Translational Animal Science最新文献

{"title":"Energy requirements of growing small ruminants raised for meat production in contrasting climatic regions: a meta-analysis.","authors":"Vinícius C Souza, Adeline Bougouin, Harry Archimede, Adegbola Adesogan, Ermias Kebreab","doi":"10.1093/tas/txaf012","DOIUrl":"10.1093/tas/txaf012","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The objective of this meta-regression was to evaluate the influence of ruminant species, sex, and climatic regions on the metabolizable energy (<b>ME</b>) requirements for maintenance (<b>MEm)</b> and weight gain (<b>MEg</b>) in growing small ruminants raised for meat production across different climatic regions. Data included 655 and 337 treatment means from 173 and 99 studies on sheep and goats, respectively. Metabolizable energy intake (<b>MEI</b>; MJ/kg^^0.75) was regressed against average daily gain (<b>ADG</b>; g/kg^^0.75), with the study included as a random effect. The analysis found that MEm was not affected by species (<i>P</i> = 0.50), but MEg (MJ/g ADG) was significantly different between species (<i>P</i> = 0.02), with sheep requiring 0.032 (± 0.002) and goats 0.026 (± 0.002) MJ/g ADG. Sex did not affect MEm in either species (<i>P</i> ≥ 0.32). However, in goats, intact males had a greater MEg (<i>P</i> = 0.02) than females (0.030 ± 0.003 vs. 0.013 ± 0.006 MJ/g ADG). MEm was lower (<i>P</i> = 0.03) in small ruminants raised in subtropical regions (0.497 ± 0.046 MJ/kg^^0.75) compared to those in semi-arid (0.600 ± 0.038 MJ/kg^^0.75) and tended to be lower than those in arid regions (0.529 ± 0.050 MJ/kg^^0.75). However, these differences disappeared when adjusting for maturity, diet composition, digestibility, or altitude. MEg was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in animals raised in arid regions (0.032 ± 0.006 MJ/g ADG) compared to those in Mediterranean (0.009 ± 0.004 MJ/g ADG) or semi-arid regions (0.009 ± 0.004 MJ/g ADG) after adjusting for diet composition and digestibility. Similarly, ruminants in Mediterranean regions had lower MEg (0.019 ± 0.004 and 0.009 ± 0.004 MJ/g ADG) than those in tropical regions (0.033 ± 0.002 and 0.024 ± 0.002 MJ/g ADG), respectively after adjusting for maturity, diet composition, and digestibility. MEg in semi-arid regions was consistently lower than in tropical regions, regardless of the covariates tested. For predictive purposes, the global model exhibited the best accuracy (CCC = 0.57 and RSR = 0.79), comparable to the model derived specifically for the tropical region (CCC = 0.58 and RSR = 0.80). This meta-analysis provides a comprehensive evaluation of species-specific differences in ME requirements in small ruminants while recognizing the challenges posed by confounding effects and climatic variability inherent in global datasets. The analysis suggests that animals raised in tropical conditions may have lower MEm than current feeding systems that use data from temperate climates.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txaf012"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11879033/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143558160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Real-time digital dermatitis detection in dairy cows on Android and iOS apps using computer vision techniques.","authors":"Agam Dwivedi, Marlee Henige, Kelly Anklam, Dörte Döpfer","doi":"10.1093/tas/txae168","DOIUrl":"10.1093/tas/txae168","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The aim of the study was to deploy computer vision models for real-time detection of digital dermatitis (DD) lesions in cows using Android or iOS mobile applications. Early detection of DD lesions in dairy cows is crucial for prompt treatment and animal welfare. Android and iOS apps could facilitate routine and early DD detection in cows' feet on dairy and beef farms. Upon detecting signs of DD, dairy farmers could implement preventive and treatment methods, including foot baths, topical treatment, hoof trimming, or quarantining cows affected by DD to prevent its spread. We applied transfer-learning to DD image data for 5 lesion classes, M0, M4H, M2, M2P, and M4P, on pretrained YOLOv5 model architecture using COCO-128 pretrained weights. The combination of localization loss, classification loss, and objectness loss was used for the optimization of prediction performance. The custom DD detection model was trained on 363 images of size 416 × 416 pixels and tested on 46 images. During model training, data were augmented to increase model robustness in different environments. The model was converted into TFLite format for Android devices and CoreML format for iOS devices. Techniques such as quantization were implemented to improve inference speed in real-world settings. The DD models achieved a mean average precision (mAP) of 0.95 on the test