Organic and inorganic Se supplementation would be useful for producers who raise animals in Se-deficient regions. There is higher efficiency of L-selenomethionin (Se-Met) than the sodium selenite (SS) supplement. The kids with adequate levels of Se obtain more maternal antibodies in colostrum. Both Se supplementations in pregnant goats improved Se status of goats and the newborn kids. The Se-Met supplement could have influenced passive immunity of kids.

The candidate-gene approach could identify genes influencing the superovulatory response. The study was to analyse associations between the number of embryos recovered and polymorphisms of LHβ and GnRHR genes and showed that two SNPs had significant effects on the number of embryos recovered. LHβ and GnRHR genes are potential markers for the number of embryos recovered.

We analysed the effect of body condition at calving (BCS) on endocrine and metabolic profiles during the transition period in primiparous Hereford cows grazing native grassland. Cows with a BCS of 4 or higher showed higher metabolic resilience during transition periods associated with BCS evolution, IGF-I levels and changes in NEFA profiles. These patterns reflected the short- and long-term cow nutritional history.

The effect of body condition score at calving, suckling restriction and flushing on metabolic and reproductive responses of primiparous beef cows were investigated. Suckling and flushing affected metabolic endocrine profiles temporarily. The increase in insulin and IGF-I by flushing depended on the body condition score at calving, which was consistent with reproductive outcomes.

Production of canola seed is increasing in the United States and alternate uses for seeds other than oil may be necessary in the future. On-farm use of whole canola seed for ruminant livestock production is discussed, but little is known regarding necessary processing to optimise digestion in grazing cattle. Grinding of whole canola seed should provide a viable protein supplement that requires minimal processing before feeding.

Yolk hormones play an important role in the regulation of offspring development through maternal effects. In this study, we aimed to determine whether the enzyme 3βHSD1 has an effect on yolk progesterone; we found that 3βHSD1 in the follicular wall may play a key role in the accumulation of yolk progesterone. This finding may be used to improve the quality of offspring by further research.

The combination of medicinal plants and probiotics is a new possibility for addition to cattle feed supplements, as it provides complementary antioxidant and antimicrobial activities and lacks side effects. This study aimed to ferment Alisma canaliculatum with multi-strain probiotics and investigate its effects on Hanwoo steers. Alisma canaliculatum probiotics showed a potential role in improving growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat oxidative stability of beef cattle.

Short-term elevated nutrition around mating is a potential means of increasing the number of lambs born to ewes. This study showed that ewes grazing live pasture for 7 days before and during the first 7 days of mating in autumn can produce more lambs than those grazing dead herbage. This method provides a simple, natural means of increasing lamb production.

Three tropical browse legumes were assayed in vitro to estimate the proportion of the response in different parameters when tannins are inactivated with polyethylene glycol (biological effect). Tannins differing in their amount or chemical nature may have different biological effect and this may be an easy and rapid index of the microbial fermentation pattern of tropical feeds.

Automatic monitoring of farm animals could be a useful tool in large-scale husbandry. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between pig activity and environmental parameters in a piggery by means of image analysis. Climate variations affected occupation and activity indices of animals, which could be used as indicators of the of pigs’ physiological status change in response to external inputs.

Feeding high amounts of supplements to grazing dairy cows as a mixed ration containing maize grain can increase milk production responses compared to traditional systems of feeding supplements. An experiment showed that cows fed PMR had higher ruminal pH than cows fed grain and silage separately, but that this did not result in any changes to whole tract digestibility. Benefits of PMR systems are presumably related to increased intake of both supplement and pasture rather than improvements in digestibility.

Commercial producers should access available crossbreeding systems using existing swine breeds before application. In this study, the profits of terminal, rotational and rotaterminal cross were evaluated using three imported swine breeds in south-western China, and their profits were ￥3895.15, 3749.02 and 3317.33/sow, respectively. The results suggested terminal cross or rotaterminal cross should maximise effective use of heterosis and breed complementarity in China.

