The effect of supplementary light during winter on the growth, body composition and behaviour of steers and heifers

1997 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. C. Phillips ◽  
P. N. Johnson ◽  
T. M. Arab

AbstractIn two experiments the growth, body composition and behaviour of steers and heifers kept in a building with natural day length only (average 9·7 h/day, treatment N) were compared with similar groups of animals kept in identical housing with the day length artificially extended to 16 h/day, (treatment L). The effects were recorded for 126 days in steers and 180 days in heifers, with both groups of animals being slaughtered in March when the two experiments ended. There were no effects over the entire experiment on the growth rate or food intake of either steers or heifers. The growth of the steers was reduced in the first 2 weeks after the lights were switched on but they gained more weight to compensate over the next 8 weeks. Over the whole experiment there was no treatment effect on food conversion ratio for either steers or heifers but it was reduced for steers on treatment L over the first 10 weeks. Steers in treatment N produced fatter carcasses than those on treatment L. Ultrasonic scanning of the heifers showed that those on treatment N deposited more fatty tissue between autumn and winter and less between winter and spring compared with those on treatment L.The behaviour of steers on treatment L did not vary over the experiment but steers on treatment N changed their behaviour with season. They slept for more time in winter and less in spring. Over the whole experiment steers on treatment L slept less and spent more time lying ruminating than those on treatment N but the total time spent lying was not affected by treatment. In contrast, the heifers on treatment L lay down for longer than those on treatment N, suggesting that the effect of supplementary light on lying time, which has been observed previously with dairy cows, is confined to female cattle. Heifers on treatment L started mounting each other earlier than heifers on treatment N and, like the steers, they spent less time sleeping It is concluded that extending the photoperiod for cattle in winter reduced body fatness in both steers and heifers and increased the time heifers spend lying down but that there were no major effects on growth rate or food intake.

1972 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 627 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela R Pennycuik

Groups of mice were maintained in three different environments: (1) constant day length and constant temperature; (2) seasonal fluctuations in day length and constant temperature; (3) seasonal fluctuations in day length and seasonal fluctua-tions in temperature.


1984 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 511-514
Author(s):  
Ruth Henderson ◽  
C. T. Whittemore ◽  
M. Ellis ◽  
W. C. Smith ◽  
R. Laird

ABSTRACTFifty-three 7-day nitrogen balances were made using 13 control (C) and 15 selection line (S) Large White boars. Six feeding treatments were imposed, ranging from a Jevel estimated to maintain weight to a level aimed at inducing a fast growth rate from giving food twice daily to appetite for 30 min. Nitrogen retention did not differ significantly, but C boars retained slightly more than S boars at the lowest food intake, while S boars retained Slightly more than C boars at higher food intakes. The slopes of the regression of nitrogen retention against food intake for growth was steeper for S than for C boars (P > 0·05). It is concluded that great care should be taken in using metabolism experiment results to predict changes in body composition.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun-Su Yuan, MD, PhD ◽  
Chong-Zhi Wang, PhD ◽  
Anoja Attele, MD ◽  
Liu Zhang, PhD

Objective: Opioids may function to regulate food intake and body weight, an activity that could be predominantly centrally mediated. In this study, the authors evaluated the effects of a peripherally acting opioid receptor antagonist, methylnaltrexone, on weight changes in adult obese ob/ob mice.Results: After a 12-day treatment with naloxone 0.3 mg/kg, weight was reduced from 63.7 ± 1.1 g in the control group to 59.2 ± 0.9 g in the naloxone group (p < 0.05). After a 12-day treatment with methylnaltrexone 3.0 mg/kg, weight increase completely ceased. The body weight was 63.9 ± 1.0 g in the control group when compared with 55.9 ± 1.2 g in the drug group (p < 0.01). The effect of methylnaltrexone (1.0 mg to 3.0 mg/kg) on weight changes was dose-dependent (p < 0.01). Methylnaltrexone significantly reduced daily food intake (p < 0.05), but did not affect body temperature and energy expenditure. Using HPLC analysis, no detectable naltrexone levels were found in association with methylnaltrexone administration. Whether the observed methylnaltrexone effects are primarily related to the antagonism of endorphinergic system remains to be investigated.Conclusions: Our results suggest that the peripheral opioid mechanism contributes to modulating food ingestion and methylnaltrexone may have clinical importance in obesity management.


