Health problems in dairy cows are detrimental to animal welfare, cause production losses and lead to treatment costs. Early detection of health disorders can have cow welfare as well as economic benefits. For disorders that affect short-term feeding behaviour, the automatic monitoring of such behaviour by electronic tagging of cows could assist in early detection. The first objective of the study was to describe and quantify changes in short-term feeding behaviour of dairy cows that occur with the onset of the health disorders ketosis, mastitis, acute locomotory problems and chronic lameness. The evaluation of the suitability of an algorithm based on those changes as a diagnostic tool for the early identification of health problems in group-housed dairy cows was our second objective.

Lameness can be assessed using locomotion scoring; however, this method is time consuming and an automated method of detecting lameness is needed. Studies have shown that in conventionally-managed dairy herds, lame cows spend more time lying down than non-lame cows (e.g. Singh et al, 1993). However, there are limited data available for high producing zero-grazed dairy cattle in the UK. IceTags™ are activity monitors which use an electronic accelerometer to determine the percent of time spent standing, lying or active and have been validated in a study by Munksgaard et al (2006). The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of lameness on lying behaviour of high yielding, zero-grazed, Holstein dairy cows and to assess the potential use of lying time to detect lameness.

The integration of heifers with the main dairy herd during the post calving period can lead to reduced welfare and production performance. The aim of this study was to assess whether any benefits to welfare or productivity are shown when heifers are introduced to groups of mature cows as pairs rather than individuals. In addition, the benefit of allowing heifers a 1-week recovery period after calving before being introduced to these groups was also assessed.

Highly degradable protein diets creating high ammonia and/or urea concentrations in blood or reproductive fluids may affect reproductive performance by their toxicity to embryos (Hammon et al. 2005). Pastures in NZ during spring have high CP (170 to 273 g/kg DM) and cows on these pastures have high blood urea (36 mg/dl; Moller et al. 1993). Few studies (Ordonez et al. 2007) have evaluated association between high blood urea and reproduction of individual cows. The present study examined individual cow reproductive performance and blood urea concentration during grazing of spring pasture.

Lameness is a significant problem leading to reduced dairy cow productivity and welfare. Housing and management factors are known to influence lameness levels in dairy cows (Haskell et al., 2006). Furthermore, lameness management strategies are also key factors affecting the incidence of lameness (e.g. early detection of lameness (Whay, 2002) and claw trimming (Manske et al., 2002)). It is likely that knowledge factors influence lameness management strategies (Mill and Ward, 1994). The current study aimed to gain a better understanding of the relationship between lameness knowledge levels and the incidence of lameness on-farm. This is part of a wider survey aimed at understanding how knowledge, attitude, perception, and management factors affect lameness levels on dairy farms.

Foot and leg problems are a major health and welfare concern for the dairy industry. Lameness is believed to be a major economic cost, due to lost performance and premature culling. The aim of this study was to look at the two most prevalent foot problems within the Langhill dairy herd and assess the predisposing factors and its impact on the cow’s performance.

Globally up to 60% of dairy cattle can become lame at least once a year (Vermunt and Greenough, 2005). Sole lesions have been found to be one of the most common causes of lameness in both NZ (Tranter and Morris, 1991; Chesterton, 2004) and the UK (Kossaibati et al., 1999; Logue, 1999). In most studies it was found that these hoof horn lesions develop in postpartum animals and in hind claws (Greenough and Vermunt, 1991) and that these are associated with a significant reduction in the puncture force of the hoof (Winkler and Margerison, 2003). There has been some anecdotal reference to lower levels of lameness and harder hoof horn occurring in Jersey and Jersey cross bred cattle, compared with Friesian dairy cattle. However no studies have measured or compared the structural strength of hoof horn within these breeds. The aim of this research was to assess the force to puncture of the hoof horn from differing claws and regions of claws in prepartum New Zealand Friesian (F) and Jersey cross Friesian (Jersey x) dairy breeds.

