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This study aimed to investigate effects of transport age of calves (14 vs. 28 d), and of calf and dam characteristics, on immunoglobulin titers and hematological variables of veal calves. Calves (n = 683) were transported to a veal farm at 14 or 28 d of age. Natural antibodies N-IgG, N-IgM, and N-IgA against phosphorylcholine conjugated to bovine serum albumin (PC-BSA) were measured in serum of the dams 1 wk before calving and in first colostrum. These antibodies were also measured in serum of calves 1 wk after birth, 1 d before transport, and in wk 2 and 10 posttransport at the veal farm. Hematological variables were assessed in calves 1 d before transport and in wk 2 posttransport. One day before transport, titers of N-IgG, N-IgM, N-IgA, and neutrophil counts were higher, and lymphocyte counts were lower in 14-d-old calves compared with 28-d-old calves. In wk 2 at the veal farm, calves transported at 14 d of age had higher N-IgG titers and neutrophil counts, but lower N-IgM and N-IgA titers, and lymphocyte counts than calves transported at 28 d. In wk 1 and 1 d before transport, N-Ig in calves were positively related to N-Ig in colostrum. In wk 2 and 10 at the veal farm, N-IgG in calves was positively related to N-IgG in colostrum. The N-IgG titers in calves at the dairy farm were negatively related to the likelihood of being individually treated with antibiotics or other medicines at the veal farm. Our results suggest that calves transported to the veal farm at 28 d of age showed a more advanced development of their adaptive immunity than calves transported at 14 d of age. Quality of colostrum might have long-term consequences for N-IgG titers and immunity in veal calves.

Dairy calves, including surplus calves, are typically separated from their dam within hours of birth. The aim of this study was to assess the welfare impacts of raising surplus calves destined for veal with their dam for 2 or 4 weeks until transport. Surplus calves from one dairy farm were separated from their dam at birth (n = 39) or kept with the dam (n = 37) until transport to the veal farm at either 2 (n = 50) or 4 (n = 26) weeks of age, with abrupt separation for dam-reared calves. Calf measures of body weight, health, immunity, haematology and behaviour were recorded at the dairy and veal farms. Dam-reared calves had higher body weights in weeks 3, 4 and 5 at the DF, as well as at arrival at the veal farm, but by slaughter this advantage was lost. More dam-reared calves had fever in week 3 and showed signs of disease in week 5 at the dairy farm. Dam-reared calves did not differ in IgG, IgA or IgM levels but had higher counts of white blood cells, which could reflect a higher pathogen exposure rather than improved immunity. Dam-reared calves displayed more fear towards humans in a human approach test at 5 and 7 weeks after arrival at the veal farm, and more frequent social behaviours at the veal farm at 9 and 16 weeks of age. In conclusion, it seems that there may be both advantages and disadvantages to keeping veal calves with the dam in terms of welfare in the current system.

In broilers, leg problems can lead to reduced health and animal welfare, but also to higher mortality and lower processing yields. Preventing leg problems is therefore of great importance for both the bird and the broiler farmer.

In this study, a data driven approach was used by applying linear regression and machine learning methods to understand animal related and environmental factors affecting hatchability. Data was obtained from a parent stock and grand-parent stock hatchery, including 1737 batches of eggs incubated in the years 2010-2018. Animal related factors taken into consideration were strain (white vs brown strain), breeder age, and egg weight uniformity at the start of incubation, whereas environmental factors considered were length of egg storage before incubation, egg weight loss during incubation and season. Effects of these factors on hatchability were analyzed with three different models: a linear regression (LR) model, a Random Forest (RF) model and a Gradient Boosting Machine (GBM) model. In part one of the study, hatchability was predicted and the performance of the models in terms of coefficient of determination (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE) was compared. The ensemble machine learning models (RF: R2=0.35, RMSE=8.41; GBM: R2=0.31, RMSE=8.67) appeared to be superior than the LR model (R2=0.27, RMSE=8.92) as indicated by the higher R2 and lower RMSE. In part two of the study, effects of these factors on hatchability were investigated more into detail. Hatchability was affected by strain, breeder age, egg weight uniformity, length of egg storage and season, but egg weight loss didn't have a significant effect on hatchability. Additionally, four 2-way interactions (breeder age * egg weight uniformity, breeder age * length of egg storage, breeder age * strain, season * strain) were significant on hatchability. It can be concluded that hatchability of parent stock and grand-parent stock layer breeders is affected by several animal related and environmental factors, but the size of the predicted effects varies between the methods used. In this study, three models were used to predict hatchability and to analyze effects of animal related and environmental factors on hatchability. This opens new horizons for future studies on hatchery data by taking the advantage of applying machine learning methods, that can fit complex datasets better than LR and applying statistical analysis.

