The lambs production system in the South-European countries is characterised by producing light carcasses (< 13 kg) of young animals, less than 90 days old, and fed with the ewe milk and supplemented with concentrates. However, there is an increasing concern on the study of forage production system in growing lambs as a consequence of the interest in diversifying products and producing healthy and safe meat. When forage is included in the fattening diet a reduction of average daily gain is observed and carcasses have a lower degree of fatness, in comparison to the drylot system. The modification in the traditional type of carcass must be evaluated in order to assure that the final product meets the consumer demands. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of the lambs fattening system on the carcass characteristics and meat quality especially on the instrumental analysis traits as colour and texture.

Fresh rumen contents are the most common source of inoculum for use to estimate in vitro degradation of ruminant feeds. However, the need to routinely access fistulated or slaughtered cattle to obtain rumen contents limits the availability of such inoculum and hence the applicability of in vitro methods by the commercial laboratories. Therefore, it would be advantageous, if rumen contents are preserved in sufficient quantity and used as a source for inoculum for use when there is a need to do so to estimate degradability of ruminat feeds. This study compared the suitability of frozen rumen contents as a source of inoculum to estimate in vitro rumen degradation of rapeseed meal (rapeseed) and grass nuts at various times.

There has been interest in the enrichment of poultry meat with long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) as a means of increasing the low consumption of these acids by humans consuming western diets. There is some concern, however, that at high levels of consumption, n-3 PUFA may have detrimental effects on immune function. However, research to date shows that strong controversy surrounds this immunomodulation. The aim of this experiment was to determine the effects of dietary long chain PUFA on aspects of immune function in broiler chickens.

Reduced reproductive performance of dairy cows is a major challenge facing the dairy industry. Many potential replacement heifers fail to reach their first lactation because they are either born dead, die as juveniles, or fail to conceive. Perinatal mortality has previously been estimated across English herds as 7.8% (Esslemont & Kossaibati, 1996), whereas neonatal mortality in the UK has been estimated at 0 to 10% (reviewed by Mellor & Stafford, 2004). Calf mortality is often poorly documented and estimates that are available are possibly underestimated because a dead calf at birth is not always recorded at the farm level. Therefore, the objective of this study was to accurately calculate the incidence of perinatal and neonatal mortality of dairy calves on commercial farms in southern England.

Because ruminants make a significant contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, attempts are being made by dietary manipulation, to mitigate methane emissions without altering animal performance. Dietary fat supply may be a promising solution (Martin et al., 2008a). A first experiment has shown that increasing extruded linseed supply in a hay-based diet resulted in a decrease in methane production (Martin et al., 2007). A second experiment has been carried out using a maize silage-based diet and the same linseed supply. The present abstract summarises the results of both experiments.

The gas production (GP) technique has been established to estimate the rate and extent of rumen fermentation of feeds. Different types of apparatus have been developed to measure GP profiles, and these may have, an effect on the profiles observed. The aim of this experiment was to compare three such apparatus in terms of the GP profile obtained when all other aspects of the method were kept constant.

The efficiency of grass nitrogen utilisation for milk production tends to be low, due partly to the slow rate of release of energy in the rumen which reduces the efficiency of capture of rapidly degradable plant proteins by the rumen microbial population. When additional sugars are infused into the rumen, microbial protein production is increased (Rooke et al., 1987). The objective of this study was to assess milk production using a grass variety that has been bred to express elevated water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) concentrations.

Eight multiparous Holstein-Friesian dairy cows in mid lactation (176 days ± s.e. 3.6) were used in a continuous design, zero-grazing experiment. Following covariate measurements taken from all animals on a standard grazing diet, four animals were each offered one of two varieties of perennial ryegrass at ad libitum rate: AberDove, bred to express high WSC concentrations; and AberElan, a commercially available variety, used as a control.