One of the greatest challenges to production facing dairy farms in the north and north-east of Iran is heat stress. Climatic conditions in this area are such that warm (or hot) season is relatively long, as generally there is high relative humidity. Lactating dairy cows produce a huge quantity of metabolic heat. Heat produced and accumulated in the body of dairy cows. The body temperature rises, intake declined and finally the cow’s productivity reduce as temperature-humidity index (THI) rise up. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of THI on milk production and constituents in the north-east of Iran.

Culling is the act of identifying and removing a cow from a herd and, assuming a constant or expanding herd size, replacing the cow with another cow, often a first-lactation heifer. The culling rate describes the percentage of cows removed from a herd. Understanding culling rates is important for managing dairy production response and profitability. When dairy farm managers cull cattle too often or too quickly, replacement expenditures are excessive. When managers keep cattle for too long, milk production, reproduction, or genetic improvement may be impaired. Past research has consistently estimated optimal herd-level culling rates ranging from 19 to 29%. Researches found that poor reproduction rate was the primary reason for culling, followed by low production and mastitis. Higher milk producing herds were more likely to cull a cow for abortion and reproduction, but less likely to cull for mastitis. So the objective of this study was to investigate the relationships between different reasons of culling and age at time of culling, mean type score of cows, parity at the time of culling, total milk production at 1st parity.

The immediate postweaning period in pigs is often characterised by a reduced and variable food intake, digestive disorders and poor growth and development. Historically such effects were reduced by the use of in-feed antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs), copper sulphate and zinc oxide to enhance the efficiency of feed conversion and hence maximise nutrient capture. However from January 2006 the routine use of in-feed AGPs was banned and, due to concern over environmental pollution, levels of inclusion of heavy metals are limited by regulation and likely to be further reduced in the future. Weaning pigs at a later age has been suggested as an approach to reduce the potentially negative effects of the AGP ban on the national herd. The objective of the AGEWEAN programme of research was to investigate the effects of weaning age (4, 6 and 8 weeks) in both an indoor and outdoor lactation environment on the biological and economic efficiency of production where diets contain no AGPs and lower levels of copper (<25ppm added) and zinc (<100ppm added).

Recent estimates of total pre-weaning piglet mortality range between 16-19% (MLC 2006). With environmental modification using the farrowing crate reaching its potential to decrease mortality, as well as raising serious welfare concerns, a different approach to effectively address piglet survival is needed. Genetic breeding programmes implemented in alternative farrowing systems could prove a viable option.

The crushing of piglets by the sow is the main cause of preweaning mortality and has been reported to be responsible for up to 80 per cent of piglet deaths (Weary et al., 1998). Studies have identified that sows maintain some stable behavioural traits over parities, for example response to a piglet scream test (Grandinson et al., 2003), and sows with a history of crushing piglets are more likely to stay inside a farrowing hut whilst housed outdoors (Johnson et al., 2007). However, there is little information available regarding previous piglet-crushing history and its association with the behaviour of sows housed in farrowing crates. This study compared the behaviour immediately post-farrowing of sows with a history of piglet crushing and those without a single recorded mortality due to crushing.

Producers may wish to house more pigs than normal in a pen in the immediate post weaning period in order to reduce heat and space requirements. The effect of this practice on productivity and behaviour may differ depending on group size used. In addition, housing pigs at reduced space allowances in the immediate post weaning period may lead to a requirement to expand pens or, more realistically, to split groups as the pigs get larger. This study assessed the effects of group size and space allowance during the initial post weaning period, and of expanding pens or splitting groups during the second half of the post weaning period, on productivity and behaviour of pigs.

Nutritionists formulate feeds based on the genetic potential of the pigs being fed. However, animals may not achieve this potential due to environmental constraints such as: disease challenges, environmental temperatures, feeder space, social stresses and stocking density challenges leading to a reduction in the potential growth rate (Ferguson et al., 2001; Wellock et al., 2006). An experiment was designed in which the potential growth of pigs was reduced to determine whether their nutrient specifications could be reduced concomitantly. Group size and floor-space allowance were used to reduce potential growth rate as it is well established that social stress is one of the most potent factors responsible for the inability of an animal to achieve its inherent growth potential (Ferguson et al., 2001). Here, we assessed the efficiency of lysine utilisation by pigs between 40 and 85 kg live weight, subjected to different degrees of environmental stress.

