Post Weaning Research Articles

Association of single nucleotide polymorphism in leptin gene with growth traits of Jamunapari goat

The current study sought to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the leptin gene and investigate their relationship with growth traits in goats. Phenotypic data for birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW), body weight at six month (6MW), body weight at nine month (9MW) and body weight at twelve month (12MW) from Jamunapari goats were recorded. Seven pairs of primers were designed to amplify the leptin gene spanning promoter, exonic, intronic and 3’ UTR regions by polymerase chain reaction. High Resolution Melting (HRM) was employed for genotyping, and DNA sequencing was utilized to mining SNPs. Four novel SNPs at g.584C>T, g.4226T>C, g.4158T>C and g.4133T>A were identified in promoter region and 3' UTR region of leptin gene. Statistical analysis revealed that SNPs at g.584C>T was associated with weaning and post weaning stages of growth. Moreover, goats with the CT genotype had higher body weight at WW, 6MW, 9MW and 12MW than those with CC genotype. The results of this study demonstrated that SNPs in leptin gene was significantly associated with growth traits in goat. These findings suggest that an SNP in the caprine leptin gene could be one of the candidates for improving body weight in the Jamunapari goat.

Abstract 11589: Hemodynamic Assessment of Inhalational Epoprostenol for Post-Operative Right Ventricular Dysfunction in Cardiac Surgery Patients

Introduction: Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction after cardiac surgery presents a significant challenge. Epoprostenol (EPO) is a pulmonary vasodilator that can be administered via inhalation and is often used in patients with post-operative RV dysfunction. However, the effects of EPO on RV performance have not been well studied. Furthermore, EPO is generally contraindicated in WHO Group 2 pulmonary hypertension. The purpose of this study is to describe the hemodynamic consequences of weaning inhaled epoprostenol (iEPO) in post-operative RV dysfunction and potentially identify any predictive markers for successful weaning. Methods: This is a single-center case series of patients receiving iEPO after cardiac surgery identified by convenience sampling. Inclusion criteria included post-cardiac surgery patients, >18 years, and receiving iEPO for RV dysfunction. Exclusion criteria included pregnancy, open chest, SARS-COV-2 pneumonia, left ventricular assist device use, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use, heart transplantation, or receiving iEPO for refractory hypoxia. A paired two sample t-test compared the hemodynamic parameters collected pre and post iEPO weaning. Results: EPO weaning was associated with a decrease in mean pulmonary artery pulsatility index (PAPi) (pre-wean 1.81 vs post-wean 1.57, p=0.04) and increase in pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) (46.5mmHg vs 55.1mmHg, p=0.01). Cardiac index and right atrial pressure were not significantly different (p=0.35 and p=0.26 respectively). Case 5 had EPO weaning failure and had the lowest baseline PAPi in the cohort. Conclusion: iEPO weaning is associated with dynamic changes in PASP and PAPI in post-operative cardiac surgery patients. This finding supports the conceptual role of iEPO in improving post-operative RV-PA coupling and RV performance. Baseline PAPi may be a predictive marker to guide the weaning process. However, larger cohorts are needed to confirm these findings.

Sex Differences in Early Programming by Maternal High Fat Diet Induced-Obesity and Fish Oil Supplementation in Mice.

Pre-pregnancy obesity is a contributing factor for impairments in offspring metabolic health. Interventional strategies during pregnancy are a potential approach to alleviate and/or prevent obesity and obesity related metabolic alterations in the offspring. Fish oil (FO), rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) exerts metabolic health benefits. However, the role of FO in early life remains still unknown. Hence, this study objective was to determine the effect of FO supplementation in mice from pre-pregnancy through lactation, and to study the post-natal metabolic health effects in gonadal fat and liver of offspring fed high fat (HF) diet with or without FO. Female C57BL6J mice aged 4–5 weeks were fed a HF (45% fat) diet supplemented with or without FO (30 g/kg of diet) and low fat (LF; 10% fat) pre-pregnancy through lactation. After weaning, offspring (male and female) from HF or FO dams either continued the same diet (HF-HF and FO-FO) or switched to the other diet (HF-FO and FO-HF) for 13 weeks, creating four groups of treatment, and LF-LF was used as a control group. Serum, gonadal fat and liver tissue were collected at termination for metabolic analyses. Offspring of both sexes fed HF with or without fish oil gained (p < 0.05) more weight post weaning, compared to LF-LF-fed mice. All the female offspring groups supplemented with FO had reduced body weight compared to the respective male groups. Further, FO-FO supplementation in both sexes (p < 0.05) improved glucose clearance and insulin sensitivity compared to HF-HF. All FO-FO fed mice had significantly reduced adipocyte size compared to HF-HF group in both male and females. Inflammation, measured by mRNA levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (Mcp1), was reduced (p < 0.05) with FO supplementation in both sexes in gonadal fat and in the liver. Markers of fatty acid synthesis, fatty acid synthase (Fasn) showed no sex specific differences in gonadal fat and liver of mice supplemented with HF. Female mice had lower liver triglycerides than male counterparts. Supplementation of FO in mice improved metabolic health of offspring by lowering markers of lipid synthesis and inflammation.

