PSXVI-19 Posture behavior and truck microclimate in a very long journey of unweaned dairy beef calves: A field study

2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 222-222
Author(s):  
Sonia Marti ◽  
Xenia Moles ◽  
Anna Sole ◽  
Marianne Farish ◽  
Mark Brims ◽  
...  

Abstract The aim of this study was to characterize posture behavior and truck microclimate of 2 to 8-week-old unweaned calves (59.1 ± 6.72 kg body weight) during 10 transports between December and September (one/month) from an assembly center in Dalry, Scotland to Northern Spain via a control post in Northern Ireland and an assembly center in France (Cherbourg). Average journey time was 105.8 h. A subset of 20 calves per transport were fitted with collars carrying a HOBO environmental logger (HOBO U12) to record the temperature and humidity at calf’ head level and an accelerometer (Axivity AX3) to record accelerations to assess the calf posture (resting, standing or in transition). Data were analyzed with JMP. During the transport, 60% of the time animals were standing, 28% of the time lying and 12% transitioning. Specifically, when the truck was in motion calves spent 82.8% of the time standing, when stationary 68.8% standing, when the truck was on the ferry standing time was 48.4% and at the control post and assembly center standing time was 45.1%.Transports from June to September (n = 4) had an average of 11.96 h (min: 5.17 h; max: 18.8 h) of temperatures greater than 30°C, an average of 25 h (min: 0 h; max: 55 h) of mild heat conditions (72 < THI < 79), and an average of 3.5 h (min: 0 h; max: 23 h) of moderate heat conditions (80 < THI < 89). The exposure to mild and moderate heat conditions occurred mainly during the time that the truck was stationary (waiting at ports) and when calves rested at the control post. Results from this study supports the need to evaluate the impact summer months journeys where animals spend over 30% of the time under heat stress, and the long-standing times on animal welfare.

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
Ica Putri Angkeke ◽  
Teysar Adi Sarjana ◽  
Edjeng Suprijatna

This research aims at investigating the impact of microclimatic ammonia change on Broiler’s  performance in closed house during dry season. Seven hundred and twenty broiler’s with their initial weight of 49.29 ± 1.13 grams are kept in a 60 x 12 m2 cage.The research consists of 4 treatments and 6 experiment units. The microclimatic ammonia change is measured at a distance of 0, ¼, ½, and ¾ of closed house’s length from the inlet. The parameters observed are feed consumption, body weight gain (BWG), feed convertion ratio (FCR), performance index (PI) and Income Over Feed Cost (IOFC). The obtained data are subjected to analysis of variance and several data related to microclimatic ammonia and heat stress index (HSI) are also calculted for their correlation to find out their correlation with the broiler’s’s performance. The research results indicate that the microclimatic ammonia change significantly reduces Broiler’s performance. This is shown by the significant increase of FCR value, decrease of feed consumption, BWG, PI and IOFC (P≤0.05) starting from a distance of ¼ of cage length from the inlet. The correlation analysis result shows a negative, significant correlation between performance with ammonia, while HSI does not show any correlation with the observed parameters. The conclusion of this research is that the increase in microclimatic ammonia at increasingly further distance from the inlet decreases Broiler’s  performance in dry season.


Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1286
Author(s):  
Surinder S. Chauhan ◽  
Frank R. Dunshea ◽  
Tim E. Plozza ◽  
David L. Hopkins ◽  
Eric N. Ponnampalam

