52 days younger and 54 kg lighter at puberty than those born in July and October, but the effects of season of birth in other treatments were different.5. There was no significant difference between treatments in the number of conceptions (mean 0·67) achieved at first service by an Aberdeen Angus bull introduced when the heifers were 350 days of age.
Inheritance of teat number and teat inversion in pigs
Authors: Clayton G. A. , Powell J. C. , Hiley P. G. 
Published: September 2010

ABSTRACTTotal teat number in a Large White and a British Landrace population had a modal number of 14. The trait was highly leptokurtic, indicated by the fact that 086 of the population falls within one standard deviation of the mean. There was no sex difference in total teat number, although a small but significant breed difference existed. Heritability of the trait was low, of the order of 0·10 to 0·20 based on the sire component of variance. Larger dam terms suggested a maternal effect.Severely inverted teats (nipple invisible) were observed in 0·17 of gilts. Mean number of inversions was 0·738 in the entire population but 4·01 in affected gilts. The heritability of the trait was of the order of 0·20 and a maternal component was possibly involved.Inverted teats are not distributed at random. They occur most frequently in the umbilical and anterior regions and diminish sharply in frequency towards the rear. In this study 0·97 of all affected pigs had one or more inverted teats in the umbilical and anterior regions.
Studies on the shearing of housed pregnant ewes
Authors: Russel A. J. F. , Armstrong R. H. , White I. R. 
Published: September 2010

ABSTRACTTwo experiments were conducted in successive years with, respectively, 112 and 194 mature Scottish Blackface ewes to study the effects of shearing during pregnancy on lamb birth weight and subsequent growth. In each year half the ewes were shorn approx. 10 weeks before lambing. Shorn and unshorn ewes were offered and consumed equal quantities of food.In both years the shorn ewes lost approx. 2 kg of live weight shortly after shearing (making allowance for the weight of wool removed); thereafter live-weight differences remained relatively constant. Plasma 3-hydroxybutyrate concentrations indicated that the initial live-weight loss was probably attributable to short-term increases in heat production and energy expenditure.Respiration rates and rectal temperatures of unshorn ewes were always higher than in shorn ewes, but were not elevated to an extent indicative of heat stress.Shearing had no effect on the birth weights of single or twin lambs, nor was there any effect on lamb growth rate to 14 weeks of age.It is postulated that the effects of shearing on lamb birth weight reported by others working with sheep fed ad libitum are most likely to be due to the increased voluntary food intakes of shorn ewes.
Food intake, growth and body composition in Australian Merino sheep selected for high and low weaning weight. 1. Food intake, food efficiency and growth
Authors: Thompson J. M. , Parks J. R. , Perry Diana 
Published: September 2010

ABSTRACTChanges in the pattern of food intake, food conversion efficiency and growth from weaning to maturity, were examined in 35 rams and ewes from flocks of Merino sheep selected for high (weight-plus) and low (weight-minus) weaning weight and from a randomly bred control flock. The sheep were individually fed a pelleted rationad libitumfor at least 72 weeks and up to 90 weeks post weaning. Weekly food intake was described as an increasing exponential function of age with a linearly declining asymptote, about which a regular oscillation occurred, and weekly body-weight gain was described as an increasing exponential function of weekly food intake, about which a regular oscillation also occurred.The oscillations in weekly food intake had a period of about 52 weeks and appeared to be largely associated with seasonal variations in temperature, with an increased food intake during winter and a decreased food intake during summer. The oscillations in both the food-intake and body-weight functions were of similar phase and period and it was suggested that the body-weight oscillations were due to variation in gut-fill, a result of the seasonal oscillations in food intake.Selection for weaning weight changed the shape and magnitude of the food-intake curve, with the weight-plus having a greater rate of food intake (i.e. appetite) in the early stages of growth and a greater asymptote than the weight-minus animals. Selection for high and low weaning weight also resulted in an increase and a decrease in mature weight. Both strains had a similar growth efficiency, although when calculated as gross food conversion efficiency the weight-plus were higher than the weight-minus animals at the same body weight, whereas there was no difference between strains at the same age.The rams had both a higher asymptote and a slower rate of decline in food intake than the ewes. Rams had a higher mature weight than the ewes, although ewes had a slightly greater growth efficiency. However, when calculated as gross food conversion efficiency, ewes tended to be lower than rams, when compared either at the same age, or at the same body weight.When the food-intake curves were standardized for differences in mature size, strain differences in the magnitude of the food-intake curves were reduced, although differences in the shape were still apparent. Shape differences in the food-intake curves were reflected in the shape of the standardized growth curves, with the weight-plus maturing at a faster rate than the weight-minus animals. There was little difference between the sexes in the initial shape of the food-intake curve, although at later ages ewes had a lower food intake than rams. There was little difference between the sexes in the shape of the standardized growth curves.
Food intake, growth and body composition in Australian Merino sheep selected for high and low weaning weight. 3. Energy balance
Authors: Thompson J. M. , Parks J. R. 
Published: September 2010