363 Relationship Between Parasite Load and Performance in Goat Kids at Weaning and Early Post Weaning

Abstract Goats are small ruminants that have enormous potential to boost the economy and be a major source of income especially to marginal farmers and landless laborers. A very common and economically important condition, which affects domestic livestock species worldwide, is Gastrointestinal (GI) parasitism. Haemonchus contortus is the gastrointestinal parasite most common in small ruminants. To better understand the impact of GI parasitism, a study was conducted to research the relationship between parasite load and performance in goat kids at weaning and 60 d post-weaning. Fecal samples were collected at weaning and 60 d post-weaning and egg counts were performed using the modified McMasters technique. Data collected included weights, Fecal Egg Count at weaning, and at 60 d post-weaning. The average fecal egg count at weaning was 830 eggs per gram and 1103 eggs per gram 60 d post-weaning for H. contortus. Egg count at weaning was significantly related to weight at both weaning and 60 d post-weaning (P &amp;lt; .0001 and P = .0003 respectively), but not to ADG (P &amp;gt; .05). Fecal egg count at 60 d post-weaning was not significantly related to either weight or ADG (P &amp;gt; .05). Egg counts at weaning and 60 days post-weaning were not related (P = .0708). The results indicate that early parasite infection can influence animal weights. The lack of a significant correlation between egg counts at weaning and 60 d post weaning indicates a need to evaluate parasite load at later ages in kids when selecting for resistance.

PSVII-4 Flavoured drinking water improves performance of post-weaned piglets

Abstract Water is an absolute requirement in the daily needs of the pig. It has been suggested that after weaning, pigs may not consume enough water which impacts in their hydration. It is commonly known that providing water to piglets encourages higher feed intake and improves nutrient absorption, with a positive impact on weight gain and on post-weaning feed intake adaptation, decreasing problems caused by the transition phase from the farrowing unit to the nursery. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the addition of a flavor to the drinking water of piglets on their voluntary water intake and performance in the first week after weaning. Sixty (30 males and 30 females) commercial piglets were used, in a randomized block design, with 10 repetitions per treatment (with or without addition of 100g/ 1000 L of water of Power sweet®; Adisseo) and each repetition with 3 animals. The piglets were weighed at weaning and d 8 post weaning. Parameters evaluated were the initial and final weight; daily weight gain; average daily and total feed intake; total daily and average consumption per animal of water and correlation between feed and water consumption. The means of the variables were submitted to the Pdiff option of the SAS using the Tukey test for contrasts (P &amp;lt; 0.05). The addition of a flavor in the drinking water increased daily weight gain in 6.7% (P = 0.041), average daily feed consumption in 2.98% (P = 0.0014), total feed consumption in 2.96% (P = 0.0014) and increased the final weight by 1.25% (P = 0.0411) when compared the control. Feed and water intake had a positive correlation in both treatments. The addition of flavor to the drinking water increases feed and water intake, improving the piglet performance in the first week after weaning.

PSXIII-23 Influence of reproductive technologies on post weaning calf performance and carcass characteristics

Abstract The experiment objective was to evaluate the impact of assisted reproductive technologies on post weaning calf performance. Calves born following various reproductive treatments (synchronized natural service and synchronized AI) in 10 herds over 2 years were fed to reach a target backfat (BF) of 1.27 cm, sent to harvest, and carcass data collected. Calves were classified into calving groups as natural service born early (NS-Early, n = 189), natural service born late (NS-Late, n = 203), or AI sired born early (AI-Early, n = 116). Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure in SAS with calving group, year and calf gender in the model. Weaning weights were similar between AI-Early and NS-Early; however, earlier born calves (AI-Early and NS-Early) were heavier (P &amp;lt; 0.0001) than NS-Late. AI-Early calves had heavier finished bodyweight (622.2 kg: P = 0.0024) compared to NS-Early (601.4 kg) and heavier HCW compared to both NS-Early and NS-Late (P &amp;lt; 0.01). NS-Early calves reached 1.27 cm BF in fewer days than AI-Early (261 d and 275 d, respectively; P &amp;lt; 0.01) with NS-late requiring the most days on feed to reach the same endpoint (296 d, P &amp;lt; 0.01). No differences in Quality Grade, Yield Grade, REA, marbling, or BF were detected between AI-Early, NS-Early, and NS-Late, or between early- and late-born calves (P &amp;gt; 0.38). Late-born calves required 29 more days on feed (P &amp;lt; 0.001) to reach 1.27 cm BF resulting in greater final bodyweight compared to early-born calves (625.5 kg and 612.8 kg, respectively; P = 0.04); however, hot carcass weights were similar between early- and late-born calves. Reproductive technologies that increase the number of calves born early in the calving season increased weaning weight and post weaning growth performance, but compared to high quality natural service sires, AI did not improve carcass characteristics.

