Animal最新文献

{"title":"How does finishing duration on lucerne pasture influence the muscle and fat spectro-colorimetric properties and dorsal fat firmness in lambs?","authors":"S. Prache,&nbsp;B. Graulet,&nbsp;L. Rey-Cadilhac","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101361","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101361","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There are a number of differences in the meat and carcass quality traits between pasture-raised and concentrate-raised lambs that may further be used to trace back the diet, but the extent to which these differences are modulated by pasture-finishing duration is unknown. In this study, we investigated the changes in <em>longissimus thoracis et lumborum</em> muscle and fat spectrocolorimetric properties, and dorsal fat firmness, in lambs switched from a stall-fed concentrate-based diet to grazing on lucerne for various durations (0, 21, 42, 63 days) pre-slaughter. Stall-fed lambs from the different treatment groups were managed in a single group and lucerne pasture-finished lambs from the different treatment groups also co-grazed in a single group. The level of concentrate fed to stall-fed lambs was adjusted to maintain a similar mean pattern of growth between lucerne pasture-fed and stall-fed lambs. The trial used a total of 141 lambs over two successive years. Dorsal fat was firmer in lambs finished on lucerne pasture, even for the shortest finishing duration (21 days), the difference being of commercial importance. Dorsal fat colour and carotenoid content showed changes at 21 days on lucerne pasture but did not change further for longer lucerne pasture-finishing durations. In contrast, perirenal fat lightness, yellowness, chroma and carotenoid content showed changes at 21 days on lucerne pasture and increased consistently with lucerne pasture-finishing duration. Although these changes in fat spectrocolorimetric properties were not, or barely, visible to the naked eye, they could be of interest for authenticating the duration of lucerne pasture-finishing. Muscle redness increased consistently with the duration of lucerne pasture-finishing, the change becoming significant from 42 days on lucerne pasture and being visible to the naked eye. We observed a consistent decrease in muscle hue angle and perirenal fat redness and a consistent increase in perirenal fat hue angle with lucerne pasture-finishing duration, but these changes only became significant from 63 days on lucerne pasture. The pattern of change in the lamb carcass and meat quality traits measured according to lucerne pasture-finishing duration therefore varied between the tissues and quality traits.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"18 12","pages":"Article 101361"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142649698","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"“Should we just stop fighting the beast?”: Tackling the wicked problem of surplus dairy calf management using a participatory framework","authors":"S.E. Bolton ,&nbsp;K.E. Koralesky ,&nbsp;M.A.G. von Keyserlingk","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101359","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101359","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Early life killing of male and female dairy calves not needed as replacements for the lactating herd poses a threat to the social sustainability of the dairy industry. However, implementing sustainable alternatives to this common practice is a complex challenge exhibiting many characteristics of a ‘wicked problem’. Addressing these problems requires understanding the needs of a wide range of actors including farmers, their advisors, beef and dairy value chain stakeholders, the public, and the animals. The aim of this study was to describe how Australian dairy farmers and advisors understand the factors affecting surplus calf management and examine how this understanding changed following interventions where participants were exposed to community and value chain stakeholder perspectives. To achieve this, we utilized a participatory framework that included longitudinal focus groups, where the same groups were reconvened multiple times, periodically revisiting the same issue, as a practical method for achieving deliberative engagement. We analyzed participants’ responses before and after the interventions were applied using thematic analysis. Responses were organized into two themes: (1) economic and practical aspects of surplus calf management; and (2) social aspects of surplus calf management. We conclude that farmers and their advisors see surplus calf management as complex and without simple solutions. Farmers are faced with numerous challenges when it comes to breeding, rearing, and marketing calves for economically viable beef markets and are often impacted at a personal level by this burden. Participants often positioned the public as naïve to the plight of the farmer, requiring education to understand and accept farming practices. However, exposing participants to community views, particularly those which included some common ground with which participants could identify, resulted in some suggesting that preserving public trust may instead require adapting farming practices to align production systems with public values. In contrast, sharing value chain perspectives had less impact. Our findings indicate that participatory processes offer a promising approach for working toward sustainable management of surplus dairy calves in a local and global context.