ABSTRACTUsing a simplified energy balance equation, changes in energetic efficiency and energy expenditure were examined as a function of stage of maturity in rams and ewes from flocks of Merino sheep selected for high (weight-plus) and low (weight-minus) weaning weight and from a randomly bred control flock.Specific combustion energy of the body (i.e. MJ/kg of body weight) was an increasing linear function of stage of maturity, which increased at a slightly faster rate in the weight-minus than in the weight-plus animals (15·1 v. 13·1 MJ/kg per unit of maturity), and at a faster rate in ewes than in rams (17·2 v. 11·3 MJ/kg per unit of maturity). At maturity, all strains had a similar mean specific combustion energy (18·3 MJ/kg), whereas the ewes were greater than the rams (20·1 v. 16·6 MJ/kg).Thermochemical efficiency (TCE, defined as the gain in body energy per unit of metabolizable energy intake) was a quadratic function of stage of maturity. In the early post-weaning period, the weight-plus had a greater TCE than the weight-minus animals and the maximum TCE occurred at an earlier stage of maturity in the weight-plus than in the weight-minus animals (0·40 v. 0·45 maturity). The ewes had a higher TCE than the rams at all stages of maturity, although the differences decreased as the animals matured. The maximum TCE occurred at a later stage of maturity in the ewes than in the rams (0·46 v. 0·38 maturity).After scaling for differences in mature size there was little difference between the strains in the rate of energy expenditure, with the exception that at the later stages of maturity the weight-minus animals had a slightly greater rate of energy expenditure. After scaling for differences in mature size, the rams had a greater rate of energy expenditure than the ewes from weaning to maturity.
The effects of using the wrong genetic model to predict the merit of crossbred genotypes
Authors: Kinghorn B. P. , Vercoe P. E. 
Published: September 2010

ABSTRACTThis paper evaluates the consequences of using the wrong genetic model when predicting the merit of previously untested crossbred genotypes. Eight models are considered, seven including different biological interpretations of two-locus epistatic interaction, plus one excluding epistatic effects. Published results from 13 genotypes generated from Hereford and Angus parental breeds were analysed, and predictions of a further seven genotypes made using different models. Under a dominance model, the predicted superiority in pregnancy rate (%) of a ¾ Hereford: ¼ Angus composite over a two-breed rotation was +1·2%, yet under all other models this was a negative value ranging from –1·9% to –3·7%. However, few such cases were found in which significant decision errors could conceivably be made. It is concluded that decisions on the choice of crossbred genotypes are generally quite robust to differences in the genetic model of the type studied here
Variability of soya-bean lectin binding sites in the brush border membranes of calf intestinal epithelium
Authors: Hendriks H. G. C. J. M. , Koninkx J. F. J. G. , Draaijer M. , van Dijk J. E. , Raaijmakers J. A. M. , Mouwen J. M. V. M. 
Published: September 2010

ABSTRACTAn enzyme-linked lectin sorbent assay (ELLSA) has been used to determine quantitatively the amount of soya-bean agglutinin (SBA) binding sites in and the sialic acid contents of small intestinal brush border membranes (BBM) of a group of 14 clinically healthy veal calves. Computer analysis of the results indicated 704 (s.e. 27) nmol SBA binding sites per mg of BBM protein with a Kj of 2·63 (s.e. 0·15) × 10-5mol/l; the sialic acid contents were 2·67 (s.e. 0·43) mg/g BBM protein. We could not demonstrate a correlation between the amount of binding sites and the sialic acid contents of the BBM.Incubation with neuraminidase did not alter the number of SBA binding sites.
Relationships between fat depots and body condition score or tail fatness in the Rasa Aragonesa breed
Authors: Teixeira A. , Delfa R. , Colomer-Rocher F. 
Published: September 2010

