bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A comparison between an early weaning and a more conventional system of rearing dairy calves
Authors: Castle M. E. , Watson J. N. 
Published: September 2010

1. Two groups of 12 Ayrshire heifer calves were reared from birth to 14 weeks on two contrasting systems.2. The conventionally reared group consumed 19 gal. of milk, 86 gal. of milk substitute and 195 lb. of calf meal (17·0% crude protein in dry matter) in 14 weeks whereas the early-weaned animals consumed 5 gal. of milk, 19 gal. of milk substitute and 259 lb. of early-weaning cubes (22·7% crude protein in dry matter) in the same period and were weaned from milk substitute at 5 weeks old. All the calves had unlimited access to dried grass (12·0% crude protein in dry matter).3. The mean live-weight gain of the calves on the conventional system was 1·26 lb./day and of the early-weaned animals, 1·20 lb./day. These values were not significantly different.4. None of the experimental calves had bloat or indigestion and there was only one minor outbreak of scour.5. At the present day prices of the foods, the early-weaning system was the cheaper system both per day and per pound of live-weight gain.
The influence of social behaviour on experimental design in animal husbandry
Authors: McBride Glenorchy 
Published: September 2010

Evidence of an effect of the peck order in poultry on the variation in productive characters under floor conditions is used as the basis of a discussion on the design of animal experiments.Since these competitive effects increase the variation between animals penned together, the usual tests for the presence of pen effects between replicate pens are unsuitable. Replicates should be used in all experiments when treatments are allocated to pens of animals to provide an adequate measure of the experimental error.Considerations of social behaviour are likely to be relevant in many types of animal experiments, both husbandry and breeding.It is, however, emphasised that the amount of information available on such an important question is completely inadequate and that behaviour studies should be incorporated into all types of animal experiments to obtain such information.
The influence on growth rate and slaughter characteristics of implanting fattening male hoggets with various levels of hexoestrol and diethylstilboestrol
Authors: Lamming G. E. , Stokes R. M. , Horspool D. 
Published: September 2010

In three trials involving 288 hoggets the influence on growth rate of implanting 15 mg. hexoestrol or 12 mg. stilboestrol was compared. In one trial the influence of adding excipient to either stilboestrol or hexoestrol to increase the surface area of the implant was also assessed. Live-weight gain was calculated for each time interval after implantation and it was concluded that after approximately 140 days the influence of implantation had largely disappeared. For optimum benefit to live-weight gain implantations should be made approximately 100 days prior to slaughter.In all trials, implantation with synthetic oestrogens resulted in extra daily live-weight gain, the increase for all animals amounting to 31% extra daily gain for hexoestrol and 26% for stilboestrol. The addition of excipient to the implant diminished the initial growth response and reduced the extra gain achieved.Implantation with the synthetic oestrogens significantly increased the final live-weight on the farm, live-weight before slaughter and carcass weights when groups of animals from each treatment were slaughtered together.Stilboestrol and hexoestrol implantation resulted in an extra 4·7 and 6·1 lb. full live-weight; 3·7 and 5·3 lb. empty live-weight and 1·3 and 2·8 lb. extra carcass weight respectively, compared to controls killed at the same time.Where hoggets had received a high-plane diet, treatment did not affect killing-out percentage, but where the level of nutrition was lower a decrease of up to 1% was observed. In all trials treatment with the synthetic oestrogens resulted in an increase in pelt weight and in one trial this increase was up to 2 lb.Implantation with hexoestrol and stilboestrol increased the size of the gut full and empty in two of the trials. The differences were reduced when the gut weights were corrected to 100 lb. empty live-weight. The weight of the thyroid gland or the total weight of the trachea, heart and lungs were not affected by treatment.The approximate rate of uptake of hormone from a 12 mg. implant of stilboestrol was assessed by the decrease in the weight of dried tablet removed at slaughter from 30 to 200 days after implantation. The linear regression y (uptake in mg.)=3·029+0·039x (days from implantation) fitted the data best, giving an approximate average uptake over this period of 39 micrograms of stilboestrol per day.
A comparison of whole milk with buttermilk in the rearing of calves for veal. 1. Rearing and growth
Authors: Fraser J. D. 
Published: September 2010