dataset. When tested in real-time, iOS devices resulted in Cohen's kappa value of 0.57 (95% CI: 0.49 to 0.65) averaged across the 5 lesion classes denoting the moderate agreement of the model detection with human investigators. The Android device resulted in a Cohen's kappa value of 0.38 (95% CI: 0.29 to 0.47) denoting fair agreement between model and investigator. Combining M2 and M2P classes and M4H and M4P classes resulted in a Cohen's kappa value of 0.65 (95% CI: 0.54 to 0.76) and 0.46 (95% CI: 0.35 to 0.57), for Android and iOS devices, respectively. For the 2-class model (lesion vs. non-lesion), a Cohen's kappa value of 0.74 (95% CI: 0.63 to 0.85) and 0.65 (95% CI: 0.52 to 0.78) was achieved for iOS and Android devices, respectively. iOS achieved a good inference time of 20 ms, compared to 57 ms on Android. Additionally, we deployed models on Ultralytics iOS and Android apps giving kappa scores of 0.56 (95% CI: 0.48 to 0.64) and 0.46 (95% CI: 0.37 to 0.55), respectively. Our custom iOS app surpassed the Ultralytics apps in terms of kappa score and confidence score.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txae168"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11829201/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143433891","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of a botanical feed additive blend of capsicum oleoresin, clove and garlic essential oils on growth performance and fecal dry matter in nursery pigs.","authors":"Ty H Kim, Jason C Woodworth, Mike D Tokach, Joel M DeRouchey, Robert D Goodband, Jordan T Gebhardt, Mark T Knauer, Christiaan P A van de Ligt, Emma H Wall","doi":"10.1093/tas/txaf016","DOIUrl":"10.1093/tas/txaf016","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of a botanical-derived feed additive containing capsicum oleoresin, clove and garlic essential oils (CCG; Fytera Start, Selko, Indianapolis, IN) in nursery pigs fed with or without pharmacological levels of Zn and Cu. In Exp. 1756 pigs (Duroc × Landrace/Large White composite (Smithfield Premium Genetics), initially 7.8 ± 0.09 kg) were used in a 40-d study to determine the effects of CCG level on growth performance of nursery pigs fed pharmacological levels of Zn and Cu. In Exp. 2340 barrows (DNA 200 × 400, initially 6.1 ± 0.08 kg) were used in 38-d study to determine the effect of CCG in diets with or without pharmacological levels of Zn and Cu on growth performance and fecal dry matter (DM). For both experiments, pigs were randomly allotted to pens which were allotted to 1 of 4 dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. There were 9 pigs per pen and 21 pens per treatment in Exp. 1 and 5 pigs per pen and 17 pens per treatment in Exp. 2. Dietary treatments in Exp. 1 were corn-soybean meal based with pharmacological levels of Zn and Cu and included either 0, 25, 50, or 100 mg/kg of CCG. Dietary treatments in Exp. 2 were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial with main effects of CCG (none or 100 mg/kg) and nutritional or pharmacological levels of Zn and Cu. All Exp. 2 diets contained 110 mg/kg of Zn and 16.5 mg/kg of Cu from the trace mineral premix. For both experiments, pharmacological levels of Zn were added at 3,000 and 2,000 mg/kg in phase 1 and 2, respectively and Cu was added at 250 mg/kg in all phases. For Exp. 1, overall average daily gain (ADG) increased (linear, <i>P </i>< 0.05) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) tended to increase (linear, <i>P </i>< 0.10) as CCG increased from 0 to 100 mg/kg. For Exp. 2, there was a CCG × Zn/Cu interaction observed for overall ADG and ADFI (<i>P </i>< 0.05) where CCG numerically increased ADG and ADFI in pigs fed nutritional levels of Zn and Cu; but reduced ADG and ADFI in pigs fed pharmacological levels of Zn and Cu. There was a Zn/Cu × day interaction (<i>P </i>= 0.001) for fecal DM, in which there was no difference (<i>P </i>> 0.10) in fecal DM on d 10, but pigs fed pharmacological levels of Zn and Cu had lower (<i>P </i>< 0.001) fecal DM on d 21 compared to pigs fed nutritional levels of Zn and Cu. In summary, when included in diets with pharmacological levels of Zn and Cu, feeding increasing levels of CCG increased ADG in Exp. 1 but did not improve performance in Exp 2.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txaf016"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11879024/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143558158","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of feeding varying levels of mycotoxin-containing corn fines on diet choice and growth performance of nursery pigs.","authors":"Duncan B Paczosa, Tyler B Chevalier, Sunday A Adedokun, Lan Zheng, Merlin D Lindemann","doi":"10.1093/tas/txaf015","DOIUrl":"10.1093/tas/txaf015","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mycotoxins in feed are known to negatively affect growth and other physiological processes in pigs. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of feeding diets with varying levels of mycotoxins and boron (a nutrient reported to mitigate some aspects of mycotoxicosis). Screenings from the 2020 crop year corn contained mycotoxin levels of 23,038 ppb total fumonisins (FUM), 1,446 ppb zearalenone (ZEA), and 5,032 ppb total deoxynivalenol (DON). The corn fines were added to a corn-soybean meal diet formulated to meet or exceed NRC (National Research Council. 2012. Nutrient requirements of swine. 11th Revised Edition. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi:10.17226/13298) nutrient requirements as a replacement for corn at 0, 10, and 20% for Diets 1 to 3. Diets 4 to 6 were Diets 1 to 3, respectively, plus 40 ppm boron from sodium tetraborate decahydrate. Diets 3 and 6 were formulated to approximate the guidance level of fumonisin and the advisory level of DON stated by the FDA. Exp. 1 used 48 crossbred pigs (initial body weight [BW] = 9.18 kg ± 0.12 kg) blocked by sex and BW and randomly allotted to 1 of 3 treatment comparisons: Comparison 1) Diet 1 vs. Diet 2; Comparison 2) Diet 1 vs. Diet 3; and Comparison 3) Diet 2 vs. Diet 3. There were 4 replicates (4 pigs/pen) for the 21-d preference trial. Exp. 2 used 144 crossbred pigs (mean initial BW = 10.20 ± 0.23 kg) blocked by sex and BW and randomly allotted to diets for a total of 6 replicates (4 pigs/pen) for a 21-d growth trial. On d 21, serum was collected from the heaviest and lightest pig in each pen for clinical chemistry assessment. Exp. 1 demonstrated the barrows' ability to discern between diets in Comparisons 2 and 3 (<i>P</i> < 0.01) for each week while gilts only started to exhibit that ability during Week 3 for Comparison 2 (<i>P</i> = 0.06). Increasing mycotoxin levels in Exp. 2 had no effect on overall ADG, ADFI, and G:F (<i>P</i> = 0.16, 0.53, and 0.92, respectively). The increasing mycotoxin levels affected serum glucose and cholesterol (<i>P</i> = 0.03, and <i>P </i>< 0.01, respectively). There was no effect of boron on the same performance measures (<i>P</i> = 0.81, 0.59, and 0.76, respectively) although it did lower serum glucose (<i>P</i> = 0.02). In conclusion, pigs can differentiate and choose between diets containing these mixed mycotoxins but when not given a choice, the pigs do not necessarily have different growth performance using the particular mycotoxins and concentrations within the framework of this assessment.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txaf015"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11879404/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143558159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring industry perspectives and preferences about calf handling and restraint methods used during spring processing of calves in western Canada.","authors":"Lindsey Arkangel, Claire Windeyer, Christy Goldhawk, Cindy Adams, Ed Pajor","doi":"10.1093/tas/txaf014","DOIUrl":"10.1093/tas/txaf014","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Calf processing events have important animal health, management, and sociocultural roles in the beef cattle industry. In western Canada, the three most commonly used methods for spring processing are roping and wrestling (RW), roping and Nord fork (NF), and tilt table (TT). The objective of this study was to understand the preferences and perceptions of handling event participants about calf handling and restraint methods commonly used during western Canadian beef calf processing events during the spring season. Data were collected using a mixed-methods online questionnaire. Quantitative analysis was used to describe the study participants and determine preference rankings. Qualitative, thematic analysis was used to explore participants' perceptions about the common handling and restraint methods and to identify values within and across participants. The majority of participants were farm hands or staff members (92.8%), followed by owners (4.9%), family members (1.4%), friends (0.5%), and others (0.4%). The most preferred method to use was RW, and TT was the least preferred (χ² = 3239.1, df = 6, <i>p</i> < 0.001). Participants shared values regarding calf safety and stress, processing efficiency, convenience, human safety, and labor intensity when explaining their preference to use calf handling and restraint methods for spring processing. Responses highlighted the need for understanding and skill in low stress handling and processing tasks in order for any of the methods to be effective. These values identify aspects to address when developing best practice recommendations for calf handling and restraint. Furthermore, focusing communication through the lens of these shared values will likely positively engage participants in extension efforts and community discussions.