Piglet livability can be defined as the percentage of potential viable piglets that are raised till weaning. A recent trend in sport nutrition is the use of nitric oxide boosting technologies to enhance athletic performance or to increase endurance. We investigated whether maternal dietary nitrate supplementation, leading to nitric oxide (NO) formation, would shorten the duration of farrowing and increase piglet liveability. NO formation is hypothesized to lead to a higher blood flow and therefore oxygen and nutrient flow to the foetuses (due to the vasodilative effect). This may reduce the risk of asphyxiation and thus increase vitality of piglets at birth and/or decrease stillbirth and preweaning mortality. A total of 350 sows were allocated to six treatments including a control lactation diet without dietary nitrate and diets containing either 0.03, 0.06, 0.09, 0.12 and 0.15% of dietary nitrate (calcium nitrate double salt). Dietary nitrate supplementation in late gestation and early lactation linearly increased piglet birth weights (P=0.04) as well as body weight at 72 h of age (P=0.00). A tendency for a quadratic effect (P=0.10) of dosage of maternal nitrate supplementation was found on pre-weaning mortality of piglets with the lowest level of mortality at a moderate dosage of nitrate supplementation. From 190 sows, additional information on piglet vitality, placental quality, umbilical cord blood gasses and farrowing were collected. The probability of a higher vitality score of piglets linearly increased with ascending dosage of maternal dietary nitrate (P=0.03). A tendency for a higher pO2 with increasing dosage of nitrate was found (P=0.10). Placenta width increased with increasing dosage of maternal dietary nitrate (P=0.02), but no effect on placenta length and redness was found (P>0.10). Farrowing duration and birth interval were not affected by maternal dietary nitrate supplementation (P>0.10). In summary, NO boosting technology is a promising solution to enhance piglet livability.

The current study aimed to determine the effect of increased diet density through increasing dietary fat level on growth performance and energy balance characteristics of broiler chickens during the first week of life. The effects of diet density on energy and nitrogen metabolism were studied using a dose response design that comprised 5 dietary fat inclusion levels (3.5, 7.0, 10.5, 14.0, and 17.0%) while maintaining a constant digestible amino acid to energy ratio. Chickens were housed in open circuit climate respiration chambers. Preplanned contrasts were used to determine significant linear and quadratic relationships with diet density. Feed intake and BW gain linearly decreased and gain to feed ratio increased (P

Open-circuit respiration chambers can be used to measure gas exchange and to calculate heat production (Q) of humans and animals. When studying short-term changes in Q, the size of the respiration chamber in relation to the subject of study is a point of concern. The washout time of a chamber, defined as the proportion of the chamber size to the rate of ventilation, needs to be minimised for accurate measurement of short term changes in Q. To date, most respiration chambers have a fixed size, limiting their use for different species, sizes and number of subjects, thus hampering studying the short term dynamics of Q. This chapter presents various approaches to the design, construction and testing of respiration chambers, adjustable to the metabolic mass inside. As investment costs for constructing respiration chambers are high, flexibility in the use of chambers can contribute substantially to an efficient use of resources. Furthermore, an outline is given to sensor criteria and calibration and finally, the validation of a whole indirect-calorimetric system is described. Air leak tolerance is defined and attention is paid to caretaking of animals, excreta collection and animal and personnel welfare and safety. Respiration facilities, recently constructed at Wageningen University are presented as an example. Briefly, four 45 m2 climate chambers can be used, e.g. for heat or cold stress experiments, to incubate eggs or as a hygiene barrier. Within each chamber, one or two smaller airtight, size adaptable respiration rooms, can be built in where ambient temperature, humidity and ventilation rate can be controlled independently. In each respiration room a wide range of ventilation flow rates can be accomplished and both hypobaric and hyperbaric air pressure control can be established, allowing energy metabolism experiments with specific pathogen free animals (hyperbaric) or trials with infectious agents (hypobaric).

