Enhanced economic sustainability may be achievable by upland beef farmers if they could finish weaned suckled calves on-farm using purchased feeds, rather than selling store animals. The objectives of this study were to examine voluntary feed intake, growth rate and carcass slaughter parameters of weaned bulls from an upland suckler herd finished intensively from approximately 9 months of age using a cereal-based ration.

Meat from Holstein-Friesian bulls, which are bred for dairy traits, is generally regarded as low quality and is usually destined for the commodity (mince) market. However, given their ready availability as a by-product from the dairy herd, it is important to determine if meat from these animals would be suited to higher-priced markets. Furthermore, meat from bulls is generally considered to be lower quality than that from steers, though there is a paucity of data comparing meat from both sources. Hence, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of slaughter weight on meat quality characteristics of Holstein-Friesian bulls and steers offered a cereal-based ration.

Lameness is a major economic and welfare issue in horses and cattle. Many factors contribute to the cause of lameness. The composition of hoof horn is one of the factors which determines the integrity and strength of the cornified epidermis of the wall and sole. Although keratins are an important component of hoof horn, other constituents such as lipids also contribute to the functional and structural integrity of the horn. In only one study has any attempt been made to quantify the major lipid classes in the equine hoof (Wertz and Downing, 1984).The objective of this study was to characterise the lipid composition of equine hoof horn.

Most indoor sows in Denmark and the UK continue to farrow in crates. Before farrowing, sows are highly motivated to nest-build and gilts farrowing in crates without straw have an especially large stress response over the nest-building period (Jarvis et al., 1997). In non-crated sows, the inability to nest-build affects the subsequent maternal behaviour of the sow after farrowing (Herskin et al., 1999). This study aimed to determine whether supplying straw before farrowing increased the anti-crushing and anti-predator behaviour of the crated sow after farrowing and improved piglet survival.

Lambs from a Finnish Landrace flock at Moredun Research Institute are frequently affected by a diarrhoea which does not respond to anthelmintic. Three different drugs have been used (levamisole, albendazole and ivermectin) and there is no history of drug resistance at the site. By the normal rules of differential diagnosis, nematodiasis would be ruled out as a cause of the diarrhoea. However, seasonal, year-to-year and apparent breed differences in incidence led to the suggestion that outbreaks in autumn were caused by hypersensitive immune responses to the continuous ingestion of infective nematode larvae (Suttle, 1994). To maintain the nematode connection and distinguish the condition from those associated with anthelmintic resistance, it was described as an anthelmintic unresponsive diarrhoea (AUD). If the proposed aetiology is correct, one would expect hoggs to be affected in their second year of exposure to nematodes while lactating ewes with relaxed immunity might be less vulnerable. Furthermore, administration of anthelmintic in a slow release bolus might control AUD where monthly drenching failed.

Maize silage consists of a starch and a fibrous fraction, both of which should be considered when assessing nutritive value. The in vitro evaluation of starch disappearance is laborious and costly. The near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) technique requires limited sample preparation and is quick to operate once a calibration is established. This study investigated the potential of NIRS to predict maize starch disappearance in vitro.

In vitro gas systems characterise substrate degradation by estimating fermentation gas release over time. However, as this offers little information regarding feedstuff utilisation, the extent of organic matter degradation (OMD) must be measured to provide an estimate of the metabolizable end-products (VFA and microbial protein) produced. Systems where capacity is limited use either an incubation end-point derived partitioning factor (PF) to estimate degradation from gas or attempt to model OMD stoichiometrically from VFA analyses or assumed gas / VFA relationships. These estimates contain numerous errors. For instance the PF is not constant and the stoichiometric calculations used assume that all OM degraded is carbohydrate composed of hexose sugars. A further potential error is the estimate of the proportion of released gas that originates from VFA neutralisation, as this varies with buffer composition and both proportion and rate (i.e. concentration) of VFA production.

Commercially, restricting dietary nitrogen intake in breeding sows of lean genotype may be desirable. Reducing protein intake whilst maintaining high energy levels will result in limited lean tissue growth and promote fat accretion. This would be beneficial in ensuring more back fat reserves for lactation and reducing nitrogen pollution of the environment. However lowered protein levels during lactation have been shown to result in a negative nitrogen balance and extended weaning to oestrus intervals (King and Williams, 1984). In this experiment trans-rectal ultrasonography was used to assess any detrimental effects of protein restriction on ovarian activity in non lactating sows.

