Goat Type Selection and Molecular Markers; a Solution for Milk Production in Recently Desertified Zones

Goat farming has been severely affected by Desertification, limiting their water and food resources and inducing physiological heat stress that reduces the doe milk yield. Does well adapted to heat stress would be a possible solution, but creole or indigenous goats from desert or arid areas produce between 0.5 to 1.5 L of milk per day, which is lower than the 3 L of milk per day produced by dairy goats like the Saanen breed. Nevertheless, in this chapter, we will discuss the disadvantages of introducing common dairy goats in dry places. Instead, we propose the introduction of desert goats from the Middle East or India, because they produce high-quality milk with low feed intake, making a profitable goat farming activity, and an opportunity to include crossbreeding strategies to improve the herd milk yield. Creole goats, on other hand, has been an underestimated livestock animal with a rich and unveil genetic patrimony that migth improve the herd milk yield. The effect of improved diets and extensive husbandry conditions remains unexplored in desert creole goats, and the use of advanced knowledge in goat genomics, genetic expression, and a wide variety of molecular markers can improve the studies on creole goats for crossbreeding strategies identifying the best traits involved in high-quality milk production and adaptation to dry environments. In this way, the synergy between goat type selection and molecular markers should boost goat farming in recently new desert or arid zones, counteracting the detrimental effects produced by the desertification.

Assessment of the Reasons for Culling and its Relation to Age at Culling in Dairy Cows in and around Mekelle City, Tigray, Ethiopia

Background Culling is defined as the departure of cows from the herd because of sale, slaughter, salvage, or death. Culling is an important cost for dairy farms. At the same time, culling is a way to increase herd productivity and profitability, as keeping diseased and unproductive cows might result in lower herd milk production and deteriorated reproduction. In order to maximize profitability, the proportion of voluntary culling (selling for dairy purposes or culling due to low production) should be highest among the total culling rate. Previous studies indicate an ascending trend in the proportion of involuntary culling. This observational study used registry data of all cows from herds with ≥5 cow-years in 2016-2017. Objective This study was conducted to assess the reason for culling a dairy cow and its association with age at culling in and around Mekelle using a structured questioner format and direct observation. Visits were performed to each farm to collect data directly from owners or animal attendants and using direct observation. Materials and Methods The cross-sectional study was conducted in and around Mekelle city dairy farm from November, 2016 to April, 2017. Results The most common causes of culling were disease and economic reasons. The most common causes of voluntary culling were economic reasons (17.39), low milk yield (20.29%), and aging (8.70%). The common causes of involuntary culling were diseases (34.78%), injury (7.25%), and infertility (5.80%). In this study rates of culling increased with parity. The highest rate of culling was in animals between parity 2 and 5, increased from (14.49%) to (21.74%) and slightly decreased from parity 6 to 7, i.e. (13.04)% to (8.70)%, respectively. The highest rates of culling were between 3 and 5-years, (17.39)% and (23.19)%, respectively. Conclusion This study indicated animals were culled at premature age because of involuntary culling, which is economically not feasible, diseases were the most common causes of involuntary culling and voluntary culling was the most type of culling in dairy cattle farms and animals mostly culled for decreased production and economic reasons.

Serological Monitoring for Leptospira Spp. and Monitoring of Productive and Reproductive Indices on Dairy Farm

Leptospirosis is a zoonosis caused by spirochetes of the genus Leptospira. It has a worldwide distribution with greater occurrence in tropical and subtropical countries. It is endemic in Brazil. It affects domestic, wild and production animals. The goal of this study was to assess dairy herd productive and reproductive indexes on a monthly basis by serologically monitoring the infection dynamics on two experimental groups: one with animals with negative results at study onset (G-1) and another with animals tested positive for at least one leptospira serovar (G-2). The serum microscopic agglutination test (MAT) was employed. Animals with titer equal to or greater than 100 IU were considered reactive. Animals were evaluated for productive and reproductive indexes based on data provided by the dairy’s IT system. Blood was collected from all animals in both groups once a month for nine months. Analysis showed interference between animals seroreactive to leptospirosis and both milk production and number of pregnancies for G-2 at collection moments 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 whereas for G-1 the same indexes showed decrease only in the 5th and 9th study months. The most prevalent serovars were Hardjoprajitino 59.5%, Pyrogenes 21.04%, Pomona 11.07%, Wollfi 11.07%, Hardjo 8.78%, Guaricura 6.55%, Copenhageni 5.09%, Icterohaemorrhagiae 1.11%, and Ctg 0.83%. Serovar Hardjoprajitino showed a relationship with herd milk production decrease.

