Journal of animal science最新文献

{"title":"Economic analysis of randomized controlled trial data: a framework and feedlot cattle case study.","authors":"Lucas M Horton, Dustin L Pendell, David G Renter","doi":"10.1093/jas/skaf105","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf105","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Livestock industry stakeholders rely on research, often randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to make evidence-based decisions. Economic implications of interventions are often a major deciding factor for adoption by producers. However, economic analyses in beef feedlot trials are infrequently conducted and often suffer from inconsistent methodologies. Gaps in planning, execution, and reporting of economic assessments underscore the need for guidance and standardized approaches in conducting economic evaluations on RCT data. Our objective was to compare and contrast methodologies for assessing costs and benefits associated with livestock health and production trials and to provide scientific guidance, rationale, and recommendations for future conduct of economic analyses on RCT data. Several types of economic analyses are frequently used by agricultural economists, including cash flow budgets, enterprise budgets, gross margin analysis, cost-benefit and -effectiveness analyses, and partial budgets. Partial budgeting emerges as the most pragmatic strategy for RCT data, focusing on the marginal impact of alternative interventions or management strategies, aligning well with RCT objectives. We provided an example of applying a partial budget to an RCT conducted at a commercial beef feedlot using published data. All observed data for relevant animal performance, health, and carcass variables were included, regardless of their original statistical significance. The budget was applied to each experimental unit (pen), with net return as the final outcome, and analyzed statistically using linear mixed models. While simple partial budgets use fixed prices that may not represent economic risk, incorporating statistical analyses at the pen-level accounts for biological variability and error in the estimates. When warranted, other strategies to account for economic risk (e.g., sensitivity analysis, stochastic simulation) can be incorporated within a partial budget framework. To encourage robust and transparent reporting, future research should explicitly state the type of economic assessment, the values and sources of all prices and the timeframe they represent, the methodology used, and how analyses were conducted. By adopting more consistent and transparent economic evaluation methods, researchers can enhance the applicability of RCT findings, ultimately supporting stakeholders in making economically sound decisions.</p>","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143772088","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Short communication: Ileal digestibility of amino acids in feed ingredients for 22-, 56-, and 87-kilogram pigs.","authors":"Jung Yeol Sung, Sun Jong You, Beob Gyun Kim","doi":"10.1093/jas/skaf104","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf104","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The objective of this experiment was to test the hypothesis that the apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of amino acids (AA) in feed ingredients is not constant in pigs with 3 different body weight (BW) after reaching 20 kg. Eight ileal-cannulated pigs with an initial BW of 22.2 kg (standard deviation = 1.2) were used in a 2-period cross-over design. Each period consisted of a 5-d adaptation and a 2-d ileal digesta collection. Two experimental diets contained corn distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) or a soybean meal-wheat mixture (SWM; 70% soybean meal + 30% wheat) as the sole source of nitrogen, respectively. The same pigs were used for the heavier BW groups. The diets and experimental procedure for 55.6-kg (standard deviation = 3.3) pigs and 86.9-kg (standard deviation = 5.1) pigs were identical to those used for 22.2-kg pigs. The AID values were calculated using the index method, with chromic oxide as the indigestible index. A linear increase in the AID of most AA with increasing BW of pigs was observed only in the SWM, whereas no significant difference was observed in the AID of most AA among the different BW groups in corn DDGS (interaction; P < 0.05). The linear increase in the AID values in the SWM is primarily because of the increase from 22 to 56 kg rather than 56 to 87 kg. In conclusion, the AID values of most AA in the SWM were not constant across the BW range of 22 to 87 kg, whereas corn DDGS did not show such variation.