Indirect calorimetry can be used during incubation of avian eggs to monitor the quality of the incubation process, the development of the embryo and the utilization of nutrients. Indirect calorimetry has several benefits above direct calorimetry, particularly in hatching eggs. However, to obtain reliable measurements, some aspects of indirect calorimetry need to be taken into account. First, some attention is given to the use of respiration chambers for only one single egg or more eggs at the same time, with the advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, attention is paid to the importance of using embryo or eggshell temperature as a tool to adjust the temperature in the respiration chamber. Since there is a strong relationship between embryo temperature and heat production (Q), the incubator temperature should be controlled depending on the desired eggshell temperature. Additionally, it is important to consider oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the chamber, as low partial O2 pressure is related to incubation at high altitude and high CO2 levels can result from insufficient ventilation. Besides abiotic factors affecting Q, such as temperature, biotic factors, like egg weight and age of the breeder, affect Q as well. Finally, the use of stable isotopes during incubation to determine oxidation of different nutrients during the incubation process will be addressed. We conclude that indirect calorimetry during incubation of hatching eggs can give insight in the development of the embryo and the utilization of egg nutrients throughout incubation. However, to prevent misinterpretation of the results, some incubation factors (like temperature, O2 and CO2 concentration) and egg characteristics (like weight, breed and breeder age) need to be monitored and controlled.

Environmental factors, such as ambient temperature (T), feather cover (FC), and housing system (HS), probably affect energy requirements of laying hens. Using a 3 × 2 × 2 factorial arrangement, interaction effects of T (11, 16, and 21°C), FC (100 and 50%), and HS (cage and floor housing) on energy partitioning and performance of laying hens were investigated. Six batches of 70 H&N Brown Nick laying hens, divided over 2 respiration chambers, were exposed to the T levels in three 2-wk periods. Heat production (HP) was determined by indirect calorimetry. The ME intake was calculated by subtracting energy in manure/litter from that in feed and wood shavings. The NE was calculated by subtracting HP from ME. The ME intake increased by 1% for each degree reduction in T. In hens with intact plumage, HP was not affected by T, whereas at decreasing T, HP increased in hens with 50% FC (P

Effects of two pellet diameters for piglets pre and post weaning on feed intake, BW, and feed-related behaviour were studied in 3 experiments. In experiment 1, 19 litters were provided with pellets of 2 and 12-mm in diameter in a choice-feeding setup from d 4 of lactation onward. From d 4 to 18, piglets preferred the 12-mm diameter pellet over the 2-mm diameter pellet (519 vs. 168 g/pen; P

Piglet birth weight and litter uniformity were studied in sows of different parities and crossbred lines in relation to 1) the weaning-to-pregnancy interval (WPI); and 2) sow body condition changes (in BW and backfat thickness) during lactation and gestation in sows with a short WPI (= 7d). At the IPG research farm, individual piglet birth weights and sow body condition (BW and backfat thickness at farrowing and weaning) were measured of 949 TOPIGS20 and 889 TOPIGS40 sows with > 4 total born piglets, inseminated between 2003 and 2011. In all analyses, mean piglet birth weight and birth weight SD and CV were corrected for total number born. Total number born was higher in sows with a WPI of 8 to 21d (+ 1.2 piglets; n = 72) and >21d (+ 0.7 piglets; n = 182) compared with sows with a WPI = 7d (P 21d compared with sows with a WPI = 7d (P

Grote brokken voor babybiggen zijn wellicht het Ei van Columbus. Biggen kunnen die brokken gemakkelijker oppakken en ze leren spelenderwijs vreten. Hierdoor groeien en vreten ze ook na het spenen veel beter.

Toen dr. Henry van den Brand (Wageningen University) beweerde dat grote korrels bij zogende biggen voor hogere voeropname en groei leiden, geloofde niemand hem. Inmiddels produceert Coppens diervoeding een korrel van 15 millimeter doorsnee voor jonge biggen. Resultaten van de eerste praktijkproeven tonen aan dat de groei na spenen hoog is

Coppens diervoeding presenteert de babybiggenkorrel als hulpmiddel om biggen te leren eten. Het idee is even simpel als briljant: maak de korrel groter. Maar ondanks goede resultaten laat niet iedereen zich zomaar overtuigen.

