Animal Husbandry Technology Research Articles

Towards Regional Synergy: Reconciling Rangeland Ecological Functioning with Forage Production of Cultivated Pasture

Animal husbandry and crop farming are specialized for development in separate areas on the Tibetan Plateau. Such a pattern of isolation has led to current concerns of rangeland and farming system degradation due to intensive land use. The crop-livestock integration, however, has been proven to increase food and feed productivity thorough niche complementarity, and is thereby especially effective for promoting ecosystem resilience. Regional synergy has emerged as an integrated approach to reconcile rangeland livestock with forage crop production. It moves beyond the specialized sectors of animal husbandry and intensive agriculture to coordinate them through regional coupling. Therefore, crop-livestock integration (CLI) has been suggested as one of the effective solutions to forage deficit and livestock production in grazing systems. But it is imperative that CLI moves forward from the farm level to the regional scale, in order to secure regional synergism during agro-pastoral development. The national key R & D program, Technology and Demonstration of Recovery and Restoration of Degraded Alpine Ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau, aims to solve the problems of alpine grassland degradation by building up a grass-based animal husbandry technology system that includes synergizing forage production and ecological functioning, reconciling the relationship between ecology, forage production and animal husbandry, and achieving the win-win goals of curbing grassland degradation and changing the development mode of animal husbandry. It is imperative to call for regional synergy through integrating ecological functioning with ecosystem services, given the alarming threat of rangeland degradation on the Tibetan Plateau. The series of papers in this issue, together with those published previously, provide a collection of rangeland ecology and management studies in an effort to ensure the sustainable use and management of the alpine ecosystems.

Use of probiotic complexes in feed diets to improve the quality of rabbit meat

We examined the efficiency of probiotic “Sporotermin” and “A2” for increasing the productivity and physiological status of the rabbits. The studies were conducted on a crossbreed population of rabbits (Soviet chinchilla and New Zealand red) at the age of 45 days, divided into control and experimental groups of 15 heads in each by the method of pairs-analogues in the vivarium of the faculty of veterinary medicine and animal husbandry technology of the Voronezh State University in 2017-2018. Rabbits of group 1 (control) received all-mash without additives, rabbits of group 2 and 3 additionally received probiotic preparation “Sporotermin” in a dosage of 1.0 g/kg of feed (rabbits of group 2) and “A2” in a dosage of 0.6 g/kg of feed (rabbits of group 3). Upon reaching the age of 120 days, the live weight of all groups exceeded 3.0 kg, while rabbits of the 2nd group had an advantage over individuals of the 1st and 3rd groups by 295.0 g (9.10 %) and 115.0 g (3.36%). At the end of the experiment (120 days) in animals of the 2nd and 3rd groups there was a significant increase in the amount of total blood serum protein by 5.59 and 3.92% (P>0,95), respectively, compared with the control, as well as an increase in the amount of hemoglobin. In the experimental groups carcass yield made up 60.38 % and 56.88% (P>0,99), while in the control amounted to 55.56 % Thus, the preparation “Sporotermin” is a promising product from a number of probiotics used in animal nutrition and allows improving the productivity and meat quality of rabbits.

Индикация биопленок и некультивируемых микроорганизмов при мониторинге биологической безопасности пищевого сырья