ABSTRACTThe relationships between body fat depots and body condition score (BCS) were determined in 52 adult Rasa Aragonesa ewes aged 10 (s.d. 2) years and ranging in BCS from 1·5 to 4·5. BCS of each ewe was assessed by three people, the repeatability within individuals being 90% and between individuals 80%. The ewes were weighed before slaughter. After slaughter the omental, mesenteric, kidney and pelvic fat were separated and weighed. The fat of the left side of the carcass was separated into subcutaneous and intermuscular depots. The relationship between live weight and BCS was semilogarithmic and those between fat depots and BCS were logarithmic. Regression analysis was also used to describe the relationships between the various fat depots and BCS or live weight. Of the variation in total fat weight, proportionately 0·90 was accounted for by variations in BCS, while 0·84 was accounted for by variations in live weight. For individual fat depots proportionately 0·86 to 0·90 of the variation was accounted for by variation in BCS and 0·69 to 0·79 by variation in live weight. BCS was a better predictor than live weight of the weight of both total body fat and the individual fat depots.A curvilinear regression between BCS and live weight showed that the increases in live weight for a unit change in BCS was 7, 10, 12 and 16 kg for each one point increase in BCS from 1 to 5 respectively.The tail fat depot (tail fatness score) was assessed in the same ewes by score on a three-point scale. Of the variation in the weight of individual fat depots, proportionately 0·79 to 0·86 was accounted for by variation in tail fatness score. Thus the tail fatness score could be used as an additional method of assessing body condition in the Aragonesa breed.
The digestible and metabolizable energy value of copra meals and their prediction from chemical composition
Authors: Thorne P. J. , Wiseman J. , Cole D. J. A , Machin D. H. 
Published: September 2010

ABSTRACTDigestible (DE) and metabolizable (ME) energy values for five copra meals and a sample of raw copra, with oil contents ranging from 4 to 662 g/kg, were determined with both a high and a low energy basal diet in a metabolism experiment using 16 female pigs. Determined DE values ranged from 12·68 to 29·92 MJ/kg dry matter (DM) and values for ME from 11·95 to 29·08 MJ/kg DM which was a reflexion of their residual oil contents. Regression equations for the six samples were derived with DE and ME as dependent variables and chemical measurements and gross energy as independent variables. The best equation based on a single chemical parameter (ether extract (EE)) was:Improvements associated with including more than one independent variable in the regression analysis were marginal. The most accurate equation (in terms of minimized residual s.d.) based on EE and crude fibre (CF) was:
Estimates of genetic and phenotypic parameters of litter traits from closed lines of pigs
Authors: Gu Y. , Haley C. S. , Thompson R. 
Published: September 2010

ABSTRACTPhenotypic and genetic analyses of the litter traits total number born, number born alive and total birth weight were conducted on data from two lines of pigs, line A, a synthetic largely of Landrace origin, and line B, derived from the Large White breed. The data were collected from closed herds of the Cotswold Pig Development Company Limited and comprised 1018 litters in line A and 863 litters in line B. Estimates of heritability and repeatability were low for all traits and consistent with other estimates in the literature, for number born alive being respectively, 0·07 (s.e. 0·04) and 0·15 (s.e. 0·04) in line A and 0·12 (s.e. 0·04) and 0·14 (s.e. 0·04) in line B. There was no evidence of an effect of the size of litter into which a female was born on her subsequent reproductive performance.
Hexoestrol implantation of Blackface wether lambs
Authors: Armstrong R. H. , Cameron A. E. 
Published: September 2010

1. Sixty-four Blackface wether lambs, weaned some 8 days previously from the hill were divided into two similar groups. One group of lambs was implanted with 15 mg. hexoestrol.2. The treated lambs had gained an average of 2·32 lb., and 3·88 lb. live-weight more than the control group, after 4 and 7 weeks respectively.3. The mean carcass weight of 23 hexoestrol-implanted lambs was 1·5 lb. greater than that of the same number of untreated lambs.4. Carcass grading provided no evidence of a deterioration in quality as the result of hexoestrol implantation.5. Light lambs responded at least as well as heavy lambs to the hormone.
Measurements of back fat thickness on live pigs by ultrasonics
Authors: East E. , Taylor J. , Miller I. T. , Widdowson R. W. 
Published: September 2010

The back fat thickness of 77 live pigs has been measured with an ultrasonic instrument. The method is simple to use and the ultrasonic waves do not harm the pigs. For measurement of a pig on one day, 95% of the mean ultrasonic readings are within ±13·2% of the mean measurements on the carcass.Evidence for variations between the breeds examined or between sexes is doubtful. By taking repeated measurements on a large number of days, the accuracy of the mean readings for a pig would approach the limit inherent in the method. This limit is determined by small differences between pigs and is estimated to be within ±4·2% for 95% of pigs.
Effects of feeding formalin-treated skim milk to calves
Authors: Preston T. R. , Rattray E. , White F. 
Published: September 2010

1. 2-week-old calves previously fed whole milk were changed abruptly o t skim milk which had been treated with formalin to give a final concentration of 0·1% of the preservative.2. Difficulty was experienced in accustoming the calves to drink such formalin-treated milk and scouring invariably occurred within two days of the changeover.3. Post-mortem and histological examination of calves fed formalin-treated skim milk showed severe damage to the alimentary tract compatible with clinical symptoms.4. None of the above findings was apparent in control calves fed untreated skim milk.