</p>","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143772099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genetic parameters for image-based estimations of swine feet and leg conformation traits.","authors":"Zack C Peppmeier, Yijian Huang, Jan-Marie B Bartholomew, Jicai Jiang, Mark T Knauer, Suzanne M Leonard","doi":"10.1093/jas/skaf103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf103","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The objectives of this study were to develop and evaluate a novel algorithm for image extraction of structural conformation traits and estimate variance components among skeletal conformation, growth, and herd retention traits. An Intel RealSense D435i camera was used to obtain left side-view RGB images on individual purebred Duroc pigs (n = 846) at 156 d of age. Frames were selected by a trained swine evaluator when either the left front leg (n = 1056), left back leg (n = 888), or both left legs (n = 728) were present in the field of view and the respective foot pads from toe to heel were in contact with the ground. Selected images were processed through Apple Inc's image segmentation algorithm to extract the pig from the background. Segmented pig images were then processed through a novel algorithm developed in this study. The algorithm identified the leg and estimated 21 skeletal conformation traits from each leg. Steps for user intervention were added to assist the algorithm in identifying which leg(s) were present and the general location of each leg to increase accuracy of leg identification and trait acquisition. The algorithm correctly identified at least one front and one back leg from an image for 99.9% and 98.0% of the pigs, respectively. Heritability estimates ranged from 0.01 to 0.33 for all conformation traits with the quadratic term for the curvature of the anterior side of the front and the height of the back leg having the highest heritability for each location (h2 = 0.33 and 0.30, respectively). Genetic correlations among image feet and leg conformation traits and production traits (finishing average daily gain, weight per day of age, and finishing feed efficiency) ranged from -0.37 to 0.19. Boars that remained in the breeding herd for longer than 200 days tended (p = 0.08) to have greater curvature of the front leg and lower (p = 0.07) angularity between the midpoint of foot and the anterior point of the pastern and had significantly (p = 0.03) shorter distance between the pastern and the top of the shoulder than those that were removed prior to 200 days. Gilts that remained in the breeding herd for longer than 200 days tended (p = 0.08) to have less curvature of the back leg. The current study presents an algorithm that extracts novel, objective structural conformation traits and reports corresponding genetic and phenotypic parameters.</p>","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143764057","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of Initial Postweaning Feed Intake on Weanling Piglet Metabolism, Gut Health, and Immunity","authors":"Lluís Fabà, Susana M Martín-Orúe, Tetske G Hulshof, José Francisco Pérez, Michael O Wellington, Hubèrt M J Van Hees","doi":"10.1093/jas/skaf099","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf099","url":null,"abstract":"Low feed intake in weanling pigs can be hypothesized as both cause and consequence to intestinal disturbances and metabolic stress. We explored the associations between individual daily feed intake (FI) patterns, metabolic status and intestinal physiology. Female pigs (n = 24) were selected based on high or low cumulative FI between d1 and d3 relative to weaning (d0) from 12 pens equipped with electronic feeding stations at 1-week after weaning for dissection and sampling. Four classes of pigs were created with pigs which started with a high or low FI (d1 to d3) and continued with a high or low FI (d4 to d6) (HH, HL, LH and LL, respectively; n = 6) for data analysis. In plasma, HL pigs showed higher plasma glutamate dehydrogenase than LL pigs (P &amp;lt; 0.05). A low FI d1 to d3 increased plasma creatinine and lactate dehydrogenase, and reduced insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I), gastrointestinal organ weights, and jejunal villus surface area at one week after weaning (P &amp;lt; 0.05). However, low FI d4 to d6 increased plasma haptoglobin, PigMAP, bile acids and bilirubin levels and reduced jejunal villus length (P &amp;lt; 0.05). In jejunum tissue, HH pigs had the highest jejunal upregulated IGF-I receptor and a reduced local inflammatory gene expression when compared to HL pigs (MyD88), and similarly, when compared to all classes (FAXDC2). For the main effects, pigs classified