Force-feeding was considered as a traditional high-efficiency approach to improve growth performance and accelerate fat deposition of Pekin ducks. However, force-feeding is a serious violation of international advocacy on animal welfare, because it can induce serious injuries to animals, such as damages to the digestive tract, effects on immunity and even severe oxidative stress. Therefore, it is urgent to stop force-feeding. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of force feeding on immune function, digestive function and oxidative stress in the mucosa of duodenum and jejunum of Pekin ducks. A total of 500 ducks were randomly divided into two groups. The control group was allowed to feed freely on a basal diet. The experimental group was force-fed by inserting a plastic feeding tube 8 to 10 inches long down the esophagus for 6 days. Compared with the control group, there was a significant (P<0.05) increase in serum diamine oxidase, d-lactic acid, endotoxin and corticosterone levels in the force-feeding group. The crypt depth in duodenum and jejunum showed significant differences (P<0.05) between the two groups and the intestinal villus epithelium cell was severely damaged in force-feeding group. Similarly, the activities of digestive enzymes as well as the levels of immune function in the duodenal and jejunal mucosa in the force-feeding group were significantly higher than the control group (P<0.05). However, there was a significant decrease in the superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and catalase levels with a marked increase in malondialdehyde level in duodenal and jejunal mucosa (P<0.05). In summary, at the end of the fattening period with force-feeding for 6 days, Pekin ducks experienced an adverse effect on the integrity of their duodenal and jejunal mucosa epithelium cell as well as their immune function and antioxidant capacity of Pekin ducks but also had improvement in digestive enzyme activities.

The Mangalitza pig breed has suffered strong population reductions due to competition with more productive cosmopolitan breeds. In the current work, we aimed to investigate the effects of this sustained demographic recession on the genomic diversity of Mangalitza pigs. By using the Porcine Single Nucleotid Polymorphism BeadChip, we have characterized the genome-wide diversity of 350 individuals including 45 Red Mangalitza (number of samples; n=20 from Hungary and n=25 from Romania), 37 Blond Mangalitza, 26 Swallow-belly Mangalitza, 48 Blond Mangalitza × Duroc crossbreds, 5 Bazna swine, 143 pigs from the Hampshire, Duroc, Landrace, Large White and Pietrain breeds and 46 wild boars from Romania (n=18) and Hungary (n=28). Performance of a multidimensional scaling plot showed that Landrace, Large White and Pietrain pigs clustered independently from Mangalitza pigs and Romanian and Hungarian wild boars. The number and total length of ROH (runs of homozygosity), as well as FROH coefficients (proportion of the autosomal genome covered ROH) did not show major differences between Mangalitza pigs and other wild and domestic pig populations. However, Romanian and Hungarian Red Mangalitza pigs displayed an increased frequency of very long ROH (>30 Mb) when compared with other porcine breeds. These results indicate that Red Mangalitza pigs underwent recent and strong inbreeding probably as a consequence of severe reductions in census size.

Sodium and chloride are the key factors maintaining normal osmotic pressure (OSM) and volume of the extracellular fluid, and influencing the acid–base balance of body fluids. The experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary Na+ and Cl− level on growth performance, excreta moisture, blood biochemical parameters, intestinal Na+–glucose transporter 1 (SGLT1) messenger RNA (mRNA), and Na+–H+ exchanger 2 (NHE2) mRNA, and to estimate the optimal dietary sodium and chlorine level for yellow-feathered chickens from 22 to 42days. A total of 900 22-day-old Lingnan yellow-feathered male chickens were randomly allotted to five treatments, each of which included six replicates of 30 chickens per floor pen. The basal control diet was based on corn and soybean meal (without added NaCl and NaHCO3). Treatments 2 to 5 consisted of the basal diet supplemented with equal weights of Na+ and Cl−, constituting 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3% and 0.4% of the diets. Supplemental dietary Na+ and Cl− improved the growth performance (P<0.05). Average daily gain (ADG) showed a quadratic broken-line regression to increasing dietary Na+ and Cl− (R2=0.979, P<0.001), and reached a plateau at 0.1%. Supplemental Na+ and Cl− increased (P<0.05) serum Na+ and OSM in serum and showed a quadratic broken-line regression (R2=0.997, P=0.004) at 0.11%. However, supplemental Na+ and Cl− decreased (P<0.05) serum levels of K+, glucose (GLU) and triglyceride. Higher levels of Na+and Cl− decreased duodenal NHE2 transcripts (P<0.05), but had no effect on ileal SGLT1 transcripts. The activity of Na+ /K+-ATPase in the duodenum decreased (P<0.05) with higher levels of dietary Na+ and Cl−. In conclusion, the optimal dietary Na+ and Cl− requirements for yellow-feathered chickens in the grower phase, from 22 to 42 days of age, to optimize ADG, serum Na+, OSM, K+ and GLU were 0.10%, 0.11%, 0.11%,0.17% and 0.16%, respectively, by regression analysis.