Актуальность исследования и наличие пробелов в существующем знании на тему. Мониторинговые исследования биологической безопасности пищевого сырья по микробиологическим показателям – актуальная проблема, в связи с увеличением числа пищевых инфекций во всем мире.
 Цель работы – изучить особенности формирования биопленок и некультивируемых микроорганизмов при различных условиях культивирования
 Методы. Морфометрические и денситометрические показатели биопленок и некультивируемых микроорганизмов исследовали при различных условиях культивирования. Для изучения роста и развития популяций микроорганизмов использовали среды, содержащие ростовые факторы для репарации клеточной стенки и реверсии L-форм микроорганизмов.
 Результаты и их обсуждение. При микробиологическом контроле критических точек технологии животноводства и пищевых производств изучены видовой состав и этиологическая значимость факторов вирулентности штаммов, продуцирующих адгезивные антигены, бактериоцины, гемолизины, токсины, β-лактамазы расширенного спектра, обусловливающие тенденцию роста множественной лекарственной устойчивости. Изучены морфофункциональные признаки биопленок, представляющих собой сообщества микроорганизмов, секретирующих полимерный матрикс и адгезированных к тканям восприимчивых видов животных и абиотическим поверхностям животноводческих помещений и пищевых производств. Установлены прямые коррелятивные зависимости между филаментацией, дисперсией поливидовых биопленок микроорганизмов и развитием дистрофических и некротические процессов в тканях и органах млекопитающих и птиц. Для оптимизации схемы микробиологической диагностики инфекционной патологии апробированы и подобраны эффективные способы детекции гетероморфных биоплёнок и некультивируемых микроорганизмов. Для предотвращения формирования биопленок патогенных микроорганизмов перспективными являются препараты, снижающие уровень микробиологических показателей первичной контаминации; минимизации адгезивных свойств, а также биоцидов разрушающих межклеточный матрикс.
 Выводы. Способность формирования биопленок, вариабельность фенотипических признаков, множественность факторов вирулентности, возникновение устойчивых форм бактерий за счет синтеза экзополисахаридов, значительно снижают эффективность противоэпизоотических и диагностических мероприятий. Разработка ускоренных методов детекции биопленок и дифференциации некультивируемых микроорганизмов позволит научно обосновать и разработать комплекс мероприятий, направленных на предупреждение заболеваний животных и получение безопасных продуктов животноводства, с целью профилактики заболеваний человека.

Analyses of mathematical models for Yangzhou geese egg-laying curves

Mathematical models of the egg-laying curves for Yangzhou geese exposed to both natural and artificial photoperiods were established to optimise the parameters for maximising geese reproductive performance and for the development of precision feeding methods. With the natural photoperiod, egg-laying starts in autumn when daily photoperiod decreases, but accelerates after the winter solstice, and reaches the peak in spring when photoperiod increases. An accumulating model was constructed based on the hypothesis that the egg-laying capacity of geese was determined by two components of the photoperiod: photo-stimulation and photo-inhibition. In addition, a second segmented model was constructed based on the hypothesis that the photo-stimulation only occurred with lengthening photoperiods after the winter solstice, and the lesser laying rate in autumn could be attributed to the non-photo-dependent animal-husbandry technologies. This model consists of a logistic model before the winter solstice, and an accumulating model after this solstice. The use of the logistic and accumulating resulted in more precise predictions that occurred with use of Model 1 with a greater R2 and lesser RMSE, AIC and BIC. Likewise, the egg-laying curves when there was consideration of artificial photoperiods could also be constructed with consideration of stimulatory and inhibitory photoperiodic effects. The model consists of an initial logistic and subsequently a quadratic polynomial model. With use of this model, there is consideration of changes in egg-laying patterns when there is a fixed photoperiod, with the model parameters reflecting the effects by photoperiod control-programs and age of the geese. In conclusion, new mathematical models have been developed to best fit egg-laying curves when there are both natural and artificial photoperiods. These models can contribute to development of precision-feeding technologies for breeding geese in future.

CURRENT STATE AND PERSPECTIVES FOR DEVELOPMENT FORENSIC VETERINARY EXAMINATION IN UKRAINE

The prospects of development of forensic veterinary examination as areas of practical veterinary and legal activity, science and educational discipline in Ukraine are demonstrated. The subject, the range of objects, the list of issues that are solved while this examination during offences investigation are determined. Some aspects of special veterinary knowledge use in expert activity are considered. Prospective scientific directions of forensic veterinary research are indicated. The subject of forensic veterinary examination are factual data (facts, circumstances) which are established on the basis of special veterinary knowledge. Objects of forensic veterinary examination include: 1) live animals: domestic, wild, hunting, zoo (exotic); 2) corpses of animals (anatomically whole, fragmentary, skeletonized); 3) raw materials for the veterinary and biological industry (endocrine, enzymatic); 4) feeds of animal origin, feed additives; 5) products of animal origin; 6) veterinary pharmaceuticals and poisons; 7) objects – material evidence: pesticides, ropes, vomit masses, blood traces, afterbirth, etc.; derivatives of the skin of animal origin (hair, feather, scales, etc.); pieces of fur and skins; 8) documents: materials of pre-trial and judicial cases (protocols of autopsy, acts of an epizootic inspection of a farm, a journal of registration and treatment of sick animals, a journal of issuing veterinary documents, a manufacturer's declaration, operating permit, etc.). Forensic veterinary examination solves the issues during offences investigation regarding: production, circulation, sale, storage of animal origin products; state determination of health and degree of bodily harm of animals; forensic veterinary research of animal corpses; establishment of violent death; assessment of the timeliness and completeness of medical-prophylactic, antiepizootic, sanitary-hygienic, quarantine and other measures; research on cases of medical errors of specialists in veterinary medicine; performing researches on cases on solving conflicting economic issues in the areas of animal husbandry technology and veterinary medicine; researches on veterinary documents.

