Close Confinement Research Articles

Induced Early Estrus in Penned White-Tailed Deer Does

Estimated mean breeding date for adult white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) does confined continuously with individual bucks in 20x 20-m pens since early autumn was 9 November compared to 18 November for does in a forested 252-ha enclosure. Approximately 30% of the penned does were judged to have bred by 4 November vs. <4% of the enclosure herd by that date. We hypothesize that the constant presence of a rutting buck in close confinement with penned does resulted in biostimulation which induced an overt estrus and successful breeding in what otherwise would have constituted an early but silent estrus at onset of the rut. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 51(1):54-56 The white-tailed deer is a seasonally polyestrous breeder with a reproductive cycle cued to photoperiod, which varies according to latitude. Most adult (_1.5 years old) does confined in Upper Michigan at Shingleton (46*25'N) breed in November (Verme 1965, 1969, 1977; Ozoga and Verme 1982, 1984) and give birth in late May-early June. We, therefore, were puzzled to find that a sizeable proportion of the does penned at our downstate Houghton Lake facility (44*20'N) must have bred considerably earlier in the rutting season, as evidenced by fawns being born in late April-early May. This paper describes the circumstances associated with these notable differences and provides a hypothesis to explain the phenomenon. This paper is a contribution from Fed. Aid Wildl. Restor. Proj. W-127-R, Houghton Lake and Cusino Wildl. Res. Stns. We thank R. K. Clute, L. J. Perry, and R. Shellenbarger for assistance; G. F. Lehman drafted the figure. A. B. Bubenik, R. D. Earle, and E. D. Plotka provided helpful criticisms of the manuscript; C. M. Wemmer supplied some pertinent refer-

The physiological and behavioural responses of crossbred Friesian steers to short-haul transport by road

The response of 12 groups of six Friesian steers to three treatments (loading/unloading, confinement for 1 h on a stationary or on a moving truck) were studied. Each group was subjected to each of the three transport treatments separately. None of the physiological measurements except heart rate, which increased ( P <0.05), responded to loading/unloading. Plasma creatine kinase activity increased with confinement on stationary ( P <0.05) and moving ( P <0.01) trucks. Plasma glucose ( P <0.001) and cortisol ( P <0.001) increased in response to confinement on a moving truck. Rectal temperature increased in response to confinement on both stationary ( P <0.001) and moving ( P <0.001) trucks, but more so on the stationary truck ( P <0.05). Lower frequencies of social interactions and a higher rate of defecation ( P <0.05) occurred on the moving compared to the stationary truck. Exploratory behaviours, the number of changes in position and the length of time spent unsettled were similar in both cases. Attempts to change position were more frequent ( P <0.001) and the percentage of attempts to change position which proved successful was lower ( P <0.05) on the stationary truck. Standing perpendicular to the long axis of the truck was the most common orientation adopted on stationary and moving trucks. Animals spent less time in diagonal orientations and more time facing the front of the truck in moving than in stationary trucks. In summary the motion of the truck was a more stressful component of transportation than close confinement; there was no adverse response to loading/unloading.

Implications of behaviour studies on the development of housing systems

AbstractAlthough a relatively young science, farm animal ethology has a considerable contribution to make to the development of housing systems. Two areas are highlighted in this review. First, the evaluation of existing housing systems is exemplified by studies of the effects of close confinement on sows. From such studies it has been concluded that close confinement can cause distress in sows. Secondly, the development of new housing systems is exemplified by studies on how pen design can control aggression.

An Assessment of an electronic feeding system and “dynamic” grouping in loose-housed sows

Recently, sow-activated electronic concentrate dispensers allowing dry sows to be group-housed and individually fed have been seriously considered as an alternative to the close confinement of pregnant sows. For the system to be economic, each feeding unit needs to be used to its maximum potential, while at the same time considering the well-being of the animals.Previous work has established that levels of aggression may be minimised within a set group size and the maximum number of sows per feeder may be increased to over 30 by feeding only once per day on this system (Lambert et al., 1985). With groups of this size, the practical aspects of large group management need to be considered.