PSXI-27 Comparison of live weight, backfat depth, and loin eye muscle measurements in ewe and ram lambs

Abstract Application of ultrasound carcass trait scanning in meat animals enhances the selection efficiency and accuracy. One hundred and sixty-two mixed age Katahdin ewes were selected based on ultrasound carcass traits and bred in a high lean muscle selection (n=81) and control (n=81) flocks, respectively in December 2019. Carcass traits including loin eye area (LEA), loin eye muscle width (LEW) and depth (LED), and back-fat depth (BFD) were measured for sires, dams, and their progeny lambs. Birth weight (BW), rearing rank, sex, and weaning weight (WW=90 d) and post weaning weight (PW=120 d) were recorded for progeny. Post-weaning live weight, LEA and BFD values were calculated for deriving an expected progeny difference lists and ewe replacements. Retaining ram lambs (25% male progeny) were recorded for live weight, carcass trait scanning, and breeding values estimate at six-month old as breeding sires. There was no difference between selection and control progeny for WW, PW, BFD and LEA measurements. Means for BW, WW, PW, LEA, LEW, LED, and FBD in progeny were 3.77 ±0.56, 22.13 ±2.98, 24.48 ±3.08 kg, 5.9 ±0.1cm², 4.4 ±0.5 cm, 1.9 ±0.2 cm and 2.9 ±2.6 mm. However, the WW, PW, LEA, and LEW were measured significantly (P &amp;lt; 0.05) greater for ram lambs (20.6 kg, 25.5 kg, 6.1 cm², 4.5 cm) over ewe lambs (19.5 kg, 23.8 kg, 5.7 cm², 4.3 cm). Single born lambs were significantly (P &amp;lt; 0.01) heavier at birth, weaning and post-weaning, and measured greater value for LEA and LED than twin birth or reared lambs. The statistical analysis showed WW was significantly (P &amp;lt; 0.01) correlated with PW (r=0.71) and both WW and PW correlated with LEA (r=0.5) but not with BFD. The result indicates that lean animal selection using ultrasound carcass trait scanning will improve early age selection efficiency and accuracy.

133 The Potential for Maternal Nutrition to Influence, Health, Development and Subsequent Lifetime Performance of the Pig

Abstract The global population is continuing to grow at a rapid rate leading to increased need for meat and milk products. The pig industry will need to adapt and expand to meet this demand. Improving the productivity of the pig industry is therefore vital in ensuring sustainable growth in the future. The use of dietary additives is a means to improve this animal productivity, however, the most appropriate time to provide dietary additives to ensure maximum benefit with the lowest cost is an area that warrants further exploration. The early-life period is a vital time of physiological, transcriptional, and microbial changes that have a stark impact on lifetime productivity. This early lifetime point provides an opportunity to aid development and impart lifetime alterations and improve animal productivity and health. These changes can be applied by dietary and management interventions to the pig itself or to the dam. The dam is a key influence on the development of the progeny as the primary site of microbial inoculation and is therefore, an interesting target for dietary intervention. With increased legislative and environmental constraints through the ban on antibiotics and the phasing out of zinc-oxide in the EU, there is a need to identify viable natural alternatives to increase productivity particularly in the post weaning period. A wealth of chemodiversity exists in nature in plants and animals developing protective molecules to survive in varying complex biosystems. Our research has established the potential of feeding naturally sustainable bioactives to improve animal performance and health. This talk will explore the strategy of feeding these natural bioactives to the dam to improve lifetime performance of the progeny.