The impact of antioxidant supplementation and short-term heat stress on lamb body weight gain, meat nutritional profile and functionality (storage stability of lipids and colour) of lamb meat was investigated. A total of 48 crossbred ((Merino × Border Leicester) × Dorset) lambs (42 ± 2 kg body weight, 7 mo age) were randomly allocated to three dietary treatments (n = 16) by liveweight (LW) that differed in dosage of vitamin E and selenium (Se) in the diet. Vitamin E and Se levels in the control (CON), moderate (MOD) and supranutritional (SUP) dietary treatments were 28, 130 and 228 mg/kg DM as α-tocopherol acetate and 0.16, 0.66 and 1.16 mg Se as SelPlex™/kg DM, respectively. After four weeks of feeding in individual pens, including one week of adaptation, lambs were exposed to two heat treatments. Animals were moved to metabolism cages for one week and subjected to heat treatments: thermoneutral (TN; 18–21 °C and 40–50% relative humidity) and heat stress (HS; 28–40 °C and 30–40% relative humidity) conditions, respectively. Final LW and hot carcass weight were influenced by dietary treatments with higher final live weight (FLW) (p = 0.05; 46.8 vs. 44.4 and 43.8 kg, respectively) and hot carcass weight (HCW) (p = 0.01; 22.5 vs. 21.3 and 21.0 kg, respectively) recorded in lambs fed the SUP as opposed to the CON and MOD diets. Vitamin E concentration in the longissimus lumborum (LL) muscle tended to be higher in lambs fed MOD or SUP diets than the CON group. Lipid oxidation of aged meat at 72 h of simulated retail display was reduced by antioxidant supplementation. Short-term (one week) heat stress treatment significantly increased muscle linoleic acid and total omega-6 concentrations compared with the CON group. The results demonstrate that four-week antioxidant supplementation at the SUP level improved animal productivity by increasing LW and carcass weight and the functionality of meat exhibited by reduced lipid oxidation. An increase in muscle omega-6 fatty acid concentration from short-term heat stress may induce oxidative stress via proinflammatory action.


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 10-14
Author(s):  
Sugito Sugito

The profile of hematology and broiler daily body weight gain which treated with heat stress at different cage temperatureABSTRACT. A research have been conducted to find the impact of heat stress at 3 level of cage temperature on hematology profile and broiler daily body weight gain. Sixteen broilers (strain Cobb) at the age of 20 days were randomly divided to 4 groups. First group was control group that treated without given heat stress (KL). Second, third, and fourth groups were treated with heat stress in cages with temperature, respectively 33 ± 1oC, 36 ± 1oC, and 39 ± 1oC. Heat stress was given 4 hours daily during 7 days consecutively. The result indicated that cage temperature up to 36 ± 1oC has not significantly affected hematology profile and broiler daily body weight gain. The impact of increasing temperature have been found at cage temperature of 39 ± 1oC after 7 days of treatment, which were the increasing number of leucocytes, decreasing number of erythrocytes, and decreasing of broiler daily body weight gain. The broiler of the age above 20 to 27 days that exposed heat stress during 4 hour per day in the cage temperature of 39 ± 1oC can obtain heat stress in serious level.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-137
Author(s):  
Sean M. McDonald ◽  
Remi C. Claire ◽  
Alastair H. McPherson

The impact and effectiveness of policies to support collaboration for Research & Development (R&D) and Innovation is critical to determining the success of regional economic development. (O’Kane, 2008) The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the level of success of the Innovation Vouchers Program operated by Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI) from 2009 to 2013 and address if attitudinal views towards innovation development should play in a role in future policy design in peripheral EU regions. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 1001-1014
Author(s):  
Sulaiman & Sadiq

The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse during 2017 and 2018 growing seasons to evaluate the impact of the shading and various nutrition programs on mitigating heat stress, reducing the use of chemical minerals, improving the reproductive growth and yield of tomato plant. Split-plot within Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications was conducted in this study. Shading factor was allocated in the main plots and the nutrition programs distributed randomly in the subplots. Results indicate that shading resulted in the decrease of daytime temperature by 5.7˚C as an average for both seasons; thus a significant increasing was found in leaf contents of macro nutrients (Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium), and micro nutrients (Iron, Zinc and Boron), except the Iron content in 2018 growing season. Furthermore, shading improved significantly the reproductive growth and tomato yield. Among the plant nutrition programs, the integrated nutrient management (INM) including the application of organic substances, bio inoculum of AMF and 50% of the recommended dose of chemical fertilizers; lead to the enhancement of nutrients content, reproductive characteristics and plant yield. Generally, combination of both shading and INM showed positive effects on plants nutrient status and persisting balance on tomato flowering growth and fruits yield.