Starvation/mismothering is a major cause of lamb loss in the early neonatal period and is related to the ability of the ewe–lamb unit to maintain contact during this time. This study investigates whether Merino lambs from sires selected for high or low loss due to starvation/mismothering differ in lamb vigour, particularly at a time when the ewe would be moving away from the birth site and ewe–lamb contact would need to be maintained. Differences in lamb vigour at this time could help to explain why some sires have consistently high losses due to starvation/mismothering and have potential to be used as a selection tool.

Supplementation of poultry diets with selenium is becoming a common practice to sustain bird health and boost production. In this study we compared two organic selenium sources (selenohomolanthionine and selenomethionine) in relation to growth performance, nutrient utilisation, oxidative stress and selenium tissue concentrations. While the birds performed similarly irrespectively of the two sources of selenium used, the ones supplemented with selenohomolanthionine had higher selenium concentration in muscle tissue, therefore selenium-enriched chicken meat might provide an important delivery system for this trace element to humans.

Aggression in pigs is a serious issue in pig farming since it poses enormous welfare and economic problems. This study aimed to use acoustic-reward learning as a new approach to reduce the incidence of aggression among pigs. The presented method showed some potential to reduce the frequency and duration of aggressive actions among young piglets.

Milk harvesting is a fundamental component of dairy farming and affects all parts of the business from cows to people and financial performance. Previous researchers have investigated strategies to improve the efficiency of different components of milking, without quantifying the effect that these strategies, or combinations of them, may have on the overall milking system. This study analysed the effect of rotary size, platform speed, cluster attachment time, milk yield and end-of-milking criteria on cow throughput, operator efficiency and return on investment.

Different systems for feeding high amounts of supplements to grazing dairy cows were compared. Feeding supplements on a feedpad as a mixed ration containing canola meal can have milk-production advantages over feeding grain in the dairy at milking times. This information will be important for farmers needing to feed high amounts of supplements because of climate variability.

There is potential for lamb to be promoted as a meat-based functional food. Carnitine from lamb has been found to reduce the liver fat content of rats. Meat-based functional foods are being seen as an opportunity to improve the ‘image’ of meat as a healthy product.

Qualitative behavioural assessment (QBA) has been used to quantify the expressive behaviour of pregnant ewes at varying body condition score. Animals were assessed through QBA during a feed motivation test. Ewes maintained at BCS 3 scored low on GPA dimension 1 (i.e. were described as more calm/bored/comfortable) compared with ewes that had a slow declining BCS (described as more interested/anxious/excited).

High stocking densities can have adverse effects on the welfare of broiler chickens. The effects of stocking density and perch availability on the growth, behaviour, and health characteristics of broilers were investigated. The results suggest that perches have a limited effect on the performance, behaviour, and welfare of broilers stocked at high densities. The improvement of broiler welfare needs an all-encompassing solution rather than a modification of any single facility.

Weaning and improved feeding of weaned Bali cattle can improve cash flow of smallholder farming households in eastern Indonesia. This experiment aimed to evaluate feeding strategies to increase growth of weaned Bali cattle that may be implemented in village cattle production systems. Feeding certain tree legumes to weaned Bali cattle can increase liveweight gain and potentially increase household cash flow.

Applied participatory research on large-ruminant health and production was conducted in northern Lao PDR to establish baseline production variables, including liveweight, average daily weight gain and reproductive performance. The study indicated that improved large-ruminant productivity, by improving health and nutrition practices, offers opportunities for smallholders to increase livestock income, reduce rural poverty and enhance regional food security.

Vitamin D₃ and strontium have been closely aligned in human therapeutics for the treatment of osteoporosis. Consequently, a broiler experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of feeding various concentrations of vitamin D₃ with or without strontium on chicken performance, mineral retention, and bone composition. High levels of vitamin D depressed growth and feed efficiency but this was alleviated by the addition of strontium. Vitamin D and strontium together increased mineral retention but not bone mass. Further research needs to be undertaken.

Goats are a largely untapped resource for the production of leather, an industry that is important for the economic development of many countries. Determination of skin characteristics which are important in leather production would help to improve quality. The results of this study showed that age and sex were more important than the type of goats on skin and leather traits.