FACTORS INFLUENCING ADOPTION OF CROP AND FORAGE RELATED AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY TECHNOLOGIES BY SMALL-SCALE DAIRY FARMERS IN CENTRAL MEXICO

SUMMARYIn order to identify factors that constrain or favour adoption of five crop or forage related and six animal husbandry technologies promoted by government to small-scale dairy farmers, a field survey was conducted with 115 farmers. A binary logistic regression model was fitted to identify socioeconomic and farm variables explaining the technology adoption. Factors that favoured technology adoption were based on perceived usefulness, productivity and benefits to the farm, farmer's skills and farm characteristics; moreover farmers were more willing to use technologies which required low levels of investment such as de-worming, vaccines, and data recording. Constraints were related to economic restrictions, lack of knowledge, lack of land, herd size, lack of extension advice, lack of information about government programmes, requirements associated with applying for government financial support, and technologies considered to be of little or no importance to the farm such as herbicides, artificial insemination (AI) and milking machines. Adoption of crop or forage related and animal husbandry technologies was significantly associated (p < 0.05) with socioeconomic (farmer's education, farmer's experience, farmer's wealth status) and farm characteristics (herd size, cows in production, milk yield, total hectares and technological level). It is concluded that the approach implemented in this study enables identification of key factors together with the communication approaches that have been successful.

The evolution of animal husbandry in Neolithic central-west Anatolia: the zooarchaeological record from Ulucak Höyük (c. 7040–5660 cal. BC, Izmir, Turkey)

AbstractResearch into the emergence of animal husbandry west of the Taurus mountains has been primarily confined to central Anatolia, the Lake District and the Marmara region in Anatolia, leaving a c. 85,000km area in western Anatolia largely unexplored. This vast region is crucial to understand the developmental trajectories of early farming practices in Anatolia and to explain the expansion of Neolithic agro-pastoralist lifeways into southeast Europe. The hand-collected faunal assemblage from Ulucak Höyük near Izmir provides a first opportunity to examine the beginnings and the evolution of Neolithic animal husbandry practices in this region across an uninterrupted cultural sequence dating between c. 7040–5660 cal. BC. Taxonomic, osteometric and demographic analyses suggest that all four initial food animals (sheep, goat, cattle and pig) appeared simultaneously at the beginning of the seventh millennium BC. The relative proportions of the domestic food animals indicate that beef was as significant a resource as sheep and goat meat. Fusion data for cattle and combined tootheruption and wear data for sheep and goat suggest that milk exploitation may have begun towards the end of the seventh millennium BC and intensified during the first quarter of the sixth. Evidence for post-adult caprines and cattle is thought to represent a strategy employed to maximise herd size and buffer risk. No clear evidence for cattle traction was found. Fallow deer seems to have become an increasingly important resource throughout the period. Small amounts of fish remains and substantial amounts of marine molluscs demonstrate that coastal environments were also exploited. These results indicate that central-west Anatolia played an essential role in the expansion of animal husbandry technologies into southeast Europe.

