Milking time during periods of heat stress: part of the solution or part of the problem?

Dairy Research, 2014 is known as Dairy Day, 2014Milking time may be a stressful event for lactating dairy cows during summer. Increases in body temperatures because of crowding in the milk parlor holding pen may contribute to increased heat stress. The objective of this extension project was to evaluate the effectiveness of heat stress abatement in milking facilities from two Kansas commercial dairies. Vaginal temperatures at milking were lower than vaginal temperatures before milking in one of the dairies. The lower vaginal temperatures at milking, however, were not observed in the other dairy at all milkings, likely because of differences in efficacy of heat abatement strategies. Milking facilities may be one of the factors to aggravate or alleviate heat stress in lactating dairy cows during summer. Key words

Effects of milk, pasteurized milk, and milk replacer on health and productivity of dairy calves

Our objectives were to determine the health and blood parameters before, during, and after weaning of 114 Holstein heifers fed either accelerated milk replacer (MR; 28% CP, 18% fat) or non-saleable milk (3.59 ± 0.28% true protein; 4.12 ± 0.37% fat) that was either pasteurized (PM) or raw (RM; refrigerated and fed \u3c24 h after collection). Calves were randomly assigned to feeding treatments at birth. Colostrum (1 L) was fed less than 14 hours after birth (MR and PM = pasteurized colostrum; RM = raw colostrum). All calves were bottle-fed 1.8 ± 0.20 L, 3 times daily; all calves were provided fresh water and grain ad libitum throughout the experiment. Calves began step-down weaning at age 5 weeks and completed weaning at age 6 weeks. Blood samples were collected at ages 3, 5, and 7 weeks and were analyzed for complete blood counts (CBC) using a Procyte Idexx Analyzer (IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., Westbrook, ME). Fecal scores were observed twice daily, on a 1 to 3 scale (FS1 = normal, FS2 = loose, FS3 = scours). Results showed that MR-fed calves had more (P \u3c 0.01) observations (%obs) with FS \u3e 2 than the PM- and RM-fed calves (2.3 vs. 1.6 and 1.7 ± 0.2 %obs, respectively). In addition, there were no differences in body weight or shoulder or hip height between treatments, but a treatment x week interaction (P = 0.05) occurred for grain consumed, with a noticeably higher increase between 6 and 7 weeks of age for MR calves. When CBC was considered, there were no differences in blood cell types, but MR-fed calves had greater mean corpuscular volume (MCV) than the other calves (P \u3c 0.01), leading to higher resistance for iron deficiency anemia. In conclusion, these findings suggest that calf performance and feed intake are not affected by the administration of raw milk, pasteurized milk, or milk replacer. Moreover, CBC health parameters showed no significant changes due to administration of the different types of milk sources.; Dairy Day, 2014, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 2014; Dairy Research, 2014 is known as Dairy Day, 201

Yeast product supplementation influences feeding behavior and measures of immune function in transition dairy cows

Dairy Research, 2014 is known as Dairy Day, 2014Yeast supplementation has been shown to increase feed intake and production in some studies with early lactation dairy cows, but the mechanisms underlying this effect remain unknown. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of supplementing a yeast product derived from Saccharomyces cerevisiae on production, feeding behavior, and immune function in cows during the transition to lactation. When fed for 3 weeks before calving through 6 weeks after calving, supplementation altered feeding behavior as well as responsiveness to vaccination and gut immunoglobulin secretion. Results suggest that yeast products can modulate several aspects of immune function and promote the consumption of smaller, more frequent meals

Kansas Dairy Producers\u27 Needs Survey: Reproductive Management on Kansas Dairy Farms