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txaf014"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11842966/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143484055","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Urinary chemistry in healthy cross-bred pet rabbits (<i>Oryctolagus cuniculus</i>) and rabbits with suspected chronic kidney disease.","authors":"Yeh Sze-Yu, Sung Chi-Hsuan, Liu Pin-Chen, Wu Ching-Fen, Lin Tsai-Lu, Cheng Tsung-Li, Chi-Chung Chou","doi":"10.1093/tas/txaf002","DOIUrl":"10.1093/tas/txaf002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Renal biomarkers for early detection of decreased kidney function have been extensively studied in dogs and cats, but there is limited research for pet rabbits. Specifically, studies on urinary indices for cross-bred rabbits are scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the potential use of urinalysis in cross-bred pet rabbits. Urine samples from 30 healthy crossbred pet rabbits and 11 rabbits with suspected kidney disease (KD) from three clinics were collected. RIs of urinary indices, including urinary protein, creatinine (uCRE), urinary protein-to-creatinine (UPC) ratio, gamma-glutamyl transferase (uGGT), and uGGT ratio, were established and compared to two published reference intervals (RIs). The results showed that healthy rabbits consistently had low urine protein levels and abnormal UPC ratios, compared to a published study involving only pure-bred rabbits. Rabbits with KD had higher urine protein levels and a significantly higher UPC ratio (<i>P</i> < 0.001), with 63% having ratios greater than 0.4. Additionally, rabbits with KD showed significantly (<i>P</i> < 0.001) lower uCRE levels and urine specific gravity (USG) with elevated uGGT index (<i>P</i> < 0.05), compared to the healthy group. Significant differences (<i>P</i> < 0.05) were also observed in urine color, turbidity, pH, and positivity of the occult blood by dipstick. This study underscores potential breed-specific variations in urinary protein levels and UPC ratio, as well as highlights the diagnostic potential of USG, UPC ratio, and uGGT index in rabbits with KD. However, the presence of breed-specific variations and technical nuances in laboratory equipment necessitate careful interpretation of results. Therefore, further studies across larger and more diverse rabbit populations are crucial to validate the diagnostic performance of urinary indices in diagnosing KD in rabbits.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txaf002"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11879030/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143558162","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Validation of proximity loggers to record proximity events among beef bulls.","authors":"Vinicius A Camargo, Edmond A Pajor, Jennifer M Pearson","doi":"10.1093/tas/txaf011","DOIUrl":"10.1093/tas/txaf011","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Social behavior in cattle can be measured by how often and for how long they interact with each other. This information can be used to guide management decisions, identify sick animals, or model the spread of diseases. However, visual observation of proximity events is time-demanding and challenging, especially for rangeland cattle spread over a large area. Although proximity loggers can potentially overcome these challenges remotely, it is unknown how accurate these devices are in recording proximity events among beef bulls. The objectives of this study were: 1) to determine the accuracy of Lotek LiteTrack LR collars with built-in proximity loggers to identify proximity events among bulls and 2) to determine the accuracy of Lotek LiteTrack LR collars to identify proximity events between bulls wearing collars and bulls wearing the Lotek V7E 154D ear tag proximity transmitter. Collars were deployed in 12 bulls in 2021 (Experiment 1), and 10 bulls (5 collars and 5 ear tags) in 2023 (Experiment 2). Videos were recorded of bull behavior in both years to compare proximity observed to proximity recorded by the loggers. Sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), precision (Pr), and accuracy (Ac) were calculated after computing true positives (TP), false positives (FP), false negatives (FN), and true negatives (TN). The interquartile range method was used to detect outliers. As collars work as both a transmitter and receiver in Exp. 1, reciprocity was assessed by the Concordance Correlation Coefficient (CCC) as an indirect measure of reliability. In Exp. 1, most observations were TN (95.13%), followed by FN (4.11%), TP (0.70%), and FP (0.06%). A high Sp (median = 1.0; 95% CI = 1.0 to 1.0), Pr (1.00; 0.72 to 1.0), and Ac (0.96; 0.95 to 0.97), and low Se (0.10; 0.06 to 0.21) were observed. A high reciprocity agreement (0.93; 0.89 to 0.96) was also observed. Likewise, in Exp. 2 most observations were TN (85.05%), followed by FN (9.94%), TP (4.36%), and FP (0.65%), while high Sp (0.99; 0.99 to 1.0), Pr (0.89; 0.80 to 0.92), and Ac (0.95; 0.81 to 0.95), and low Se (0.35; 0.24 to 0.61) was observed. The Pr of two loggers in Exp. 1 and Pr and Ac of one logger in Exp. 2 were considered outliers. In conclusion, both proximity loggers demonstrated high precision, specificity, and accuracy but low sensitivity in recording proximity among beef bulls. Therefore, these characteristics should be considered when deciding whether to use these devices or not.