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Body weight and body measurements are commonly used to represent growth and measured at several growth stages in beef cattle. Those economically important traits should be genetically improved. To achieve breeding programs, genetic parameters are prerequisite, as they are needed for designing and predicting outcomes of breeding programs, as well as estimating of breeding values. (Co)variance components were estimated for BW and body measurements on Brahman cattle born between 1990 and 2016 from 17 research herds across Thailand. The traits measured were BW, heart girth (GR), hip height (HH) and body length (BL) and were measured at birth, 200 days, 400 days and 600 days of age. The number of records varied between traits from 18 890 for birth BW to 876 for GR at 600 days. Estimation of variance components was performed using restricted maximum likelihood using univariate and multivariate animal models. Pre-weaning traits were influenced by genetic and/or permanent environmental effects of the dam, except for BL. Heritability estimates from birth to 600 days of age ranged from 0.28±0.01 to 0.50±0.06 for BW, 0.27±0.01 to 0.43±0.09 for GR, 0.28±0.01 to 0.58±0.08 for HH and 0.34±0.01 to 0.51±0.08 for BL using univariate analysis. Heritability estimates for the traits studied increased with age. A similar trend was observed for the phenotypic and genetic correlations between subsequent BW and body measurements. A positive correlation was observed between different traits measured at a similar age, ranging from 0.22±0.01 to 0.72±0.01 for the phenotypic correlation and 0.25±0.04 to 0.97±0.11 for the genetic correlation. Also, a positive correlation was observed for similar traits across different age classes ranging from 0.07±0.03 to 0.76±0.02 for the phenotypic correlation and 0.24±0.11 to 0.92±0.05 for the genetic correlation. Therefore, all correlations between body measurements at the same age and across age classes were positive. The results show the potential improvement of growth traits in Brahman cattle, and those traits can be improved simultaneously under the same breeding program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tidal flats in the Eastern Scheldt tidal basin (The Netherlands) are eroding as a result of the construction of the storm surge barrier. These intertidal areas are important foraging grounds for birds and therefore it is important to mitigate the negative effects of erosion. As a pilot, a small part (20 ha) of the Galgeplaat tidal flat in the middle of the Eastern Scheldt was nourished with 130,000 m 3 of sediment in 2008. This paper investigates this tidal flat nourishment using a large set of morphological and ecological monitoring data from 2008 to 2012. The nourishment proved effective in mitigating the negative effects of tidal flat erosion. The elevated tidal flat provides a foraging area for birds that is available for a longer period. The nourished area was relatively stable, giving time for the recovery of benthic macrofauna such that birds can benefit from the longer exposure time. Therefore, we conclude that sediment nourishments are an effective management measure to counteract the negative consequences of tidal flat erosion in the Eastern Scheldt, and have potential for other estuaries worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breeding programmes for livestock require economic weights for traits that reflect the most profitable animal in a given production system, which affect the response in each trait after selection. The profitability of sheep production systems is affected by changes in pasture growth as well as grain, meat and wool prices between seasons and across years. Annual pasture growth varies between regions within Australia’s Mediterranean climate zone from low growth with long periods of drought to high growth with shorter periods of drought. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess whether breeding objectives need to be adapted for regions, depending on how reliable the pasture growth is across years. We modelled farms with Merino sheep bred for wool and meat in 10 regions in Western Australia. Across these 10 regions, mean annual pasture growth decreased, and the CV of annual pasture growth increased as pasture growth for regions became less reliable. We calculated economic values for nine traits, optimising management across 11 years, including variation for pasture growth and wool, meat and grain prices between and within years from 2002 to 2012. These economic values were used to calculate responses to selection for each trait for the 10 regions. We identified two potential breeding objectives, one for regions with low or high reliability and the other for regions with medium reliability of pasture growth. Breeding objectives for high or low pasture growth reliability had more emphasis on live weight traits and number of lambs weaned. Breeding objectives for medium reliability of pasture growth