Flystrike costs the Australian industry $173 to 280 M per annum and 70% to 80% of Merino lambs are currently mulesed to reduce the risk of flystrike. To alleviate welfare concerns there has been widespread adoption of analgesics to mitigate the pain associated with mulesing. The objective of this experiment was to determine the effectiveness of Tri-Solfen® and meloxicam (Metacam® 20) at reducing pain-related behavioural responses to mulesing in Merino lambs. One hundred and forty Merino lambs were allocated to one of seven treatment groups: (1) non-mulesed (Control); (2) mulesed with no pain relief; (3) subcutaneous (s.c.) meloxicam administered 15 min before mulesing; (4) Tri-Solfen® administered at time of mulesing; (5) Tri-Solfen® and saline injection (s.c.) 15 min before mulesing; (6) Tri-Solfen® and meloxicam (s.c.) 15 min before mulesing; and (7) meloxicam (s.c.) at time the of mulesing. Behavioural responses such as standing, walking and lying were measured every 15 min for 6 h on the day of marking and for up to 2 h for 4 days thereafter. Standing (hunched v. normal) and walking (stiff v. normal) behaviours were then categorised into pain- and normal-related behaviours while lying remained in its own category. Mulesed lambs with no pain relief displayed significantly more pain-related behaviours than Control lambs during the 6 h post-mulesing (1.22 v. 0.22 out of a total score of 3; RSD=1.15). Lambs that received a combination of pain relief displayed significantly less pain-related behaviour than mulesed lambs with no pain relief on the day of mulesing (0.85 v. 1.22 out of a total score of 3; RSD=1.15). Administration of meloxicam or Tri-Solfen® on their own had minimal if any significant effect on pain-related behaviours on the day of mulesing. The results of this experiment support the use of pain-related behaviours to measure the efficacy of analgesics and the use of multimodal analgesia during mulesing of lambs.

In terms of animal welfare, farming systems of dairy cows are perceived positively by consumers when compared to pigs or poultry. A main reason is that the majority of consumers associate dairy farming with pasture, which in turn they relate with benefits for animal health and welfare. However, holistic scientific assessments of the effects of pasturing on animal welfare are rare. Hence, it was the aim to study the animal welfare level in 61 German loose housing dairy farms by using the measures of the Welfare Quality® protocol for dairy cattle (WQP). Data were collected twice per farm at the end of the pasture season (July to October) and approximately 6 months later at the end of the barn season (December to April). Farms were classified based on the duration cows had access to pasture per day during the pasture season: group 1 (G1)>10 h; group 2 (G2) 6 to 10 h; group 3 (G3)<6 h and group 4 (G4) without pasture access. The average herd size was 129 Holstein-Friesian or Red-Holstein cows (range 58 to 527). In addition to WQP data, performance data were gathered from routine herd data recordings. The indicators were aggregated to criteria applying the scoring system of the WQP. G4 received lower scores at the first than at the second visit for the criterion absence of hunger, while there were no differences between visits in the other groups (P=0.58 – group×farm visit effect). All pasturing groups were scored better at the end of the pasture season than G4 for the criterion comfort around resting (P<0.01). Compared with G1 for both farm visits and G2 for the end of the barn season, G4 reached inferior scores for the criterion absence of injuries, including indicators such as hairless patches, lesions, and swellings and lameness. At both assessments G2 was scored higher than the other groups for the criterion absence of diseases (P=0.04). In conclusion, pasture access had positive effects only on selected welfare indicators, however, these effects were not maintained throughout the barn season.