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"18 12","pages":"Article 101359"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142689570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nitrogen excretion and utilisation of dairy cows grazing temperate semi-natural grasslands","authors":"S. Perdana-Decker ,&nbsp;E. Velasco ,&nbsp;J. Werner ,&nbsp;U. Dickhoefer","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101358","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101358","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Diets reliant on grazed, temperate herbage are prone to greater nitrogen (<strong>N</strong>) losses via urine than balanced stall-fed diets which poses a greater risk for N emissions. Measures for improving the N utilisation in grazing-based dairy cattle systems are predominantly investigated on homogenous clover-ryegrass pastures with high herbage yields and nutritional quality. In contrast, grazing-based systems reliant on less external inputs (e.g., synthetic fertilisers or concentrates) using semi-natural grassland as main feed source, such as in large parts of Central Europe, received less attention. The N utilisation and excretion of grazing cows in low-input dairy farms were, thus, investigated on nine commercial organic dairy farms in South Germany across one to four periods per farm. The dataset captured a diverse set of dairy production systems comprising 323 individual animal observations. A mean (± one SD) milk production, DM intake (<strong>DMI</strong>), and pasture DMI of 23.9 kg (± 5.35), 21.0 kg (± 3.21), and 11.3 kg/d (± 4.83), respectively, was determined. Feed intake was estimated using titanium dioxide and faecal CP concentration as markers of faecal excretion and diet digestibility, respectively. Milk N use efficiency (<strong>MNE</strong>; i.e., milk N secretion as share of N intake) averaged 24.7 g/100 g N intake (± 5.91), which is greater than observations in temperate, high-input grazing systems but lower than in cows receiving balanced diets in the barn. The MNE and another seven indicators of N utilisation and excretion displayed a wide range of values. The grazing management factors explaining this variation were, thus, identified via backward elimination. The supplementation strategy had the greatest potential for manipulating N utilisation and excretion of dairy cows. Increasing shares of fresh forages (i.e., meadow grass or clover-grass leys) as well as of hay in supplement DMI increased N utilisation (e.g., MNE) and decreased urinary N excretion (e.g., urinary N to creatinine ratio), while increasing shares of concentrates in supplement DMI are related to lower N losses via urine. At the same time, increases in total supplement DMI reduced N utilisation and increased urinary N excretion. Hence, full-time grazing combined with supplementation of fresh forage and hay in the barn is a viable option for low-input, grazing-based dairy operations with moderate levels of N losses.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"18 12","pages":"Article 101358"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142683203","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of phosphorus and calcium depletion on growth performances and bone mineralisation in growing pigs","authors":"M. Lautrou ,&nbsp;C. Pomar ,&nbsp;P. Schmidely ,&nbsp;M.P. Létourneau-Montminy","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101355","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101355","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The use of P nowadays is raising environmental (eutrophication) and sustainability (limited resource) concerns in the swine industry, but initial trials have shown that similar growth performance can be achieved between pigs fed on a requirement basis and those fed using a P depletion-repletion strategy. To optimise the use of dietary P by pigs, three feeding strategies were studied according to a 3-phase feeding programme: (1) C–C–C providing 100% of the P and Ca requirements, (2) C-L_Normal-C, providing 100% of the P and Ca requirements in phases 1 and 3 (C) with a depletion in phase 2 with 60% of the P requirements combined with a normal Ca:digP ratio of 2.6 (L_Normal), and 3) C-L_High-C, providing 100% of the P and Ca requirements in phases 1 and 3 (C) with a depletion in phase 2 with 60% of the P requirements combined with a high Ca:digP ratio of 3.3 (L_High). Bone mineral content (<strong>BMC</strong>) and BW were measured at the beginning and end of each phase. BMC gain, average daily gain, average daily feed intake and feed efficiency were calculated for each phase. In phase 1, all pigs received the same diet. At the end of phase 2, the C-L_Normal-C and C-L_High-C groups had similar BMCs compared to the C–C–C group. Finally, at the end of phase 3, the BMC gain was numerically higher in the C-L_Normal-C group than in the C–C–C group (25.4 vs 18.7 g/d, <em>P</em> = 0.10). Although depletion did not cause a decrease in BMC in the C-L_Normal-C and C-L_High-C groups (versus C–C–C), it did result in better P use during repletion. These results demonstrate the value of a depletion-repletion strategy to reduce P intake and excretion without compromising the final performance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"18 12","pages":"Article 101355"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142606413","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Short communication: Do veterinary diagnoses coming from electronic recording system of veterinary treatments have the potential to be used for breeding in small populations? The case of the dual-purpose Alpine Grey cattle breed","authors":"T. Zanon ,&nbsp;A. Oian ,&nbsp;R. Mantovani ,&nbsp;M. Gauly","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101351","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101351","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In cattle breeding, emphasis has historically been placed on productive traits, so-called primary traits, while health and fitness traits have been overlooked due to their low heritability and partly negative genetic correlations with productivity. In addition, the recording of phenotypes caused problems due to a lack of high-quality information and / or high costs of recording. This oversight has additionally led to increased incidences of fertility issues and health problems in cattle populations, resulting in economic losses and consumer concerns regarding animal welfare and food safety. This study investigates the potential use of veterinary diagnoses, collected via the Italian electronic recording system of veterinary treatments, for breeding decisions in the local dual-purpose Alpine Grey cattle breed for which the consideration of functional traits in breeding has also become imperative over the last years. The dataset comprised 97 821 records spanning from 2021 to 2023, representing 8 273 individuals and 18 110 lactations of the Alpine Grey breed. Each record documented the administration of treatments for mammary, respiratory, and urogenital pathologies. After data editing and model development, heritability estimates were obtained for each pathology using univariate linear animal models and gibbs sampling algorithms. Results indicate that mammary pathologies affected the highest number of cows (11%), followed by respiratory (4%) and urogenital (5%) pathologies. Heritability estimates ranged from 0.01 to 0.04 across all traits, confirming generally low heritability values. Respiratory pathologies exhibited the highest heritability (0.04; sd 0.04), followed by mammary (0.03; sd 0.01) and urogenital (0.01; sd 0.01) pathologies. This study, although preliminary, provides valuable insights into the health status of local dual-purpose Alpine Grey cattle and highlights the potential of considering veterinary diagnoses for improving animal health and welfare in dairy cattle breeding. However, the low heritability of these traits, which is consistent with literature data, clearly shows the current limitations of using them for breeding. Further, the diagnostic key of the Italian electronic recording system of veterinary treatments should be specified for the use of health data for breeding purposes, as it is formulated in too general manner in its current form. Nevertheless, their significance for animal welfare and economic sustainability underlines the need for their consideration in dairy cattle breeding. Therefore, further research with larger sample sizes and consideration of additional indicators, such as somatic cell counts, is recommended to enhance the accuracy of genetic evaluations and improve breeding strategies for sustainable cattle production.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"18 11","pages":"Article 101351"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142529945","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genome-wide association studies for milk production traits in two autochthonous Aosta cattle breeds","authors":"F. Bernini ,&nbsp;E. Mancin ,&nbsp;C. Sartori ,&nbsp;R. Mantovani ,&nbsp;M. Vevey ,&nbsp;V. Blanchet ,&nbsp;A. Bagnato ,&nbsp;M.G. Strillacci","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101322","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101322","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Genome-wide association studies (<strong>GWASs</strong>) are used to identify quantitative trait loci for phenotypic traits of interest. The use of multilocus mixed models allows to correct for population stratification and account for long-range linkage disequilibrium. In this study, GWASs were conducted to identify the genetic bases of milk production (milk yield, protein and fat composition, and yield) in two autochthonous dual-purpose cattle breeds from the Aosta Valley. Using either the breeding values or the deregressed proofs, common significative single nucleotide polymorphisms have been identified for milk yield, protein percentage, and fat percentage. Two major quantitative trait loci regions have been identified on the chromosomes 5 and 14 for the fat percentage, harbouring the <em>MGST1, CYHR1, VPS28</em>, and <em>CPSF1</em> genes. For the protein percentage, a candidate region has been identified on BTA 6; in this region, the <em>CSN1S1</em>, <em>CSN2, HSTN, CSN3</em>, and <em>RUFY3</em> genes are annotated. Most of the identified genes have already been associated with milk composition in other studies on cosmopolitan and local cattle. These results show that the genes involved in milk composition quantitative traits in the Aosta cattle are common also in other cattle breeds and they can be further investigated with the use of whole genome sequencing data.