Humans have kept animals for companionship for thousands of years. Developments during the twentieth century in intercontinental transport, especially air travel, in the husbandry of animals, and in the technology for their housing; combined with widespread availability of electricity to power environment control systems (water filtration, oxygenation, heat lamps, humidifiers, photoperiod control etc), have made it possible to obtain and maintain a very much wider range of species of wild animals in captivity than ever before. Associated with this, there has been a huge increase in interest in keeping ornamental fish, amphibians, and reptiles, and the range of species of birds and mammals kept as pets has increased markedly also.

With increasing concern over animal welfare, large straw yard accommodation is being used as a less intensive system for the finishing of pigs. The performance achieved in straw pens can exceed that of fully slatted housing (Lyons et al, 1994). Unfortunately, the main weakness of large groups in straw yards can be the high variation in performance. The objective of this study was to determine the behavioural differences between low and high performing pigs and to investigate pig location preferences in large groups of various sizes.

A review of published leptin data for growing lambs, older ewes and mature dairy cows in late lactation showed that only 0.30-0.37 of the variation in blood leptin concentration was explained by differences in body fat variably expressed as % of liveweight (LW), backfat thickness and body condition score (BCS) respectively (Wylie et al., 2002). In dairy cows between 15d and 226d postpartum, Wylie et al (2002) observed no overall correlation between leptin at slaughter and lipid expressed as % of LW, empty body weight or carcase weight and only a weak correlation in cows in mid-lactation. Losses of fat during early lactation may ‘uncouple’ the link between leptin and fat and produce a bias across all of lactation. Another explanation is that leptin may be more closely linked with lipogenesis than with the amount of stored fat. This study revisits some metabolite and hormone data from a previous investigation of IGF-1 changes in fed, fasted and re-fed sheep in the light of more recently obtained leptin concentrations in the same animals.

Environmental effects are estimated to cause three-fourths of cancer deaths, of which one-third could be reduced by diet modification. Though dairy products are promoted for their nutritional value, and also condemned for alleged health risks, attention is turning to dairy products as sources of functional foods for cancer prevention.

Lameness is a major welfare problem in farm animals. Lesions of the hoof arising from poor growth of hoof horn in dairy cows has been associated with inadequate keratinisation (Kempson and Logue, 1993). The sulphur amino acid cystine is an important component of hard keratins in sound hoof horn and hair fibre and is required in a quantity proportionately larger than that needed for most other body tissues. Cystine may be derived, in ruminants, directly from microbial and food protein or synthesised post-absorptively from methionine in the transulphuration pathway particularly in the liver. The objective of present study was to investigate the relative responsiveness of both hoof horn and mohair to methionine supplementation of the diet.

Despite efforts to standardise breeding, nutrition and husbandry regimes, consumer studies indicate that 17% of all loin chops sold in the UK are unacceptable in terms of toughness and dryness (Warkup et al., 1995). Recent evidence suggests that this unaccountable variability may be at least partly due to changes in the calpain-calpastatin proteolytic system around the time of slaughter, stimulated by changes in the circulating levels of the natural β-agonist adrenaline (Sensky et al., 1996). An increase in calpastatin, the inhibitory component of the system, at slaughter has also been shown to be associated with reduced degrees of tenderisation (Koohmaraie, 1992, Sensky et al., 1996b). Variation in the degree of β-receptor stimulation close to slaughter should therefore correlate with calpastatin levels at slaughter. This study aimed to investigate the validity of this claim.

The diet of 30 female Landrace x Large White pigs (67 ± 1 kg) was supplemented with either 2 or 20 ppm nadolol, a β-antagonist, or clenbuterol, a β-agonist, 16 h before slaughter, giving 5 groups of 6 pigs, including controls (no supplement), with differing degrees of β-receptor stimulation, ranging from low (20 ppm nadolol) to high (20 ppm clenbuterol). Calpain and calpastatin activities were measured in samples of longissimus dorsi (LD) taken immediately after slaughter using chromatographic and fluorimetric techniques (Sensky et al., 1996b).

Performance recording schemes for sheep flocks in the UK incorporate ultrasonic scanning to measure criteria that are linked to carcass lean content as a selection objective (Simm, 1998). In Wales, under the direction of the Welsh Sheep Strategy, fat and muscle depth has been monitored routinely in hill flocks but with a range of ram ages at scanning (Anderson, 2000; Ap Dewi, unpublished). The date of scanning is often dictated by timings of routine tasks within the flocks so there is a need to explore the impact of time of scanning on the measurements obtained. The objectives of the investigation were to study how muscle and fat depths changed over a series of scanning dates.