as high FI d1 to d3 had upregulated immune system including IL6, TGFB1, TLR2, and TLR4 genes compared to low FI d1 to d3 pigs (P &amp;lt; 0.05). In a multivariate model, variance in ADG (R2 = 0.82) was mostly explained by positive correlations with FI d1 to d3, jejunal morphometrics, and plasma IGF-I, while negatively explained by histamine in digesta, and creatinine, PigMAP, triglycerides, and haptoglobin in plasma. In conclusion, pigs transitioning from high to a low feed intake showed distinct metabolic alterations and a subtle local inflammation masked by the vigorous local immune response in pigs with initial (d1 to d3) high FI. Pigs with an initial low FI had a fasting-like metabolic state, indicated by hepatic alterations pointing at shifting protein metabolism into energy production. Altogether, feed intake during the initial days postweaning significantly impacts pig growth, immunity, and metabolism, with sustained low intake (i.e. up to 6 days) triggering a systemic inflammatory response.","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":"75 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143744961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of increasing levels of benzoic acid fed to pigs on nitrogen utilization and metabolism affecting growth performance, ammonia emissions, and carcass characteristics","authors":"Sung Woo Kim, Hyunjun Choi, Carol Lin, Ronald D Mateo","doi":"10.1093/jas/skaf101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf101","url":null,"abstract":"The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of increasing levels of benzoic acid (BA) on nitrogen utilization and metabolism affecting growth performance, ammonia emissions, and carcass characteristics, and to determine the optimal levels of BA for the growth performance and carcass characteristics when fed to pigs from weaning to market. A total of 480 pigs (6.0 ± 1.5 kg) were assigned to 4 dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design with initial body weight and group as blocks, and were fed in 6 phases. Treatments included a basal diet with antibiotics (PC) and diets with three levels of BA (0.00, 0.50, and 1.00% BA) without antibiotics. The PC increased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) the ADG and G:F during the overall period compared to no BA supplementation. Increasing levels of BA increased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) overall ADG quadratically (maximum at 0.53% or 7.5 g/d of BA). Increasing levels of BA increased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) overall G:F quadratically (maximum at 0.57% or 8.1 g/d of BA). Increasing levels of BA tended to increase (linear, P = 0.096) N digestibility and increased (linear, P &amp;lt; 0.05) N retention. The BA supplementation at 1.00% decreased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) urine pH and aerial ammonia emission from manure compared to no BA supplementation in the 24 h collection period. The BA supplementation at 1.00% decreased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) rate of change in aerial ammonia emission compared to no BA supplementation in the 24 h collection period. The PC increased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) shrink weight, hot carcass weight, and first rib backfat compared to no BA supplementation. Increasing levels of BA decreased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) loin color and marbling score linearly and increased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) the loin eye area quadratically (maximum at 0.59% or 8.1 g/d of BA). In conclusion, supplementation of BA in feeds enhanced growth performance, improved N utilization, reduced urine pH, reduced aerial ammonia emissions, and improved carcass characteristics of pigs. Supplementation of BA at a range of 0.53 to 0.59% (corresponding to 7.5 to 8.1 g/d of BA based on overall ADFI) provided the optimal improvements in body weight gain, feed efficiency, and carcass characteristics when fed to pigs from weaning to market.","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":"60 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143744963","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Combining in vivo and in vitro approaches to investigate the effect of sainfoin on strongyle infection, immunity and large intestine ecosystem of horses","authors":"Noémie Laroche, Pauline Grimm, Samy Julliand, Gabriele Sorci","doi":"10.1093/jas/skaf100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf100","url":null,"abstract":"Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia), a polyphenol-rich plant, has shown promising anti-parasitic properties in ruminants, but