had more emphasis on decreasing fibre diameter. Relative economic weights for fleece weight did not change across the regions. Regions with low or high pasture reliability had similar breeding objectives and response to selection, because the relationship between the economic values and CV of pasture growth were not linear for live weight traits and the number of lambs weaned. This non-linearity was caused by differences in distribution of pasture growth between regions, particularly during summer and autumn, when ewes were pregnant, with increases in energy requirements affecting the value of lambs weaned. In addition, increasing live weight increased the intake capacity of sheep, which meant that more poor quality pasture could be consumed during summer and autumn, which had more value in regions with low and high pasture reliability. We concluded that breeding values for sheep production systems should be customised depending on the reliability of pasture growth between years. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Transport of animals is a stressful procedure often resulting in significant losses for the slaughter plant. This study aimed to determine whether or not pigs would benefit from a loading density (low density (LD)) (179 kg/m2) below the normal EU standard loading density (normal density (ND)) (235 kg/m2). Eight similar, 550-km-long road journeys, were followed in which fattening pigs were transported across Germany from farm to slaughter plant. During each journey all pigs were transported at LD (n=4) or ND (n=4). Twelve female pigs per journey (total n=96) were randomly selected for measurement and monitoring of body temperature, behaviour, heart rate and blood parameters. Throughout the journeys, LD pigs displayed more resting behaviour than ND pigs. Average body temperature was lower (P<0.05) for pigs transported at LD (38.0±0.07°C) than those transported at ND (38.3±0.06°C). During loading heart rate increased in both ND and LD pigs and declined after the vehicle had been closed before departure but remained slightly elevated in ND pigs. Pigs transported at ND displayed signs of stress (elevated HR and body temperatures) during the drivers’ break. Blood parameters were only slightly (not significant) effected by loading density. Results indicate that pigs are more capable of adapting to long (550 km) transport conditions when loaded at a density below the present EU requirement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The human–animal relationship is an important component of the welfare of farm animals and for this reason animal responsiveness tests to humans are included in on-farm welfare assessment schemes that provide indicators for this. However, apart from the behaviour of stockpersons towards their animals, other factors may also influence animals’ reactivity to humans as observed through behavioural tests, which can add a further layer of complexity to the interpretation of test results. Knowledge of these factors may help a better interpretation of differences from one farm to another in the outcome of human–animal relationship tests, and may provide clues for improving the relationship between animals and humans. The main objective of this study was to identify whether management or environmental factors could influence the outcome of human–animal relationship tests in veal calves. Two tests were performed when calves were aged 14.9 ± 1.6 (SD) weeks in 148 veal farms: the voluntary approach of an unfamiliar human standing at the feeding fence and the reaction towards an unfamiliar human who entered the home pen and tried to touch each calf in a standardised way (Calf Escape Test (CET) – score 0 to 4). Questionnaires were filled in and interviews with the stockpersons were performed in order to obtain information on stockpersons, management, animal and building characteristics. The latency to touch an unfamiliar human at the feeding fence was significantly correlated with the CET scores. Total number of calves on the farm, space allowance, breed, environmental enrichment, stockperson's experience and season of observation influenced the percentage of calves that scored 0 in CET (i.e. calves that could not be approached). Type of milk distribution, type of breed and number of calves per stockperson influenced the percentage of calves that scored 4 in CET (i.e. calves could be touched). For both CET0 and CET4, the level of self-reported contacts by the stockperson (analysed only on the French subset of 36 farms) did not influence the results. This paper concludes that according to the tests conducted on veal calves on commercial farms, factors such as milk distribution method, breed of the calves or the level of experience of stockpersons with veal farming can have an impact on the results of tests focusing on human–animal relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies have implicated the human posterior parietal cortex (PPC) in sensorimotor integration and saccade planning. However, the temporal dynamics of the underlying physiology and its relationship to observations in non-human primates have been difficult to pin down. Here we review some recent work that investigates the role of human parietal neuronal synchronization in the coding and updating of visuomotor representations in saccade and anti-saccade tasks. We also discuss this work in relation to findings made on different spatial and temporal scales in monkey and human posterior parietal cortex. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Genotype-by-environment interaction is caused by variation in genetic environmental sensitivity (GES), which can be subdivided into macro- and micro-GES. Macro-GES is genetic sensitivity to macro-environments (definable environments often shared by groups of animals), while micro-GES is genetic sensitivity to micro-environments (individual environments). A combined reaction norm and double hierarchical generalised linear model (RN-DHGLM) allows for simultaneous estimation of base genetic, macro- and micro-GES effects. The accuracy of variance components estimated using a RN-DHGLM has been explicitly studied for balanced data and recommendation of a data size with a minimum of 100 sires with at least 100 offspring each have been made. In the current study, the data size (numbers of sires and progeny) and structure requirements of the RN-DHGLM were investigated for two types of unbalanced datasets. Both datasets had a variable number of offspring per sire, but one dataset also had a variable number of offspring within macro-environments. The accuracy and bias of the estimated macro- and micro-GES effects and the estimated breeding values (EBV s) obtained using the RN-DHGLM depended on the data size. Reasonably accurate and unbiased estimates were obtained with data containing 500 sires with 20 offspring or 100 sires with 50 offspring, regardless of the data structure. Variable progeny group sizes, alone or in combination with an unequal number of offspring within macro-environments, had little impact on the dispersion of the EBVs or the bias and accuracy of variance component estimation, but resulted in lower accuracies of the EBVs. Compared to genetic correlations of zero, a genetic correlation of 0.5 between base genetic, macro- and micro-GES components resulted in a slight decrease in the percentage of replicates that converged out of 100 replicates, but had no effect on the dispersion and accuracy of variance component estimation or the dispersion of the EBVs. The results show that it is possible to apply the RN-DHGLM to unbalanced datasets to obtain estimates of variance due to macro- and micro-GES. Furthermore, the levels of accuracy and bias of variance estimates when analysing macro- and micro-GES simultaneously are determined by average family size, with limited impact from variability in family size and/or cohort size. This creates opportunities for the use of field data from populations with unbalanced data structures when estimating macro- and micro-GES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing milk yields in modern dairy cows cause concern that high yield may impair the cows' health and welfare, for example, via negative effects on metabolic status and hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) function. This study aims to investigate whether a high level of milk production, and the associated metabolic status, affects HPA function in dairy cows and changes their adaptive capacity. Additionally, it aims to establish whether possible effects of milk production level only show under challenging conditions. Holstein-Friesian cows, which produced on average 11,443 and 7727 kg of fat and protein-corrected milk (FPCM)/305 d in their previous lactation, were compared. During the dry period, the cows were fed to requirements or overfed. High milk yield and the concomitant large energy deficit were associated with 1) increased pituitary (re)activity, i.e., increased ACTH baseline concentrations and higher ACTH concentrations after corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) administration, and 2) decreased adrenocortical reactivity, i.e., lower cortisol responses after ACTH administration. Although significant, the effects of milk production level on HPA function were relatively small. Animals showed seemingly normal hormonal responses to CRH and ACTH administration. Also, cortisol baseline concentrations were unaffected. It seems, therefore, unlikely that the adaptive capacity of the high-producing cows was significantly impaired compared with their low-producing herdmates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lameness is a major problem in modern dairy husbandry and has welfare implications and other negative consequences. The behavior of dairy cows is influenced by lameness. Automated lameness detection can, among other methods, be based on day-to-day variation in animal behavior. Activity sensors that measure lying time, number of lying bouts, and other