2020 ◽  
pp. 003464462097393
Author(s):  
Colin Cannonier ◽  
Monica Galloway Burke ◽  
Ed Mitchell

In this article, we explore the impact of a reentry and aftercare service program on the likelihood of returning to prison by ex-offenders. Using administrative data within a difference-in-differences design, we find that this social program is associated with a reduction in recidivism rates. Benchmark estimates show that the program was associated with estimated reductions in the probability of recidivating of 6.0 to 8.7 percentage points. The estimate appears to be economically significant as it implies an estimated treated effect in the 15.8% to 19.2% range. We consider the heterogeneous effects of the program on reducing recidivism according to race, age group, and program type. The program helped to reduce recidivism among Whites but not Blacks; older participants were the main beneficiaries while the effectiveness of the program was observed among older participants. Back-of-the-envelope cost-savings analysis is incorporated to estimate the potential savings to the state arising from the reduction in recidivism rates likely attributable to the program. The findings are robust to sample selection bias, alternative specifications, and estimation techniques. Our results offer some implications for the role of faith-based social programs within the context of criminal justice reform to combat reentry of former inmates. They also provide a cautionary tale about the need to evaluate programs not just based on their overall effect.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3222
Author(s):  
Kehinde Oluseyi Olagunju ◽  
Myles Patton ◽  
Siyi Feng

The production stimulating impact of agricultural subsidies has been a well-debated topic in agricultural policy analysis for some decades. In light of the EU reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in year 2005 in which agricultural subsidies were decoupled from current production decisions and the modification to this payment in 2015, this study investigates the impact of decoupled payments under these two reforms on livestock production in Northern Ireland. The study uses a farm-level panel dataset covering 2008–2016 period and employs an instrumental variable fixed effect model to control for relevant sources of endogeneity bias. According to the empirical results, the production impacts of decoupled payments were positive and significant but with differential impacts across livestock production sectors, suggesting that decoupled payments still maintain a significant effect on agricultural production and provide an indication of the supply response to changes in decoupled payments.


Author(s):  
Lily N Edwards-Callaway ◽  
M Caitlin Cramer ◽  
Caitlin N Cadaret ◽  
Elizabeth J Bigler ◽  
Terry E Engle ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Shade is a mechanism to reduce heat load providing cattle with an environment supportive of their welfare needs. Although heat stress has been extensively reviewed, researched, and addressed in dairy production systems, it has not been investigated in the same manner in the beef cattle supply chain. Like all animals, beef cattle are susceptible to heat stress if they are unable to dissipate heat during times of elevated ambient temperatures. There are many factors that impact heat stress susceptibility in beef cattle throughout the different supply chain sectors, many of which relate to the production system, i.e. availability of shade, microclimate of environment, and nutrition management. The results from studies evaluating the effects of shade on production and welfare are difficult to compare due to variation in structural design, construction materials used, height, shape, and area of shade provided. Additionally, depending on operation location, shade may or may not be beneficial during all times of the year, which can influence the decision to make shade a permanent part of management systems. Shade has been shown to lessen the physiologic response of cattle to heat stress. Shaded cattle exhibit lower respiration rates, body temperatures, and panting scores compared to un-shaded cattle in weather that increases the risk of heat stress. Results from studies investigating the provision of shade indicate that cattle seek shade in hot weather. The impact of shade on behavioral patterns is inconsistent in the current body of research, some studies indicating shade provision impacts behavior and other studies reporting no difference between shaded and un-shaded groups. Analysis of performance and carcass characteristics across feedlot studies demonstrated that shaded cattle had increased ADG, improved feed efficiency, HCW, and dressing percentage when compared to cattle without shade. Despite the documented benefits of shade, current industry statistics, although severely limited in scope, indicate low shade implementation rates in feedlots and data in other supply chain sectors do not exist. Industry guidelines and third party on-farm certification programs articulate the critical need for protection from extreme weather but are not consistent in providing specific recommendations and requirements. Future efforts should include: updated economic analyses of cost versus benefit of shade implementation, exploration of producer perspectives and needs relative to shade, consideration of shade impacts in the cow-calf and slaughter plant segments of the supply chain, and integration of indicators of affective (mental) state and preference in research studies to enhance the holistic assessment of cattle welfare.


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