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Animal 2021 Mar 29;15(3):100139. Epub 2020 Dec 29.

Department of Animal Science, Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia, Parauapebas, PA 68515-000, Brazil.

Determination of the chemical composition in the body and carcass of ruminants is important for both nutritional requirement studies and the meat industry. This study aimed to develop equations to predict the body and carcass chemical composition of hair sheep using the chemical composition of body parts, carcass measurements and shrunk BW as predictors. A database containing 107 individual records for castrated male hair sheep ranging from 24 to 43 kg BW was gathered from two body composition studies. Read More

Animal 2021 Mar 8;15(3):100161. Epub 2021 Jan 8.

College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730070, China. Electronic address:

Feed efficiency is a highly important economic trait in sheep production and has a significant impact on the economic benefits of sheep farming. Microbial fermentation of the rumen has a vital role in the host's nutrition; the rumen microbiota might affect host feed efficiency. However, the relationship between the rumen microbiota and feed efficiency in sheep is unclear. Read More

Animal 2021 Mar 23;15(3):100136. Epub 2020 Dec 23.

Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), Aberystwyth University, Gogerddan, Ceredigion, Aberystwyth, Wales SY23 3EB, UK.

Intramuscular fat (IMF) content affects eating and nutritional quality of lamb meat. Muscle density measured by computer tomography is an in vivo proxy measure of IMF content that affects eating and nutritional quality of lamb meat. Lambs sired by high muscle density (HMD) or low muscle density (LMD) rams, selected for slaughter on commercial criteria were measured for meat quality and nutritional traits. Read More

Animal 2021 Mar 25;15(3):100147. Epub 2020 Dec 25.

Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. Electronic address:

Digestibility of amino acids (AA) in feed ingredients for pigs has been generally determined by feeding experimental diets containing test feedstuffs as a sole source of N, which may lead to the deficiency or imbalance of AA and hinder an accurate determination of digestibility values. Therefore, the addition of casein in experimental diets may ameliorate the potential negative effects of deficiency or imbalance of AA. In addition, the concentration of test feedstuffs in experimental diets may affect the digestibility of AA in test feedstuffs. Read More

Animal 2021 Jan 24;15(1):100024. Epub 2020 Dec 24.

Institut Agro, INRAE, SAS, 35042 Rennes, France.

Feed production is the main contributor to several environmental impacts of livestock. To decrease environmental impacts of feed, those of feedstuffs should be considered during formulation. In particular, multiobjective feed formulation (MOF) can help reduce several environmental impacts simultaneously while keeping any increase in feed price moderate. Read More

Animal 2021 Mar 11:100193. Epub 2021 Mar 11.

Department of Biosciences, Biotechnologies and Biopharmaceutics, University of Bari, 70121 Bari, Italy.

Under a climate change perspective, the genetic make-up of local livestock breeds showing adaptive traits should be explored and preserved as a priority. We used genotype data from the ovine 50 k Illumina BeadChip for assessing breed autozygosity based on runs of homozygosity (ROH) and fine-scale genetic structure and for detecting genomic regions under selection in 63 Tunisian sheep samples. The average genomic inbreeding coefficients based on ROH were estimated at 0. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 15;15(2):100089. Epub 2020 Dec 15.

Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

In general, calf production occurs in less intensive systems. The limitation of nutrients during the gestation phase of beef cows can have negative impacts on the consequent productivity of females. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of nutritional levels in the third trimester of pregnancy on the productive performance of beef cows kept in a natural pasture (NP). Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 25;15(2):100106. Epub 2020 Dec 25.

College of Coastal Agricultural Sciences, Guangdong Ocean University, 524088 Zhanjiang, Guangdong, PR China. Electronic address:

High environmental temperatures are a foremost concern affecting poultry production; thus, understanding and controlling such conditions are vital to successful production and welfare of poultry. In view of this, a completely randomized design with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement involving two local strains (Kirin chicken (KC) and Three-yellow chicken (TYC)) and two temperature groups (normal/control = 30 ± 2 °C and acute heat stress (AHS) = 35 ± 1 °C for 8-h with 70% humidity) was used to assess the main regulatory factors such as heat shock protein (HSP70) gene, cytokine genes (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10), muscle development gene (IGF-1) and tissue histopathological changes. At 56 days old, the temperatures of the comb (CT), feet (FT), eyelid (ET) and rectal (RT) from each group were taken thrice at 0, 2, 4 and 8-h during AHS, and 1 and 3-h recovery period after AHS. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 22;15(2):100132. Epub 2020 Dec 22.