Scanning Electron Microscopic Studies of the Life Cycle of Ichthyophthirius multifiliis

All stages in the life cycle of the holotrichous ciliate Ichthyophthirius multifiliis were examined using the scanning electron microscope. Different procedures were used to prepare the tomite, trophozoite and cyst stages. Photomicrographs of freeze dried and critical point dried organisms fixed with glutaraldehyde are presented along with views of trophozoites and tomites deciliated by dibucaine hydrochloride to reveal the pellicle and buccal cavity normally covered by cilia. The holotrichous ciliate Ichthyophthirius multifiliis Fouquet, 1876 is a worldwide obligate ectoparasite of freshwater teleosts (Paperna, 1972; Nigrelli et al., 1976). Epizootics of ichthyophthiriasis rarely occur in freely flowing water (Allison and Kelley, 1963; Kozel, 1976) but can devastate populations of cultured and feral fishes in close confinement, with younger fish being most susceptible (Pillay, 1968). The life cycle has 3 stages termed tomite, trophozoite, and cyst. The small 15 x 40 ,um fusiform tomite, also termed theront, is the infective stage and can survive only 96 hr without a host (Suzuki, 1935). The narrowed anterior end of the tomite possesses a characteristic filamentous projection from a conical depression in the pellicle. This filament differs from the somatic infraciliature in its 3 times greater length and usually rigid orientation (Kozel and Dobra, 1978). Cytochemical techniques have demonstrated a capsule-like structure, also located near the anterior end of the tomite, which contained acid phosphatase and non-specific esterases. The capsule and anterior filament may be part of a perforatorium as cells partially burrowed into host tissues have never been observed to possess a trailing filament (Kozel, 1980). Beckert (1975) considered the tomite to be able to drill its way into the host epithelium with its pointed anterior end and its cilia. After burrowing into the epidermis of the teleost the tomite becomes spherical and develops its oral apparatus. It is now called a trophozoite. The parasite cilia dislodge surrounding host tissue and the trophozoite ingests the debris through its cytostome. The buccal cavity is a rigid cuplike Received 1 June 1984; revised 19 October 1984; accepted 23 October 1984. * Send reprint requests to GWF. t Emeritus Professor of Biology. organ located near the anterior end and is equipped with long cilia that beat continually inward (MacLennan, 1935). The trophozoite grows at a linear rate, dependent on temperature, and leaves the host when it reaches a diameter of 100-1,000 ,um (MacLennan, 1942). The freed trophozoite swims in slow spirals, compared to the tomite, and eventually adheres to surfaces of its environment. A fine gelatinous exocyst is exuded, the oral apparatus is resorbed and schizogony begins. The first 2-4 daughter cells of the schizont form an endocyst of fine anastomosing fibrils that reinforce the exocyst. The endocyst may be formed in more than 1 layer in larger schizonts (MacLennan, 1937). The endocyst(s) and exocyst are not uniform in thickness and for the ultrastructure of these membranes and of the schizonts, the reader is referred to Ewing et al. (1983), and Brown and Gratzek (1980). A large cyst may release up to 1,000 infective tomites to complete the cycle. The purpose of this paper is to present scanning electron micrographs of the entire life cycle of I. multifiliis and the ultrastructure of several surface features. MATERIALS AND METHODS A culture of I. multifiliis was maintained in the laboratory by serial passage on non-immune 8 to 20 cm channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) kept in 80-liter aquaria. Water temperature was maintained at 22 C and aeration provided 7-8 ppm dissolved oxygen. The water pH (6-8) was controlled by adding 3 millequivalents/litre of NaHCO3 as a buffer and adjusting with 1 molar NaOH or HC1. Trophozoites were collected by rubbing infected fish by hand in 18-cm diameter syracuse dishes filled with aquaria water filtered through 0.45-micrometer filters and termed biologically conditioned water (BCW). This filtered water served as a culture medium for I. multifiliis allowing the parasite to complete its life cycle. When a number of trophozoites came off the catfish they were transferred by Pasteur pipet through 2 washes of distilled deionized water, 10 min in each wash.