Food eaten by a ruminant firstly undergoes microbial fermentation within the rumen. Nutritionally important characteristics of the food are the rate and extent of fermentation of its carbohydrate fraction, which can both be estimated using the in vitro gas production technique. The single greatest source of uncontrolled variation in any in vitro rumen fermentation system is the rumen fluid; curves produced from gas production data were influenced significantly by the variation in microbial activity between days (Menke and Steingass, 1988; Beuvink et al, 1992). A more reliable measure of rumen fluid activity is needed. The objective of this study was to determine whether the frequency of sampling of rumen fluid affected the microbial activity and subsequent fermentation.

The mixing of unfamiliar sows at weaning forces the establishment of dominance hierarchies, which frequently involves aggression (Kay et al, 1999). The objective of this study was to determine whether different stocking densities and pen shapes would reduce the incidence of aggression and levels of skin damage. The ultimate aim was to design a mixing pen which could be used to enhance the welfare of groups of newly-weaned sows.

Piglets with intact teeth suffer considerable damage to the skin of the face during establishment of the suckling hierarchy (Delbor et al., 2000). However, the direct and indirect damage caused by clipping can exceed the effects of these injuries (Noonan et al., 1994; Hutter et al., 1994). The objective of this study was to compare the behaviour of piglets with intact or clipped needle teeth and to discuss the welfare implications of any differences observed.

The excretion of purine derivatives (PD) in urine has been used as an index for the estimation of microbial nitrogen (N) supply in ruminants. This method is simple and does not require surgical intervention of the animal. However, there have been few attempts to compare the results of this method with other methods for the measurement of microbial N supply. In the present study, two experiments were performed. The main experiment (Experiment 2) compared the estimated duodenal microbial N flow based on urinary PD excretion, with the more direct measurement based on duodenal RNA flow rates obtained from cannulated sheep using n-alkanes as the digesta flow marker. However, a preliminary experiment (Experiment 1) was needed to validate the use of alkane as a digesta marker in comparison with the commonly accepted dual phase marker method of Faichney (1975).

Until recently, to enable accurate recording of feed intake, pigs were kept in individual pens. The advent of electronic feeders has allowed accurate records of feed intake and feeding patterns in group housing which is more similar to that found in the production environment. The objectives of this study were to estimate genetic parameters for these feeding pattern traits and their correlations with production traits to show potential benefits in selection.

The health benefits of consuming sufficient very long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLC n-3 PUFA) such as EPA (C20:5) and DHA (C22:6) are well established. A key supplier of these fatty acids is oil-rich fish, however a recent study relating to UK adults indicated that only 27% of the population consume oil-rich fish and current intakes of VLC n-3 PUFA are substantially sub-optimal (Givens and Gibbs, 2006). There is also evidence to indicate that in vivo conversion of alpha linolenic acid (C18:3 n-3) to EPA and DHA is limited and highlights the need for an increased supply of preformed EPA and DHA in the diet. The role of animal-derived foods in the supply of VLC n-3 PUFA has been identified and emphasis has been placed on the need to enrich foods such as poultry meat which are widely consumed in order to make a valuable contribution to the supply of EPA and DHA to those with low or zero oil-rich fish consumption. However the effect of age and gender on intakes remained unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of age and gender on oil-rich fish consumption.

The improvement of neonatal viability by maternal nutrition during gestation has been widely studied in numerous species. Recent investigations have explored the role of long chain omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs) in maternal diets during pregnancy. These are the major fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in particular, in brain and nervous tissue, with specific roles in neural development and cognitive function. Studies in monogastric species have shown that supplementing maternal gestation diets with EFAs positively influences neonatal survival and growth (Rooke et al., 2001), but work in ruminant species is scarce. Previous investigations have predominantly used fish oil as the source of omega-3 EFAs but alternative, more sustainable, sources are desirable. To date, the effect of period of inclusion of EFAs in gestation diets has not been thoroughly explored. The period of rapid brain growth in the ovine foetus occurs between 10 and 6 weeks prior to birth (Turley et al., 1996). This study explored the effects of feeding an algal source of EFAs, with a high content of DHA, during different time periods on measures of lamb viability.