Departamento de Biociencias Veterinarias, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de la República, Lasplaces 1620, 11600 Montevideo, Uruguay.

Information on weaning techniques in the tropics is scarce, particularly regarding the long-term effect of temporary early cow-calf separation or restricted suckling. Therefore, we studied the effects of these two handling practices on well-being and performance at 150 days postpartum in fifteen zebu cow-calf pairs randomly assigned to three treatments. Continuous suckling (CS) where calves remained with their dams from birth to weaning; restricted suckling (RS) calves were allowed to suckle 30 min/day from Day 34 until weaning at Day 150 and kept separated the rest of the time; temporary separation (TS) calves were separated for 72 h from their dams from Day 33 to 36 but remained with their dams the rest of the time. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 10;15(2):100078. Epub 2020 Dec 10.

Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Clinic for Swine, Justus-Liebig-University, Frankfurter Strasse 112, 35392 Giessen, Germany. Electronic address:

Inflammation and loss of tail integrity can be reasons for serious impairment of animal welfare and one of the major challenges facing modern pig farming. Evidence from practice increasingly suggests that tail lesions might be caused not only by tail biting but also by inflammation and necrosis, which can occur without any action from other pigs. Such changes are not limited to the tail but can also be observed in the ears, heels and soles, claw coronary bands, teats, navel, vulva and face. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 23;15(2):100118. Epub 2020 Dec 23.

Animal Science Department, Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, Hacquetova 17, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Electronic address:

Immunocastrated pigs (IC) exhibit intensive fat deposition after immunisation, but the underlying mechanisms of intensified fat metabolism and deposition are not yet fully understood. Moreover, there is also a lack of comparative studies performed on IC, entire males (EM) and surgical castrates (SC). The main objective of our research was, therefore, to characterise the adipose tissue from the quantitative, histo-morphological and biochemical perspectives in IC 5 weeks after their immunisation in comparison to EM and SC. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 24;15(2):100126. Epub 2020 Dec 24.

Moredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Bush Loan, Penicuik, Midlothian, EH26 0PZ, UK.

Liver flukes (Fasciola spp.) are important helminth parasites of livestock globally and cause substantial reductions in health and productivity of beef cattle. Attempts to control fluke have been thwarted by the difficulty of vaccine design, the evolution of flukicide resistance and the need to control the intermediate snail host. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 23;15(2):100084. Epub 2020 Dec 23.

Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (CIBIO-InBio), University of Porto, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal; Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal. Electronic address:

The progenies of international bulls in diverse climatic conditions and management levels may lead to different expressions of their genetic potential resulting in a re-ranking of these bulls. Therefore, evaluate the presence of genotype by environment interaction (G×E) within and across countries is important to guide the decision-making on alternative selection strategies. Thus, a two-step reaction norm (RN) approach was used to investigate the presence of G×E in Portuguese and Brazilian Holstein cattle. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 10;15(2):100101. Epub 2020 Dec 10.

UMR MoSAR, INRAE, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, 75005 Paris, France.

In dairy, the usual way to measure feed efficiency is through the residual feed intake (RFI) method. However, this method is, in its classical form, a linear regression, which, by construction, does not take into account the evolution of the RFI components across time, inducing approximations in the results. We present here a new approach that incorporates the dynamic dimension of the data. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 23;15(2):100121. Epub 2020 Dec 23.

Oral Sciences Research Group, Dental School, University of Glasgow, 378 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3JZ, United Kingdom.