Inadequate water intake is associated with reduced feed intake, poor daily gain, poor feed conversion, scour problems and lower digestibility of feed in pigs (Thacker, 2001). Factors that can reduce water intake include contamination, high mineral content of water, low temperature, low flow rate from drinker, too few drinkers or poor drinker/nipple position (Thacker, 2001). However, there is a lack of information on the effect of drinker design on water intake and performance. Three designs of drinker commonly used are 1) nipple drinkers, 2) bite drinkers and 3) bowl drinkers. Bite drinkers are reported to be less wasteful than nipple drinkers, especially for newly weaned pigs and bowl drinkers are reported to result in less water wastage due to the water being retained in the bowl (Philips and Philips 1999). A reduction in water usage may reduce the volume of slurry produced and is worth further investigation, especially in the light of storage and land spreading restrictions imposed on pig producers by the Nitrates Directive. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of drinker design and position on performance and water usage of growing pigs.

Outdoor reared pigs are said to suffer from less of a growth check post weaning than their indoor reared counterparts (Payne et al. 2003) and have more developed gut post-weaning (Carroll et al. 2007). Zinc oxide (ZnO) is often used in weaner diets to reduce the incidence of post weaning scours. Previous work by Miller (personal communication) conducted at the University of Leeds identified differences in circulating serum IgG concentrations associated with rearing environment and antimicrobial supplementation post-weaning. Conducted as part of a larger experiment, the aim of this preliminary study was to investigate the effects of ZnO medication of weaner diets upon immune status immediately post-weaning in both indoor and outdoor reared pigs. We hypothesised that piglets reared outside would exhibit a less activated immune response than indoor reared pigs post-weaning and that the presence of ZnO would further reduce immune activation.

The growth rate of pigs is highly variable both within and between herds (Magowan, 2006) and there is limited research focusing on the effect of variable growth on meat and eating quality. Furthermore, the majority of recent studies investigating the effect of diet on meat quality have focussed on manipulating the fatty acid profile of the meat (Wood et al., 2004). The aim of this study was to assess pig meat quality from gilts and boars offered diets with varying energy and lysine concentrations over a range of average daily gains (ADG).

In view of severe constraints of high cost and sometimes, outright scarcity of maize (the conventional energy source) for pig feeding, the use of some agro-industrial by-products (AIBPs), such as cassava peel is inevitable (Adesehinwa, 2007). However, the fibrous nature of most of the AIBPs has been reported to be a major limitation to their utilisation by pigs (Longe & Fagbenro-Byron, 1990). It has become imperative to incorporate exogenous enzyme(s) into pig diets containing AIBPs, in order to enhance its efficient utilisation by bringing about the breakdown of the limiting non-starch polysaccarides (NSPs) (Ani & Omeje, 2007). It was therefore the aim of this study to determine the effect of the total replacement of maize with cassava peel, supplemented with or without Farmazyme® 3000 Proenx on diet quality, as well as, growth performance, efficiency of feed conversion, some carcass traits and haematological indices of the growing pigs.

Disease in a pig herd can have major economic impacts, hampering agricultural processes and creating barriers to trade. Importantly, an outbreak of disease can also pose a risk to human health. It is currently unknown what effects different rearing regimes might have on the incidences of zoonoses in pigs. Outdoor rearing of pigs has gained popularity recently due to interest in animal welfare and an increase in the marketability of organic food. But it is unknown if outdoor rearing can alter the gut microbiology of pigs, and if pigs reared outdoors are more susceptible to zoonotic infections. A method for analysing bacterial populations present in the pig gut has been developed based on amplification of the 16S ribosomal DNA. This technique, known as Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis has been used for studying bacterial populations in environments such as soil (Osborn et al., 2000) and faeces (Li et al., 2007). It uses fluorescently labelled forward and reverse primers to generate labelled amplicons, followed by a restriction endonuclease digest of the amplified DNA to give rise to labelled terminal fragments that vary between different species. These terminal fragments are then detected using electrophoretic separation and laser detection, and identified based on the fragment size. This study aims to develop a protocol for using this technique on pure cultures of control organisms.