PSX-A-22 Late-Breaking: Rumen microbiome composition and microbe network dynamics in beef cattle predict finishing performance under different backgrounding systems

Abstract Backgrounding (BKG) impacts growth and finishing performance in beef cattle. However, specific microbiome contributions to growth performance during this period, considering different BKG systems, remain unknown. A longitudinal study was designed to characterize the rumen microbiome and average daily gain (ADG) of Angus and Angus x Simmental calves (n = 38) placed under different BKG systems for 55 d after weaning: DL: a high roughage diet within a dry lot and CC: annual cover crop within a strip and PP, while a third group, PP: remained on perennial pasture vegetation within rotational paddocks, just as before weaning. After BKG, calves went to a feedlot for 142 d and finished with a high energy ration. Rumen bacterial communities were profiled by collecting fluid samples via oral probe, and sequencing the V4 region of the 16S rRNA bacterial gene, at weaning, during backgrounding and finishing. For calves moved to CC and DL BKG, bacterial composition diverged drastically, including sharp decreases in bacterial diversity (P &amp;lt; 0.001), while PP claves conserved more stable diversity patterns. During BKG, DL calves also showed the greatest ADG (P &amp;lt; 0.05), which coincided with increased abundance of taxa affiliated to the Aeromondales (Succinivibrio, Succcinimonas and Ruminobacter) (P &amp;lt; 0.001). However, once in the finishing phase, PP calves showed compensatory ADG, with significantly higher values, particularly compared with calves on DL BKG (v = 0.02). Network theory analyses were concordant with these patterns, highlighting the importance of understanding microbe-microbe interactions at early developmental stages to predict finishing performance. These results indicate that rumen microbes and their network interactions during backgrounding successfully predict finishing performance in beef cattle, underscoring the importance of early post weaning stages as potential targets for feeding interventions that can modulate the rumen microbiome to enhance lifelong animal performance.

Potential of Grape Extract in Comparison with Therapeutic Dosage of Antibiotics in Weaning Piglets: Effects on Performance, Digestibility and Microbial Metabolites of the Ileum and Colon.

Simple SummaryDiarrhea as a symptom of different enteric infections leads to poor animal health and performance at weaning, followed by economic losses. Phytogenic feed additives, e.g., grape extracts, have shown antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties and these might have beneficial effects on growth trends of weaning piglets and, thereby, potentially reduce the need for antibiotic treatments following weaning. An 8-week feeding trial investigated the potential effects of grape extract (GE) in a model with a negative control (NC) and positive control (PC; antibiotic treatment). Despite no changes in animal performance, dietary GE improved the digestibility of selected nutrients at the same, or even at higher level, as PC. Additionally, there was no clear effect of dietary intervention on the microbial metabolites from the ileum and colon at the end of the trial. These results indicated beneficial effects of GE compared to antibiotic treatment, as often applied at weaning.Enteric diseases in piglets, such as post-weaning diarrhea (PWD), often require antibiotic treatment of the entire litter. Grape polyphenols may help overcome PWD and thereby reduce the need for antibiotics. The potential of a grape extract (GE; continuous in-feed supplementation) on performance of weaning piglets, compared with both negative (NC; corn-based diet) and positive control (PC; NC + in-feed antibiotic (amoxicillin) in a therapeutic dosage for day 1–day 5 post weaning) was assessed. Apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) and microbial metabolites were also evaluated on two sampling points (day 27/28 and day 55/56). We assigned 180 weaning piglets (6.9 ± 0.1 kg body weight (BW)) to 6 male and 6 female pens per treatment with 5 piglets each. Animals from PC showed higher BW on day 13 compared with NC and GE, and a tendency for higher BW on day 56 (p = 0.080) compared to NC. Furthermore, PC increased the average daily feed intake in the starter phase (day 1–day 13), and the average daily gain in the early grower phase (day 14–day 24). Overall, GE improved the ATTD at the same level as PC (ash, acid-hydrolyzed ether extract), or at a higher level than PC (dry matter, organic matter, gross energy, crude protein, P). There were no effects on microbial metabolites apart from minor trends for lactic acid and ammonia. Dietary inclusion of GE may have beneficial effects compared to therapeutic antibiotics, as frequently used at weaning.

Milk replacer and linseed supplementation promotes puberty and semen quality in growing male lambs