Het aanpassingsvermogen van leghennen is indrukwekkend. Andere temperatuur, andere huisvesting? De eierproductie blijft gewoon op peil! Onderzoek van WUR Livestock Research laat dat zien.

Despite rather extreme differences between treatments, rate of lay, egg weight and egg mass were not affected, indicating the adaptive capacity of laying hens to a broad range of environmental conditions. Het doel van deze studie was om de effecten van omgevingstemperatuur, conditie verenkleed en huisvestingssysteem op het energieverbruik en de legprestaties van leghennen vast te stellen, en op basis van de resultaten van dit experiment een formule te ontwikkelen, die de voeropname van leghennen in alternatieve systemen goed kan voorspellen.

Insulin-stimulating sow diets before mating improve piglet uniformity. We studied effects of nutritionally induced differences in insulin levels during the weaning-to-ovulation interval (WOI) on luteal development, progesterone secretion and pre-implantation conceptus development and uniformity (d10). To create insulin contrasts, 32 multiparous sows were fed either a dextrose plus lactose containing diet (each 150 g/day) at 4 h intervals (DL treatment) or an isocalorically control diet (containing soybean oil) at 12 h intervals (CTRL treatment) during the WOI. After ovulation, all sows received a standard gestation diet at 12 h intervals. Ovulation rate, plasma progesterone levels, pregnancy rate and embryo survival did not differ between treatments. CTRL sows had a higher total luteal weight (11.2 vs 9.7 g; p = 0.03) than DL sows. Conceptus diameter at d10 of pregnancy tended to be larger in CTRL sows (diameter: 7.1 vs 6.4 mm; p = 0.07). Conceptus uniformity was not influenced by treatment. Insulin area under the curve (AUC) and mean insulin during the WOI were positively related with mean progesterone (ß values were 0.78 (ng/ml)/1000 µU and 0.14 (ng/ml)/(µU/ml) for AUC and mean, respectively; p

To get more insight in how insulin secretion patterns and corresponding insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels are related to luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion, follicle development and ovulation, 32 multiparous sows were fed either a dextrose plus lactose-containing diet at 4 h intervals (DL; each 150 g/day) or an isocaloric control diet at 12 h intervals (CTRL; containing soybean oil) during the weaning-to-ovulation interval (WOI). Insulin parameters (basal, peak levels and mean insulin) and IGF-1 levels during the WOI were similar for both treatments, but the insulin secretion pattern differed (related with feeding frequency and meal sizes). Oestrus and ovulation characteristics were not influenced by treatment. The LH surge was higher in CTRL compared with DL sows (3.73 vs 3.00 ng/ml; p = 0.03). Average diameter (6.5 vs 6.1 mm; p = 0.08) and uniformity (CV: 11 vs 15%, p = 0.02) of follicles =3 mm at day 4 after weaning was higher in CTRL compared with DL sows. Basal insulin levels were positively related with follicle diameter at ovulation (ß = 0.05 mm/(µU/ml); p = 0.04) and negatively related with LH surge level (ß = -0.07 (ng/ml)/(µU/ml); p = 0.01). Insulin area under the curve (AUC) (ß = 0.037 (ng/ml)/1000 µU; p = 0.02) and IGF-1 levels (ß = 0.002 (ng/ml)/(ng/ml); p

Effects of different carbohydrate sources on plasma glucose, insulin and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) levels were compared to subsequently be able to study effects of insulin-stimulating diets on follicle development in sows. The following feed components were tested in 12 sows during six consecutive test periods of 9.5 days: dextrose (DEX), sucrose (SUC), lactose (LAC), dextrose plus lactose (DL), sucrose plus lactose (SL), dextrose plus sugarbeet pulp (DSBP) and control (CON). On day 2, 5 and 9 of each test period, plasma glucose (only at day 9), insulin and IGF-I profiles were determined. Despite similar glucose profiles for all diets, the postprandial insulin response was higher for DL and SL compared with CON and LAC; the other diets were intermediate. Plasma IGF-I levels were higher in CON, LAC and SL compared with DSBP, but differences were only marginal. It was concluded that dextrose and sucrose have the potential to stimulate fast and high insulin peaks, especially when combined with additional lactose. Despite the high dextrose in the DSBP diet, the insulin response was flattened, probably due to the viscosity of sugarbeet pulp. The results show that modulation of plasma insulin levels by dietary carbohydrates seems possible in anabolic sows, but IGF-I levels are less easily modified.

