Practical implications of increasing 'natural living' through suckling systems in organic dairy calf rearing

The introduction of suckling systems in organic dairy calf rearing has the potential to enhance animal welfare in terms of ‘natural living’ and to live up to consumers’ expectations about organic agriculture. This study describes the implications of suckling systems in a practical organic dairy context. Results show that farmers can successfully develop and implement a suckling system in calf rearing. The consumption of mothers’ milk resulted in high weaning weights at 3 months of age. No immediate animal health problems linked to suckling systems occurred. Compared with traditional bucket feeding of milk, suckling systems resulted in increased natural behaviour such as calf cow bonding, natural sucking behaviour and care-taking behaviour. Some farmers had difficulties accepting negative implications of suckling systems such as stress after weaning and loss of marketable milk. Although suckling of the own mother was seen as the most natural suckling system, farmers adapted their suckling system to calves suckling nurse cows. In order to implement successfully a suckling system, farmers have to step back from control and give calf and cow a chance. In the case of increasing ‘natural living’ through implementation of a suckling system, farmers should be encouraged to take enough time to accomplish this attitude change

Suckling as an alternative rearing system for replacement calves on dairy farms

The aim is to develop an alternative calf rearing system for replacement calves that will improve animal welfare on dairy farms and meets the requirements of farmers in terms of practicality and cost. On the dairy farms that make use of a suckling system are calves suckled by their mother or a nurse cow, for a duration that ranges from three days up to three months. Compared to artificial calf rearing, suckling systems are beneficial to the welfare of calves. The calves will be nursed by their mother, suckled with milk, learn to eat roughage at a younger age, have social contact with other calves and cows and have space enough to exercise and play

Rearing calves with cows: Nature works!

One of the objectives of the research project "Cows with calves" ('Kalveren bij de Koe') is to develop a rearing method that gives the natural bond between mother cow and calf a function. At the same time the rearing method also needs to be financially and practically viable. In order to assess the applicability of rearing cows with calves a wide range of parameters was monitored: liveweight development of calves, behaviour of animals that suckle or suckled as a calf, milk production, calf milk consumption and animal health. These data and experiences were used to try and define the best conditions for rearing cows with calves

Suckling as rearing method on dairy farms: The effect on farm system aspects of two dairy farms in the Netherlands

Maternal behaviour, interactions and contact between cow and calf is limited or absent in modern dairy production due to the widely use of artificial calf rearing. Introduction of suckling on a dairy farm has effects on many aspects such as calf growth, animal health, milk production, rearing costs, behaviour, welfare and naturalness etc. In a pilot study on two farms the effect of suckling systems on calf growth and milk production of dairy cows was assessed. Furthermore, the development of naturalness on the case study farms was described, as well as the motivation, for the use of suckling as rearing method, of seven farmers

Selbstmedikation bei Hausschweinen

Nehmen Tiere gezielt Heilkräuter auf, um gesund zu bleiben oder eine Krankheit zu behandeln? Und wie können Ergebnisse aus Selbstmedikationsversuchen für die landwirtschaftliche Praxis genutzt werden

Kälberaufzucht in der modernen Milchviehhaltung

Generell sind die Richtlinien für die Kälberaufzucht in der biologischen Milchviehhaltung minimal. Säugesysteme haben potentielle Vorteile bezüglich Gewichtszunahme, Wertsteigerung von Milch und Tieren, die andernfalls ausgesondert werden müssten sowie Tiergerechtheit und Natürlichkeit. Die Vorteile der Aufzucht von Kälbern mit Kontakt zur Mutter können genutzt werden, während die Nachteile solcher Systeme durch die Verwendung von Ammenkühen reduziert werden können

Detection of Melanoma Metastases in Resected Human Lymph Nodes by Noninvasive Multispectral Photoacoustic Imaging

Objective. Sentinel node biopsy in patients with cutaneous melanoma improves staging, provides prognostic information, and leads to an increased survival in node-positive patients. However, frozen section analysis of the sentinel node is not reliable and definitive histopathology evaluation requires days, preventing intraoperative decision-making and immediate therapy. Photoacoustic imaging can evaluate intact lymph nodes, but specificity can be hampered by other absorbers such as hemoglobin. Near infrared multispectral photoacoustic imaging is a new approach that has the potential to selectively detect melanin. The purpose of the present study is to examine the potential of multispectral photoacoustic imaging to identify melanoma metastasis in human lymph nodes. Methods. Three metastatic and nine benign lymph nodes from eight melanoma patients were scanned ex vivo using a Vevo LAZR multispectral photoacoustic imager and were spectrally analyzed per pixel. The results were compared to histopathology as gold standard. Results. The nodal volume could be scanned within 20 minutes. An unmixing procedure was proposed to identify melanoma metastases with multispectral photoacoustic imaging. Ultrasound overlay enabled anatomical correlation. The penetration depth of the photoacoustic signal was up to 2 cm. Conclusion. Multispectral three-dimensional photoacoustic imaging allowed for selective identification of melanoma metastases in human lymph nodes

Nerve detection during surgery: optical spectroscopy for peripheral nerve localization

Precise nerve localization is of major importance in both surgery and regional anesthesia. Optically based techniques can identify tissue through differences in optical properties, like absorption and scattering. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of optical spectroscopy (diffuse reflectance spectroscopy) for clinical nerve identification in vivo. Eighteen patients (8 male, 10 female, age 53 ± 13 years) undergoing inguinal lymph node resection or resection or a soft tissue tumor in the groin were included to measure the femoral or sciatic nerve and the surrounding tissues. In vivo optical measurements were performed using Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (400–1600 nm) on nerve, near nerve adipose tissue, muscle, and subcutaneous fat using a needle-shaped probe. Model-based analyses were used to derive verified quantitative parameters as concentrations of optical absorbers and several parameters describing scattering. A total of 628 optical spectra were recorded. Measured spectra reveal noticeable tissue specific characteristics. Optical absorption of water, fat, and oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin was manifested in the measured spectra. The parameters water and fat content showed significant differences (P < 0.005) between nerve and all surrounding tissues. Classification using k-Nearest Neighbor based on the derived parameters revealed a sensitivity of 85% and a specificity of 79%, for identifying nerve from surrounding tissues. Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy identifies peripheral nerve bundles. The differences found between tissue groups are assignable to the tissue composition and structure