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txaf011"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11826340/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143433894","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Potential of accelerometers to remotely early detect bovine ephemeral fever in cattle using pattern mining.","authors":"Ly Ly Trieu, Derek W Bailey, Huiping Cao, Tran Cao Son, Justin Macor, Mark G Trotter, Lauren O'Connor, Colin T Tobin","doi":"10.1093/tas/txaf008","DOIUrl":"10.1093/tas/txaf008","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Bovine Ephemeral Fever (BEF), caused by an arthropod-borne rhabdovirus, is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions. It affects cattle with symptoms of fever, lameness, inappetence and in some situations can result in mortality. The goal of this study is to determine if accelerometer data can be used to identify the behavior patterns that occur when cattle become ill from BEF. Eight heifers in a separate experiment were monitored with 3-axis accelerometers sensors. Movement variation (MV) was calculated from accelerometer data (25 Hz) using 1-min epochs and then averaged hourly. Two different approaches, cosine similarity (CS) and deviation from previous behavioral patterns, were developed to autonomously detect patterns and recognize the onset of sickness in cattle using accelerometer data. Analyses show that one heifer had behavioral changes one day before the manager observed BEF, and another heifer had behavioral changes on the same day the manager observed BEF. The other six heifers did not display any BEF symptoms. To validate the efficacy of our analytical approaches, we employed them on a separate commercial herd of 73 cows where 4 of the 27 monitored cows were observed with BEF symptoms. Predictions were either on the day or even the day prior to the manager's observation and diagnosis. There were likely no false positives in the first or second trials using the deviation algorithm with <math><mstyle><mi>s</mi> <mi>u</mi> <mi>m</mi> <mi>_</mi> <mi>d</mi> <mi>e</mi> <mi>v</mi> <mi>i</mi> <mi>a</mi> <mi>t</mi> <mi>i</mi> <mi>o</mi> <mi>n</mi></mstyle> </math> formula, but there were several false positives with the other algorithms. These case studies demonstrate the potential of accelerometer data to autonomously detect disease onset, in some cases before it was apparent to the human observer. However, more research is needed to minimize false positives that may occur from other similar diseases, abnormal weather events or cyclical changes in behavior such as estrus is required.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txaf008"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11799742/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143366041","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of administering local anesthesia immediately before surgical castration on indicators of pain and discomfort of beef calves.","authors":"Amanda F Bernier, Nathan Erickson, John Campbell, Diego Moya","doi":"10.1093/tas/txaf010","DOIUrl":"10.1093/tas/txaf010","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Forty Hereford cross calves (mean and SD of 47.9 ± 10.43 d old) were used to assess the efficacy of lidocaine administered immediately before surgical castration on physiological and behavioral indicators of pain and discomfort. Calves were assigned by age to one of two treatments: surgical castration following subcutaneous injection of 2.5 mL/100 kg body weight of meloxicam (Metacam 20 mg/mL, Boehringer Ingelhein, Burlington, ON, Canada) per kg body weight (<b>MEX</b>, n = 19); or the same treatment preceded 90 s before by a nerve block of the spermatic cord using 8 mL of buffered (1 mL:10 mL of 8.4% sodium bicarbonate USP, Hospira Inc., Lake Forest, IL, USA) lidocaine (4 mL per cord; 20 mg/mL, LIDO-2 with epinephrine, Rafter Products, Calgary, AB, Canada) (<b>LID</b>, n = 21). During the castration procedure, two observers scored how much pain each animal was experiencing (visual analog score, VAS), number of body shakes and leg kicks for each calf. Blood samples and exit scores were collected the day of castration and on d 