Reality of Mitogenome Investigation in Preservation of Native Domestic Sheep Breeds

This chapter deals with the study of extranuclear hereditary material and the possibilities of using it to maintain endangered animal breeds. The chapter characterizes mtDNA, presents its genes and their functions, while also emphasizing the hypervariable control region. It reports on the results of previous researches, referring to international publications. It sheds light on promising areas of mitogenomic research. It shows the maternal genetic background of local native varieties according to the results of the study of available country/geographical region. It deals with reasons for endangerment and the arguments for preservation of autochthonous breeds. In addition, it gives place to discuss some exciting professional concepts in rare breed preservation

Twin Calving and Its Connection to Other Economically Important Traits in Dairy Cattle

The occurrence of twin calving in Holstein Friesian cattle is 3–5%. Reproductive problems found before and after the time of calving lead to serious economic losses. The authors’ aim was to form a compilation of data regarding the cause and effects of twin calving on dairy cows by comparing the reproductive performance of cows before and after calving twins vs. single calves and also analyzing the milk production of dairy cows both before and after twin calving. Cows that would have twins became pregnant earlier, probably because of their better health and fertility, with shorter gestations and calving interval. However, after calving, cows that had twins showed poorer reproductive performance. The results show that twin-calving cows had better condition prior to calving, resulting in an earlier successful twin calving. However, the economic losses during parturition, metabolic disorders of the cow, and low vitality of the twin calves, coupled with the decreased fertility and elevated culling rate in cows after twinning, may discourage breeding twins in dairy cattle

Electronic monitoring of rumination activity as an indicator of health status and production traits in high-yielding dairy cows

In view of the demonstrated relationship between rumination time and health status, the general welfare and metabolic condition of ruminants are often assessed by the examination of rumen function. The main goal of this study was to monitor the daily rumination activity (RA) and its connection with actual liveweight (LW), milk yield (MY) and with two diseases (subclinical hyperketonaemia — SHK, uterine disease — UD) in 96 cows on the basis of a total of 1638 observations in Israel. The studied sample gave a highly significant response, showing that the selected diseases had a diminishing impact on RA and LW and no influence on MY. It can be concluded that the change of RA as determined by electronic monitoring, complemented by the change of LW, is a useful general indicator of health status and subclinical disease before the appearance of clinical signs

Egyes metabolikus és hormonális jellemzők alakulása ellés után és hatása az első ovuláció időpontjára valamint az asszisztált reprodukciós technológiák eredményességére anyajuhokban = The changes of certain metabolic and endocrine characteristics postpartum and its effect to the day of first ovulation and the efficiency of assisted reproductive technologies in ewes

A vizsgálatok keretében a szezonnak, fotóperiódusnak és a metabolikus állapotnak az ellés után jelentkező első ivarzás/ovuláció idejére gyakorolt hatását vizsgáltuk intenzíven tejelő, nem szoptató Awassi juhokban. Az eredmények azt jelzik, hogy körülményeink között (kontinentális zóna) az Awassi juhok petefészkének aktivitása szezonálissá válik és az ellés utáni első ivarzás/ovuláció az ősszel ellett, nem szoptató anyákban nagyon korán megtörténhet, még azelőtt, hogy a méh teljes involuciója befejeződhetne. A plazma metabolitok és metabolikus hormonok szintje a vizsgált időszakban mindvégig a fiziológiás tartományban maradt; az intenzív tejtermelés sem borította fel a metabolikus egyensúlyt. A fénykiegészítés késleltetheti az ellés után jelentkező első ivarzás/ovuláció jelentkezésének idejét. A tenyész szezonon kívül alkalmazott melatonin kezelésnek a spermiumokra, a here endokrin funkciójára és az IGF-I szintre kifejtett hatását is vizsgáltuk Awassi tenyész kosokban. A vizsgálatok eredményei azt jelzik, hogy a melatonin javíthatja a here tesztoszteron termelését, de nincs hatással a spermiumtermelésre és az IGF-I szintre. | The influence of the season, photoperiod and metabolic status on the time of the first postpartum ovulation in lactating, non-suckled dairy Awassi ewes was studied. Trials were conducted in a commercial Awassi flock, where lambs are weaned immediately after birth. It was found that ovarian function of Awassi population became seasonal under temperate continental weather and the first postpartum ovulation of non-suckling, autumn-lambing dams may happen very early, even before the completion of uterine involution. Plasma metabolites and metabolic hormones were in physiological range in the periparturian period; the metabolic balance was not turned by the intensive milk production. Additional lightening may retard the time of first postpartum ovulation. The effect of melatonin treatment applied out of the breeding season on semen characteristics, endocrine function of testicles and baseline level of IGF-I in Awassi rams were also studied. It was found that melatonin treatment may improve testicular testosterone production but does not influence semen parameters and IGF-I level