Autochthonous cattle breeds have been replaced by more productive cosmopolite breeds to maximise dairy and beef production. This study achieved positive results regarding beef production traits of Slovenian autochthonous Cika bulls compared to Simmental bulls fed two finishing diets. Farmers should finish their Cika male stocks for beef production to conserve this genetic resource and increase the energy density of the traditional grass-based diets.

High quality maize is crucial raw material in modern chicken nutrition. This study examined the effect of maize endosperm hardness, drying temperature, and enzyme addition on chicken performance and nutrient utilisation. The results suggest that maize endosperm hardness and high drying temperature can negatively influence nutrient utilisation. Blends of phytase and xylanase have potential as a tool to improve the nutritional value of overheated maize.

It is well established that broilers show better performance when offered pelleted diets. This study examined the growth responses of broiler finishers to changes in pellet size, and showed that while broilers express a preference for a smaller pellet diameter, there is no negative effect of pellet length on performance. This approach suggests that only the manipulation of pellet length may be used to improve broiler production.

Poor post-weaning survival of sheep in Australia is an important problem but its variation across different production systems is not well described. In this survey of weaner management of 1410 woolgrowers, average weaner mortality was 4.6%, but 44% of farms overall, including 32% of crossbred enterprises, exceeded the recommended mortality benchmark.  However, farm and management factors were identified that could be manipulated to improve survival, in accordance with the findings of smaller, regional studies

There is growing interest in converting castor cake to alternative feed sources for ruminants due to the nutritional content of this byproduct. Although the effects of castor cake feeding on livestock reproduction are not well understood, this study found that detoxified castor cake could be used as an alternative protein source without affecting goat reproductive performance. The findings from this study should provide information on alternative methods for reducing the costs of small ruminant feed.

Use of genomic data for estimation of breeding value in rams can considerably increase the accuracy of selection of sheep for increased profitability. In this study we found the accuracy of genomic prediction for weight, muscle, fat and wool traits to be moderate to high in Merinos and moderate in terminal and maternal sheep breeds. These results provide confidence to use genomic selection in sheep breeding.

Millrun, a by-product of wheat milling, is a low-cost ingredient that could be better utilised in pig diets. Millrun inclusion in diets for weaner pigs is generally restricted to 5–10% because of its high fibre content. This study showed that the inclusion level could be increased to 50% without compromising pig performance, if diets are formulated appropriately. Liquid feeding of diets increased feed conversion ratio, but adding enzymes to degrade fibre and improve its digestibility did not improve performance.

Presently, the worldwide poultry industry is experiencing difficulties in maintaining production costs, especially pertaining to energy and protein sources.The effects of Musca domestica (common house fly) larvae meal on the meat quality of broiler chickens were investigated. It was concluded that the inclusion of larvae meal into the diets of broilers will have positive rather than any detrimental effects on most carcass, meat and sensory characteristics.

Low birthweight pigs tend to have a much lower chance of survival than their larger litter mates due to competition for milk which can lead to starvation. This study determined the lysine requirement of pigs weaned at 1-2 days of age and fed a liquid diet. Definition of nutrient requirements will lead to improved formulation of liquid diets for rearing low birthweight pigs to increase piglet survival and promote rapid growth rate to weaning.

Insulin secretion is associated with the type of feeding regime and this may influence body composition. This study investigated the effect of ad libiutm or twice daily feeding on the growth performance, efficiency and body composition in grower-finisher pigs. Feeding pigs twice daily aligned insulin secretion to feeding and may improve feed efficiency and reduce carcass fat.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the application of image analysis for Japanese Black cattle in Australia (Australian JB). Image analysis traits showed favourable characteristics for data analysis and indicated possibility of improving for marbling. We conclude that image analysis could be an effective method for improving the marbling of the Australian JB.