The work presented in this pilot study aimed to identify potential risk factors associated with bovine periodontitis development. Bovine periodontitis is a multifactorial polymicrobial infectious disease for which the aetiopathogenesis and risk factors are not fully understood. From cattle slaughtered in an abattoir in Scotland, 35 dental arcades with periodontal lesions and 40 periodontally healthy arcades were selected over seven visits for study. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 16;15(2):100108. Epub 2020 Dec 16.

Haibei Demonstration Zone of Plateau Modern Ecological Animal Husbandry Science and Technology, Haibei 810299, China.

The growth retardation of yaks commonly exists on the Tibetan Plateau, and the gastrointestinal barrier function of growth-retarded yaks is disrupted. Glutamine (Gln) is an effective feed additive to improve the gastrointestinal barrier function of animals. This research evaluated the effects of Gln on growth performance, serum permeability parameters, gastrointestinal morphology and barrier function of growth-retarded yaks. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 23;15(2):100115. Epub 2020 Dec 23.

Department of Animal and Food Science, School of Veterinary Science, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès (Barcelona), Spain.

On-farm practices like premature weaning and frequent regrouping induce stress to pigs. Early socialization or environmental enrichment in piglets reduce weaning stress, as suggested in previous studies. Little research with both effects and in commercial settings was found. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 5;15(2):100062. Epub 2021 Jan 5.

AbacusBio International Limited, EH25 9RG Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

Under-use of genetic improvement tools and low participation in breeding programmes are key drivers of breeding programmes under-performance. Both aspects are heavily influenced by farmers attitudes which, to date, have not been analysed in an objective and systematic manner. A key factor constraining the implementation of attitudinal studies towards livestock breeding tools is the lack of a reference scale for measuring attitudes. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 23;15(2):100096. Epub 2020 Dec 23.

Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Kaposvár University, Guba S. Str.,40, H-7400 Kaposvár, Hungary.

Rabbits are particularly sensitive to heat stress which can affect productive performance, with rabbit breed/line possibly playing a role on the response to this condition. The study aimed at evaluating the effect of different ambient temperatures on the live performance and carcass traits of growing rabbits divergently selected for total body fat content. The two genetic lines (Lean and Fat) were selected based on the total body fat content estimated by computer tomography during five generations. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb;15(2):100088

Federal University of Alagoas, Arapiraca Campus, Manoel Severino Barbosa Street, Bom Sucesso, Arapiraca, Alagoas 57309-005, Brazil. Electronic address:

Crude glycerin (CG) is a biodiesel byproduct that has been tested as an alternative feed additive for use in beef production. After being absorbed, it is used in the liver to produce glucose, an important precursor of intramuscular fat in ruminants. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of CG (439 g/kg glycerol) on the performance and meat quality of crossbred heifers finished in Urochloa brizantha cv. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 14;15(2):100083. Epub 2020 Dec 14.

Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7015, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden.

The conventional commercial hatcheries used today do not allow the newly hatched chicks to consume feed or water. Combined with natural variation in hatching time, this can lead to early hatched chicks being feed-deprived for up to 72 h before being unloaded at the rearing site. This study investigated the effects of hatching time on time to first feed intake and development of organs, digestive enzymes and productivity in terms of growth and feed conversion ratio in chicks hatched on-farm. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 10;15(2):100081. Epub 2020 Dec 10.

Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang 330200, China.

Recent studies have shown that chromium (Cr) could alleviate the negative effects of heat stress on livestock and poultry, but there is little information available to laying ducks. This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary addition of chromium propionate on laying performance, egg quality, serum biochemical parameters and antioxidant status of laying ducks under hot (average 32 °C) and humid (average 75% relative humidity) summer conditions. A total of 900 66-week-old weight- and laying-matched Shanma laying ducks were randomly divided into five treatments, each with 6 replicates of 30 individually caged birds. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 27:100185. Epub 2021 Feb 27.

Scotland's Rural College, Roslin Institute Building, Easter Bush, Midlothian EH25 9RG, United Kingdom. Electronic address:

Gastrointestinal parasitism is a global problem for grazing ruminants which can be addressed in a sustainable way through breeding animals to be more resistant to disease. This study estimates the genetic parameters of common and new disease phenotypes associated with natural nematode and coccidian infection in Scottish Blackface sheep to underpin future genetic improvement strategies for parasite control. Data on faecal egg counts (FEC) from different species of strongyle parasites and faecal oocyst counts (FOC) from coccidian parasites were collected on 3-month-old lambs together with a faecal soiling score in the breech area dagginess (DAG) and live weight (LWT). Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 24:100194. Epub 2021 Feb 24.

Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ondokuz Mayis University, 55200 Samsun, Turkey.

Grape seed (GS) is a by-product of the fruit juice and wine industry with the potential to be an alternative to synthetic antioxidants due to its antioxidant activity. Agro-industrial residues can be converted to more effective products by solid-state fermentation. The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of GS and fermented grape seed (FGS) on the growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and cecal microflora in broiler chickens. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 24:100191. Epub 2021 Feb 24.

School of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, GL7 6JS, UK.

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is one of the most prevalent diseases affecting beef and dairy calves worldwide, with implications for lifetime productivity, antimicrobial use and animal welfare. Our objective was to construct a conceptual framework for assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQL) in calves with respiratory disease, based on indicators suitable for direct pen-side visual observation. Health-related quality of life measures aim to evaluate the subjective experience of the animal rather than any related pathology. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 24:100182. Epub 2021 Feb 24.

Department of Entomology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel.

Circulating, non-coding RNAs, such as microRNAs (miRNAs) have been proposed to be powerful pathophysiological indicators of pregnancy in animals and humans. Since their discovery, it is known that miRNAs can take part in numerous biological processes, including cell proliferation and differentiation during early embryonic development and establishment of pregnancy. Our recent studies have indicated that maternal blood can carry miRNAs reported previously at the embryo-maternal interface in pigs. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 23:100192. Epub 2021 Feb 23.

Graduate Program in Animal Science, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Avenida Senador Filinto Müler, 2443, 79074-460 Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

Correct pasture management associated with the adjustment of grazing intensity determines pasture persistence and the level of production per animal and per land area. The objective of this review was to examine the effect of grazing intensity in tropical pastures on the performance and productivity of beef cattle by a meta-analytical approach. The review followed a protocol developed and tested based on the PICOS strategy to formulate the guiding question: population (beef cattle), intervention (high grazing intensities), comparison (low grazing intensities), outcome (animal performance and productivity), and study design (experimental). Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 23:100189. Epub 2021 Feb 23.

Animal Production, CICYTEX, Finca La Orden, 06187 Guadajira,Spain. Electronic address:

Castration is a common practice in Iberian pigs due to their advanced age and high weight at slaughter. Immunocastration (IC) is an alternative to surgical castration that influences carcass and cut fatness. These traits need to be evaluated invivo and postmortem. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 23:100186. Epub 2021 Feb 23.

Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Kiel University, Max-Eyth-Str. 6, 24118 Kiel, Germany.

In a number of dairy farms, a restlessness of hind legs of cows during milking can be observed for no apparent reason. Previous studies have associated the hind leg activity of cows with mental or physical discomfort. Aim of this study was to investigate whether the observed hind leg activity was influenced by the milking process. Read More

Animal 2021 Feb 23:100183. Epub 2021 Feb 23.

Department of Poultry Science, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Oczapowskiego 5, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland.

An assumption was made in the study that the optimal inclusion levels and ratios of lysine (Lys), arginine (Arg) and methionine (Met) in diets with Lys content consistent with National Research Council (NRC) recommendations (1994) contribute to stimulate the antioxidant defense system and prevent disorders resulting from the oxidation and nitration of biologically important molecules. The experiment was carried out on 864 one-day-old Hybrid Converter turkeys divided into six experimental groups (8 replicates per group and 18 birds per replicate) receiving different levels of Arg and Met. Chickens from group ArgMet received 90% Arg and 30% Met relative to Lys; ArgMet - 90% Arg and 45% Met relative to Lys; ArgMet - 100% Arg and 30% Met relative to Lys; ArgMet - 100% Arg and 45% Met relative to Lys; ArgMet - 110% Arg and 30% Met relative to Lys and ArgMet - 110% Arg level and 45% Met level relative to the content of dietary Lys. Read More