To evaluate how rearing programmes could affect resources allocation and reproductive performance of primiparous rabbit females, a total of 118 rabbit females were used to evaluate the effects of five rearing feeding programmes on their performance from 1st to 2nd parturition: CAL, fed ad libitum C diet (11.0 MJ digestible energy (DE), 114 g digestible protein (DP) and 358 g NDF/kg dry matter (DM) until 1st parturition; CR, fed ad libitum with C diet until 12 weeks of age and then C diet restricted (140 g/day) until 1st parturition; F, fed ad libitum with F diet (8.7 MJ DE, 88 g DP and 476 NDF/kg DM) until 1st parturition; FC, fed with F diet ad libitum until 16 weeks of age, and C diet ad libitum until 1st parturition; FCF, fed with F diet ad libitum until 16 weeks of age, then C diet ad libitum until 20 weeks and then F diet ad libitum until 1st parturition. From 1st parturition, C diet was ad libitum offered to all the experimental groups until 2nd parturition. CAL females presented lower feed intake than females of F, FC and FCF groups in the 1st week of lactation (on av. −16.6%; P<0.05). During 1st lactation, the perirenal fat thickness change in CAL females was not different from 0 (+0.02 mm), while in the other four groups it increased (on av. +0.44 mm; P<0.05). Plasma of females fed with F diet during rearing (F, FC and FCF) had lower non-esterified fatty acids content than those exclusively fed with C diet (–0.088 and –0.072 mmol/l compared to CAL and CR, respectively; P<0.05). FCF litters had higher weight than F litters at day 21 of lactation (+247 g; P<0.05), but FCF litter had significantly lower weight than FC litters at weaning (+170 g; P<0.05). CR females had the shortest average interval between the 1st and 2nd parturition (49 days) and FCF females the longest (+ 9 days compared to CR; P<0.05). At 2nd parturition, liveborn litters of F females were larger and heavier than litters of FCF females (+2.22 kits and +138 g; P<0.05), probably due to the lower mortality at birth of F litters (–16.5 percentage points; P<0.05). In conclusion, rearing females on fibrous diets seems to increase the ability of primiparous rabbit females to obtain resources, especially at the onset of lactation.

The use of tail chalk and estrus/heat expression scores (HEATSC) evaluation is instrumental in identifying cows with greater estrus expression and greater artificial insemination pregnancy rates (P/AI) in cows submitted to timed artificial insemination (TAI), and cows with low or no estrus expression present lower P/AI. It was intended in this study to improve the pregnancy rates in TAI for Bos indicus beef cows, and gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) injection was hypothesized to increase pregnancy rates in a TAI program for cows submitted to progesterone–estradiol-based protocols with low or no estrus expression, evaluated by HEATSC. Cows (n= 2284) received a progesterone device and 2 mg estradiol benzoate, after 8 days the device was removed and 1 mg estradiol cypionate, 150 μg of d-cloprostenol and 300 IU equine chorionic gonadotropin was administered. All cows were marked with chalk and HEATSC evaluated (scales 1 to 3) at TAI performed on day 10. Animals with HEATSC1 and HEATSC2 (n= 937) received 100 μg de gonadorelin (GNRH group; n= 470), or 1 ml saline (Control group; n= 467), and cows with HEATSC3 (named HEAT group; n= 1347) received no additional treatment. The larger dominant follicle, evaluated on day 8and at TAI (day 10), was greater in HEAT group (P= 0.0145 and P <0.001, respectively). Corpus luteum (CL) area and progesterone concentration was evaluated on day 17, and CL area was larger in HEAT group, intermediary in Control and lower in GnRH group (Control= 2.68 cm2, GnRH= 2.37 cm2, HEAT group= 3.07 cm2, P <0.001). Greater progesterone concentrations were found in HEAT group than in Control and GnRH groups (Control= 4.74 ng/ml, GnRH= 4.29 ng/ml, HEAT group= 6.08 ng/ml, P<0.001). There was a difference in ovulation rate, greater in HEAT group than GnRH and Control groups (Control= 72.5%; GnRH= 81.25%; HEAT group= 90.71%; P= 0.0024). Artificial insemination pregnancy rates was greater in HEAT group (57.09% (769/1347) than in Control and GNRH groups, with positive effect of GnRH injection at the time of TAI in P/AI (Control= 36.18% (169/467), GnRH= 45.95% (216/470); P<0.0001). In conclusion, GnRH application in cows with low HEATSC (1 and 2) is a simple strategy, requiring no changes in TAI management to increase pregnancy rates in postpartum beef cows submitted to progesterone–estradiol-based TAI protocols, without reaching, however, the pregnancy rates of cows that demonstrate high estrus expression at the TAI.