results in horses are fewer and inconsistent. The mechanisms of action involved are not fully understood and different factors may influence its anti-parasitic properties. Recently, it has been shown that the effect of sainfoin depends on the horse's diet. Indeed, the inclusion of dehydrated sainfoin pellets in a high starch diet limited the rate of increase in strongyle egg shedding over a short period of time (21 days). The objective of this study was to evaluate, in vivo, the effect of long-term inclusion of sainfoin in a high starch diet on strongyle infection and intestinal health in horses and to compare in vitro anti-parasitic activity of two different dehydrated sainfoin pellets. Horses known to have a past history of strongyle egg excretion (n=16) were allocated to two groups and fed with a high starch diet containing either sainfoin pellets (SF) or control pellets (sunflower and hay) (CONT) for 84 days. In vitro tests including Egg Hatch Test (EHT) and Larval Migration Inhibition Test (LMIT) were performed with different concentrations of aqueous extracts of the sainfoin pellets. No effect of the inclusion of sainfoin in the high starch diet was observed on the number of strongyle eggs excreted in the feces (p=0.671). At the different sampling dates, including sainfoin in a high starch diet induced some changes in the relative abundance of bacterial taxa (e.g., Oscillibacter, p&amp;lt;0.05), but not on bacterial diversity (all p’s&amp;gt;0.05), function (p&amp;gt;0.05) or activity (p&amp;gt;0.05). Adding sainfoin to a high starch diet increased plasma acetate concentration (p=0.032) but no statistically significant differences were observed on other markers of intestinal integrity (plasma lipopolysaccharides) and health (complete blood count) (all p’s&amp;gt;0.05). Both sainfoin pellets showed anti-parasitic activity in the two in vitro tests (all p’s&amp;lt;0.05), and one sainfoin had a stronger anti-parasitic effect than the other (EHT, all p’s&amp;lt;0.05; LMIT, p=0.008). Overall, these results suggest that the anti-parasitic effect of sainfoin may depend on its polyphenolic concentration. Thus, preliminary in vitro testing may help to identify sainfoin best suited for in vivo use.","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143745135","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimal dietary phospholipid requirement for juvenile leopard coral grouper (Plectropomus leopardus).","authors":"Xiangqin Lin, Yixiong Cao, Xuehan Wang, Xiaoxue Meng, Junming Deng, Beiping Tan","doi":"10.1093/jas/skaf096","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf096","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The highly sought-after carnivorous leopard coral grouper (Plectropomus leopardus) in seawater is valued for its vivid coloration and nutritional richness. Dietary phospholipid supplementation has been demonstrated to enhance physiological health in fish, but these effects are species-dependent. Despite its popularity, there is scarce study regarding the effects of dietary phospholipids on P. leopardus. To determine the optimal dietary phospholipid requirement for P. leopardus, six isonitrogenous (53% crude protein) and isolipidic (12% crude lipid) diets were formulated with varying levels (0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, and 5%) of phospholipid provided by soybean lecithin (SL). Juvenile P. leopardus with an average initial weight (13.92 g) underwent a 9-week feeding trial. Results demonstrated that weight gain rate (WGR) tended to elevate firstly with the dietary SL content up to 3%, and subsequently diminished. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) gradually declined with dietary SL level up to 2% and then stabilized. The incorporation of 2‒5% SL into the diet led to an enhancement of trypsin and lipase activities in the foregut. Additionally, the higher muscular layer thickness, villus width, and villus height in the hindgut were observed with the same dosage of dietary SL. Similarly, the dietary inclusion of 2-3% SL boosted the serum and hepatic superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, along with enhancing the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and lysozyme (LZM) in liver and hindgut. Furthermore, the dietary incorporation of 2% SL led to an upregulation of the relative mRNA levels of toll-like receptor 2 (TLR 2), myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88), and transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1) in the hindgut, but decreased the aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities in serum. Overall, dietary incorporation of 2‒3% SL improved the growth rate, digestive function, antioxidant and immune responses of P. leopardus, the recommended level was 3% based on WGR.