1. Twenty spring-born Friesian calves, housed indoors, were divided into two groups each of 10 calves. During their first three weeks all calves were fed alike on whole milk containing 3·5% butterfat. At three weeks of age calves in one group were changed to a diet consisting of reconstituted buttermilk powder which was made up to the same energy content as the milk. Up to the 30th day intake was gradually increased to 20% of body weight; thereafter till slaughter of the calves at approximately 200 1b. live-weight both groups were fed to appetite twice daily.2. Calves in both groups grew well and differences between groups in growth rate, and age at slaughter, food consumption and food conversion, were all statistically non-significant.
The effects of two meal supplements on the progress of calves receiving autumn grass
Authors: Chambers D. T. 
Published: September 2010

1. Three groups, each comprising four Hereford-cross and four Friesian half-sib male calves, were fed milk substitute and offered grass cut from autumn pastures. Two of the groups received meal supplements of similar energy value but differing in protein content. The third group received no meal supplement.2. As the consumption of meal rose the intake of herbage dry matter decreased but total dry matter intake increased.3. The effects of the two meals on the progress of the calves were similar but not apparent until after the first 6 weeks. The lack of response to the high protein content of one meal suggests that energy may be the limiting factor to growth of calves reared on autumn pasture.4. Hereford-cross calves which did not receive a meal supplement tended to make the best live-weight gains during the subsequent grazing season, but no such recovery was made by the Friesians.
The influence of breed and sex on carcass characters of beef cattle bred in dairy herds
Authors: Latham J. O. , Rogers C. 
Published: September 2010

During a survey of beef production in East Anglia carcasses of 163 Friesian, 87 Dairy Shorthorn and 45 Aberdeen-Angus × Friesian steers and 44 Aberdeen-Angus × Friesian heifers were measured and scored by visual assessment for fat development. They were also graded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.Age data indicated that the Friesian steers were, on average, younger at slaughter than the other groups, but they were incomplete and comparison was based on carcasses of the same weight. The Dairy Shorthorn steers had higher mean values than Friesians in three of the carcass measurements taken. The Dairy Shorthorns had a higher average fatness score and a higher proportion of Grade A carcasses. Aberdeen-Angus × Friesian steers had lower mean values for measurements of the hind leg, higher fatness scores and a higher proportion of Grade A carcasses than either of the two pure breeds. Aberdeen-Angus × Friesian heifers had lower mean values for measurements of both fore and hind legs, higher fatness scores and a slightly higher proportion of Grade A carcasses than the steers.The information gained by use of measurements and fatness scores explained, but did not materially add to, the assessment of the relative value of the groups of carcasses given by grade.
Progeny testing of bacon pigs at Wye college
Authors: Duckworth J. E. , Cooper M. McG. , Dunkin A. G. , Taylor J. M. , Holmes W 
Published: September 2010

A report is given on a progeny testing scheme for bacon pigs which operated at Wye College from 1953 to 1957. Boars were brought to the unit, mated to a random selection of sows and 20 progeny (4 pigs from each of 5 litters) were individually fattened under standard conditions. Growth, feed efficiency and carcass measurements were recorded. The data were examined by analysis of variance. Significant differences in most characters were shown between sows, between boars and between tests. There was a progressive improvement in growth performance but not in carcass measurements from the earlier to the later tests. This was attributed in the main to improved management.Differences within litters were small for carcass length but large for backfat measurements. Significant differences between boars could be detected but this was limited by small numbers of boars within tests and the high variability of some characters. The growth performance and carcass characteristics of female pigs were significantly better than for castrated males. Estimates of heritability were fairly high for most characters.Disease incidence declined in the later tests. In earlier tests congestion of lungs associated with virus pneumonia was associated with a slight reduction in speed of growth and feed efficiency.The results are discussed with particular reference to their contribution to the evaluation and utilisation of progeny testing on a national basis.
Copper sulphate as a growth stimulant for pigs: effect of composition of diet and level of protein
Authors: Lucas I. A. M. , Livingstone R. M. , Boyne A. W. 
Published: September 2010