A section of the Kansas Dairy Producers\u27 Needs Survey evaluated needs related to education on reproductive management and the most common reproductive management practices used on Kansas dairy farms. Of the 312 surveys mailed to dairy producers, 70 were returned fully completed. Results indicate that producers need education on the topic of reproduction and that reproductive management practices and herd sizes are related to where farms are located in the state. Consequently, future Extension reproductive management programming should reflect the diversity of Kansas\u27s dairy industry. Moreover, the results presented align with earlier data from a nationwide survey and therefore may have applicability on a national scale

Evaluation of a novel computer vision-based livestock monitoring system to identify and track specific behaviors of individual nursery pigs within a group-housed environment

Animal behavior is indicative of health status and changes in behavior can indicate health issues (i.e., illness, stress, or injury). Currently, human observation (HO) is the only method for detecting behavior changes that may indicate problems in group-housed pigs. While HO is effective, limitations exist. Limitations include HO being time consuming, HO obfuscates natural behaviors, and it is not possible to maintain continuous HO. To address these limitations, a computer vision platform (NUtrack) was developed to identify (ID) and continuously monitor specific behaviors of group-housed pigs on an individual basis. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the capabilities of the NUtrack system and evaluate changes in behavior patterns over time of group-housed nursery pigs. The NUtrack system was installed above four nursery pens to monitor the behavior of 28 newly weaned pigs during a 42-d nursery period. Pigs were stratified by sex, litter, and randomly assigned to one of two pens (14 pigs/pen) for the first 22 d. On day 23, pigs were split into four pens (7 pigs/pen). To evaluate the NUtrack system’s capabilities, 800 video frames containing 11,200 individual observations were randomly selected across the nursery period. Each frame was visually evaluated to verify the NUtrack system’s accuracy for ID and classification of behavior. The NUtrack system achieved an overall accuracy for ID of 95.6%. This accuracy for ID was 93.5% during the first 22 d and increased (P \u3c 0.001) to 98.2% for the final 20 d. Of the ID errors, 72.2% were due to mislabeled ID and 27.8% were due to loss of ID. The NUtrack system classified lying, standing, walking, at the feeder (ATF), and at the waterer (ATW) behaviors accurately at a rate of 98.7%, 89.7%, 88.5%, 95.6%, and 79.9%, respectively. Behavior data indicated that the time budget for lying, standing, and walking in nursery pigs was 77.7% ± 1.6%, 8.5% ± 1.1%, and 2.9% ± 0.4%, respectively. In addition, behavior data indicated that nursery pigs spent 9.9% ± 1.7% and 1.0% ± 0.3% time ATF and ATW, respectively. Results suggest that the NUtrack system can detect, identify, maintain ID, and classify specific behavior of group-housed nursery pigs for the duration of the 42-d nursery period. Overall, results suggest that, with continued research, the NUtrack system may provide a viable real-time precision livestock tool with the ability to assist producers in monitoring behaviors and potential changes in the behavior of group-housed pigs

Effects of milk, pasteurized milk, and milk replacer on health and productivity of dairy calves

Dairy Research, 2014 is known as Dairy Day, 2014Our objectives were to determine the health and blood parameters before, during, and after weaning of 114 Holstein heifers fed either accelerated milk replacer (MR; 28% CP, 18% fat) or non-saleable milk (3.59 ± 0.28% true protein; 4.12 ± 0.37% fat) that was either pasteurized (PM) or raw (RM; refrigerated and fed <24 h after collection). Calves were randomly assigned to feeding treatments at birth. Colostrum (1 L) was fed less than 14 hours after birth (MR and PM = pasteurized colostrum; RM = raw colostrum). All calves were bottle-fed 1.8 ± 0.20 L, 3 times daily; all calves were provided fresh water and grain ad libitum throughout the experiment. Calves began step-down weaning at age 5 weeks and completed weaning at age 6 weeks. Blood samples were collected at ages 3, 5, and 7 weeks and were analyzed for complete blood counts (CBC) using a Procyte Idexx Analyzer (IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., Westbrook, ME). Fecal scores were observed twice daily, on a 1 to 3 scale (FS1 = normal, FS2 = loose, FS3 = scours). Results showed that MR-fed calves had more (P < 0.01) observations (%obs) with FS > 2 than the PM- and RM-fed calves (2.3 vs. 1.6 and 1.7 ± 0.2 %obs, respectively). In addition, there were no differences in body weight or shoulder or hip height between treatments, but a treatment × week interaction (P = 0.05) occurred for grain consumed, with a noticeably higher increase between 6 and 7 weeks of age for MR calves. When CBC was considered, there were no differences in blood cell types, but MR-fed calves had greater mean corpuscular volume (MCV) than the other calves (P < 0.01), leading to higher resistance for iron deficiency anemia. In conclusion, these findings suggest that calf performance and feed intake are not affected by the administration of raw milk, pasteurized milk, or milk replacer. Moreover, CBC health parameters showed no significant changes due to administration of the different types of milk sources