Environmental factors, e.g. temperature (T), feather cover (FC), and housing system (HS) affect energy requirements of laying hens. Interaction effects of T (11°C, 16°C, 21°C), FC (100% vs. 50%) and HS (cage vs. floor) on energy partitioning and performance of laying hens were investigated. Six batches of 70 brown layers per batch were applied. Heat production (HP) was determined by indirect calorimetry. ME-intake increased by 1% for each degree reduction in T. HP was not affected by T in hens with 100% FC, whereas in hens with 50% FC HP linearly increased if T decreased. In floor housing, HP at 16°C and 11°C was 5.8% and 3.0% higher, respectively, than in cages. NE for production (NEp) was 25.7% higher in cages compared to floor housing. In cages, 24.7% of NEp was spent on body fat deposition, whereas in floor housing 9.0% of NEp was released from body fat reserves. ME-intake (kJ/d) was predicted by: 586 BW0.75 – 7.94 T + 26.84 Daily gain + 11.36 Egg mass – 0.993 FC – 36.2 HS (0 = cages, 1 = floor; R2 = 0.75). Despite considerable differences among treatments, egg performances were not affected, indicating the adaptive capacity of layers to a broad range of environmental conditions.

We investigated effects of loose housing of the sow during lactation and enrichment of the pen pre- and postweaning on performance of newly weaned piglets. Before weaning, piglets (n = 320) were housed in an enriched (straw, wood shavings, peat and branches) or barren pen with a confined or loose-housed sow (n = 32). Loose-housed sows and their piglets could eat together from a family feeder, whereas confined sows and piglets had separate feeding troughs. Piglets (n = 256) were mixed postweaning and 4 piglets from each litter were relocated to a barren pen (n = 32 pens) and 4 other piglets were housed in an enriched pen (n = 32 pens). Growth from d 15 until weaning was higher for piglets from enriched pens (4.38 ± 0.29 versus 4.71 ± 0.21 kg/pig, P 0.25). Piglets from enriched preweaning pens ate more in the first 2 d postweaning than piglets from barren pens (first 48 h, barren 0.45 ± 0.05 kg/pig, enriched 0.53 ± 0.04 kg/pig, P

2 proeven werden uitgevoerd. Het doel van de 1e was nader inzicht te krijgen in het mechanisme dat ten grondslag ligt aan de relatie tussen insuline-stimulerend voer (dextrose+lactose) tijdens het interval spenenovulatie, follikelontwikkeling in de laatste dagen voor inseminatie en (variatie in) ontwikkeling van embryo's tijdens de vroege dracht. Het doel van de 2e proef was om nader inzicht te krijgen in de directe effecten van de specifieke voercomponenten dextrose, lactose, sucrose en suikerbietenpulp (zowel apart als gecombineerd) op glucose, insuline en IGF-1 profielen in zeugen om zo diëten te vinden met de hoogste potentie om insuline en IGF-1 afgifte te stimuleren.

Kippengeluk wordt al bepaald in het ei. Een kuiken dat op de juiste temperatuur is uitgebroed is gezonder en waarschijnlijk ook minder angstig dan soortgenoten die het in het ei te heet of te koud hebben gehad. Ook de eerste levensweken van een kip blijken van grote invloed op de latere gezondheidstoestand van het dier

De lactatie en de periode vlak na spenen zijn belangrijke fases in het leven van zeugen en biggen. Recent onderzoek aan ondermeer Wageningen UR geeft aanknopingspunten om deze periodes soepeler te laten verlopen voor de zeug en haar biggen

Wageningen UR deed onderzoek naar het onder water bewaren van broedeieren. In de eerste fase van ontwikkeling verloopt de embryonale ontwikkeling erg goed, maar in de tweede fase moet die voorsprong weer worden prijs gegeven