Computer controlled identification and feeding of group housed sows

Present Welfare Codes recommend systems of dry sow housing which do not involve close confinement. The ‘Pig-code’ system permits automatic individual rationing of group housed sows without the necessity for individual feeding stalls.The computer controlled feed station has a gating system enabling it to be used by two separately housed groups of sows. On entering, each sow is identified by its collar mounted responder and given any feed remaining from the preset amount for that time period.

Washing lambs and confinement as aids to fostering

The effects on maternal behaviour, of washing lambs and of confining ewes with alien lambs for several days, were examined in groups of Merino ewes that had lambed approximately 1, 3, 9 or 27 days previously. In the 1-, 3- and 9-day groups, 25–43% of ewes refused to allow their own washed lambs to suck and 7–47% permitted a washed alien to suck, though most were able to distinguish their own washed lamb from 2 washed aliens in a multiple choice test. In the 27-day group, all ewes permitted only their own washed lamb to suck. Similar results were obtained in the 4 age groups with the same lambs when only the hind half was washed, indicating that odour from this region is responsible for releasing suckling behaviour. When ewes were penned together with washed alien lambs for at least 2 days, 73–100% of lambs in the 1-, 3- and 9-day groups either gained weight progressively or were seen to suck freely from the foster mother, while only 33% of lambs in the 27-day group were similary accepted. With unwashed lambs, the acceptance rate was approximately half that of washed lambs. Labelling the alien lamb with wool from the tail region of the foster ewe's own lamb also tended to facilitate fostering, but not to any marked extent. Where the ewe's own lamb was also present in the flock after fostering, foster ewes tended to revert to suckling their own lamb at the expense of the foster lamb, especially in the 9- and 27-day groups. The use of washing coupled with close confinement appears to be an effective method of fostering lambs on to ewes, especially within the first day or two after birth. Fifty-five % of ewes in the 1- and 3-day groups failed to accept their own unwashed lamb after being separated from it for only 40–48 h, indicating that the ewe's memory for lamb odour is transient and/or that the odour changes with time.

The behaviour of maintenance and the intensive husbandry of cattle, sheep and pigs

A major feature of our living environment consists of the domesticated animals. As their use intensifies so too does the obligation to them — and to their basic life practices — which we acquired at the moment of their domestication. Much of the behaviour of farm animals is concerned with self-maintenance, indeed, highly successful self-maintenance is the basis of animal productivity. Activities involved in such maintenance appear to fall into eight primary categories. These are basically of innate origin and include much instinctive behaviour. The use of these behaviours of reactivity, ingestion, exploration, movement, association, body care, territorialism and rest are vital to the animal in its integration and mediation with its environment. Within these eight primary systems of behaviour, numerous specific behaviours are exhibited in natural free-ranging conditions. Cattle exhibit 44 specific behaviours related to maintenance; sheep have 43 and pigs show 48. All of these above behaviours require environmental facility and where this is deficient, deficits occur in behaviour. Ethological deficits have been determined for methods of husbandry relating to the intensive production of calves, steers, sheep and pigs. Veal calves had 25 behavioural deficits, feedlot cattle had 11, housed sheep had 13 and enstalled swine had 26. These figures give indices of behavioural deprivation ranging from 25% in feedlot cattle to 56% in veal calves in stalls. Anomalous behaviour is now increasingly seen among animals which are managed under close confinement; restricted accommodation in an essentially featureles environment. Much of the anomalous behaviour which has been investigated is found to be the result of aversive environments. Anomalous behaviours are typically found in those forms of husbandry which involve intense grouping of animals and also a lack of what might be termed diversionary facilities in their environment. Reduced input of environmental stimulation and opportunity is evidently capable of acting with adverse effect on functional mediation, so as to generate anomalous forms of behaviour such as “orosthenia” — pathological oral activity. Such abnormal behaviour serves as a symptom of confinement stress. In animal production the application of ethology can provide a monitoring operation for livestock care to ensure welfare and ethological entitlement.