Nowadays, there is much legislation in the world devoted to restrict the use of synthetic antibiotics in the poultry industry, which could reduce performance rate and production profits. Various phyto-biotic growth promoters have been proposed to serve as antibiotic alternatives with emphasis on plant extracts and essential oils. This study was conducted to assess the impacts of using the oregano essential oil (OEO) (comprised of 5% thymol and 65% carvacrol) and Enviva essential oil (EEO) (4.5% cinnamaldehyde and 13.5% thymol) as phytobiotic feed additives (PFA) on growth performance, cecal microbiota and serum biochemicals of growing ducks. In total, 800 11-day-old ducklings, housed in 20 floor pens, were allotted randomly into five dietary treatments: (i) A basal diet (BD) (control), (ii.) BD+50 mg EEO/kg, (iii.) BD+100 mg EEO/kg, (iv.) BD+150 mg OEO/kg and (v.) BD+300 mg OEO/kg diet. The growth performance traits were studied between 11 and 42 days of age. At the experiment end, 40 ducks were slaughtered (eight/ treatment) and cecal digesta and blood samples were collected to estimate the cecal bacterial populations and serum blood biochemicals. The results indicated that the tested levels of OEO and EEO did not display any significant effect (P>0.05) on the duck’s final BW, BW gain, growth rate, feed intake, feed conversion ratio or survivability rate. Besides, the different levels of EEO and OEO decreased the cecal populations of Coliforms (P<0.01), total aerobes (P<0.01) and lactose-negative Enterobacteria (P<0.05) in comparison with those of the control group. Finally, the tested EEO and OEO levels did not show any significant effect on the serum variables; in terms of total protein, albumin, globulin, total cholesterol, triglycerides, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase. In conclusion, the antimicrobial effect of the OEO and EEO against the cecal microbiota has been proven, while they did not display significant effects on the growth performance or blood variables of growing ducks.

The aim of this study was to explore lameness and the associations between lameness and health/production measures of animal welfare in commercial broiler production, using the Welfare Quality® protocol for broilers. A total of 50 flocks were included in the sample and farm visits were conducted for lameness scoring at a mean age of 28.9 days. The percentage of animals (n=7500) in the six different gait score (GS) categories were GS0: 2.53%, GS1: 44.19%, GS2: 33.84%, GS3: 16.32%, GS4: 2.36% and GS5: 0.53%. Production and other welfare data were collected for each flock after slaughter. Higher gait scores were associated with increased hock burn score (P<0.02), increased footpad dermatitis score (P<0.01), reduced bird cleanliness score (P<0.01) and peat litter (P<0.01). Although not statistically significant, there was a tendency for increased flock gait score being associated with wet litter (P=0.07). In addition, condemnations at postmortem inspection were associated with increasing gait scores (P<0.05), indicating that at least a portion of the lameness cases display pathological changes on the carcasses. In conclusion, 19%of the birds showed moderate-to-severe lameness, which was associated with several production or health and welfare observations including feather cleanliness and condemnations as unfit for human consumption at slaughter. Although stocking density and growth rate are already known key factors for lameness, associations of lameness with hock burns, footpad dermatitis and cleanliness of the birds suggest that a suboptimal physical environment (e.g. litter- and air quality) may be detrimental to leg health. Further studies are needed to explore these associations in more detail.