Upoređivanje dužine servis perioda i proizvodnje mleka u laktaciji između krava sa jednim teletom i krava sa blizancima

Introduction. Twin-calving occurs in 3 to 5 % of Holstein Friesian cattle, and it is mostly followed by reproductive and economic problems. This evaluation will compare the service period and the milk yield in cows with single and twin births at a Hungarian large-scale farm. Materials and Methods. The data were collected from 4223 cows between 2000 and 2010. In Cox's regression model (service period) and general linear model (milk production traits), the type of calving (single/twin), the construction code (referring to the Holstein Friesian blood proportion), the season and number of calvings were fixed effects, and furthermore, the year of calving was a covariate. Results and Conclusions. This analysis showed there was no significant difference in the length of service period between the two groups of cows. The total lactation milk yield produced a meaningful difference in performance: single-calving cows had greater milk yield (p=0.013), fat yield (p=0.030), and protein yield (p=0.028) than cows with twins. The milk yield was significantly greater in single than in twinning cows, even when single-calving cows had low milk production levels. This unexpected and contradictory result could be explained by the much longer period of open days in twinning cows, known from previous research Regarding milk yield, an involuntary decrease for cows after twin calving was confirmed.Uvod. Blizanački graviditet kod krava holštajnfrizijske rase se javlja u 3-5% slučajeva i uglavnom je praćen reproduktivnim poremećajima i ekonomskim gubicima. Ispitivanja u ovom radu se odnose na evaluaciju i upoređivanje servis perioda i prinosa mleka kod grupe krava sa jednim teletom i grupe krava sa blizancima, na komercijalnim farmama u Mađarskoj. Materijal i metode. Podaci su sakupljani u periodu od 2000 do 2010. godine od ukupno 4223 krava. U Coxovom regresionom modelu (za servis period) i generalnom linearnom modelu (osobine proizvodnje mleka) tip teljenja (jedno tele ili blizanci), kao i sezona i broj teljenja su bili fksni efekti, dok je godina teljenja bila kovarijat. Rezultati i zaključak. Analizom dužine servis perioda nije ustanovljena signifkantna razlika između ispitanih grupa krava. Količina ukupno proizvedenog mleka u laktaciji je pokazala značajne razlike između krava sa jednim teletom i dva teleta, u korist krava sa jednim teletom: prinos mleka (p=0.013), količina mlečne masti (p=0.030) i proteina (p=0.028). Neželjeni pad u prinosu mleka je zabeležen kod krava sa bližnjenjima. Mlečnost je bila značajno veća kod krava sa jednim teletom čak i u slučajevima kada su one imale relativno nisku mlečnost. Ovi oprečni rezultati bi se mogli objasniti činjenicom da su krave koje su se bliznile imale mnogo veći broj otvorenih dana, kao što je to opisano u brojnim predhodnim ispitivanjima

Morphology of Carpathian Braunvieh

The Carpathian Braunvieh cattle, an unassuming three purpose autochthonous breed of the Carpathian basin established by cross-breeding of the Schweizer Braunvieh and three local breeds Mokanitza, Riska and Busa, approximately 150 years ago. Since it wasn’t competitive with the modern high-productivity breeds, in the last decades it becomes rare and endangered. University of Debrecen presumed that-despite the long period of uncontrolled breeding - the population kept in Hungary is still differs from the other Braunvieh-type breeds, bred across Europe. We carry out body measurements, scaling 14 size traits and calculate the substantial trait rates to compare with literature. Based on body measurements data and live weight we found that the examined breed is roughly uniform. On the strength of its morphological traits, the breed is clearly distinct from the high productivity Brown Swiss. The current Hungarian population favours to the one lived in Hungary in the 1960’s, and to another, named Ukrainian Carpathian Brown. We established that – thanks to the aware sorting - the Hungarian population still represents the ancient, primitive Carpathian variant