• The strategic supplementation with energy and protein-rich feed-stuffs, containing health beneficial fatty acids may improve growth and reproduction performance in male lambs. • Protein rich milk replacer feeding during the pre-weaning and linseed supplementation during the post-weaning enhanced growth, testicular development and advanced the age of puberty in ram lambs. • Milk replacer feeding during the pre-weaning and linseed supplementation during the post weaning increased sperm concentration and rapid motility of spermatozoa in ram lambs. Feeding nutrient rich diets with functional properties enables accelerated growth and improves reproductive function in animals. In this experiment protein rich milk replacer was supplemented during the pre-weaning and n-3 PUFA rich linseed during the post-weaning to assess their effect on puberty and reproduction in Malpura ram lambs. Fifteen-day old male lambs of Malpura breed (n = 18) were equally divided into two groups. The lambs in one group were allowed to suckle their dam upto 3 months age and were fed standard control diet (CON) that included concentrate, Vigna unguiculata hay, Zizyphus nummularia and Ailanthus excelsa leaves up to six months age. Lambs in another group were supplemented milk replacer and linseed (MR-LIN) in a regimen of milk replacer at 100 mL/lamb/day for the first two weeks, then 250 mL/lamb/day until weaning, and subsequently, concentrate with 10 % crushed linseed. Testicular measurement and semen quality assessment of lambs were started at the age of five months. The average daily gain of milk replacer supplemented lambs up to weaning was 22.4 % higher (P = 0.07) than the CON lambs. The testicular attributes i.e. testicular length, breadth, volume and scrotal circumference were significantly higher (P < 0.01) in lambs of MR-LIN group. The puberty was hastened significantly (χ 2 df1 = 4.853, P = 0.046) in MR-LIN group in which 88.9 % of lambs attained puberty by age of 10 months in contrast to 55.6 % lambs in CON group. Sperm concentration, mass motility, percent of rapid motile spermatozoa were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in MR-LIN supplemented lambs than those of CON. Protein rich milk replacer feeding during the pre-weaning and n-3 PUFA rich linseed supplementation during the post-weaning period enhanced growth and testicular development and advanced the age of puberty in growing ram lambs.

In-Feed Supplementation of Resin Acid-Enriched Composition Modulates Gut Microbiota, Improves Growth Performance, and Reduces Post-Weaning Diarrhea and Gut Inflammation in Piglets.

Simple SummaryThe weaning process can be detrimental to piglets and often leads to low feed intake, low weight gain, diarrhea, and eventually increased mortality. Resin acid-enriched composition (RAC) is an innovative natural feed ingredient that contains 90% fatty acids, mostly linoleic and oleic, pinolenic acids, and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). It also contains 9% active component resin acid (RA), mostly abietic and dehydroabietic, and pimaric acids. It possesses antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory properties and has been used in feed to improve performance in pigs. We hypothesized that RAC supplementation to sow and piglet diets might modulate intestinal microbiota, and improve post-weaning growth and reduce post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) and gut inflammation. Sow diets were supplemented with RAC from the last six weeks of gestation until weaning, and piglets were fed RAC trough creep feed and post weaning feed until seven weeks of age. Results indicated that supplementing sow and piglet diets with RAC during late gestation, lactation and at post weaning modulates gut microbiota, reduces inflammatory biomarkers, improves growth performance of post-weaning piglets, and prevents PWD in weaned piglets. Considering these results, RAC supplementation represents a potential strategy to improve piglet growth performance, and is a natural alternative to antibiotics for preventing PWD.The weaning process represents a delicate phase for piglets, and is often characterized by lower feed intake, lower weight gain, diarrhea, and ultimately increased mortality. We aimed to determine the effects of RAC supplementation in diets on improving piglet growth and vitality, reducing post-weaning diarrhea, and enhancing gut health. In a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial experiment, we selected forty sows and their piglets. Piglets were followed until seven weeks of age. There were no significant differences found between RAC treated and control piglets until weaning (p = 0.26). However, three weeks after weaning, RAC treated piglets had higher body weight and average daily growth (ADG) than the control piglets (p = 0.003). In addition, the piglets that received RAC after weaning, irrespective of mother or prior creep feed treatment, had lower post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) and fecal myeloperoxidase (MPO) level than control piglets. Gut microbiota analysis in post-weaning piglets revealed that RAC supplementation significantly increased Lachnospiraceae_unclassified, Blautia, Butyricicoccus, Gemmiger and Holdemanella, and decreased Bacteroidales_unclassified. Overall, RAC supplementation to piglets modulated post-weaning gut microbiota, improved growth performance after weaning, reduced post-weaning diarrhea and reduced fecal myeloperoxidase levels. We therefore consider RAC to be a potential natural feed supplement to prevent enteric infections and improve growth performance in weaning piglets.

Metafounders May Reduce Bias in Composite Cattle Genomic Predictions.