At a global level, dairy cow production systems (DCPS) are important sources of nourishment and profits, but they generate environmental impacts such as overexploitation of different resources including water, lands and fossil energy. Quantification of water and carbon footprint to define mitigation strategies and a more rational use of natural resources, is a reiterated claim. The aim of this study was to perform an economic evaluation of the environmental impact of the DCPS from the Comarca Lagunera, Mexico (24°N, 102°W, 220 mm, hot-semiarid climate) We contrasted the economic value (EV) generated by the DCPS with respect to the economic costs (EC) due to the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) and the water footprint (WFP) of this DCPS. While quantifications of GHGE considered those proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the WFP involved the use of blue, gray and green water by the DCPS and related activities. Quantification of the EC of WFP considered an international average price of water. In the year 2017, the Comarca Lagunera registered a dairy cow inventory of 493 144 heads, with 227 142 lactating cows, which produced 2386 million liters of milk per year with an annual average EV of €525.3 million. The EC (€, millions) generated by the GHGE and WFP were €311.8 and €11 980.7, respectively, with a total EC of € 12 292.5 million. When the EV of milk production and the total environmental EC are compared, the contrast demonstrates not only the noteworthy environmental impact but also the significant and senseless biological and EC. In addition, having a large dairy cow concentration creates pollution concerns and the DCPS transfers both nutrients and water resources from an ecologically vulnerable arid region. Therefore, some mitigation strategies such as, better cow genotype, feed and manure management combined with the production of forages and grains in a different geographical region are suggested to promote an optimum use of water in order to uphold the social, economic and biologic sustainability of the Comarca Lagunera, Mexico.

Piglet mortality has a negative impact on animal welfare and public acceptance. Moreover, the number of weaned piglets per sow mainly determines the profitability of piglet production. Increased litter sizes are associated with lower birth weights and piglet survival. Decreased survival rates and performance of piglets make the control of diseases and infections within pig production even more crucial. Consequently, selection for immunocompetence becomes an important key aspect within modern breeding programmes. However, the phenotypic recording of immune traits is difficult and expensive to realize within farm routines. Even though immune traits show genetic variability, only few examples exist on their respective suitability within a breeding programme and their relationships to economically important production traits. The analysis of immune traits for an evaluation of immunocompetence to gain a generally improved immune response is promising. Generally, in-depth knowledge of the genetic background of the immune system is needed to gain helpful insights about its possible incorporation into breeding programmes. Possible physiological drawbacks for enhanced immunocompetence must be considered with regards to the allocation theory and possible trade-offs between the immune system and performance. This review aims to discuss the relationships between the immunocompetence of the pig, piglet survival as well as the potential of these traits to be included into a breeding strategy for improved robustness.