Thirty six individually-fed pigs were used in a within-litter comparison of the 6 treatments of a 3 × 2 factorial experiment. The pigs were about 9 weeks old at the start and were slaughtered as their individual weights reached about 200 lb.Three types of basal diet were given with and without a supplement of CuSO4.5H2O included at 0·1% (250 p.p.m. added Cu).The diets were based on (1) barley and fish meal, with 17% crude protein for pigs up to 103 lb. live-weight and 15·4 % from then on, (2) maize and soya (extracted soya bean meal), with about the same levels of protein and (3) maize and soya, but with only 13·4% crude protein for pigs up to 103 lb. and 11·9% for pigs of 103 lb. to 200 lb. Daily feed allowances were determined from a fixed scale based on live-weight.Pigs given the high-protein maize-soya diets grew more rapidly, required less feed per lb. gain and had fatter carcasses than those given the barley-fish meal diets. This was probably because of the higher TDN content of the maize-soya mixture.Pigs given the low-protein maize-soya diets grew less rapidly, required more feed per lb. gain and had fatter carcasses with smaller ‘eye’ muscles than those receiving the high-protein maize-soya diets, these being the usual effects of an inadequate supply of total protein or of an essential amino acid.CuSO4.5H2O4 added as 0·1% of each of the three types of diet improved growth rate before 103 lb. live-weight but had no consistent effect on feed conversion efficiency. Between 103 lb. and slaughter the copper sulphate did not affect performance on the barley-fish meal or high-protein maize-soya diet, but in the low-protein maize-soya diet it reduced feed conversion efficiency and rate of gain by 5%. Although this interaction was not statistically significant it agrees with an observation made in Florida and warrants further investigation.
The effect of variation of protein quality and protein level in diets on the performance of young pigs
Authors: Jones A. S. , Hepburn W. R. , Cadenhead A. , Boyne A. W. 
Published: September 2010

1. A feeding trial was conducted on 64 individually-fed pigs given diets varying in crude protein content, and containing as a protein supplement either white-fish meal or groundnut meal alone, or groundnut meal with L-lysine monohydrochloride or DL-methionine or both.2. Daily live-weight gain and feed conversion ratio of pigs given diets containing fish meal were best when the diet provided 18% crude protein on an air-dry basis (15·7% white-fish meal).3. Additions of L-lysine monohydrochloride to a diet providing 18% crude protein and containing 21% groundnut meal as the main source of protein produced highly significant (P<0·001) improvements in daily gain and feed conversion ratio and these measures were not significantly different from those of pigs given the control (fish meal) diet which provided similar total lysine and crude protein levels. The white-fish meal diet containing 18% crude protein produced pigs whose half carcasses were of higher specific gravity (P<0·05) and rib cuts with more protein and less fat (each P<0·05) than did the groundnut meal diet at the same protein level.4. DL-methionine did not significantly affect live-weight gain, feed conversion, fat or protein content of the rib cut or the specific gravity of the half carcass.5. Pigs on a 12% crude protein diet containing groundnut meal supplemented with lysine grew at the same rate as pigs on an 18% crude protein diet in which no lysine supplement was added to the groundnut meal. Their rib cuts contained more protein and less fat.
The effects of undecorticated cotton cake added to a grass diet fed to sheep
Authors: Dodsworth T. L. , Ball C. 
Published: September 2010

Results are given from two digestibility trials in which the following three diets were fed to sheep: (i) grass only, (ii) grass+5 oz. cotton cake daily, (iii) grass+10 oz. cotton cake daily.In the first trial the average dry-matter content of the grass was low (approx. 14%), intake was low and the supplements were eaten in addition to the grass. In the second trial where the dry-matter content (approx. 20%) of the grass and the intake were higher, the cake supplements reduced herbage consumption.The feeding of cake did not have any significant effect on the dry-matter percentage in the faeces but depressed the digestibility of the dry matter, crude protein, crude fibre and nitrogen-free extract in the diets including cake and reduced their starch equivalent and total digestible nutrient values.No evidence was found to support the recommendation that undecorti-cated cotton cake should be fed to grazing animals.
The growth and carcass quality of bacon pigs reared to different weights at 56 days old
Authors: Boaz T. G. , Elsley F. W. H. 
Published: September 2010