In-Line Technologies for the Analysis of Important Milk Parameters during the Milking Process: A Review

Considering automatized and robotic milking systems substantially decreasing the contact between producers and the herd, milk analysis is crucial to maintain the quality and safety of all dairy products. These systems naturally also decrease the possibility of health problems and illness identification. Abnormalities in milk can be caused by several factors. Milk quality can be affected by external conditions, such as temperature and contamination in the feedstock; by management practices, such as hygiene, milking frequency, treatment, and feedstuff quality; and by diseases, genetics, or age. Somatic cell count, electric conductivity, and contents of urea, fat, protein, and lactose were reviewed as likely parameters of milk representing its quality with respect to feedback for consumers and breeders. Methods for evaluating milk constituents and parameters are still being developed to provide in-line information. These methods allow the avoidance of enormous economic losses every year caused by milk discard, health treatments, or cow replacements. In addition, individual and in-line milk analysis provides information in terms of nutritional status or lactation period and fertility. The objective of this study is to identify trends and potential methods focusing on in situ and in-line techniques for the analysis of milk parameters during the automatized and robotic milking process. Four methods are described and compared: near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and mid-infrared spectroscopy (MIRS), optical analysis, milk conductivity analysis, and milk leukocyte differential test. The versatility and accessibility of these methods were also evaluated, showing a considerable range of possible related problems.

The importance of breeding along the lines cattle of dairy breeds

The aspects of reasonableness in developing the line breeding strategy at the current status stage of dairy breeds and its significance as a factor for genetic variability have been reported. The value for milk production of the first-calf heifers within the line-bred pedigree Red-and-White cattle is estimated. Particular characteristics of the progeny produced from mating in the inbred and crossbred lines are recorded. The lower trait variability of traits was found with selecting within the crossbred lines than that in the inbred lines. Thus, the variables for the milk yield, the mass fraction of fat (MFF) in milk, and the mass fraction of protein (MFP) were less by 4–13% of the mean square deviation, 11,3–20,6%, and 14,3%, respectively. Livestock breed differentiation between the breeding lines was previously executed with the artificial elements of isolation systems. At present, the breeds widely distributed in the Russian Federation are usually “improved” with the use of Holsteins. Therefore, their genealogy and breeding structures depend on the foreign gene pool. Selection strategies for the improvement of milkability traits were implemented along with selection of bull sires capable of improving the conformation. In addition, certain herd bulls were used repeatadly. The variables for genetic values for milkability traits, which changed over time, were monitored. The herd milk production within the lines over a generation increased by 624–786 kg milk (P<0,001), while the MFF deacresed by 0,18–0,25% (P<0,001). Depending on the types of breeding, the differences in the milk yields and the MFF of the first-calf heifers between the lines comprised 178–444 kg (P<0,001) and +0.01%, respectively. However, a statistically significant difference between the lines was recorded only for the MFP, which comprised 0,03% (P<0,001).