Early life experiences can affect social behaviour in later life, but opportunities for socio-behavioural development are often overlooked in current husbandry practices. This experiment investigated the effects of rearing piglets in two-stage group lactation (GL) system from 7 or 14 days of age on piglet aggression at weaning. Three lactation housing treatments were applied to a total of 198 piglets from 30 litters of multiparous sows. All dams farrowed in standard farrowing crates (FCs). Group lactation litters were transferred with their dam at 7 (GL7) or 14 days (GL14) postpartum to GL pens (one pen of five sows at 8.4 m2/sow and one pen of seven sows at 8.1 m2/sow, per GL treatment). Farrowing crate litters remained with their dam in a single litter until weaning. At weaning, 10 to 14 piglets from two unfamiliar litters from the same housing treatment were mixed into pens (n=5 pens/treatment) and their behaviour was continuously recorded for 3.5 h. For each pen, the frequency of aggressive bouts (reciprocal and non-reciprocal aggression lasting <5 s), the frequency and duration of fights (reciprocal aggression lasting ⩾5 s) and bullying events (non-reciprocal aggression lasting ⩾5 s) were recorded, along with whether interactions involved familiar or unfamiliar piglets. Aggressive bouts delivered by FC piglets were approximately 1.5 and 3.0 times more frequent than that delivered by GL7 and GL14 piglets, respectively (40.5, 16.7 and 9.9 bouts/pig, respectively; P<0.05). Fighting was more frequent (1.6, 0.3 and 0.4 fights/pig, respectively; P<0.001) and fights were longer (83, 15 and 32 s fight/pig, respectively; P<0.001) between FC piglets than between GL7 or GL14 piglets. Bullying did not differ between housing treatments (P>0.05). GL7 and GL14 piglets engaged in a similar number of fights with unfamiliar as familiar piglets, but FC piglets had almost three times as many fights with unfamiliar than with familiar piglets (P<0.05). This experiment confirms the benefits of GL housing for pig social development. Further investigation is required to determine whether mixing before 14 days postpartum has implications for other indicators of animal welfare and productivity in a two-stage GL housing system.

Hyperketonemia (HYK) is one of the most frequent and costly metabolic disorders in high-producing dairy cows and its diagnosis is based on β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) concentration in blood. In the last 10 years, the number of papers that have dealt with the impact of elevated BHB levels in dairy cattle has increased. Therefore, this paper reviewed the recent literature on BHB concentration in blood and milk, and its relationships with dairy cow health and performance, and farm profitability. Most studies applied the threshold of 1.2 mmol/l of BHB concentration in blood to indicate HYK; several authors considered BHB concentrations between 1.2 and 2.9 mmol/l as subclinical ketosis, and values ⩾3.0 mmol/l as clinical ketosis. Results on HYK frequency (prevalence and incidence) and cow performance varied according to parity and days in milk, being greater in multiparous than in primiparous cows, and in the first 2 weeks of lactation than in later stages. Hyperketonemia has been associated with greater milk fat content, fat-to-protein ratio and energy-corrected milk, and lower protein and urea nitrogen in milk. The relationships with milk yield and somatic cell count are still controversial. In general, HYK impairs health of dairy cows by increasing the risk of the onset of other early lactation diseases, and it negatively affects reproductive performance. The economic cost of HYK is mainly due to impaired reproductive performance and milk loss. From a genetic point of view, results from the literature suggested the feasibility of selecting cows with low susceptibility to HYK. The present review highlights that milk is the most promising matrix to identify HYK, because it is easy to sample and allows a complete screening of the herd through BHB concentration predicted using mid-IR spectroscopy during routine milk recording. Further research is needed to validate accurate and convenient methods to discriminate between cows in risk of HYK and healthy animals in field conditions and to support farmers to achieve an early detection and minimise the economic losses.

Goat meat is considered healthy because of its low fat content, but it is often rather tough. Tenderness is the most important attribute of quality during meat consumption and there is scarce information about the expression of genes involved in the meat tenderization process in goats. The aim of this trial was to assess certain meat quality traits and the expression, at the messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein levels, of specific genes involved in the tenderization process of the longissimus lumborum (LL) in young male goats (Capra hircus) at different ages. Samples of LL were collected at slaughter from 32 Alpine goats that were divided into three categories: 9 suckling kids (Sk) at 5.4±0.15 weeks of age, 16 chevons (Ch) at 17.1±0.55 weeks of age and 7 post-puberal goats (Pu) at 34.3±2.5 weeks of age. Animal and carcass variables (live weight gain, live weight, carcass weight and fat deposits) and quality traits of meat (lipid content, ultimate pH, color parameters, cooking loss and shear force) were determined. The mRNA abundances of calpain-1 (Capn1), calpain-2 (Capn2), calpastatin (Cast), caspase 3 (Casp3), caspase 9 (Casp9), αB-crystallin (Cryab), heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27), heat shock protein 40 (Hsp40) and heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) were detected by quantitative PCR. Capn1, Cast, Cryab and Hsp27 protein expression was investigated by ELISA. The Sk group had the leanest carcasses. The meat of the Pu group was the darkest (P<0.05) and the toughest (P<0.05). The redness of meat increased with the age of the goats. The Sk group showed lower mRNA abundances for the Capn2/Cast ratio, Casp3, Cryab, Hsp27, Hsp40 and Hsp70 than the Pu group (P<0.05). Intermediate values were found for the Ch group. Similar results were highlighted for the protein expression of Cryab and Hsp27. The experiment acknowledged a differentiation of the experimental groups based on performance, carcass and meat characteristics, and the genes considered. Moreover, Sk and Pu groups, characterized by a different tenderness of their meat, were clearly discriminated by a different expression of the Hsp.