Lameness in the dairy cow not only causes major financial loss but also has serious welfare implications. Both environmental and nutritional factors have been implicated in its occurrence, which is commonly observed as laminitis, white line disease and sole ulcers, which are disorders of the corium. The aim of the current study was to examine the effect of diet composition in the form of non-structural carbohydrates on hoof health.

The teat canal in dairy cows is lined with keratin, which is considered to be a natural physical and chemical barrier involved in providing resistance to bacteria gaining entry into the mammary gland. Keratin is partially removed during milking therefore requiring regeneration. It has been estimated that a cow needs to regenerate 1.3 mg per teat between each milking to replace the amount lost (Capuco et al., 1992). Zinc is important in the process of keratinisation and previous studies have reported an 2.4 kg/d increase in milk yield when supplemented with Zn in an organic form at the recommended level and an increase in somatic cell counts (SCC) in cattle receiving 0.66 of the recommended level of dietary Zn (Atkin et al., 2007), although mechanisms for this observation are unclear. The objective of this study was to establish the effect of level and form of Zn (organically chelated (Bioplex ZnTM; Alltech Inc., Nicholasville, USA) vs. inorganic (ZnO)) and no supplemental Zn on dairy cow performance and keratin production in the teat canal.

Grazed herbage is the cheapest feed available for dairy cows but total intake of nutrients from grazed pasture alone is generally insufficient to allow high yielding dairy cows to reach their production potential. Cows have their main daily meal following afternoon milking in the period up to sunset (e.g. Rook et al., 1994 ). In addition, both the DM content and water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) concentration of grass increase over the day (e.g. Orr et al., 1997) due to the loss of moisture and the accumulation of the products of photosynthesis. Based on this evidence, this study tested the hypothesis that dairy cows receiving strip-grazing allocations following the afternoon rather than the morning milking would show higher intake rates and consequently higher milk yields.

Twenty Holstein-Friesian cows (median calving date 10 February 1997) were each supplemented with 4 kg concentrates day-1 and strip-grazed a perennial ryegrass pasture in four groups of 5 cows.

Sow lactation performance is critical to piglet survival and pre-weaning growth. Effective lactogenesis combined with strong piglet vigour at birth will help prevent hypoglycaemia and mortality. In addition, immune protection of the sucking pig is dependant on the acquisition of immunoglobulins from the colostrum of the sow. High milk output in late lactation will ensure greater weaning weights, since piglet growth potential exceeds milk supply by day 10 of lactation (Harrell et al, 1993). Maximising sow feed intake ensures maximum milk production. A variety of plant extracts are recognised for their health and growth promoting properties which include stimulation of the digestive and immune systems (Platel and Srinvansan, 1996). The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of various plant extracts to stimulate piglet and sow performance when used as supplements in the diets of lactating sows. Three extracts were selected for their potential benefits to health, appetite and digestion, these being Yucca Shidigera, Quillaja Saponaria and Combination (a blend of the spices capsicum 1.0%, cinnamaldehyde 1.25 % and oregano oil 0.85 %).

The mobile bag technique (MBT) has recently been used to provide single time point estimates of feed digestibility in both the small intestine (Macheboeuf et al 1996) and the whole tract of equids (Hyslop and Cuddeford 1996). This experiment develops the use of the MBT as a method to study the dynamics of the digestive process over time in the whole tract of ponies.

Three mature Welsh-cross pony geldings (270 kg LW) were offered ad libitum threshed grass hay plus minerals. Two sizes of mobile bag (6 x 1 cm Ø - large & 4 x 1 cm Ø - small) made from monofilament polyester with a 41 μrn pore size containing either 200 or 130 mg of feed respectively were used. Bags containing either dehydrated alfalfa (DHA), threshed grass hay (THAY), dehydrated grass (DHG) or grass hay (HAY) were introduced directly into the stomach via a naso-gastric tube in batches of 22 (14 large and 8 small). Batches of bags were administered twice daily on days 1, 2, 8 and 9 of a 14 day period according to an incomplete latin square experimental design giving a total of 44 bags per feed in each pony. On recovery in the faeces, dry matter (DM) disappearances were calculated for each bag.

Medical authorities are increasingly recommending a reduction in the proportion of dietary energy derived from saturated fats (COMA). Milk processors are keen to identify new milk products for niche markets, and the production of 'healthier' milk may be required in the future. Dairy products are a major source of saturated fat in the diet and the work reported here examines the effect of feeding different sources of dietary oil on the fatty acid composition of bovine milk.