Plasma Corticosteroids and Chlorides in Striped Bass Exposed to Tricaine Methanesulfonate, Quinaldine, Etomidate, and Salt

Abstract Plasma chloride and corticosteroid concentrations were measured in yearling striped bass (Morone saxatilis) exposed to 25 mg/L tricaine methanesulfonate, 2.5 mg/L quinaldine, or 0.1 mg/L etomidate (an experimental drug), alone and in combination with 10 g/L salt (NaCl). Plasma chloride levels were unaffected in all treatments during a 15-min exposure and during a 10-min period of close confinement in a dipnet. Plasma corticosteroids increased in fish exposed to salt alone and in fish exposed to tricaine methanesulfonate or quinaldine, either alone or in combination with salt. Etomidate alone or combined with salt limited the increase in plasma corticosteroids during exposure and confinement. Etomidate appears to be a useful drug for suppressing physiological changes during the handling and transportation of striped bass.

Pregnant sow behavior when housed in groups and singly (1982)

Pregnant sow housing varies considerably from area to area in Australia. Thus, group housing amounts to less than 10% in Queensland, but probably exceeds 50% in Victoria. Confinement of pregnant sows in individual stalls is the most common alternative to group housing, but sows on some farms are separated from each other by tethers. When group housing is replaced by individual stalls or tethers, piggery managers often cite "bullying" of subordinate sows by dominant ones, especially during feeding, as a major problem leading to the change. Nevertheless, animal welfare proponents object to physical isolation of pregnant sows. McBride proposes that sows deprived of ability to control recurring aversive events in their environment may suffer from "learned helplessness" and are therefore less able to cope. Close confinement of sows in relatively barren surroundings, Whether in individual or group housing, may increase the risk of "learned helplessness" and associated symptoms of stress.; Swine Day, Manhattan, KS, November 11, 1982

Clinical classification of pneumonias in cattle

More beef cattle develop and subsequently die from respiratory diseases than from all other causes. In cattle under close confinement respiratory diseases cause 75% of the illnesses and 64% of the deaths. Pneumonias constitute 75% of the diagnoses of respiratory diseases.&#x0D; Epizootics of respiratory disease are recognized by cattle owners who request and expect accurate diagnosis, but veterinarians experience difficulties making definitive diagnoses because of the similarity of signs in sick cattle and the many viral and bacterial pathogens recovered at necropsy.&#x0D; Since a specific clinical diagnosis may be difficult to make in the field, the purpose of this paper is to simplify diagnoses by recommending a classification of pneumonias based on pathogenesis where major signs in each pneumonia are different and distinguishable.&#x0D; To clarify this classification, each pneumonia will be discussed in relationship to etiology, pathogenesis, pathology, and clinical signs.

Warehousing for Death

Information gathered from personal interviews with condemned prisoners in Alabama's Holman Prison and from observations of the setting and its inhabitants is used to trace the prisoners' patterns of life and adjustment on death row. The study commences with a depiction of the physical set ting and custodial regime of death row, considers next the social world of the condemned, and concludes with a description of the cumulative hu man experience in this environment. The adjustment problems of pow erlessness, fear, and emotional emptiness are examined-the pow erlessness of men suffocated by close confinement, the fear of men marked for execution, and the apathy of men denied human contact and support. Death row emerges as an environment in which prisoners feel impo tent, afraid, and alone, defenseless against their keepers and unable to alter their fate. A few prisoners deteriorate dramatically; all experience, in varying degrees, a living death. This image of death row-as a living death- symbolizes the human environment of death row and the human conse quences of confinement in this oppressive penal milieu.