Transgenic goats are usually obtained by DNA microinjection, which is still an inefficient technique but the possibility of detecting differences among embryo donor breeds to improve its success may provide real benefits. Two breeds (Canindé vs Saanen) were compared to produce pronuclear embryos for further microinjection and transfer to recipients. It was possible to develop an efficient protocol to obtain transgenic goats using the Canindé breed.

Increasing the forage conversion efficiency of livestock is a possible response to reduced forage supply due to changing climates across southern Australia. Modelling analyses indicate that breeding for greater fleece growth in sheep and for larger body size in cattle are effective genetic adaptation options; increasing conception rates was less effective. Genetic improvement of livestock was less effective at drier locations where the need for adaptation is likely to be greatest.

Sheep are joined at different seasons to supply the year-round demand from domestic and export lamb markets. Lambing performance was generally higher from crossbred ewes joined in autumn than spring, with winter being intermediate, although there were significant ewe breed x season interactions. Ewe genotypes with higher out-of-season reproduction will be more suited to intensive and accelerated lamb production systems.

Gastrointestinal nematodes limit the production of goats and sheep but there are few reliable sources of information for recommending management practices across flocks. We aimed to determine the effects of mixed grazing of goats with sheep and increasing the stocking rate of goats and sheep on the level of gastrointestinal parasitism. Mixed grazing with goats resulted in beneficial effects for sheep but mixed grazing with sheep provided beneficial or harmful effects for goats, depending on the stocking rate.

Pig production contributes up to 41% of the total income of households in North Vietnam. In this experiment, Duroc and stress-negative Piétrain sires were used to produce fattening pigs under household conditions in Vietnam. The results show that use of Piétrain boars does not affect reproduction performance, growth rate, or meat quality; however, lean meat percentage of Piétrain-sired pigs was higher than that of Duroc-sired pigs. This suggests that the use of stress-negative Piétrain boars as terminal sires would improve lean meat under household conditions in North Vietnam.

Artificial insemination in goats is a technique that has not been fully transferred in rustic goat farms under extensive management systems. The present study was conducted to clarify the effect of different factors on fertility after insemination in goats reared under commercial conditions. Farm, age, group size, transcervical insemination, number of previous kidding and milk production presented a significant effect on fertility, so that it is difficult to control all the critical aspects of artificial insemination at a farm level.

If farmers know the average liveweight of their flocks they may be able to manage their sheep for improved production and profits. This study investigated whether walk-over weighing (WOW), a remote weighing concept, could provide sufficiently reliable flock average liveweight information to aid flock management. Results show that, over a 5-day time period, WOW could reliably provide flock liveweight estimates within 2 kg, which we deem reasonable, in terms of accuracy and timeliness, for application in a commercial context.

The option of using probiotics as an alternative to antibiotics in raising pigs is receiving attention. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of dietary probiotics on weaned piglets and the results suggested that dietary probiotics benefited growth performance and immune functions at the early stage of the post-weaning period in piglets. This could satisfy consumer’s demand for safe feed additives.

Artificial insemination is widespread in the Australian sheep industry so it is important to know if lamb mortality is comparable as with natural mating. This project showed that lamb mortality was similar to natural mating at around 20% with dystocia and starvation-mismothering accounting for 72% of lamb deaths. Therefore artificial insemination can be validly used for sheep reproduction studies.

The essential oils of some plants can alter rumen fermentation, which in turn enhances the efficiency of nutrient utilisation for ruminants. In this study, the effect of different doses of essential oils extracted from two medicinal plants on rumen fermentation was evaluated. Each essence had a different mode of action in altering the rumen fermentation.

Food security is of increasing importance in the Greater Mekong Subregion, where smallholder farmers operating mixed farming systems have an opportunity to meet a regional growing demand for red meat. Using a systems and knowledge based approach, cattle health and husbandry interventions led to significant improvements in smallholder cattle production. Improving livestock production offers a pathway to reduce regional food insecurity and rural poverty simultaneously.

Perennial ryegrass is the most common species used for grazing dairy systems; however, well managed permanent fertilised pastures may represent a more economical and sustainable alternative. An in vitro trial was carried out in order to assess in vitro fermentation of permanent pastures. Nutrient digestibility, ruminal fermentation products and microbial protein synthesis of well managed permanent pastures were similar to perennial ryegrass.