The ASL (Local Sanitary Agency) dog pound in Milan is a sanitary structure where stray dogs (dogs which have run away from their owners, abandoned dogs and free ranging dogs) are housed after being found. Dogs cannot be adopted during the first 10 days. After this period, dogs stay in the same structure if space is available (and can be adopted), otherwise they are put in private kennels for unlimited time. Only dogs which are seriously sick or proved to be aggressive and dangerous can be put down through euthanasia (Law 281/91). When an adopted dog is brought back to the pound, the adoptive owner is asked to fill in a questionnaire. However, not everyone accepts to do so.

The aim of this study is to understand: a) the reasons why dogs adopted from the pound are then left again; b) what influences the owner’s decision to leave their pet; c) if the decision is linked to problems caused by the dog or to the owner’s choice.

Providing high levels of nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) in ruminant diets tends to change fermentation lowering rumen pH and reduce milk fat content. Balancing readily available N and energy-yielding carbohydrate may enhance microbial growth rate, alter fermentation and fibre digestion in the rumen, which subsequently may have an impact on nutrient supply to host animal. Therefore, the objective of this study was to measure the effects of dietary nonstructural carbohydrate and protein level on intake, ruminal fermentation and performance of dairy cows using cassava as main energy source.

Forty-two crossbred cows (60.9% Holstein Friesian, 26.8% Danish Red, 10.2% Red Sindi) at a mean of 71.0 ± 28.5 days in milk (DIM) with a pre-treatment milk yield of 13.2 ± 2.2 kg/d and a BW 373.1 ± 33.4 kg. Cows were tethered in stalls and randomly allocated to receive one of six total mixed ration (TMR) on ad-lib basis. Isocaloric diets (ME 11.2 MJ/kg) were formulated to contain Ruzi grass silage and a concentrate mix (20:80 ratio) containing NSC (30, 35, 40%) in combination with 2 levels of crude protein (15.7, 18.4%).

Compared with conventional indoor rations, consumption of grazed grass by cattle improved the fatty acid profile of beef, by increasing the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) concentrations and decreasing the n-6:n-3 PUFA ratio (French et al., 2000). Supplementation of grazing cattle with sunflower oil (S), increased the concentration of CLA in muscle but also increased the n-6: n-3 PUFA ratio (Noci et al., 2006). Supplementation with fishoil (F), a source of long-chain n-3 PUFA might decrease this ratio while enhancing CLA synthesis. However, increasing the concentration of PUFA, particularly the long-chain PUFA, may predispose muscle lipids and pigments to oxidation, with consequent impairment of lipid and colour stability. The objectives were to determine the effect of supplementation of grazing cattle with S and F on (i) tissue n-3 PUFA and CLA concentrations and (ii) the colour and lipid stability of beef.

Synchronisation between the rates of energy and nitrogen supply to the rumen microbes is considered important in terms of maximising the amount and efficiency of rumen microbial protein synthesis (Chamberlain and Choung, 1995). As part of a research programme examining the effects of diets which have been formulated to be asynchronous or synchronous with respect to the potential hourly supply of energy and nitrogen to the microbial fraction on gastro-intestinal tract metabolism, this study reports on the effects of these diets on rumen function, assessed in vitro, using Rumen Simulated Continuous Culture (RSCC).

Tree leaves are important fodders in many less developed countries, particularly in dry seasons when alternative feeds can be scarce. Although many leaves appear to be good quality fodders due to their generally high crude protein content, many contain anti-nutritive factors which reduce their nutritive value. Tannins are the most widespread of the anti-nutritive factors and are to be found in many tree species. An in vitro gas production method has been developed by Theodorou et al (1994) and applied to the ranking of tree leaf fodders (Wood et al, 1993). This paper combines data obtained from three separate pieces of work investigating the nutritive value of tree leaf fodders in Bolivia, West Africa and Colombia. It seeks to investigate relationships between in vitro gas production at various times of incubation and proximate composition, fibre and tannin content in order to identify which components are of particular importance in determining gas production characteristics and whether these relationships are consistent over a wide range of species from different sources.