Materials for Heterojunction Devices

Heterojunction devices are playing an increasingly important role in opto­ electronics. They are produced by combining semiconductors that have differing bandgap energies but closely matching lattice parameters. These devices are epitaxially formed on single-crystal substrates. Laser diodes ( 1) and photodetectors are the most important optoelectronic hetero­ structures, although other types of devices, such as transistors, can also be fabricated. The use of heterostructures has made possible dramatic improvements in 111-V compound laser diode performance. However, the addition of heterojunctions to optical detectors has had a lesser impact on their performance. Therefore, this review concentrates mostly on material considerations bearing on laser diode fabrication. The 111-V compound heterojunction lasers have been extensively developed in the past decade starting with the single-heterojunction AIGaAs/GaAs close confinement laser diode (2,3). Since then, structures have been developed with up to four heterojunctions and other III-V and IV-VI materials have been used for heterojunction laser fabrication. The addition of heterojunctions to lasers of the GaAs alloy family has led to a large reduction in the threshold current density at room tempera­ ture, thus making continuous wave operation possible. This development led to practical light sources for high data rate, optical fiber communication. Semiconductor lasers can emit in a spectral range extending from the far infrared (A � 33 11m) to the visible (A � 0.5 11m). However, because some interesting direct bandgap semiconductors cannot be doped both nand p-type, only part of the range is attainable with p-n junction injection devices. For example, the wide-bandgap II-VI compounds CdS and ZnO cannot be doped p-type, and therefore the production of the

Isolation, culture, and differentiation of echinoid primary mesenchyme cells.

Methods are described for isolation and culture of primary mesenchyme cells from echinoid embryos. Ninety-five percentpure primary mesenchyme cells were isolated from early gastrulae ofStrongylocentrotus purpuratus, exploiting the biological segregation of these cells within the blastocoel. When cultured, more than 90% of the isolated cells reached the differentiated state, spicule formation, in synchrony with in vivo controls. Isolated primary mesenchyme cells were cultured with and without various cellular and acellular components of normal embryos in order to study the potential involvement of these components in the morphogenesis of the primary mesenchyme. Our data indicate that: 1. primary mesenchyme cells lack the ability to form the annular pattern of the primary mesenchymal ring autonomously; 2. they autonomously produce spicules of a characteristic morphology that differs from that of embryonic spicules; 3. morphogenesis of the primary mesenchyme is not affected by association with embryonic basal lamina, blastocoel matrix, or loosely aggregated epithelial cells, or by close confinement of each set of primary mesenchyme cells within the blastocoelar space; and 4. reaggregated, tightly associated epithelial cells can promote normal primary mesenchyme ring formation, and modify the primary mesenchyme-intrinsic spicule pattern to produce more normal spicule forms.

Stress Response of Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) Elicited by Cadmium and Copper and Potential Use of Cortisol as an Indicator of Stress

Exposure of juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) to copper (Cu) produced a marked, dose-dependent serum cortisol elevation. Treatment with cadmium (Cd) did not elicit a cortisol elevation, even in moribund fish. Stressing salmon with sublethal levels of Cu or handling plus close confinement resulted in "ideal" compensation (return to prestress levels) in cortisol titers. Salmon exposed to Cu had depressed serum chloride levels and reduced survival when challenged with salt water. Exposure to Cd did not influence serum chloride or the ability to tolerate salt water. Handling and close confinement produced the same cortisol elevation in controls as in Cu- or Cd-treated fish, but exposure to Cu reduced the ability of the fish to survive the stress of handling and confinement. Cortisol level and other characteristics of the General Adaptation Syndrome of stress should not be universally applied as indicators of stress in salmon. Key words: stress, cortisol, heavy metals, coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, saltwater adaptation, stress resistance, stress indicator, cadmium, copper

Output coupling for closely confined Pb&amp;lt;inf&amp;gt;1-x&amp;lt;/inf&amp;gt;Sn&amp;lt;inf&amp;gt;x&amp;lt;/inf&amp;gt;Te double-heterostructure lasers

