Improving production of cows and fattening cattle in Indonesia and north Australia

To increase numbers and reproduction in Ongole and Bali cows by as much as 60% in Indonesia requires use of rice straw for maintenance of cows and higher quality feed and crop by-products for growth and fattening of calves. These feedstuffs exist in large quantities. The project will couple feeding systems with management (controlled mating with a selected bull, weaning, compost production), previously developed by the project team, in village-based adaptive research across the main cattle regions of Indonesia, with emphasis on East Java. The project will link with research on nutrition interactions with reproduction of cows in indigenous pastoral systems in north Australia.

A dynamic programming model for optimising feeding and slaughter decisions regarding fattening pigs

Costs of purchasing new piglets and of feeding them until slaughter are the main variable expenditures in pig fattening. They both depend on slaughter intensity, the nature of feeding patterns and the technological constraints of pig fattening, such as genotype. Therefore, it is of interest to examine the effect of production technology and changes in input and output prices on feeding and slaughter decisions. This study examines the problem by using a dynamic programming model that links genetic characteristics of a pig to feeding decisions and the timing of slaughter and takes into account how these jointly affect the quality-adjusted value of a carcass. The model simulates the growth mechanism of a pig under optional feeding and slaughter patterns and then solves the optimal feeding and slaughter decisions recursively. The state of nature and the genotype of a pig are known in the analysis. The main contribution of this study is the dynamic approach that explicitly takes into account carcass quality while simultaneously optimising feeding and slaughter decisions. The method maximises the internal rate of return to the capacity unit. Hence, the results can have vital impact on competitiveness of pig production, which is known to be quite capital-intensive. The results suggest that producer can significantly benefit from improvements in the pig's genotype, because they improve efficiency of pig production. The annual benefits from obtaining pigs of improved genotype can be more than €20 per capacity unit. The annual net benefits of animal breeding to pig farms can also be considerable. Animals of improved genotype can reach optimal slaughter maturity quicker and produce leaner meat than animals of poor genotype. In order to fully utilise the benefits of animal breeding, the producer must adjust feeding and slaughter patterns on the basis of genotype. The results suggest that the producer can benefit from flexible feeding technology. The flexible feeding technology segregates pigs into groups according to their weight, carcass leanness, genotype and sex and thereafter optimises feeding and slaughter decisions separately for these groups. Typically, such a technology provides incentives to feed piglets with protein-rich feed such that the genetic potential to produce leaner meat is fully utilised. When the pig approaches slaughter maturity, the share of protein-rich feed in the diet gradually decreases and the amount of energy-rich feed increases. Generally, the optimal slaughter weight is within the weight range that pays the highest price per kilogram of pig meat. The optimal feeding pattern and the optimal timing of slaughter depend on price ratios. Particularly, an increase in the price of pig meat provides incentives to increase the growth rates up to the pig's biological maximum by increasing the amount of energy in the feed. Price changes and changes in slaughter premium can also have large income effects. Key words: barley, carcass composition, dynamic programming, feeding, genotypes, lean, pig fattening, precision agriculture, productivity, slaughter weight, soybeans

Growth in weight and of some tissues in the bullfrog: fitting nonlinear models during the fattening phase

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Dietary supplementation with sunflower seeds and vitamin E for fattening lambs improves the fatty acid profile and oxidative stability of the Longissimus lumborum

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

[Mucormycosis due to Mycocladus corymbiferus in a fattening pig]

A fattening pig with enlarged head and abdominal lymph nodes was examined. An aspirate of the abscesses did not produce a conclusive diagnosis. Only an excision with subsequent histological and bacteriological examination showed the mould Mycocladus corymbiferus (syn. Absidia corymbifera) to be present. Similar abscesses should be examined as actinomycosis and leucosis are the main differential diagnoses.