Evaluation of Precision Livestock Technology and Human Scoring of Nursery Pigs in a Controlled Immune Challenge Experiment

The objectives were to determine the sensitivity, specificity, and cutoff values of a visual-based precision livestock technology (NUtrack), and determine the sensitivity and specificity of sickness score data collected with the live observation by trained human observers. At weaning, pigs (n = 192; gilts and barrows) were randomly assigned to one of twelve pens (16/pen) and treatments were randomly assigned to pens. Sham-pen pigs all received subcutaneous saline (3 mL). For LPS-pen pigs, all pigs received subcutaneous lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 300 µg/kg BW; E. coli O111:B4; in 3 mL of saline). For the last treatment, eight pigs were randomly assigned to receive LPS, and the other eight were sham (same methods as above; half-and-half pens). Human data from the day of the challenge presented high true positive and low false positive rates (88.5% sensitivity; 85.4% specificity; 0.871 Area Under Curve, AUC), however, these values declined when half-and-half pigs were scored (75% sensitivity; 65.5% specificity; 0.703 AUC). Precision technology measures had excellent AUC, sensitivity, and specificity for the first 72 h after treatment and AUC values were \u3e0.970, regardless of pen treatment. These results indicate that precision technology has a greater potential for identifying pigs during a natural infectious disease event than trained professionals using timepoint sampling

Synthesis Paper: Targeted Livestock Grazing: Prescription for Healthy Rangelands

Targeted livestock grazing is a proven tool for manipulating rangeland vegetation, and current knowledge about targeted livestock grazing is extensive and expanding rapidly. Targeted grazing prescriptions optimize the timing, frequency, intensity, and selectivity of grazing (or browsing) in combinations that purposely exert grazing/browsing pressure on specific plant species or portions of the landscape. Targeted grazing differs from traditional grazing management in that the goal of targeted grazing is to apply defoliation or trampling to achieve specific vegetation management objectives, whereas the goal of traditional livestock grazing management is generally the production of livestock commodities. A shared aim of targeted livestock grazing and traditional grazing management is to sustain healthy soils, flora, fauna, and water resources that, in turn, can sustain natural ecological processes (e.g., nutrient cycle, water cycle, energy flow). Targeted grazing prescriptions integrate knowledge of plant ecology, livestock nutrition, and livestock foraging behavior. Livestock can be focused on target areas through fencing, herding, or supplement placement. Although practices can be developed to minimize the impact of toxins contained in target plants, the welfare of the animals used in targeted grazing must be a priority. Monitoring is needed to determine if targeted grazing is successful and to refine techniques to improve efficacy and efficiency. Examples of previous research studies and approaches are presented to highlight the ecological benefits that can be achieved when targeted grazing is applied properly. These cases include ways to suppress invasive plants and ways to enhance wildlife habitat and biodiversity. Future research should address the potential to select more adapted and effective livestock for targeted grazing and the associated animal welfare concerns with this practice. Targeted livestock grazing provides land managers a viable alternative to mechanical, chemical, and prescribed fire treatments to manipulate rangeland vegetation