</p>","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143735974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Piglet birth weight but not timing of zinc supplementation in gestation diets affects tissue mineral concentrations and gene expression.","authors":"Kelsey L Hammers, Pedro E Urriola, Christian D Ramirez-Camba, Mark Schwartz, Moon-Suhn Ryu, Andres Gomez, Juan E Abrahante Lloréns, Lee J Johnston","doi":"10.1093/jas/skaf097","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf097","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sows were supplemented with high dietary zinc (Zn) at different times in gestation to determine effects on piglet tissue mineral concentrations and gene expression. Ten sSows per treatment were assigned to dietary treatments: 1) Control - sows fed a corn-soybean meal-based diet containing 206 ppm total supplemental zinc supplied by zinc hydroxychloride from mating to farrowing; 2) Breed-to-Farrow - as Control + additional 147 ppm supplemental Zn as ZnSO4 fed from 5 days post-breeding to farrowing; and 3) Day 110-to-Farrow - as Control + additional 4,079 ppm supplemental Zn as ZnSO4 starting on day 110 of gestation until farrowing. Final supplemental Zn concentrations of the Control, Breed-to-Farrow, and Day 110-to-Farrow treatments were 206, 353, and 4,285 ppm, respectively. Serum, colostrum, and milk were collected from each sow. At farrowing, two average (ABW) and two low birth weight (LBW) piglets from each sow were selected for collection of serum and tail samples within 2 days of birth. Liver tissue was collected from 65 piglets that died naturally (n = 35) or were euthanized (n = 30). Blood was collected from a different group of piglets (9 LBW piglets per treatment and 8 ABW Control piglets) for RNA-sequencing to evaluate differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and pathways. Mineral concentration data were analyzed using a generalized linear mixed model and RNAseq data were analyzed using the edgeR program. Diet did not affect mineral concentrations of sow serum, colostrum, and milk (P > 0.05). Mineral concentrations of piglet serum were not influenced by maternal Zn treatment or piglet birth weight. Tail Cu for LBW piglets born to sows fed high Zn tended to be lower than Control piglets (P = 0.082) while piglets of LBW had greater concentrations of Fe (P = 0.018) and Cu (P = 0.031) in tails compared to ABW piglets. Piglets that died naturally had greater hepatic Fe concentrations (P < 0.001) than healthy euthanized piglets. Only 2 to 3 DEGs were noted between Control LBW and LBW piglets born to sows fed high Zn. However, 262 DEGs were identified between LBW and ABW piglets. Genes affected by birth weight were associated with pathways of translation and ribosomal activity. In conclusion, timing of feeding high Zn concentrations to gestating sows had minimal influence on concentrations of trace minerals in sows and their offspring, while piglet birth weight may have meaningful effects on mineral metabolism and protein synthesis of neonatal piglets.</p>","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143728751","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Feeding style alters the growth and behavior of artificially-reared pigs.","authors":"Kaitlyn M Sommer, Loretta Sutkus, Pradeep Senthil, Ryan N Dilger","doi":"10.1093/jas/skaf098","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf098","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Early-life pig growth is influenced by protein synthesis facilitated by sow milk intake. However, factors such as teat disorders, timing of milk letdown, and seasonal fluctuations can limit milk intake, leading to slower growth and higher mortality rates. Artificial rearing systems allow precise regulation of milk intake, providing a valuable platform for researchers to investigate various feeding strategies, such as ad libitum or weight-based feeding and their impacts on behavior, growth, and health. In our study, focused on feeding style in an artificial rearing system, pigs (85 boars) were removed from the sow on postnatal day (PND) 2 and allotted to treatment based on litter of origin and body weight (BW). Pigs were reared in 4 cohorts across 2 trials over a 15-d feeding period. Experimental treatments included: AD, nutritionally adequate milk replacer provided ad libitum or PRE, nutritionally adequate milk replacer delivered at a prescribed basis according to individual pig BW, which was provided once per hour throughout a 20 h daily feeding cycle. Home-cage tracking and growth performance were measured throughout the study. On PND 6 and 14 an