Effects of high selenium intake on selenium status, liver function and claw health of fattening bulls

The effects of three dietary selenium (Se) levels (0.15, 0.35 and 0.5 mg/kg dry matter (dm) and of two Se-compounds (sodium selenite and Se-yeast) on the Se-status, liver function and claw health were studied using 36 fattening bulls in a two-factorial feeding trial that lasted 16 weeks. The claw health was assessed macroscopically and microscopically. Compared to the two control diets containing 0.15 mg Se/kg dm, the intake of the diets containing 0.35 and 0.50 mg Se/kg dm significantly (P < 0.05) increased the Se-concentration in serum, hair, liver and skeletal muscle. Compared to sodium selenite the intake of Se-yeast resulted in significantly (P < 0.05) higher Se-concentration in serum, liver and hair. Concerning the claw horn quality, there was no significant difference between the different groups; the animals receiving organic Se tended to have a better histological score (P = 0.06) at the coronary band than the groups fed with sodium selenite. The serum vitamin E level decreased significantly (P < 0.05) with increasing Se-intake, which had no influence (P > 0.1) on growth and liver function parameters. With the exception of the decrease of the serum vitamin E level indicating an oxidative stress caused by a high Se-intake, no negative effects of dietary selenium exceeding recommended levels for 4 months were observed.

Genotypes and antibiotic resistance of Campylobacter coli in fattening pigs

Campylobacter coli is a food-borne zoonotic pathogen causing human gastroenteritis worldwide. The organism is a commensal in the intestine of many food production animals including fattening pigs. The role of the pig as a potential reservoir for C. coli affecting human either directly or via poultry has hardly been investigated and genetic characterization of porcine strains is needed to address this question. For this aim multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and flaB typing was applied to 256 C. coli isolates from faeces of fattening pig collected during 2009 at different slaughterhouses in Switzerland. In addition genotypic resistances towards macrolides and quinolones based on point mutations in the 23S rRNA and gyrA genes, respectively, were determined. Of the 67 sequence types (STs) obtained by MLST, 37 were found for the first time. flaB typing revealed 46 different types with 14 of them being novel and was useful to further differentiate strains with an identical ST. Quinolone resistance was detected in 33.6% and macrolide resistance was found in 10.6% of isolates. Comparison with 99 C. coli pig isolates from 2001 revealed a significant decrease in antibiotic resistance towards both groups of antibiotics and there was high overlap between genotypes of 2001 and 2009. Little overlap of porcine genotypes was found with 97 C. coli isolates from poultry collected 2008, however, macrolide resistance was significantly higher in pig isolates. In conclusion, C. coli from Swiss pig are heterogeneous containing many novel STs, findings that could reflect the partitioned Swiss pig production with almost no international breed exchange. The antibiotic resistance echoes the use of corresponding drugs in the Swiss livestock production and indicates the efficacy of restrictive application of antibiotics in order to reduce resistances.

Campylobacter spp., Yersinia enterocolitica, and Salmonella enterica and their simultaneous occurrence in German fattening pig herds and their environment.

Campylobacter spp., Salmonella enterica, and Yersinia enterocolitica are common causes of foodborne infections in humans with pork as a potential source. Monitoring programs at farm level are, to date, only implemented for S. enterica, while epidemiological knowledge of the other two pathogens is still lacking. This study aimed to assess the pathogen load (in the pigs' environment) in fattening pig herds, their simultaneous occurrence, and the occurrence of Campylobacter spp. and Y. enterocolitica in herds in different Salmonella risk categories. In 50 fattening pig herds in northern Germany, four pooled fecal samples and 10 swab samples from the pigs' direct environment (pen walls, nipple drinkers), indirect environment (hallways, drive boards), and flies and rodent droppings were collected from each herd and submitted for cultural examination. Campylobacter spp. were detected in 38.1% of fecal, 32.7% of direct environment, 5.3% of indirect environment, and 4.6% of flies/pests samples collected, and Y. enterocolitica in 17.1, 8.1, 1.2, and 3.1% and S. enterica in 11.2, 7.7, 4.1, and 1.5%, respectively. For Campylobacter spp., Y. enterocolitica, and S. enterica, 80, 48, and 32% of herds were positive, respectively; 22 herds were positive for both Campylobacter spp. and Y. enterocolitica, 12 for Campylobacter spp. and S. enterica, and 7 for Y. enterocolitica and S. enterica. There was no significant association between the pathogens at herd level. Campylobacter spp. and Y. enterocolitica were found more often in samples from the low Salmonella risk category (odds ratio, 0.51; confidence interval, 0.36 to 0.73, and 0.3, 0.17 to 0.57), and this was also the case for Y. enterocolitica at herd level (odds ratio, 0.08; confidence interval, 0.02 to 0.3). This study provides evidence that the pigs' environment should be accounted for when implementing control measures on farms against Campylobacter spp. and Y. enterocolitica. An extrapolation from the current Salmonella monitoring to the other two pathogens does not seem feasible.