Dietary fatty acids have profound physiological effects on the in utero development and post-partum performance of animals. This study investigated the effect of feeding one of three types of fatty acids (saturated, n-3 or n-6 polyunsaturated) on the growth and performance of gilt progeny. Modifying the type of fat fed to gilts and their progeny may have significant effects on the growth and performance of pigs.

Although there has been research on cow–calf interactions, there has been very little work done on the changes in social interactions between cows as they calve. The present study determined whether cows with calves (maternal cows) and pregnant cows had different social preferences. The results showed that maternal cows associated more than non-maternal cows. Quantifying and understanding the group social associations of maternal cows has implications for deriving better knowledge of conditions that lead to improved calf survival.

For the treatment of flystrike, the use of a threshold method where a certain percentage of the flock are struck before treatment occurs was compared with the use of a fixed application date. Modelling showed that using a threshold method could improve savings for regions with a longer strike period, and indicate whether to treat or not in regions of low strike risk.

A sustainable novel protein source obtained from larvae of insects to convert waste from food factories was tested in broiler feeds. It was found that this protein source can be used in conjunction and instead of fishmeal and/or soya. No ill effects were observed in the birds and production results were similar or better than those for fishmeal and better than for soya in all instances.

This feeding study is the third of a series where grain sorghum was hammer-milled through differing screen sizes prior to its incorporation into steam-pelleted broiler diets. The influence of sorghum particle size, as dictated by hammer-mill screen size, on growth performance and nutrient utilisation of broiler chickens offered pelleted diets was more profound than anticipated. Therefore, more attention should be paid to sorghum particle size in practice.

Residual feed intake (RFI) is a measure of feed efficiency for genetic improvement in cattle and correlated with feed conversion ratio (FCR). Our study of expression of RFI-associated genes demonstrated that RFI was not affected by increased FCR with hormonal growth implants. The assumed action mechanism of protein turnover by HGP has little effect on RFI and RFI-associated gene expression.

The conservation and improvement of characteristics through reproduction of native cattle breeds such as Mexican Criollo is of great importance. Differences exist between reproductive functions of Criollo females and those of other cattle breeds. Specific techniques of reproductive management, such as artificial insemination procedures, may be applied to Criollo females in genetic improvement programs.

Livestock activities in Mexico have changed over the past 40 years because of increased demand for milk. The aim of this work was to estimate and compare GHG emissions from Mexican dairy cows during 1970–2010. Although GHG emissions in absolute terms increased in the past 40 years, emission intensity decreased due to higher level of production.

An emerging remote weighing system, namely walk-over weighing (WOW), provides the potential to monitor liveweight of sheep for better, timelier nutritional management. The current study investigated whether the frequency and repeatability of WOW weights were sufficient to provide reliable information for farmers to make decisions on individual sheep. Results suggest that the frequency and repeatability of WOW is, generally, insufficient for estimating the liveweight of individual sheep confidently, but may suffice to estimate the liveweight of the flock

Long transportation of animals (24 h) can have a detrimental effect on animal welfare and product quality. Forty lambs were transported for 24 h and compared with 40 lambs transported for 1 h to assess consequences on animal welfare and meat quality. Results on fecal cortisol metabolites and drinking patterns show that long transportation in lambs should be considered more in terms of animal welfare than product quality, where few effects were found.

Goose production has been expanding in China, but low reproduction efficiency has limited genetic improvement and production. Identification and culling of subfertile ganders is an effective method to improve production efficiency that has received considerable attention. Here we propose a diagnostic method for gander selection that we feel will be relevant to physiologists, geneticists, poultry breeders and others involved in waterfowl production.

Body temperature monitoring used in research on animal stress could help to prevent dark-cutting meat. A significant negative correlation was detected between elevation in core body temperature due to physical stress of sheep and muscle glycogen levels at slaughter. Changes in body temperature pre-slaughter in lambs show a potential for enabling prediction of muscle glycogen levels and dark-cutting post-slaughter, and to propose changes in protocols of animal handling.