Metafounders are pseudo-individuals that act as proxies for animals in base populations. When metafounders are used, individuals from different breeds can be related through pedigree, improving the compatibility between genomic and pedigree relationships. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of metafounders and unknown parent groups (UPGs) for the genomic evaluation of a composite beef cattle population. Phenotypes were available for scrotal circumference at 14 months of age (SC14), post weaning gain (PWG), weaning weight (WW), and birth weight (BW). The pedigree included 680,551 animals, of which 1,899 were genotyped for or imputed to around 30,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Evaluations were performed based on pedigree (BLUP), pedigree with UPGs (BLUP_UPG), pedigree with metafounders (BLUP_MF), single-step genomic BLUP (ssGBLUP), ssGBLUP with UPGs for genomic and pedigree relationship matrices (ssGBLUP_UPG) or only for the pedigree relationship matrix (ssGBLUP_UPGA), and ssGBLUP with metafounders (ssGBLUP_MF). Each evaluation considered either four or 10 groups that were assigned based on breed of founders and intermediate crosses. To evaluate model performance, we used a validation method based on linear regression statistics to obtain accuracy, stability, dispersion, and bias of (genomic) estimated breeding value [(G)EBV]. Overall, relationships within and among metafounders were stronger in the scenario with 10 metafounders. Accuracy was greater for models with genomic information than for BLUP. Also, the stability of (G)EBVs was greater when genomic information was taken into account. Overall, pedigree-based methods showed lower inflation/deflation (regression coefficients close to 1.0) for SC14, WWM, and BWD traits. The level of inflation/deflation for genomic models was small and trait-dependent. Compared with regular ssGBLUP, ssGBLUP_MF4 displayed regression coefficient closer to one SC14, PWG, WWM, and BWD. Genomic models with metafounders seemed to be slightly more stable than models with UPGs based on higher similarity of results with different numbers of groups. Further, metafounders can help to reduce bias in genomic evaluations of composite beef cattle populations without reducing the stability of GEBVs.

​Comparative Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Jamunapari, Barbari and their Crossbred under Stall Fed Condition

Background: Large variation for body size and weight exist among indigenous goat breeds. Many livestock development agencies recommending crossbreeding of large size goats with small and medium sizes to increase the body size, growth rate, dressing weight and dressing percentage of progeny without being systemic data and combining ability among breeds used. In view of above crossbreeding experiment was conducted by crossing Jamunapari male with Barbari female. Methods: Ten Barbari females were crossed with medium size two Jamunapari male. The crossbred males (07) were kept under stall feeding on high input diet along with Barbari and Jamunapari pure-bred males at weaning. The growth (body weight and average daily weight gains) were studied up to 9 months of age. The animals were slaughtered at 9 months and carcass traits (dressing weight and percentage) were studied. Result: Pre-weaning growth (0-3m) was statistically similar (P greater than 0.05) in all the group of goats. However different trend was obtained in post weaning growth stage, ADG being significantly (P less than 0.05) more in Jamunapari breed (94.10g) as compared to Barbari (73.43g) and crossbred goats (74.24g). The dressing (%) was significantly (P less than 0.05) higher in Jamunapari goats (47.28) as compared to Barbari (40.47) and crossbred (40.44). The carcass results revealed that growth and carcass performance was highest in Jamunapari kids and significantly different from pure bred Barbari and crossbred kids. However, Carcass traits (Carcass weight and Dressing percent) performances were not significantly different in between Barbari and Jamunapari x Barbari crossbred kids. Thus, crossing of Jamunapari with Barbari breed is not being suggested to increase body weight and carcass attributes of crossbreed progeny.

Environmentally enriched housing conditions affect pig welfare, immune system and gut microbiota in early life

BackgroundConventional pig housing and management conditions are associated with gastrointestinal pathophysiology and disease susceptibility in early life. Developing new strategies to reduce both therapeutic and prophylactic antibiotic use is urgent for the sustainable swine production globally. To this end, housing methodology providing effective environmental enrichment could be a promising alternative approach to reduce antibiotic usage, as it has been proven to positively influence pig welfare and immune status and reduce susceptibility to infections. It is, however, poorly understood how this enriched housing affects systemic and local pulmonary immune status and gut microbiota colonization during early life. In the present study, we compared the effects of two housing conditions, i.e., conventional housing: (CH) versus enriched housing (EH), on immune status and gut microbiota from birth until 61 days of age.ResultsThe expected benefits of enrichment on pig welfare were confirmed as EH pigs showed more positive behaviour, less aggression behaviour during the weaning transition and better human animal relation during the post weaning phase. Regarding the pigs’ immune status, EH pigs had higher values of haemoglobin and mean corpuscular volume in haematological profiles and higher percentages of T cells and cytotoxic T cells in peripheral blood. Furthermore, EH pigs showed higher ex vivo secretion of IL1ß and TNF-α after lipopolysaccharide stimulation of whole blood than CH pigs. The structure of the developing faecal microbiota of CH and EH pigs significantly differed as early as day 12 with an increase in the relative abundance of several bacterial groups known to be involved in the production of short chain fatty acids, such as Prevotella_2, Christensenellaceae_R_7_group and Ruminococcus gauvreauii group. Furthermore, the main difference between both housing conditions post weaning was that on day 61, CH pigs had significantly larger inter-individual variation of ileal and colonic microbiota than EH pigs. In addition to housing, other intrinsic factors (e.g., sex) were associated with gut microbiota development and immune competence.ConclusionsIn addition to the known welfare benefits for pigs, environmentally enriched housing also positively drives important aspects of the development of the immune system and the establishment of gut microbiota in early life. Consequently, EH may contribute to increasing productivity of pigs and reducing antibiotic use.

