Vertraging van biologische zeugen naar de weide om mineralenverlies te verminderen

Delay of admittance to pasture raised the amount of manure on the paved area with 25 % and reduced the amount of manure in the pasture by 7% compared to sows with unrestricted access

Meerjarige wortelonkruiden : onderzoeksplan

Er zijn op akkerbouwbedrijven, vooral op biologisch, problemen met de bestrijding van meerjarige wortelonkruiden. Het probleem wordt ook steeds groter. Door middel van biologische grond ontsmetting (BGO) wordt het aantal meerjarige wortelonkruiden verminderd, maar hoeveel en hoe sterk dat is, is niet bekend. Het effect van BGO werd voornamelijk onderzocht op het onkruid akkermelkdistel. Dit onderzoek werd uitgevoerd door PPO-AGV te Lelystad geholpen door leerlingen van de CAH Dronten. Het onderzoek is een echte proef van PPO en geeft studenten de kans om te leren hoe het in de praktijk gaat met uitvoering en verwerking van gegevens in het onderzoek

Biggensterfte in biologische kraamhokken: effect van overleggen en toomgrootte

To reduce mortality in newborn organic piglets the effect of crossfostering was studied. Crossfostered piglets had a higher survival, but grew less and litter size had no effect on survival after day 3, but the piglets grew slower than in small litters

Description of nestbox visits and suckling events in a group housing system for rabbit does as compared to individual cages

[EN] Research was conducted to study nursing associated events of lactating rabbit does. Nest box visits and suckling events were investigated using 6 group pens (8 does/pen) and 12 enriched individual cages. Each group pen and individual cage was observed by video for one day per week until weaning at 35 d of lactation, with exception of the third week of lactation. In the first 2 wk of lactation, videotapes were analysed for the frequency and duration of nest box visits per day. The fourth and fifth week of lactation, suckling events on the floor of the group pens and nest box visits in the individual cages were analysed for one day per week. The first 2 wk of lactation, does visits to the nest boxes were less frequent (respectively 1.9±0.2 vs. 2.6±0.3, P24 h between nest box visits. In the cages, all does visited the nest boxes at least once a day. In the last 2 wk of lactation, in the group pens suckling duration (mean±standard deviation) was 89±49 and 92.2±37 s in respectively week 4 and 5. In 79% of the suckling events a mix of the does¿ own and other kits were suckled. No difference was found in suckling duration between litters consisting of own and/or other kits. Thirty-two per cent of the does in week 4 and 62% of the does in week 5 did not suckle kits on the floor of the pen, whereas all the does in the cages still visited the nest boxes at least once every 24 h. Based on this study, it can be concluded that in group housing less frequent and shorter nest box visits as well as suckling events were found as compared to individual housing.Rommers, JM.; Kemp, B.; Houwers, H.; Gunnink, H.; De Jong, IC. (2012). Description of nestbox visits and suckling events in a group housing system for rabbit does as compared to individual cages. World Rabbit Science. 20(4):231-240. doi:10.4995/wrs.2012.1231SWORD23124020

Maatregelen die het ongewenst gedrag van beren verminderen = Reducing male finishing pig behaviour by management measures

To reduce sexual behaviour and aggression in non-castrated male pigs measures were compared. Extra feeders and an obstacle in the pen reduced skin lesions and lameness

Benchmarking of Dairy Processors’ Associations : actors and their activities in The Netherlands, Zambia and South Africa

This report describes a study of dairy processors’ associations in three countries. As the dairy sectors in these countries are at different stages of development, the challenges these associations face are very different indeed, and so are their functions and structures. Learnings from these cases are drawn for the situation in Kenya

Houden van biologische beren

Finishing entire male organic pigs on 4 farms showed that mounting and aggression were not more frequent than on conventional pig farms, but the proportion of pigs with boar taint was higher

Cortical AAV-CNTF gene therapy combined with intraspinal mesenchymal precursor cell transplantation promotes functional and morphological outcomes after spinal cord injury in adult rats

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) promotes survival and enhances long-distance regeneration of injured axons in parts of the adult CNS. Here we tested whether CNTF gene therapy targeting corticospinal neurons (CSN) in motor-related regions of the cerebral cortex promotes plasticity and regrowth of axons projecting into the female adult F344 rat spinal cord after moderate thoracic (T10) contusion injury (SCI). Cortical neurons were transduced with a bicistronic adeno-associated viral vector (AAV1) expressing a secretory form of CNTF coupled to mCHERRY (AAV-CNTFmCherry) or with control AAV only (AAV-GFP) two weeks prior to SCI. In some animals, viable or nonviable F344 rat mesenchymal precursor cells (rMPCs) were injected into the lesion site two weeks after SCI to modulate the inhibitory environment. Treatment with AAV-CNTFmCherry, as well as with AAV-CNTFmCherry combined with rMPCs, yielded functional improvements over AAV-GFP alone, as assessed by open-field and Ladderwalk analyses. Cyst size was significantly reduced in the AAV-CNTFmCherry plus viable rMPC treatment group. Cortical injections of biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) revealed more BDA-stained axons rostral and alongside cysts in the AAV-CNTFmCherry versus AAV-GFP groups. After AAV-CNTFmCherry treatments, many sprouting mCherry-immunopositive axons were seen rostral to the SCI, and axons were also occasionally found caudal to the injury site. These data suggest that CNTF has the potential to enhance corticospinal repair by transducing parent CNS populations