Two experiments are described to investigate the effect of different weights of pigs at 56 days of age on live-weight gain, efficiency of feed utilisation and bacon carcass quality.1. In Experiment I a comparison was made between 32 pairs of weaners, reared on the sow, which weighed 31·0 1b. and 45·4 1b. respectively at 56 days of age. After separation into heavy and light groups the pigs were group fed to bacon weight.The heavy weaners reached 200 1b. eighteen days earlier than the light weaners but this difference was due completely to the slower rate of growth to 50 1b. live-weight. The heavy weaners required 3·59 1b. of meal per 1b. live-weight gain from 56 days of age to bacon weight compared with 3·50 1b. for the light weaners but there was no difference in efficiency of feed utilisation during the period taken to grow from 50 to 200 1b. There were no significant differences between the carcasses apart from an increased flare weight in the light weaners.2. In the second experiment both suckled and early-weaned pigs were reared to 30, 40 and 50 1b. at 56 days of age and then fed individually to 200 1b.The number of days taken to reach 200 1b. was 168·6 for the 50 1b. pigs, 176·6 for the 40 1b. pigs and 182·1 for the 30 1b. pigs; there were no differences due to the methods of rearing. The efficiency of feed utilisation from 56 days to 200 1b. was not affected by method of rearing but as weight increased from 30 to 50 1b. at 56 days, the meal required for a pound of subsequent live-weight gain increased from 3·06 to 3·24 1b.The number of days to increase from 50 to 200 1b. live-weight was 110·4 for the 50 1b. pigs, 109·3 for the 40 1b. and 106·3 for the 30 1b. pigs, again there being no differences due to the methods of rearing. There were no differences in efficiency of feed utilisation from 50 to 200 1b.Neither weight at 56 days nor method of rearing markedly affected the quality of the carcass but there was an indication that 56-day weight caused greater differences in the early-weaned treatments than in the suckled treatments.
The prediction of lean percentage of pigs of bacon weight from carcass measurements
Authors: Buck S. F. , Harrington G. , Johnson R. F. 
Published: September 2010

1. Carcass measurement and dissection data from 250 pigs reared at the stations of the National Pig Progeny Testing Board have been analysed to study the value of the carcass measurements in predicting the percentage lean in the carcass.2. Differences between sexes in the carcass characteristics were generally larger than those between breeds. Gilts had a higher percentage of lean meat than the hogs, with larger eye muscle dimensions and smaller measurements of backfat thickness.3. For pigs of the same breed and sex, the best predictions of leanness possible without cutting the carcass were derived from measurements of shoulder and minimum loin backfat (see Figure 1). Mid-backfat measurements improved the accuracy of prediction, but length and depth of carcass did not. The residual standard error in percentage lean at constant shoulder and minimum loin backfat was 2·66% of side weight overall but this was reduced to 2·28% by adjustments for breed and sex.4. Measurements made after cutting the carcass at the last rib gave more accurate predictions of percentage lean than did the split carcass measurements. The residual standard error in percentage lean at constant B, C and K (see Figure 2) was 1·97 % of side weight overall, reduced to 1·88 % by adjustments for breed and sex.5. The implications of these relationships in carcass grading and carcass evaluation generally are discussed.
Implications of genetic-environmental interaction in animal breeding
Authors: Dickerson G. E. 
Published: September 2010