Behavior and resistance in Simmental bull calves of different genotypes

The new genotypes of animals have been created with the use of the Simmental-seedstock herd improver bulls. Selective breeding to be effective for these animals requires understanding the genetic basis of the main types of behavior. For this purpose, an experiment with the Simmetal herd was performed. The average herd-milk production comprised 7.0 thousand kg milk per cow per year (Kursk Region). The bull calves were kept loose. They were divided into two groups of 6 animals each, representing the breeds formed of 1/4 Simmental × 3/4 Holstein in group 1 and 1/8 Simmental × 3/8 Holstein × 1/2 Montbeliarde in group 2. Age-related differences between the bull calves within the groups were no more than two weeks. It was ascertained that the progeny of the Montbeliarde bull fathers (group 2) tended to be calm, spending more time on social behavior. Thus, frequencies of allogrooming in these bull calves at 10–12 months old and 14–15 months old were 50 % and 33 % more, respectively, than that in their peers of a genotype formed of 1/4 Simmental × 3/4 Holstein. Feeding behavior activity and feed intake in the bull calves aged 10–12 months and 14–15 months from group 2 were 18.4 % and 10.8 % higher, respectively, than that in their peers from group 1. The bull calves from group 1 were more nervous, since head butting, which occurred with a physical contact, among the bull calves at 14–15 months old was observed in 50 % of them. In addition, frequencies of agitated behavior (which can be indicated by scratching) exhibited by the bull calves aged 10–11 months and 14–15 months were higher by 16 % and 34 %, respectively, than that in their peers produced from the Montbeliarde bulls. Intense fear associated with a change in the habitual place of keeping was exhibited by 33 % of bull calves from group 1. The innate resistance parameter values for the bull calves of both genotypes were corresponded to the normal variables. The difference between the 14–15-month-old bull calves in the serum bactericidal activity was in favor of the Montbeliarde bulls, comprising 0.1 μ g/mL. Therefore, using the Montbeliarde bulls, overall, has had a positive effect on behavior including feeding behavior activity and feed intake in the produced progeny. It contributed to increasing the liveweights in the bull calves at 10–12 months old and 14–15 months old by 68.5 kg and 97 kg, respectively, when compared to the bull calves with the high rates of consanguinity in Holsteins.

203 How reproductive management technologies will shape the dairy industry 50 years from now

Globally, dairy consumption will increase several-fold over the next five decades as the human population expands beyond 10.5 billion people. Climate change will cause dramatic shifts in where dairy farms are located, particularly where availability of water becomes rate-limiting. Average size of dairy herds and production per cow will more than double worldwide, but number of dairy cows will decline. Greatest advances in use of technology will be in largest herds, but some technologies will jump from lower levels to higher levels, such as resistance to tropical diseases as climate warms. Sensors, automation and robotics will allow continuous monitoring and management of a farm’s animals and ecosystems. Time of ovulation will be detected automatically, and cows will be inseminated, or embryos transferred by robotic systems. Managing the epigenome to improve fertility and health will accelerate because cloud-based data, accessible through Blockchain systems, will provide ways of rapidly accessing temporal relationships between environmental events and biological responses. RNA-based technologies and novel complexes of microbes will replace many of today’s hormonal or therapeutic procedures. Several consecutive generations of breeding will be done routinely in vitro before selected generations of embryos are released for transfer. There will be distinct lines of cattle derived from global Holstein populations with genes from other breeds, and these lines will populate approximately five latitudinal regions globally. Major advances will be made in understanding why health and productivity differ among herds within common physiographic settings. We will learn how cows within a herd communicate, and our robots will communicate with cows in their herd. Milk and dairy products will be much more specialized, with greater emphasis on fatty acids, bio-active nutrients and amino-acid sequences in order to feed the global population most efficiently.

Impact of conformation traits on functional longevity in South African Holstein cattle

A proportional hazards model with a piecewise Weibull baseline hazard was used to determine the impact of observed scores for rump, udder, feet and leg traits on longevity. Conformation data of a total of 15 704 cows with either of or all 13 type traits for the period 1995–2013 were obtained from the Holstein Society of South Africa. Functional longevity was defined as the number of days from first calving to culling or censoring, adjusted for production. Type traits were fitted to the reference model one at a time. The model included the fixed time-dependent effect of region by year of calving, within-herd milk production class by year-season, number of lactations by stage of lactation by within-herd milk production class, protein and fat percent production class by year of calving, herd size by annual herd size change, fixed time-independent effect of age at first calving and presence of type record. Cows without type scores were 7–26% more likely to be culled than those with scores. Udder traits had the greatest impact on functional longevity. Fore teat placement had the strongest influence on functional longevity followed by udder depth, fore udder attachment, median ligament and rear treat placement. Rump and udder width had the least Chi-square contributions. Risk of culling was significantly higher for cows with very narrow chest, weak median ligament, extremely towed out teats and short rump height. There is potential for indirectly selecting animals for longevity based on udder type trait information.