There is a need to be able to measure the methane producing potential of a range of feedstuffs under different rumen conditions in order to predict more accurately the amount of methane produced per animal. In vitro techniques using rumen fluid as an innoculum can be considered as models of in vivo rumen digestion and have been applied to estimate digestibility of feedstuffs. The in vitro gas production technique (Menke et. al, 1979) can be used successfully to estimate this but there have been limited attempts to use it to estimate the methane producing potential of feedstuffs. The objective was to assess the potential of the technique to do this.

There is a paucity of information on the digestion and utilisation of feeds by horses. Currently, most diets are formulated according to NRC (1989) recommendations which assume digestibility coefficients: for example, a digestibility coefficient for crude protein of 0.46 is used for animals at maintenance compared with 0.55 for lactating mares. However, if the digestibility of diets is uncertain, then use of such assumed values could result in either the under- or over-supply of nutrients. Furthermore, knowledge of the site of digestion is important. For example, only dietary protein digested and absorbed in the proximal small intestine can be efficiently utilised by the horse and the digestion of carbohydrate in the foregut (in terms of ATP yield) is more efficient than its fermentation in the hind gut. Therefore, in order to formulate diets more precisely, it is important to know a) the site at which dietary components are degraded and b) the extent of this degradation. In the present study mobile bags were used to determine the extent of organic matter disappearance (OMD) and crude protein disappearance (CPD) from four botanically diverse feedstuffs in the foregut of caecally - fistulated ponies.

Increasing the ratio polyunsaturated:saturated fatty acids (P:S) in beef muscle by nutrition is hampered by the high levels of ruminal biohydrogenation of dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Effective ruminal protection of dietary fatty acids, such as that provided by encapsulation of PUFA in formaldehyde-treated protein may ameliorate this situation. This study evaluated the effects of including in the diet a ruminally protected lipid supplement (PLS), containing linoleic (C18:2) and α -linolenic (C18:3) acids, on the fatty acid composition of the m. longissimus.

Processed cereals are used routinely in diets for equines but little information is available on how physical processing affects the digestibility of cereals in equines. This study examines the effects of three physical processing methods (rolling, micronisation and extrusion) on the in vivo apparent digestibility of barley fed to ponies.

Three mature caecally-fistulated Welsh-cross pony geldings, (LW 284kg ± 3.8kg) were used in a 3 x 4 incomplete latin square changeover design experiment consisting of four 21 day periods. Each period comprised a sixteen day adaptation phase and a five day recording phase when apparent digestibility in vivo was determined. Ponies were offered 4kg dry matter (DM) per day of either 100% hay cubes (HC) or one of three diets consisting of a 50:50 barley:hay cubes mix. The barley in the mixed diets was either rolled barley (RB), micronised barley (MB) or extruded barley (EB). Diets were offered in 2 equal meals per day fed at 09:00 and 17:00 hours respectively.

Methane production represents an important sink for hydrogen within the rumen Beever (1993) suggested that the partitioning of fermentable dry matter (DM) between microbial synthesis and fermentation products would alter the pattern of hydrogen production and hence methanogenesis. This hypothesis was investigated in vitro using a range of diets varying in carbohydrate source (Moss et al., 2000). Methane production (moles) increased as the proportion of DM fermented to short chain fatty acids (SCFA) increased and this was related to decreasing water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) to cell wall (NDF) ratio of the diet. The objectives of the current study was to design diets with a range of WSC:NDF ratios and to measure the impact on hexose partitioning and methane production in sheep in vivo.

There has been considerable concern over the welfare of sows housed in farrowing crates due to the severe restriction of movement this imposes upon them. A number of alternative systems have therefore been developed which allow sows greater freedom of movement. The aim of this study was to compare the behaviour and performance of sows housed in conventional crates with sows housed in a group-house Thorstensson system.

A total of 18 Large White x Landrace sows were farrowed in crates or a group-housing Thorstensson system (balanced for parity and time of year). Two batches of seven were farrowed through the Thorstensson system of which five in each batch were selected for the current analysis (based on ease of observation). Thus a total of ten sows were analysed from the group-system (mean parity: 1.90 ± 0.40; 6 gilts). In addition eight sows were analysed from crates (mean parity 1.62 ± 0.26; 4 gilts).