In a 4 × 2 factorial experiment 96 Holstein cows were offered complete diets containing one of four oil sources, a calcium soap of palm fatty acid distillate(C), naked oats (O), pressure cooked whole soybeans (S) and partially oil extracted rapeseed (R), at two supplement to grass silage ratios (0.48:0.52 (low) or 0.70:0.30 (high)) in weeks 4 to 13 post calving.

Animal science research is important in relation to our understanding of animals, their function and performance, and their relationships with their social and physical environments. Animal science research covers a wide range of disciplines and so can lead to the use of a variety of experimental techniques on animals for many different purposes. This has the potential to lead to a multitude of diverse ethical issues. Members of the British Society of Animal Science and authors of papers submitted to the Society for publication come from countries around the world and therefore are subject to differences in legislative requirements and recommendations regarding animal experimentation. These legal requirements, along with the ethical implications of the research must be fully considered before any experimental work is undertaken.

Little information is available on digestion of the non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) fraction of fibrous feeds in equines. Two studies were conducted which examined the in vivo apparent digestibilities of proximate constituents and NSP in ponies offered diets based on botanically diverse fibrous foodstuffs.

In study 1 (S1), three mature caecally-fistulated Welsh-cross pony geldings (266 kg LW) were used in a 3 x 3 latin square changeover design experiment consisting of three 21 day periods. Ponies were offered 4 kg dry matter (DM) per day of either unmolassed sugar beet pulp (USBP), hay cubes (HC) or a 2:1 mix of oat hulls:naked oats (OHNO) plus minerals in 2 equal meals per day. After completion of S1 the same 3 ponies were used in study 2 (S2) where they were offered 4 kg DM/day of a 50:50 mix of USBP:HC (USHC) plus minerals fed as in S1 for a 21 day period.

In Iran, Javan (2001) has reported the digestibility some arid rangelands plants by bovine rumen liquor. The determination of in vivo digestibility of wheat straw implies that camel apparently digested poor quality roughages more than cattle and sheep (Cianci et al., 2004). Therefore, It is required to measure the in vitro digestibility of herbages by camel rumen liquor. In province of yazd, nutritive value of 11 different plant species for camel were determined (Towhidi, 2007). The objectives of the current study were to determine 1) the chemical composition, gross energy of the most consuming plant species from rangeland of Semnan province including Seidlitzia rosmarinu, Tamarix tetragyna, Tamarix strica, Halostachys spp, Saudea fruticosa., Alhagi camelorum, Haloxylon ammondendron., Salsola arbescola, Hammada salicornica and, 2) in vitro digestibility of the plants by camel rumen liquor.

A number of fibrolytic enzyme preparations have been shown to increase the rate and extent of fermentation of alfalfa fractions (Colombatto et al., 2000a). However, responses to enzyme addition have been mixed and several factors are believed to be involved. Among these, specific enzyme activities and application rates are very important. The present study examined a commercial enzyme preparation already established as effective, for its ability to increase the rate and extent of in vitro fermentation of alfalfa stems, when applied at different levels.

Wheat is a major source of energy and may account for over 50% of the pig's diet. Although there are differences in the energy and protein content of different cultivars of wheat, these factors have not been correlated with differences in the growth of pigs (Bell and Anderson 1984). The objectives of this trial were to compare the growth performance of young pigs offered diets differing only in the cultivar of wheat used and to establish whether variation in growth could be explained by other chemical or physical properties of the wheat.

72 crossbred (Large White x Landrace x Large White) pigs were selected at weaning at a mean age of 24 days and mean weight of 7.86 kg. They were allocated by weight in pairs in a randomized block design to one of six dietary treatments in 6 replicates and over three time periods.

Rumen protozoa population is reduced when ruminant are feed with foliage from some tropical trees an effect attributed to both saponins (Diaz et al., 1992) and tannins (Odenyo et al., 1997a). As PEG binds to tannins, it has been used to reduce its deleterious effect in animals feed tanniferous trees (Makkar et al., 1998). In a companion summary (Monforte et al., 2005) we showed that using PEG the defaunating capacity of a tanniferous tree is reduced. The objective of the present study was to assess if adding PEG to a protozoa culture will help to separate the tannin and saponin effect upon the protozoa population.

Recently, the automatic in vitro gas production techniques (e.g. Cone. 1994; Theodorou et al., 1994) have been developed to study rumen fermentation kinetics. Many approaches have been taken. This work investigates the suitability of different methods for estimating the rumen fermentation of two starch rich feedstuffs.