THE COMBINED EFFECT OF SUCKLING SYSTEM AND WEANING WEIGHT ON MILK TRAITS OF NATIVE SHEEP

Data of the current stud, were collected on 32 Iraqi native sheep aged 2-5 years maintained on commercial flock. At lambing, the 32 ewes were divided into two equal groups, lambs in the 1st group were left with their dams till weaning and then were milked twice daily till they dry off (Continuous), whereas the 2nd group, lambs were separated at night for 12 hr. and the ewes were milked once daily at morning (Restricted). Then each main group was subdivided into two group to be weaned their lambs when they reached 3 or 4 times of their birth weight (WB1 and WB2). Results revealed that ewes of restricted suckling produced significantly (P &lt; 0.05) more post weaning (80.80 vs.49.44 L), total milk yield (135.01 vs. 109.94 L) and sealable milk (99.86 vs. 49.44 L) and had significantly longer lactation period (169.3 vs. 140.2 days) compared ewes in continuous suckling. Also, results obtained indicate that daily gain in weight averaged 0.23 kg from birth to weaning and from birth to marketing and 0.24 kg from weaning to marketing and neither suckling system nor weaning weight affected these trait significantly. It can be concluded that restricted suckling resulted in an increase in sealable milk without any adverse effect on growth of lambs.

Accurate assessment of body weights using morphometric measurements in Landlly pigs.

The aim of the study was to evaluate 16 novel morphometric traits of Landlly piglets at weaning (6weeks) and post weaning (8weeks) stage and to predict corresponding body weight from the measurements. A total of 279 Landlly piglets (n = 279, 75% Landrace + 25% Ghurrah crosses) were enrolled in this study. Body length, heart girth, paunch girth, height at wither, height at back, rump width, thigh circumference, neck circumference, and body depth had high correlation coefficients (0.8-0.97) with body weight at both the stages. Stepwise regression showed that body length and heart girth contributed most in prediction of both body weights while height at wither for body weight at 6weeks and neck circumference for body weight at 8weeks was the next highest contributing trait. Akaike's information criterion, Bayesian information criteria, adjusted R2, concordance correlation coefficient, bias correction factor, modeling efficiency, and coefficient of model determination were used to determine the most appropriate model for the prediction of body weight. Model containing body length and heart girth was fitted best to data for prediction of body weight at both weaning and post weaning stage with adjusted R2 values of 0.94 and 0.96, respectively. Hence, 2 different models were proposed for accurately predicting body weight in Landlly pigs at 6 and 8weeks.

High 5-Methyletetrahydrofolate and Folic Acid Gestational Diets Differ on Leptin-Dependent Hypothalamic Genes Regulating Food Intake in Female Offspring

ObjectivesWhile the replacement of folic acid (FA) with the bioactive folate form 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (MTHF) is gaining popularity, a comparison of their effects during pregnancy is limited. In a comparison of maternal intakes of FA and MTHF at recommended or high (5X) doses in Wistar rat dams, we found that dams fed 5X MTHF gained > 70% more weight and ate 8% more food to 19-weeks post weaning (PW) than those fed the high FA diet (Nutrients. 2021;13:48). However, both high dose diets resulted in dysregulation of leptin and central energy regulatory systems. The objective of this study was to compare the effect of gestational FA and MTHF diets on metabolic response and leptin-dependent hypothalamic energy-regulatory genes in the brain of their female offspring. MethodsPregnant Wistar rats were fed an AIN-93G diet with 1X recommended (2mg/kg diet) or 5X FA or equimolar MTHF. At weaning, female offspring were fed a high-fat diet until 19-weeks PW. Body weight, food intake, adiposity, plasma leptin, and gene expression of leptin signaling and related candidate genes in the hypothalamus were measured. ResultsSimilar to the mothers, the 5X-MTHF gestational diet resulted in offspring with higher weight (>15%, P < 0.01) independent of visceral adiposity, and higher food intake (8% P < 0.01) compared to those born to dams fed the 5X-FA, but not from the 1X folate diets. Both 5X diets led to higher plasma leptin at birth (60%, P < 0.05) and at 19-weeks PW (40%, P < 0.01) and up-regulated hypothalamic mRNA of the downstream leptin signalling gene, signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 (Stat3). However, only 5X-MTHF offspring had lower expression of leptin receptor (Ob-rB) and higher expression of suppressor of cytokine signaling-3 (Socs-3), an inhibitor of leptin signalling and indicator of central leptin resistance. In contrast, 5X-FA offspring had higher expression (>1.5-fold, P < 0.01) of dopamine and GABA- receptors which are targets of leptin and associated with feeding inhibition and hyperactivity. ConclusionsFolate form and dose during pregnancy affects long-term programming of leptin dependent hypothalamic regulatory pathways in female offspring. Unfavorable differences in response to FA and MTHF were seen at the higher doses, thus neither should be consumed at high intakes. Funding SourcesCIHR-INMD; EP by NSERC-CGS.