The output coupling of an idealized, symmetric model of a double-heterostructure (DH) laser is analyzed theoretically using parameters suitable to Pb 1-x Sn x Te. For the TE O mode incident at the laser mirror and for thin optical guiding regions such that only the TE O , TE 1 , TM O , and TM 1 modes may propagate, an exact formulation of the coupling problem is obtained including mode coupling at the mirror into the continuum of unguided radiation modes. Using this formulation, the power reflection and transmission coefficients, the fraction of incident power coupled into the radiation modes, the mirror illumination, and the far-field pattern are calculated for typical parameters. Significant mode coupling can occur, limiting the maximum external efficiency of such lasers. This and other potentially undesirable characteristics resulting from close optical confinement, such as large output beam divergence, must be considered in design criteria for DH structures in this alloy system.

Intensive housing and its effects on farm animals

lntensive animal production is not a new idea. lt is true that historically the rearing of domestic animals for food has been an extensive rather than an intensive practice but this is a generalisation. Whenever, and wherever a population has grown fast enough, large enough and affluent enough, intensive animal production has developed sirnultaneously lo satisfy the demand for meat. For example orca 37 BC the pstio villotica bred edible snails and fieldfares or reared dormice in jan to satisfy Rome's growing demand for luxury items for the epicurcs' tables (White, 1970)In the late lSth century, large scate fattening of pigs and cattle fed on distillen' wash and housed in close confinement in sophisticated buildings provided meat for the hungry nrasses of the rapidly expanding metropolis of London (Lliddleton, I 798). Today intensive animal production is characterised by an increasc in capital investment per animal in housing and equipment, a rcduction in labour usage per animal. an increase in the nutrient intake per animal to achieve a high rate of output, and a standardisation of the final product (Blaxter, 1967). Intensive animal production units tend to be larger and more concentrated in their use of land than traditional farm enterprises and it has been suggested (Cunha, 1967) that they demand a higher level of ability, management skill and technical knowledge. This may well be so, for the neasure of their success is an economic one and this is often the only criteria on which they are judged (Junge 1967). As a result, at any time, the economic situation will dictate that intensive animd production units must continually strive to maximise the overall efliciency with which they convert the basic resourees of feed. labour and capital into saleable products. lntensive housing is only a part of intensive animal production yet its development tends to reflect the continuous struggle to reduce the costs of production by reducing investrnent and improving working conditions inside the building. Simultaneously, housing must continue to aid the improvement of biological perforrirance by creating an environment conduciw to optimal conversion of feed into meat. The dramatic increase in building costs over the last few years from approxirnately tQ9o in 1970 to afmost 25eoin 1974, has resulted in a greater effort to reduce capital expenditure generally by concentrating on either or both of the following factors:

Dependence of threshold current density and beam spread on potential barrier height in close confinement lasers

We have studied the effect of the potential barrier height of single-heterojunction GaAs lasers on the threshold current density and the beam spread. We have found that the minimum for the threshold current density occurs when the AlAs mole% is about 40% in the p+ region, and the beam spread remains approximately the same when the AlAs mole% is 40% or less in the p+ region. But the beam spread increases rapidly when the AlAs mole% is more than 58%. We explained these phenomena in terms of the change in the effective waveguide width in the optical waveguide model.

Focusing Of 52-GHz Beams By Cylindrical Mirrors (Short papers)

The possibility of using inexpensive commercial glass mirrors for refocusing and redirecting millimeter-wave beams has already been investigated; such beams would be useful for distributing large quantities of information in cities. Interference is expected to be minimal as a result of the close confinement of the beams. We report preliminary experiments made in the 50-55-GHz band, using a swept backward-wave oscillator (BWO) as a source.

Norepinephrine turnover in brain and stress reactions in rats during paradoxical sleep deprivation

An increased catabolism of exogenous norepinephrine was observed in the brains of rats subjected either to total sleep deprivation or to close confinement on flower pots without abolition of paradoxical sleep. This suggested that the observed metabolic change was not a consequence of paradoxical sleep deprivation and it seemed possible that stress reactions were occuring. This hypothesis was tested by examining adrenal gland weights and plasma corticosterone levels.