Factors Affecting Calves Suckling Behavior

The aim of paper was to assess effects of environmental and physiological related factors on suckling behavior patterns. The study was carried out on 120 Romanian Spotted calves. Two behavioral traits were considered: total daily required interval and required interval for each meal. Traits were studied according to: calves viability, calving season, type of calving, calving ease and meal sequence. Significant differences were recorded for calves viability (viable vs morbid, p≤0.001), type of calving (single vs twinning, p≤0.001), and calving ease (eutocya vs dystocia, p≤0.001), being a proof of welfare, conferred by adaptability to new environment. No significant effect was recorded for season of calving (summer vs winter, p≥0.05). Significant differences concerning required suckling interval, were recorded between meals, both seasons. for viable (p≤0.001), morbid (p≤0.05), singles (p≤0.05) and calves born from eutocya births (p≤0.001). No significant differences (p≥0.05) recorded for twins and calves born from dystocia. Multifactorial regression model used, reveals that main effects on studied traits had viability (p≤0.001), type of calving (p≤0.01) and calving ease (p≤0.05). It is reasonable to assume that the knowledge of suckling behavior contributes to optimal management of calves. Knowledge of these factors helps to develop adequately systems to improve calves suckling response

The influence of CSN3 and LGB polymorphisms on milk production and chemical composition in Romanian Simmental cattle

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of genotypes from the CSN3 and LGB loci on milk production and chemical composition in Romanian Simmental cattle (n=114). For the CSN3 locus a significantly higher frequency (P≤0.001) was observed for the allele A (0.785) compared to allele B (0.215) and for AA (0.631) compared to AB (0.307) and BB (0.062) genotypes, respectively. The AA genotype was associated with a higher milk production (5887.76±115.7 kg) compared to the yields associated with the BB genotype (5619±86.34 kg, P≤0.003), as well as a higher fat percentage (4.19±0.05% vs. 4.01±0.02%, P≤0.001). A higher milk protein percentage was associated with BB (3.4±0.02%) compared to AA (3.27±0.03) and AB (3.29±0.03) genotypes, respectively (P≤0.05). For the LGB locus, the frequency of allele A was significantly higher (0.606, P≤0.008) than allele B (0.394). The AB genotype was the most prevalent in the herd (0.579) compared to AA (0.316) and BB genotypes (0.105). The AB genotype was associated with a higher milk production (5906.54±166.76 kg) compared with the other two genotypes (P≤0.05). The BB genotype was associated with a higher fat percentage in milk (4.23±0.06%) compared with AA (4.17±0.06) and AB (4.2±0.08) genotypes, respectively (P≤0.01). For the LGB locus, no significant differences (P>0.05) were observed for milk protein percentage. In order to increase the quantity and quality of milk, the outcomes obtained in this study encourage improving genetic structure in cattle based on marker assisted selection for genes with economic values

Effect of ß-lactoglobulin Locus Polymorphism on Milk Related Traits in Romanian Spotted

The main aim of the study was to assess the influence of ß-lactoglobulin (LGB) genotype on milk related traits in Romanian Spotted (R.S.) breed. Altogether 254 cattle were genotyped for in order to establish the share of A and B allele in LGB locus using PCR-RFLP assay. The most prevalent was A allele (0.662) compared to B allele (0.338). Comparable frequencies (P>0.084) were recorded for AA (0.434) and AB (0.455) genotypes. The BB heterozygous recorded a lower frequency (0.111) compared with others (P≤0.001). For the LGB polymorphism, no significant differences (P>0.05) were observed according to milk production. The higher milk production was associated to AB (6094.31±103.22 kg) compared to AA (5912.22±91.7 kg, P>0.53) and BB (5977.7±81.12 kg, P>0.71) genotypes. The higher fat percentage (4.26±0.02%) was recorded for BB genotype, compared to AA genotype (4.19±0.02%, (P≤0.019). A significantly increased protein percentage was associated with AB genotype (3.43±0.03%) compared with AA (3.28±0.02%, P≤0.027). No significant difference (P>0.66) was recorded compared to BB genotype (3.42±0.01%) related to this trait. The results obtained encourage including marker assisted-selection and use the genotyped sires for genes with economic values in the future breeding scheme of Romanian Spotted breed

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Bison bison Identified by the GGP Bovine 50K SNP Assay

The vulnerable populations of bison had gone through a drastic reduction in population size, have undergone a very high level of inbreeding and have been through severe bottlenecks. Using a panel of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (GGP Bovine 50K SNP arrays, Neogen) developed across the entire bovine (Bos taurus) genome, we have carried out a genome variability screening on a bison (Bison bison) population in Romania. Eight males were included in the analysis. As part of SNP quality control filtering, one individual with a call rate below 80% was removed from the study. From a total of 47,843 SNPs only 4474 were polymorphic (9.35% from the total) and 7 individuals (out of a total of 8) were left after PLINK's quality control filtering. The total call rate of genotyped samples was 90.11% for the filtered dataset. A secondary PLINK run was performed on the 4474 filtered SNPs to find the ones whose HWE p-value fell below 0.05 and 100 markers were highlighted in this way. The results showed a larger number of polymorphic SNPs compared with previous studies from the literature. In addition, the data obtained using the GGP Bovine 50K SNP arrays may facilitate the design of breeding strategies that can be applied for decreasing unwanted inbreeding effects in the vulnerable bison populations

Seasonal Influences on Milk Yield and Composition Dynamics during a Normal Lactation in Dairy Cows: Milk Yield, Fat and Protein Precentage

Researches were made on 125 lactations from Romanian Black Spotted cows and aimed to study the evolution of the interval between calving on milk yield and quality. Data were recorded and statistically analyzed by means of ANOVA / MANOVA determining the average values and dispersion indices. Based on averages parameters of lactation curves were calculated using the mathematical model called the incomplete gamma function. Cows that calved in winter and spring had steeper lactation curves for milk yield. The lactation curve for butter-fat percentage was significantly different (p<0.05) between summer-winter and summer-autumn seasons. Evolution of the lactation curve for protein percentage was significantly different (p<0.05) between winter and spring, distinct significant (p<0.01) between summer-autumn, winter-autumn and very significant (p<0.001) between spring and autumn

Researches on Consumption Speed of Forages in Dairy Cows when Fed in Three Portions

In this study we assessed the consumption speed (g/min), as well as the required time for consumption of 1 kg of raw forage for  alfalfa-hay, herbs silage, beet and concentrates), administered in three portions (P1, P2, and P3) per day, in 2 equal feedings (F1, F2) per portion., to Romanian Black and White cows. The administration order of forages (fibrous-succulents and succulents-fibrous), the number of feedings and the average consumption speed among the three portions were the experimental variants. Data was computed by ANOVA/MANOVA. The highest consumption speed was registered for herbs silage (237.41 g/min), followed by the beets (233.43 g/min), concentrates (180.89) and alfalfa hay (48.89 g/min). The required time for 1 kg of raw forage consumption (minutes and seconds) was 5.32 for concentrates, 20.27 for alfalfa hay, 4.13 for herbs silage and 4.17 for beets