ethogram-based video analysis was performed, spanning the 20-h feeding cycle, to assess home-cage behavioral outcomes. Insulin responsivity was measured near study conclusion utilizing a feeding-stimulated method and static blood collection time-points. At study conclusion, pigs were euthanized and underwent body composition analysis. Data were analyzed via a repeated measures or 1-way ANOVA, with significance accepted at an alpha level of 0.05. Pigs in the AD group exhibited increased (P < 0.05) intake and BW gain but decreased feed efficiency when compared with the PRE group. Additionally, feeding style increased (P < 0.05) serum insulin concentrations 0.5 h after the first feeding in AD pigs when compared with PRE pigs. Feeding style altered (P < 0.05) spatial preference in trial 1 with PRE pigs spending relatively more time in the home-cage quadrant that housed the milk bowl compared with AD pigs. Moreover, PRE pigs spent more (P < 0.05) time visiting the feeding bowl and performing milk consumption behaviors at the bowl than AD pigs. Lastly, the relative proportion of water within soft tissue was increased (P < 0.05) in PRE pigs compared with AD pigs. In conclusion, feeding style impacted growth performance, insulin concentrations, spatial preference, and behavior of artificially-reared pigs.</p>","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143728564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of a Bacillus-based direct-fed microbial on digestibility, ruminal in situ nutrient disappearance, microbiome, and fermentation parameters in forage-fed beef cattle.","authors":"Arnaldo C Limede, Rodrigo S Marques, Fernando A A Cidrini, Vinicius A Cruz, Amanda C M Queiroz, Iorrano A Cidrini, Iasmin M S A Farias, Aline N Rodrigues, Eric J Scholljegerdes, Izadora S Souza, Reinaldo F Cooke, Raphaele Gresse, Gisle Vestergaard, Bruno I Cappellozza","doi":"10.1093/jas/skaf093","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf093","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This experiment evaluated dry matter intake, ruminal in situ nutrient disappearance, total-tract apparent nutrient digestibility, microbiome, and ruminal fermentation parameters of crossbred beef cows offered forage-based diets and a Bacillus-based direct-fed microbial (DFM). Fifteen rumen-cannulated Angus × Hereford cows were used in a crossover design. Treatments consisted of forage-based diets plus 500 g of protein-mineral supplement mixed with 1) 3 g of a Bacillus-based DFM containing Bacillus licheniformis and B. subtilis (BAC; n = 15; 2.2 × 109 CFU of the mixture/g; Bovacillus, Novonesis, Lyngby, Denmark), or 2) without BAC (CON; n = 15). Each experimental period lasted 33 days with 30 days of wash-out between periods. Cows were fed daily with chopped grass-mixed hay [Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis) and Bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata)]. From day 17 to 26, 5 g of titanium dioxide (TiO2) was dosed twice daily, at 12-h intervals, as an external marker of fecal output. From day 22 to 26, fecal spot samples were collected at 12-h intervals. On day 27, ruminal fluid was collected prior to feeding (0 h) and at 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 h post-feeding to evaluate ruminal pH, volatile fatty acids (VFA) and NH3-N. From day 28 to 32, 4 g of grass-mixed hay was placed in Dacron bags and introduced through the cannulas for 0, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h. A treatment effect was observed (P = 0.01) for DMI, which was greater for cows supplemented with BAC vs. CON. Cows supplemented with BAC tended (P > 0.06) to have greater DM and NDF disappearance vs. CON. A treatment effect was observed (P ≤ 0.02) for total-tract apparent DM and CP digestibility, which were greater for BAC vs. CON cows. Also, cows supplemented with BAC tended (P ≥ 0.06) to have a greater total-tract NDF and ADF digestibility vs. CON cohorts. Therefore, cows supplemented with BAC had greater (P < 0.01) amounts of DM, CP, NDF, and ADF digested vs. CON cows. A treatment × time effect was observed (P = 0.02) for ruminal pH, which increased at 16 and 20 h of collection for BAC vs. CON cows. Treatment effects were not (P ≥ 0.18) observed for VFA, N-NH3, and plasma concentrations of glucose, whereas plasma concentration of urea tended (P = 0.06) to be reduced for cows supplemented with BAC vs. CON. Hence, supplementation with a Bacillus-based DFM increased forage intake, the digestibility of DM and CP, and the amount of nutrients digested by rumen-cannulated cows receiving a forage-based diet.</p>","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143730172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}