This report is an attempt to interpret evidence concerning geneticenvironmental interaction as it relates to the effectiveness of selection.Methods of estimating genetic-environmental interaction were investigated with the conclusion that the standard analysis of variance is a satisfactory tool provided (1) the interaction component of variance is adjusted for important variation between environments in the scale of genetic effects and (2) the variance component for the average effects of genetic groups is recognised as equivalent to the average covariance of the same genetic group in different environments (i.e.) to include the real possibility of negative genetic correlation.It is shown that (1) response to selection for improved average performance over varying environments (ΔGt) is proportional to the genetic correlation between expressions of the same genotype in different environments (rG), that (2) gain in ΔGi, from measuring performance inkenvironments is proportional toifktimes as many animals are tested, but toif total numbers per genotypic class (nk) are held constant, whereg2is heritability of individual variation within environments andrGis the correlation between the phenotypic expressions of the same genotype in different environments.Evidence is presented that (1) variations among poultry-farm environments in California cause important, but largely unpredictable, shifts in ranking of genetic stocks for egg production, and (2) improved accuracy in measuring genetic differences in average performance across environments probably justifies utilising a sample of 5 to 10 farms representing the range of environments for which the stock is bred.
The size of lambs at birth—a study involving egg transfer
Authors: Dickinson A. G. , Hancock J. L. , Hovell G. J. R. , Taylor C. S. , Wiener G. 
Published: September 2010

The influence of maternal and genetic factors on the size of lambs at birth and on their gestation length has been studied from the results of two experiments involving the transfer of fertilised eggs from one breed of sheep to another. In the first experiment, eggs were transferred reciprocally between old ewes of the large Lincoln breed and of the small Welsh Mountain breed. Results are based on 20 transfer lambs and 14 normally born singles. In the second experiment, 35 pure Lincoln and 28 pure Welsh lambs were born as a result of transferring eggs into 18-month-old nulliparous Scottish Blackface sheep.The breed type of the lamb was found to be the most important factor influencing weight and cannon length at birth, although maternal-foetal interactions were present. As the maternal environment became poorer, genotypic differences remained distinct but decreased in magnitude. The maternal environment provided by 4th parity Lincoln ewes, if judged by lamb's size at birth, was better than that provided by 4th parity Welsh ewes, and this in turn was better than that provided by 1st parity Blackfaces. Lincoln and Welsh lambs in the same maternal environment differed in average birth weight by 5·7, 3·8 and 3·0 1b. respectively in the Lincoln, Welsh and 1st parity Blackface maternal environments. Lincoln and Welsh lambs, each in their own normal maternal environment, differed by 6·5 lb. The maternal influence on cannon length was similar but small. Gestation length of Lincoln lambs in Welsh recipients was almost 4 days shorter than that of Welsh lambs in Lincoln recipients. In the Blackface maternal environment, Lincoln and Welsh lambs differed little in gestation length but males were, on average, carried about a day longer than were females.At the individual level, weight of (Blackface) recipient ewe had a somewhat greater effect on lamb's size than had weight of (Lincoln or Welsh) donor ewe. The magnitudes of these ‘genetic’ and ‘maternal’ effects were comparable with those found at the level of group means; even so, donor's and recipient's weight together accounted for only a small part of the individual variation in lamb's size about the group means.It was concluded that a ewe was able to respond to progressively greater demands made by a lamb or lambs of progressively larger (combined) potential size—but in accordance with the law of diminishing returns—and that the upper limit of maternal accommodation must be considerable. By contrast, the upper limit of mean genetic size at birth appears to be not far above the mean size of single lambs born to their natural mothers in good condition. A model has been constructed from which mean birth weight of lambs can be predicted.
Haemoglobin N of sheep. Age, breed and seasonal distribution
Authors: Efremov G. , Brænd M. 
Published: September 2010

The occurrence of Hb N in sheep has been investigated by means of starch gel electrophoresis.In lambs, Hb N occurred in higher relative amounts than in adults, but not until 9 days of age. One-month-old lambs often showed an Hb N content as high as 10–30%.Haemoglobin N was observed most in sheep of phenotype AA, less in those of type AB and was found to be absent in BB animals. It was also provoked experimentally by bleedings in sheep of types AA and AB but not in those of type BB.Comparisons between breeds showed differences in the expression of Hb N. It occurred most regularly in Old Norwegian sheep (Spæl), but usually in concentrations of less than 1%. Hb N was, however, also found in other Norwegian breeds, in Cheviots and in Spanish sheep but not in sheep of the Oxford Down breed.In two flocks of Spæl and Dala sheep where frequent bleedings were made, Hb N was observed at all times of the year.