Choline Supplementation in Obese Mouse Dams Alters Offspring DNA Methylation in a Time-Specific Manner

ObjectivesMaternal obesity has long-term influence on metabolic health of offspring, partly through an epigenetic mechanism. Choline is a methyl donor which provides methyl groups for epigenetic modification such as DNA methylation. In this study, we examined the effect of maternal choline supplementation (MCS) on DNA methylation of offspring born to high-fat (HF) fed obese mouse dams. MethodsC57BL/6J mice were fed either a 10% kcal normal fat (NF) or a 60% kcal HF diet with either 25 mM choline supplement or control drinking water from 4 weeks prior to mating until the end of gestation. The offspring were fed the HF diet for 6 weeks after weaning. We measured both global DNA methylation and site-specific methylation of several metabolic genes in the liver, visceral adipose tissue, and brain at both embryonic day E17.5 and after the post-weaning HF feeding. ResultsAt E17.5, HF-MCS led to higher global DNA methylation in both fetal liver and brain. Methylation of one of the CpGs in the promoter region of Srebp1f (a gene that regulates lipogenesis) was also upregulated in the fetal liver by HF-MCS, accordingly there was lower expression of this gene (p < 0.05). However, HF-MCS had opposite effects on global DNA methylation after 6 weeks of post weaning HF feeding than during the fetal period. At this time point, HF-MCS led to hypomethylation of liver and visceral adipose tissue (p < 0.05). Global DNA methylation of the brain was decreased by post-weaning HF feeding but was not affected by maternal HF or MCS (p < 0.01). ConclusionsIn conclusion, MCS during maternal obesity in the perinatal period influences offspring DNA methylation in a time-specific manner. The epigenetic programming effect of MCS needs to be evaluated in both short and long term in the offspring. Funding SourcesNIGMS.

Effects of bacterial DFM and tannins on measures of immunity and growth performance of newly weaned beef calves

Weaning of beef calves has been previously shown to be a stressful event. A number of feed additives have been developed to attenuate the periods of stress in calves, such as direct-fed microbials (DFM) and tannins (TN). A two-year study was conducted to determine the effect of DFM plus tannins (DFM+TN) on newly weaned calf performance and indicators of innate and humoral immune response. Angus calves (n = 142 in year 1; 143 in year 2) were weaned at approximately 6 mo of age, immediately transferred to a feedlot, and fed one of two diets for 42 days: a receiving ration without added DFM+TN (CON), or the same ration with (DFM+TN; 2×108 CFU/hd/d Propionibacterium acidipropionici; 5×107 CFU/hd/d Lactobacillus animalis; 5×107 CFU/hd/d Bifidobacterium animalis and 15 g/hd/d tannins). Body weights were taken on two consecutive days and averaged at the beginning and ending of the study, while single day weights were taken on d 28. In year 2, blood samples from coccygeal vascular complex were collected on d 0, 14, and 28 to measure post-vaccination Bovine viral Diarrhea (BVDV) titers. Upon completion of the 42-d study (year 2 only), calves (n = 72) were transported to Laramie, WY (242 km for 3 h) and additional blood samples were taken on d 0, 2, 4, 7, and 9, relative to transportation, to measure plasma haptoglobin concentrations. There were no differences detected for year (P > 0.18), initial (P = 0.42) and final BW (P = 0.43) or DMI (P = 0.31) due to dietary treatment. However, DFM+TN calves had lower (P = 0.001) overall feed:gain (F:G) and a tendency for greater overall ADG (P = 0.06) compared to CON calves. DFM+TN calves tended to have greater (P = 0.11) total gain overall than CON calves. There were no differences (P ≥ 0.22) in growth performance of calves after transportation. The DFM+TN calves had lower (P < 0.001) haptoglobin concentrations at d 0 and d 4 compared to CON calves (treatment × day effect P = 0.09). Weaned calves fed DFM+TN tended to have greater growth performance, including an improved feed efficiency during the first 42 d post weaning and had a reduction in plasma haptoglobin (d 0 and d 4 post-transport) concentrations relative to CON calves.