Black and White dual-purpose cattle (DSN) are kept in diverse production systems, but the same set of genetic parameters is used for official national genetic evaluations, neglecting the herd or production system characteristics. The aim of the present study was to infer genetic (co)variance components within and across defined herd descriptor groups or clusters, considering only herds keeping the local and endangered DSN breed. The study considered 3659 DSN and 2324 Holstein Friesian (HF) cows from parities one to three. The 46 herds always kept DSN cows, but in most cases, herds were ‘mixed’ herds (Mixed), including both genetic lines HF and DSN. In order to study environmental sensitivity, we had a focus on the naturally occurring negative energy balance in the early lactation period. In consequence, traits were records from the 1st official test-day after calving for milk yield (Milk-kg), somatic cell score (SCS) and fat-to-protein ratio (FPR). Genetic parameters were estimated in bivariate runs (separate runs for the three genetic lines Mixed, HF and DSN), defining the same trait from different herd groups or clusters as different traits. Additive-genetic variances and heritabilities were larger in herd groups that indicated superior herd management, implying that cow records from these herds allow a better genetic differentiation. Superior herd management included larger herds, low calving age, high herd production levels and low intra-herd somatic cell count. Herd descriptor group differences in additive-genetic variances for Milk-kg were stronger in HF than in DSN, indicating environmental sensitivity for DSN. Similar variance components and heritabilities across groups, clusters and genetic lines were found for data stratification according to geographical descriptors altitude and latitude. Considering 72 bivariate herd group runs, 29 genetic correlations were very close to 1 (mostly for Milk-kg). Somatic cell score was the trait showing the smallest genetic correlations, especially in the DSN analyses, and when stratifying herds according to genetic line compositions (rg=0.11), or according to the percentage of natural service sires (rg=0.08). For estimations based on the results of a cluster analysis considering several herd descriptors simultaneously, indications for genotype × environment interactions could be found for SCS, but genetic correlations were larger than 0.80 for Milk-kg and FPR. In conclusion, we suggest multiple-trait animal model applications in genetic evaluations, in order to select the best sires for specific herd environments or herd clusters.

Genetic evaluation of Piétrain sires in Flanders occurs under standardized conditions, on test stations with fixed dam breeds, standardized diets and uniform management practices. As environmental conditions vary on commercial farms and differ from the test stations, this study aimed at understanding to what extent the sire, the dam breed and the interaction between both affects the translation of breeding values to practice. Dams of two commercial breeds were inseminated with semen from one of five different sires selected for contrasting breeding values (daily gain, feed conversion ratio and carcass quality). For each sire by dam breed combination, six pen replicates (with three gilts and three barrows per pen) were evaluated for growth performance from 9 weeks of age (20 kg) to slaughter (110 kg), and for carcass and meat quality. In our experimental setup, both sire and dam breed affected growth, carcass and meat quality traits. No significant sire×dam breed interactions on performance could be detected. Though a tendency for interaction on average daily feed intake between 20 and 110 kg (P=0.087), and on pork colour (lightness) (P=0.093) was present. In general, offspring of all tested sires behaved similarly in both dam breeds, indicating that estimated breeding values for Piétrain sires determined in one dam breed are representative in other dam breeds as well.