It is considered that the rate of glucose uptake by the mammary gland is the main regulator of lactose synthesis (Threadgold and Kuhn, 1984) and hence the main factor determining milk production (Faulkner and Peaker, 1987). GLUT1 is the only glucose transporter that has been found in lactating mammary tissue (Burnol et al, 1990). The aim of this experiment was to determine whether GLUT1 mRNA could be detected in sow mammary tissue, to investigate how abundance of GLUT 1 mRNA in mammary tissue changed between late gestation, early lactation and established lactation, and to establish whether this was correlated with milk output and/or feed intake.

Sub clinical zinc deficiency has been suggested to be involved in disease conditions such as broken mouth periodontitis, footrot and mastitis. However, although there is little risk of primary deficiency in the UK. there are large areas around the Mediterranean. Northern Africa and North America that are reported to be deficient in zinc. Therefore a method that could deleiver a long term continuous supply of zinc would be beneficial in these situations. This trial was designed to examine zinc availability from a zinc, cobalt and selenium soluble glass bolus administered to zinc deficient lambs fed on a low zinc diet throughout the trial.

Energy and protein supply during the dry period can affect subsequent milk production and composition (Moorby et al., 1996). Grass silage is a common ingredient of dry cow diets, but although it is usually adequate in crude protein concentration (CP), a high proportion is frequently in non-protein forms. Red clover silage has shown interesting characteristics that would increase true protein supply to ruminants (Broderick et al., 2000), which could avoid the use of more expensive concentrate supplements. The objective of this experiment was to compare red clover and ryegrass silage when fed as the sole source of forage to dry cows with a diet comprising ryegrass silage and a protein supplement.

Blood concentrations of leptin have been associated, to varying degrees, with assorted measures of fat in mammalian species. In ruminants, 0.30, 0.35 and 0.37 of the variation in leptin levels in lambs (Blache et al., 2000), older (2-7 yr) multiparous ewes (Delavaud et al., 2000) and mature, late-lactation, dairy cows (Ehrhardt et al., 2000) was attributed to variation in fat as % of liveweight (LW), backfat thickness and body condition score (BCS) respectively while a strong correlation (R_a2=0.83) between leptin and fat as % of empty body weight (EBW) was found for growing Holstein bull calves by Ehrhardt et al. (2000). The objective of the current study was to determine if leptin could be usefully related to fat in multiparous dairy cows differing widely across stages of lactation.

Hill and Wilkinson (1997) found that the mean intake of soil+sludge DM by lambs grazing perennial ryegrass was 101g/kg total DM intake and Wilkinson et al (1996) observed accumulation of Pb in liver and kidney, but not in muscle tissue of housed lambs given grass diets containing 100 g/kg DM of soil mixed with sewage sludge and 900 g/kg DM dried grass. The aim of the trial was to assess the extent to which PTEs might accumulate in body tissues of lambs grazing grassland to which sludge had been applied over many years and where the soil contained concentrations of Cd which were close to the UK statutory limit for sludge-amended soil (3 mg/kg DM sampled to 25 cm depth; SI, 1989).

Labour constitutes a major and increasing cost on dairy farms, while at the same time, the availability of skilled labour is decreasing. In addition, younger farmers are placing an increasing emphasis on lifestyle. Consequently, there is an increased interest in milk production systems involving reduced labour inputs. In view of the fact that approximately 33% (O’Brien et al., 2002) of the daily labour input on dairy farms is associated with the milking routine (herding, milking and washing), the adoption of once daily milking would appear to offer considerable potential to reduce labour inputs. This study examined the effect of once-daily milking, in late lactation, on animal performance.

Vitamin E is an important nutrient for lambs and low levels in tissues as a result of either low intake, poor absorption or excessive utilisation results in myopathy (pale muscle). The causes of deficiency are incompletely understood, especially as it can occur when lambs are consuming good quality grass containing high levels of vitamin E. We now report an occurrence of low tissue levels of vitamin E in lambs of two breeds raised on complete dry pelleted rations and its effect on meat quality and fatty acid composition.

96 male lambs, half Suffolk x Lleyn and half Scottish Blackface, with average live weights of 24 kg and 18kg respectively were individually penned and randomly allocated to one of 6 isoenergetic isonitrogenous diets based on dried grass, molassed sugar beet pulp, soya bean meal and molasses and containing two levels of vitamin E, 100 (low) and 500 (high) g/kg DM.