parameters were used to record behavior per cow per day. The objective of this research was to develop and validate a lameness detection model based on daily activity data. Besides the activity data, milking data and data from the computerized concentrate feeders were available as input data. Locomotion scores were available as reference data. Data from up to 100 cows collected at an experimental farm during 23 mo in 2010 and 2011 were available for model development. Behavior is cow-dependent, and therefore quadratic trend models were fitted with a dynamic linear model on-line per cow for 7 activity variables and 2 other variables (milk yield per day and concentrate leftovers per day). It is assumed that lameness develops gradually; therefore, a lameness alert was given when the linear trend in 2 or more of the 9 models differed significantly from zero in a direction that corresponded with lameness symptoms. The developed model was validated during the first 4 mo of 2012 with almost 100 cows on the same farm by generating lameness alerts each week. Performance on the model validation data set was comparable with performance on the model development data set. The overall sensitivity (percentage of detected lameness cases) was 85.5% combined with specificity (percentage of nonlame cow-days that were not alerted) of 88.8%. All variables contributed to this performance. These results indicate that automated lameness detection based on day-to-day variation in behavior is a useful tool for dairy management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study monitored claw health, claw conformation, locomotion, activity, and step traits of cows from a single dairy herd that were trimmed according to the standard Dutch method or with an alternative "concave" trimming method. Half of the cows were kept in a stall section with concrete slatted floors in the alleys. The other cows were kept in a pen within the same housing with an identical concrete slatted floor in the alleys, but with a rubber top layer. All experimental cows were kept in the same environment for at least 3 mo before and after trimming. It was hypothesized that trimming for more-concave soles (i.e., with 3 to 5 mm of sole dug out under the claw bone) was preferred to the standard Dutch trimming with flat sole surfaces for cows kept in stalls with soft alley floors. None of the claw health or locomotion traits differed for the trimming methods. No interactions were found between flooring and trimming method. Floor effects were significant for several traits. Cows on the rubber-topped floors had significantly fewer sole hemorrhages (prevalence of 22 vs. 48% in mo 3) and larger claws (claw length 76.1 ± 5.0 vs. 72.5 4.9 mm; heel height 49.3 ± 6.3 vs. 46.0 ± 6.4 mm; claw diagonal 129 ± 6.4 vs. 125 ± 6.9 mm), spent more time standing in the alleys (55.4 ± 2.8 vs. 49.6 ± 2.8%), and had higher activity (61.0 ± 3.7 vs. 53.0 ± 3.7 steps/h). This suggests greater claw comfort on rubber flooring compared with concrete flooring. Kinetic patterns during claw-floor contact while walking were similar for all treatments. During the double-support (stance) phase, claw-floor contact area increased to a maximum in the first 30% of double-support phase time, remained more or less stable until 80% of double-support phase time, and sharply decreased as the animal pushed off as shown by the change in center of pressure. A gradual change of center of pressure in the medial direction during double-support phase time was shown. The research hypothesis was rejected, but soft alley floors had subtle beneficial effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study aimed to evaluate a set of DNA markers for their effectiveness in parentage inference, to quantify the level of pedigree errors in Australian Angora and Cashmere goat herds using different pedigree recording methods, and to investigate genotype mismatches between parent and offspring. The 14 microsatellite markers evaluated in this study provided a high level of power (probability of exclusion, PE >99.70%) for parentage testing. The extent of PE depended on polymorphic information content (PIC) and number of alleles for each marker. The minimum number of MS markers essential for accurate determination of parentage was 12, when neither parent is known (PE1) and 10, when one parent is known (PE2). In both populations, the error rates of recorded sire and dam pedigree were significant, averaging around 12%. The error rates of sire and dam pedigree varied considerably between the two populations, reflecting management differences on the two properties. Of 14 MS markers, one locus, SRCRSP07, had null alleles present in the heterozygous state. This null allele was revealed by mismatches of genotypes of parent-offspring pairs. Highly significant deviation from Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium and significant heterozygote deficiency was also observed at this locus. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]