Spineless cactus is a useful feed for various animal species in arid and semiarid regions due to its adaptability to dry and harsh soil, high efficiency of water use and carbohydrates storage. This meta-analysis was carried out to assess the effect of spineless cactus on animal performance, and develop and evaluate equations to predict dry matter intake (DMI) and average daily gain (ADG) in meat lambs. Equations for predicting DMI and ADG as a function of animal and diet characteristics were developed using data from eight experiments. The dataset was comprised of 40 treatment means from 289 meat lambs, in which cactus was included from 0 to 75% of the diet dry matter (DM). Accuracy and precision were evaluated by cross-validation using the mean square error of prediction (MSEP), which was decomposed into mean bias, systematic bias and random error; concordance correlation coefficient, which was decomposed into accuracy (Cb) and precision (ρ); and coefficient of determination (R2). In addition, the data set was used to evaluate the predicting accuracy and precision of the main lamb feeding systems (Agricultural and Food Research Council, Small Ruminant Nutritional System, National Research Council and Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique) and also two Brazilian studies. The DMI, CP intake (CPI), metabolizable energy (ME) intake and ADG increased when cactus was included up to 499 g/kg DM (P<0.001). In contrast, animals fed high levels of cactus (>500 g/kg DM) had a decreased DMI, CPI and NDF intake, but increased feed efficiency (P<0.001) and similar ADG compared with those without cactus addition. The DMI was positively correlated with initial BW, final BW, concentrate and ADG, while it was negatively correlated with cactus inclusion and ME of the diet. On other hand, ADG was positively correlated with DMI, initial and mean BW and concentrate, and it was negatively correlated with cactus inclusion. The two developed equations had high accuracy (Cb of 0.95 for DMI and 0.94 for ADG) and the random error of MSEP was 99% for both equations. The precision of both equations was moderate, with R2 values of 0.53 and 0.50 and ρ values of 0.73 and 0.71 for DMI and ADG, respectively. In conclusion, the developed equation to predict DMI had moderate precision and high accuracy, nonetheless, it was more efficient than those reported in the literature. The proposed equations can be a useful alternative to estimate intake and performance of lambs fed cactus.

Circular data originates in a wide range of scientific fields and can be analyzed on the basis of directional statistics and special distributions wrapped around the circumference. However, both propensity to transform non-linear to linear data and complexity of directional statistics limited the generalization of the circular paradigm in the animal breeding framework, among others. Here, we generalized a circular mixed (CM) model within the context of Bayesian inference. Three different parametrizations with different hierarchical structures were developed on basis of the von Mises distribution; moreover, both goodness of fit and predictive ability from each parametrization were compared through the analyses of 110 116 lambing distribution records collected from Ripollesa sheep herds between 1976 and 2017. The naive circular (NC) model only accounted for population mean and homogeneous circular variance, and reached the lowest goodness-of-fit and predictive ability. The CM model assumed a hierarchical structure for the population mean by accounting for systematic (ewe age and lambing interval) and permanent environmental sources of variation (flock-year-season and ewe). This improved goodness of fit by reducing both the deviance information criterion (DIC; −2520 units) and the mean square error (MSE; −12.4%) between simulated and predicted lambing data when compared against the NC model. Finally, the last parametrization expanded CM model by also assuming a hierarchical structure with systematic and permanent environmental factors for the variance parameter of the von Mises distribution (i.e. circular canalization (CC) model). This last model reached the best goodness of fit to lambing distribution data with a DIC estimate 5425 units lower than the one for NC model (MSE reduced 13.2%). The same pattern revealed when models were compared in terms of predictive ability. The superiority revealed by CC model emphasized the relevance of heteroskedasticity for the analysis of lambing distribution in the Ripollesa breed, and suggested potential applications for the sheep industry, even genetic selection for canalization. The development of CM models on the basis of the von Mises distribution has allowed to integrate flexible hierarchical structures accounting for different sources of variation and affecting both mean and dispersion terms. This must be viewed as a useful statistical tool with multiple applications in a wide range of research fields, as well as the livestock industry. The next mandatory step should be the inclusion of genetic terms in the hierarchical structure of the models in order to evaluate their potential contribution to current selection programs.