Summer heat stress lowers fertility in cattle in hot environments by influencing oocyte quality, follicular activity and progesterone (P4) level in blood plasma. However, the mechanisms by which elevated temperature influences corpus luteum function remain unclear. The results of this study suggest that elevated temperature does not negatively affect luteal function, and that the low fertility observed during summer is not due to a direct effect of elevated temperature on luteal cells.

Meat and bone meal (MBM), an important by-product of the meat industry, is the ground, rendered remainder of farm animals after removal of the hide and meat but most is insoluble, which limits its usefulness. Defatted, milled porcine MBM was subjected to saturating amounts of trypsin, a selective protease, and subtilisin, a protease with broad selectivity. The hydrolysates are useful for a variety of food and non-food uses.

Beef producers are sometimes unsure whether dingoes cause significant calf loss. This paper compares calf loss in pregnancy-tested herds pastured in baited and unbaited areas on the same properties and finds that more frequent and greater calf loss occurs where dingoes are baited. Baiting appears to be unnecessary most years and counter-productive in those years when calf loss does occur.

The present paper reports on a genetic study to identify indicator traits that are heritable and genetically correlated with breech strike in a Mediterranean environment. Dags, urine stain and neck wrinkle have been identified as indicator traits with the best potential to breed sheep indirectly for resistance to breech strike in a Mediterranean environment without the need to challenge animals directly with blowflies.

This study investigated the effects of increasing the substitution of chopped lucerne hay for 10, 20 or 30% of maize silage on feed intake, rumen pH and fermentation, digestibility, milk production, and feed efficiency of dairy cows in a long term period. We hypothesised that the cow responses would vary with differing ratios of lucerne hay to maize silage in the dairy cow diet. Results indicated that increasing lucerne hay in the place of maize silage did not alter chewing and rumen fermentation, but negatively impacted feed intake and milk production.

Cows are capable of producing 200–600 L per day of the greenhouse gas methane, an amount greater than the pollution produced daily by a family-sized car. In a laboratory experiment, we have demonstrated that some inhibitors of methane production are more effective for a cow-diet containing silage and barley than for a diet containing grass only. The present study highlighted the importance of using different feed types when assessing the methane-reduction potential of feed additives.

The nutrtive value of the South American native legumes Adesmia bicolor and A. macrostachya was studied at vegetative, flowering and seeding stages, compared with alfalfa at 10% flowering. A. bicolor showed a high nutritive value, even higher than that of alfalfa, which was not markedly affected by its maturity stage, whereas the nutritive value of A. macrostachya reduced as it matured.

Homofermentative lactic acid bacteria can induce aerobic deterioration of corn silages. In this experiment applications of inoculants including both homo- and heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria improved the silage quality and prevented yeast development. Due to dominance of heterolactic fermentation in matured high dry matter corn crops, inoculating such crops with this inoculant for long time period may cause a great improvement in aerobic stability.

Although all stunning procedures are not totally comfortable from the animal’s point of view, penetrative stunning is less noxious and more effective in inducing insensibility when compared to non-penetrative stunning. The study determined the effects of different mechanical stunning methods on stress-related hormones and electroencephalographic reactions in beef cattle. The method of stunning may have profound impact on the welfare of animals during slaughter.

Dietary calcium binds with phytate reducing the availability of phytate-phosphorus, minerals, amino acids and energy. This study investigated and demonstrated feeding broilers low calcium diets and a separate source of calcium improved the availability of phytate-phosphorus, minerals and amino acids while maintaining skeletal integrity. Separating the intake of calcium from phytate may reduce phytate-calcium interactions improving nutrient availability and bird performance.

The interaction between protein and phospholipids is a widespread phenomenon involving several physiological events in postmortem muscle. A novel phosphatidylcholine-binding (PC-binding) protein in duck Biceps femoris muscle was purified and characterised. The PC-binding protein has a potential role in the lipolysis of phospholipid, maintenance of membrane integrity and improvement of meat quality.