Methods in Applied Ethology: Determining baseline activity of pigs in individually housed laboratory environment

The objective of this undergraduate research was to become familiarized with methods and technology used in applied ethology. Applied ethology researches practical issues for the care of domestic animals (Price, 2008). The focus in my undergraduate research was to observe oral-nasal-facial (ONF) behavior of Yucatan miniswine boars in a laboratory environment, with 12-hour light and 12-hour dark artificial lighting. ONF is defined with rubbing, sniffing, licking, biting, and touching the mouth, snout, or face to an external object; ONF is a nonfeeding behavior in that no feed was present when ONF was recorded (Hulbert, 2006). ONF behaviors in normal pigs have a circadian rhythm, meaning an endogenously controlled 24-hour cycle of activity (Price, 2008). Daily ONF duration can serve as a baseline to pigs showing abnormal oral behaviors. The pigs were provided the following: housed individually in 190cm X 112cm pens, fed pellet feed twice a day, provided a toy, ad libitum water from a nipple waterer or water bucket. Behaviors were recorded from 7am-7pm (when lights were on) by IP cameras (Dome 3.0 Megapixel 2.8-12mm Lens, GeoVision Inc., Taipei, Taiwan) mounted 2m high from the floor. Each camera provided a bird’s eye view of two pens. Footages were recorded onto a surveillance system (GeoVision, GV-1480 16-Channel PC, DVR, GeoVision Inc.). 12-hour videos were divided into two-hour observation periods, and behaviors were coded with Observer XT 11.5 (Noldus, Lessburg, VA). Three trained students observed 84 videos with 168 hours of footage. We collected data from nine pigs but data from six pigs are presented. ONF behavior was higher than 50% during total observation. There was less ONF around feeding time, (65%, 7-9am & 1-3pm), while more ONF after feeding times (78%, 9-1pm & 3-7pm). Continued observations are underway with longer observation time and more pigs to determine if ONF activity can continue to be used as a baseline behavior for future research

Evaluating impacts of OmniGen-AF on feed intake, milk yield, and milk composition of dairy cows during the transition to lactation

When dairy cows go through parturition, their immune system is the most suppressed it will be in their life. Omnigen (Phibro Animal Health, Teaneck, NJ) is a feed additive product that is promoted as giving better immune responses to dairy cattle during the transition from pregnancy to full milk production. This study is being conducted to evaluate the effects of adding this product to the total mixed ration (TMR), specifically on feed intake, milk yield, and milk composition. Past studies have shown increases in feed intake, and milk yield. Thirty pre-partum cows were assigned to a completely randomized block design based on parity and expected calving date. Then, they were randomly assigned to either a control treatment, or OmniGen-AF (56 g/hd/day) mixed into the top third of the TMR and distributed evenly across feedings. The cows received these treatments from 60 d prior to expected calving date through 49 d post calving. Dry cows were allotted access to the designed treatment rations through an electronic gated feeding system, with one cow assigned per gate. Post calving, the cows were moved to a tie-stall barn with individual feed bunks suspended from load cells, monitored continuously by a computer. Cows were fed twice daily and milked three times daily. Milk samples were collected at each milking on 3 days each week (from week 1 to 7 of lactation) and were analyzed for concentrations of fat, true protein, lactose, and somatic cells by Heart of America DHIA. Data were analyzed using mixed models to account for treatment, parity, time, and their interactions, and significance was declared at P<0.05. When looking at data gathered from the first 20 cows, no significant effects were detected for feed intake, milk yield (mean 45.6 ± 2.0 kg/d), or change in body weight over the treatment period. Milk protein was the only performance variable affected by treatment; Omnigen increased milk protein concentration relative to control (2.84 vs. 2.64 ± 0.09%, P < 0.01). In conclusion, feeding Omnigen during the transition to lactation increased milk protein concentration, but no other productivity responses were observed in this relatively small cohort