Farm and socio-economic characteristics of smallholder milk producers and their influence on technology adoption in Central Mexico

In order to identify the factors influencing adoption of technologies promoted by government to small-scale dairy farmers in the highlands of central Mexico, a field survey was conducted. A total of 115 farmers were grouped through cluster analysis (CA) and divided into three wealth status categories (high, medium and low) using wealth ranking. Chi-square analysis was used to examine the association of wealth status with technology adoption. Four groups of farms were differentiated in terms of farms' dimensions, farmers' education, sources of incomes, wealth status, management of herd, monetary support by government and technological availability. Statistical differences (p < 0.05) were observed in the milk yield per herd per year among groups. Government organizations (GO) participated little in the promotion of the 17 technologies identified, six of which focused on crop or forage production and 11 of which were related to animal husbandry. Relatives and other farmers played an important role in knowledge diffusion and technology adoption. Although wealth status had a significant association (p < 0.05) with adoption, other factors including importance of the technology to farmers, usefulness and productive benefits of innovations together with farmers' knowledge of them, were important. It is concluded that the analysis of the information per group and wealth status was useful to identify suitable crop or forage related and animal husbandry technologies per group and wealth status of farmers. Therefore the characterizations of farmers could provide a useful starting point for the design and delivery of more appropriate and effective extension.

Econometric analysis of the determinants of adoption of raising sheep in folds by farmers in the semiarid Loess Plateau of China

Agricultural practices combined with soil erosion resulted in extreme loss of soil fertility and reduced sustainability in the semiarid Loess Plateau of China. Alternative land uses include planting leguminous forage species for cut-and-carry feeding of livestock, and raising sheep in folds (RSFs). In this study, an econometric model was used to quantify the factors determining farmers' decision to adopt RSFs in the area based on a survey of 213 farmer's families in four villages. The analysis showed that families with more female members and fewer children were more likely to adopt RSFs, as well as farmers with more experience raising sheep or goats, households located farther away from markets, and farmers with larger farm sizes and higher grain yields. In contrast, farmers who sold more potatoes, received higher incomes, were well educated or had non-farming sources of income were less likely to adopt RSFs. The probability of adopting RSFs was higher for farmers who have contact with extension agencies working on animal husbandry technologies. RSFs were very consistent with the needs and situations of farming families in the semiarid Loess Plateau. The results would be favor to make policies to improve the sustainability of crop livestock farming systems.

The Effect of Pediococcus pentosaceus on Stool Frequency, TNF-α Level, Gut Microflora Balance in Diarrhea-induced Mice

Background: Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) are pathogenic microorganisms causing inflammation and imbalanced gut microflora that may result in diarrhea. Pediococcus pentosaceus (P. pentosaceus) isolated from “dadih” (milk curd) are used as probiotics containing lactic acid bacteria (LAB), which are useful to improve the balance of intestinal microflora and inhibit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms. This study was aimed to recognize the effect of P. pentosaceus supplementation on stool frequency, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and gut microflora balance in experimental mice with EPEC-induced diarrhea. Method : The study was conducted in 60 white mice (Mus muscullus) at Biomedical Laboratory, Biotechnology/Production and Animal Husbandry Technology Institute, University of Andalas, Padang in April 2012. The frequency of stool, TNF-α level and microflora balance of the mice were measured before and after the EPEC-induced diarrhea and following the administration of antibiotics. Statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA and Duncan test. Results: The highest mean stool frequency was found in positive control group, i.e. 55 times, which was reduced significantly after 12-hour P. pentosaceus supplementation in a dose of 2 x 108 cfu/g into 18 times. The mean TNF-α level in positive control group was 128.17 pg/mL that lowered significantly to 48.0 pg/mL. The highest mean total number of LAB was 97.0 x 107 cfu/g, which was significantly different from positive control group of 7 x 107 cfu/g. Conclusion: P. pentosaceus supplementation in a dose of 2 x 108 cfu/g may reduce the stool frequency, lower TNF-α and improve the gut microflora balance following 12-hour supplementation in diarrhea-induced mice. Keywords: Pediococcus pentosaceus, TNF-α, diarrhea, EPEC, gut microflora

Ruminant production in increasing animal foods in Latin America.

There is a tremendous undeveloped potential for increasing ruminant production, both beef and dairy cattle, in Latin America. Less potential exists for augmenting the number of sheep and goats. The improved animal husbandry technology currently available could greatly expand ruminant production on the vast underutilized land areas of Latin America. Most of this land is not suitable for intense tillage for human food crops, and some of it will not be needed for this purpose for decades. Increasing ruminant production is a means of making this land more productive and helpful to the total economy of Latin America without competing for man’s food sources. Because forage is of no direct use to man, ruminant production is the best method for converting it into animal products for human food and other uses, and of adding quality and palatability to the diet.