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"18 10","pages":"Article 101322"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142394996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sow and litter performance after cross-fostering one surplus piglet and co-mingling the litters at early lactation","authors":"G.P. Zanin,&nbsp;L. Santos,&nbsp;D.M.S. Tomm,&nbsp;D.F. Silveira,&nbsp;F.P. Bortolozzo,&nbsp;R.R. Ulguim,&nbsp;A.P.G. Mellagi","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101247","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101247","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The number of piglets born alive is frequently greater than the functional teats, and some farms are equalizing litters with surplus piglets, limiting piglet udder access. Removing the barrier among farrowing crates may allow piglets to socialize and seek other sows. Thus, we evaluated the effects litter size at cross-fostering and socialization on the sow and piglet performance during lactation. Two factors were included in a 2 × 2 factorial design: socialization and litter size relative to sow functional teat number at cross-fostering. Litters (n = 189) were then assigned to one of four groups: <strong>CONT+0</strong> (litters not co-mingled with no additional piglet), <strong>CONT+1</strong> (not co-mingled with one additional piglet), <strong>Co-M+0</strong> (co-mingled with no additional piglet), <strong>Co-M+1</strong> (co-mingled with one additional piglet). Piglets were cross-fostered from 12–16 h after birth, and 24 h later, Co-M groups were socialized by removing the barrier between two adjacent pens. During lactation, sows lost more caliper units in the + 1 group than in the + 0 group (<em>P</em> = 0.04). The number of functional teats did not differ among groups, but Co-M sows had a higher udder lesion score at weaning than CONT (6.55 vs 4.83; <em>P</em> &lt; 0.01). Furthermore, +1 sows had fewer vacant teats throughout lactation (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01). Milk yield did not differ among the groups (<em>P</em> ≥ 0.13). Regarding the number of weaned piglets, no difference was observed for socialization (<em>P</em> = 0.84), but + 1 sows weaned 0.67 more piglets than + 0 (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01). Although CONT+0 had the heaviest piglets at weaning (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01), litter weight did not differ among the groups (<em>P</em> ≥ 0.08). Facial and joint lesions were frequently observed in Co-M (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01) than CONT. Piglet loss rate did not differ among treatments (overall rate = 12.6%; <em>P</em> ≥ 0.26). The removal rate, however, was more frequent in + 1 litters than in  + 0 (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01). Death due to starvation was higher in CONT+1 than CONT+0 (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01) but did not differ between the Co-M groups (<em>P</em> = 0.99). Litters formed with one additional piglet relative to functional teat number weaned more piglets, albeit with lower individual weight. Litter socialization may alleviate the impact of high litter size but shows greater percentages of udder injuries and facial and joint lesions in weaned piglets.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"18 10","pages":"Article 101247"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141694515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genome-wide comparative analyses for selection signatures indicate candidate genes for between-breed variability in copper accretion in sheep","authors":"O.O. Adeniyi ,&nbsp;J.A. Lenstra ,&nbsp;S. Mastrangelo ,&nbsp;G. Lühken","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101329","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101329","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The problem of copper (<strong>Cu</strong>) intoxication and deficiency continues to impact economic gains and animal welfare in sheep husbandry. This study investigated the ovine genome for regions and potential genes under selection for Cu accretion between sheep breeds. For this, we compared ovine single nucleotide polymorphism (<strong>SNP</strong>) data of three Cu-susceptible breeds with three Cu-tolerant breeds. After merging SNP data of breeds and removal of related individuals, a total of 229 sheep and 45 640 autosomal SNPs were left. Then, we selected 14 individuals per breed into two datasets (datasets 1 and 2) for analysis of selection signatures using the Fixation index, cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity and haplotype-based FLK methods. Selection regions shared by both datasets detected by at least two methods revealed regions on OAR 4, 8 and 11 containing 54 candidate genes under selection for Cu accretion. Enrichment analysis revealed that 19 gene ontologies and 1 enriched Kyoto encyclopaedia of genes and genomes pathway terms were associated with the candidate genes under selection. Genes such as <em>TP53</em>, <em>TNFSF13</em>, <em>TNFSF12</em>, <em>ALOX15</em>, <em>ALOX12</em>, <em>EIF5A</em> and <em>PREP</em> are associated with the regulation of Cu homeostasis, programmed cell death or inflammatory response. We also found an enrichment of arachidonate 15-lipoxygenase activity, arachidonate 12-lipoxygenase activity and ferroptosis that influence cellular inflammation and cell death. These results shed light on ovine genomic regions under selection for Cu accretion and provide information on candidate genes for further studies on breed differences in ovine Cu accretion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"18 10","pages":"Article 101329"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142394997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of dietary propyl gallate and Lactobacillus plantarum addition on growth, intestinal morphology, antioxidant capacity, and immune functions of Pekin ducks","authors":"L. Dai ,&nbsp;B.W. Wang ,&nbsp;W.L. Fan ,&nbsp;W. Qian ,&nbsp;J. Zhang ,&nbsp;B.H. Wang ,&nbsp;B.B. Zhang ,&nbsp;M.A. Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101324","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101324","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The interaction between probiotic bacteria and polyphenol antioxidants can potentially enhance animal health. The present study examined the effects of propyl gallate and <em>Lactobacillus plantarum</em> supplementation on the growth, intestinal morphology, antioxidant capacity, and immune functions of Pekin ducks. A total of 128 male Pekin ducks (7-day-old) were allocated to four treatment groups with four replicates of eight birds each. The ducks were fed the corn-soybean based diet (the control), supplemented with either propyl gallate (100 mg/kg), <em>Lactobacillus plantarum</em> (4 × 10⁹ CFU/kg), or both, for 5 weeks. Dietary supplementation with propyl gallate and <em>Lactobacillus plantarum</em> had no significant effect on feed intake (<em>P</em> &gt; 0.05), but increased average daily gain (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). <em>Lactobacillus plantarum</em> also reduced the feed/gain ratio (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). Villus height (<strong>VH</strong>) in the duodenum and ileum was increased by supplementation, while only propyl gallate supplement increased VH in the jejunum (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). Supplementation had no effect on small intestine crypt depth (<em>P</em> &gt; 0.05). Enhanced total superoxide dismutase activity was observed with supplementation (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05), but no effects were seen on catalase, malondialdehyde, total antioxidant capacity, and glutathione peroxidase values (<em>P</em> &gt; 0.05). Serum immunoglobulin G was increased with <em>Lactobacillus plantarum</em> (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05), but not with propyl gallate (<em>P</em> &gt; 0.05). No change in IgA and IgM concentrations was observed with supplementation. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with propyl gallate, <em>Lactobacillus plantarum</em>, or both, enhanced the villus height of the small intestines, improving the growth rate of Pekin ducks. The synergistic effects of both propyl gallate and <em>Lactobacillus plantarum</em> on the villus height and serum total superoxide dismutase activity surpassed the individual effects of each supplement in Pekin ducks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"18 10","pages":"Article 101324"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142367323","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How do different amounts of straw as well as compost in the home pen affect the rooting motivation of growing-finishing pigs?","authors":"S. Lopez ,&nbsp;C. Rufener ,&nbsp;M. Holinger","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101325","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2024.101325","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rooting is a strongly motivated, species-specific behaviour of pigs. Most housing systems do not provide appropriate materials that enable the full expression of this behaviour, and it remains unclear whether straw is suitable to entirely fulfil the rooting motivation of pigs. We therefore investigated the suitability of small (minimal) and large (deep) amounts of straw as well as large amounts of compost to satisfy rooting motivation in pigs. Fifty-seven growing-finishing pigs were housed in three pens, each providing permanent access to one of the three treatment substrates. Eight pigs per group were tested individually in a classical preference test (<strong>PT</strong>) and another eight pigs in a conditioned place preference test (<strong>CPPT</strong>). In the tests, pigs could show their preference to consume freely available feed (“feed”) or feed hidden in sawdust (“root”). In the CPPT, feed was only present during training but not during testing. Pigs were exposed to the test situation twice, with approximately 72 kg and 115 kg BW. In both tests, the following variables were measured and used as outcome variables in linear mixed effect models: first decision to choose one of the two stimuli (“feed” or “root”), duration of time spent in proximity to “root”, number of changes between stimuli, and latency to the first decision. Overall, the pigs’ first decision (by tendency; <em>P</em> = 0.076) and the duration in proximity to “root” (<em>P</em> = 0.034) varied among treatments: Pigs housed with minimal straw tended to be more likely to choose “root” first (posthoc comparison; <em>P</em> = 0.090) and spent more time in proximity to “root” (<em>P</em> = 0.030) than pigs housed with compost, whereas pigs housed with deep straw were intermediate. Interestingly, the patterns of response to the treatment differed depending on the behavioural tests for both, first decision (interaction; <em>P</em> = 0.032) and duration in proximity to “root” (interaction; by tendency; <em>P</em> = 0.006). In addition, pigs in the PT changed more often between stimuli than pigs in the CPPT (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.001). There was a tendency for an interactive effect between test and treatment for latency to first decision (interaction; <em>P</em> = 0.082), though pairwise comparisons did not reveal any differences. We concluded that in this study housing with permanent access to compost satisfied rooting motivation in pigs more than housing with minimal amounts of straw.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"18 10","pages":"Article 101325"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142367324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}