1990 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Kanis

ABSTRACTFrom each of 159 litters, between one and three pigs were fed ad libitum and between one and four pigs were fed at several restricted feeding levels from about 27 to 107 kg live weight. Effects of litter by feeding regimen (ad libitumv. restricted feeding) interactions (L × F) and sex by feeding regimen interactions (S × F) on production traits were investigated. In experimental groups where restrictedly fed animals received an amount of food based on their estimated voluntary food intake capacity (FIC), interactions were non-significant. In groups where restricted feeding was independent of FIC, significant L × F or S × F interactions were found for daily food intake (FI), daily gain, lean tissue growth rate and fatty tissue growth rate, but not for body composition and food conversion traits.Because of between-animal variation in FIC, restricted feeding according to a fixed scale restricted intake of some animals to a higher degree than others and degree of food intake restriction (DFR) was calculated from actual FI and FIC for animals fed at a restricted level. After correction of FI and production traits of restrictedly fed animals for differences in DFR, L × F and S × F interactions were not significant.It was concluded that the poor relationships often found between test-station results of boars and results of their progeny in practical environments may be caused, to an important extent, by differences in DFR in each environment. To overcome these genotype by environment interactions it is recommended that animals be fed ad libitum in both test and commercial environments.


1988 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Kanis

ABSTRACTEffects of daily food intake (FI) on daily gain (DG), food conversion ratio (FCR), ultrasonic backfat thickness (BF), proportion of lean parts (LP), proportion of fatty parts (FP), lean tissue growth rate (LTGR), fatty tissue growth rate (FTGR) and lean tissue food conversion (LTFC) were investigated in 687 barrows and 98 gilts, slaughtered at a mean live weight of 108 kg and fattened in seven batches. In the range of food intake from about 1·7 to 3·2 kg/day (22 to 42 MJ digestible energy) a continuous distribution of data was available.Body composition was linearly related to FI. Most regressions of BF and all of LP and of FP on FI were linear, showing fatter animals at higher food intake. For FTGR, BF, LP and FP, parameter estimates based on linear regression were given. Although the response of DG and of LTGR on increasing FI was not always significantly different from linearity, the second degree polynomials indicated diminishing returns in all batches. FTGR had a high linear correlation with FI (0·85 to 0·95), indicating that in the present range of FI a rather fixed proportion of the food was used to deposit fatty tissue.For DG and LTGR a non-linear model of the type a(FI -fo)b was fitted, where fo was interpreted as maintenance requirement. For FCR and LTFC the corresponding model was FI/(α(FI — fo)b). Both models were preferred over second degree polynomials because of better interpretation of parameters. FCR and LTFC showed minima at about 2·6 and 2·2 kg/day food intake, but especially for FCR the increase at increasing FI was low. Results were not consistent in demonstrating or refuting a plateau in LTGR, which in any event appears to lie near to or beyond ad libitum FI for most pigs.


1982 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. Coop ◽  
A. R. Sykes ◽  
K. W. Angus

SUMMARYForty-eight 4-month-old lambs, reared worm-free from birth, were allocated to six groups and offered ad libitum a complete diet containing 139 g crude protein/kg D.M. One group was killed at the outset as initial control (CI). Further groups, ALC, 1, 2, 3 and 4 were dosed daily for 84 days with zero, 1000, 3000, 5000 and 5000 larvae of Ostertagia circumcincta, respectively. Lambs in group 4 also received anthelmintic (fenbendazole, 5 mg/kg) on days 21, 42, 63 and 84. Lambs were killed after 98 days and their carcasses and those of the initial controls analysed for fat, protein and mineral contents.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-221
Author(s):  
Maria Jesús Lisbona-González ◽  
Candela Reyes-Botella ◽  
Esther Muñoz-Soto ◽  
Maria Victoria Olmedo-Gaya, ◽  
Jorge Moreno-Fernandez ◽  
...  

Adipose tissue is an endocrine organ and has central role in interaction with other organs or tissues while propolis can induce lipolysis. Therefore, the aim of this study is to provide detailed information about adipose tissue homeostasis modifications and body composition during propolis supplement consumption. Twenty male Wistar albino rats (8 weeks) were divided into two groups of 10 animals each and fed for 90 days with two different types of diets: standard for the control group (diet C) and standard diet + 2% propolis (diet P). Thyroid hormones did not show differences, while ghrelin and adiponectin decreased in the group that was fed propolis. Insulin, leptin, and non-esterified fatty acids also increased along with reduced body weight and fat, in addition to increased lean mass when propolis was in the diet. We conclude that propolis could decrease ghrelin and adiponectin but increase non-esterified fatty acids and insulin secretion, which improves body composition.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document