7, and 14 to assess the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (N:L) and calf temperament, respectively. Hair samples were collected the day of castration and on d 14 to determine cortisol levels. Scrotal circumference, swelling, and healing scores were determined on d 7 and 14 to assess healing. An accelerometer (HOBO Pendant® G Data Logger, Onset, Cape Cod, MA) was placed on the left hind leg to measure lying behavior until d 6 after castration. Calves were video recorded for 1 hour after the castration procedure to observe behaviors indicative of pain and discomfort. Surveillance cameras were also used to assess the mobility of the calves when cow-calf pairs were moved from the holding pen to the pasture. The VAS, number of tail flicks and foot stamps were greater (<i>P </i>< 0.01) in MEX than in LID calves. During the first hour after castration, LID calves spent more time lying (<i>P</i> = 0.03) and less time standing (<i>P</i> = 0.01) than MEX calves. When moved from the holding pen, LID calves moved faster (<i>P</i> < 0.01) and closer to their dams (<i>P </i>< 0.05) than MEX calves. Hair cortisol was greater (<i>P</i> < 0.05) in LID than MEX calves on d 14. Results suggest that using lidocaine for local anesthesia immediately before surgical castration reduced behaviors indicative of pain and improved mobility post-castration.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txaf010"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11826336/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143433889","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of beta-agonist type and timing of Experior feeding on calculated cumulative ammonia gas emissions, live growth performance, and carcass outcomes, and objective tenderness outcomes of feedlot steers.","authors":"Wilsey M Wendler, Michael S Davis, Walter C Koers, Phillip J Rincker, Nathan A Pyatt, Loni W Lucherk, Ty E Lawrence","doi":"10.1093/tas/txaf009","DOIUrl":"10.1093/tas/txaf009","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Our objective was to compare beta-agonist feeding strategies and evaluate Experior (EXP) with added days on feed (DOF) for live growth performance and carcass outcomes. Steers (n = 2,517; initial BW = 336 ± 23 kg) were allocated to 36 pens in a randomized, complete-block design and assigned to 1 of 6 treatments. Treatments were negative control (no beta-ligand; CON), Optaflexx (ractopamine hydrochloride, 300 mg·head^-1·day^-1 for 35 d; OPT), and Experior (lubabegron fumarate, 36 mg·head^-1·day^-1 for 56 d + 4 d removal; 0EXP) with all three treatments fed for 198 d. Remaining treatments were fed EXP for same duration as 0EXP, but total DOF were adjusted by -14 d (-14EXP), +14 d (+14EXP) and +28 d (+28EXP). Statistical analyses were conducted using mixed models; treatment was the fixed effect, block was a random effect, means were separated with the Tukey-Kramer adjustment, and contrasts were calculated to test linear or quadratic effects of EXP across DOF. No treatment differences (<i>P</i> ≥ 0.72) were observed for daily dry matter intake. Calculated cumulative ammonia (NH₃) gas emissions (CCAGE) expressed either as total NH₃ emitted (g) or NH₃ emitted per kg of BW or HCW was reduced (<i>P</i> < 0.01) by 5.6-8.5%, 5.1-10.7%, and 6.3-13.6%, respectively for 0EXP, +14EXP and +28EXP compared to CON. Carcass ADG of 0EXP steers was 6.8% greater (<i>P</i> < 0.01) than CON, which had similar (<i>P</i> ≥ 0.10) ADG to OPT, +14EXP, and +28EXP steers. Carcass G:F of 0EXP steers was improved 5.0% compared to CON (<i>P</i> = 0.01) and was not different (<i>P</i> ≥ 0.10) from OPT, -14EXP or +14EXP steers. Hot carcass weight of 0EXP, +14EXP, or +28EXP steers was 14-37 kg heavier (<i>P</i> < 0.01) than CON, which did not differ (<i>P</i> = 0.81) from OPT. Steers fed EXP had 1.15-2.5% point increase (<i>P</i> < 0.01) in dressed yields. <i>Longissimus</i> muscle area was 4.03-6.23 cm² larger (<i>P</i> < 0.01) in steers fed EXP compared to CON, which tended to differ (<i>P</i> = 0.08) from OPT. Marbling score was 31-39 points lower (<i>P</i> ≤ 0.02) for -14EXP compared to CON and OPT, whereas 0EXP tended (<i>P</i> = 0.09) to differ from CON and +14EXP and +28EXP were similar (<i>P</i> ≥ 0.28) to CON and OPT. Slice shear force values were 20.1% greater (<i>P</i> < 0.02) for +14EXP compared to CON, whereas 0EXP tended (<i>P</i> = 0.09) to be greater and +28EXP, -14EXP and OPT were similar (<i>P</i> ≥ 0.28) to CON. This study illustrates EXP decreased CCAGE and increased HCW with minimal quality changes when fed the last 56 d on feed.</p>","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":"9 ","pages":"txaf009"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11792651/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143190543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}