Animal最新文献

{"title":"Fibre-rich ingredients differing in physicochemical properties modulate digesta transit and digestion kinetics in pigs","authors":"C. Lannuzel ,&nbsp;R.J. Veersma ,&nbsp;G. van Erven ,&nbsp;M.A. Kabel ,&nbsp;W.J.J. Gerrits ,&nbsp;S. de Vries","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101473","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101473","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Physicochemical properties of fibres can affect digestive processes such as digesta transit, thereby affecting nutrient digestion kinetics. We evaluated the effects of (1) insoluble fibres differing in cell wall composition and physicochemical properties; wheat straw (<strong>WS</strong>), softwood flour (<strong>WF</strong>), and sunflower seed hulls (<strong>SF</strong>), and (2) addition of pectin to coarse insoluble fibres from straw (<strong>WSP</strong>), on the mean retention time (<strong>MRT</strong>) of digesta fractions and nutrient digestion throughout the gastrointestinal tract (<strong>GIT</strong>) of pigs. Twenty-four boars (49.1 ± 2.96 kg) were allocated to one of four diets, containing either 138 g/kg of WF, 144 g/kg of SF, or 150 g/kg of WS without or with the addition of 100 g/kg high-methylated pectin. The apparent total tract digestibility of nutrients was evaluated by quantitative faecal collection. After feeding diets supplemented with tracers, pigs were dissected following a frequent feeding procedure to approach steady-state passage of digesta, and assess MRT of liquids (Yb-EDTA), fine solids (TiO₂), and insoluble fibrous particles (Chromium mordanted fibres) throughout the GIT. Unlike coarse WS, no differences in pH nor DM were observed between the proximal and distal stomach for WSP, and fine WF and SF (<em>P</em> &gt; 0.05). Compared with WS, WF and SF reduced the MRT of fine solids (−01:51 to 01:03 h:min; <em>P</em> ≤ 0.05), and fibrous particles (−03:14 to 02:23 h:min; <em>P</em> ≤ 0.05) in the proximal and distal stomach, decreasing their separation, especially in the distal stomach (−01:30 to 01:20 h:min; <em>P</em> ≤ 0.05). Addition of pectin to WS reduced separation between fine solids and liquids in the distal stomach (−43 min; <em>P</em> ≤ 0.05), increased starch digestibility in the mid-small intestine (<strong>SI</strong>; +9%-units; <em>P</em> ≤ 0.05) but not at the end of the SI, and reduced total tract digestibility of nitrogen (−8%-units; <em>P</em> ≤ 0.05), reflecting a lower ileal digestibility (−8%-units). In the large intestine (<strong>LI</strong>), coarse WS reduced the MRT of digesta phases compared with fine WF and SF (−17:38 to 08:08 h:min). Regardless of origin, fermentation of insoluble fibres was poor (≤19%), while complete fermentation of pectin did not impact the fermentation of WS. In conclusion, fine WF and SF accelerated the emptying of solids and suppressed regional differences in pH in the stomach, and delayed digesta transit in the LI, compared with coarse straw. Pectin addition to coarse straw reduced gastric sieving between fine solids and liquids, and increased starch digestibility in the proximal SI.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"19 4","pages":"Article 101473"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143746474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Environmental impact of rabbit production systems: a farm-based cradle-to-gate analysis","authors":"F. Bordignon ,&nbsp;G. Xiccato ,&nbsp;A. Trocino ,&nbsp;A. Zuffellato ,&nbsp;C. Castellini ,&nbsp;S. Mattioli ,&nbsp;M. Berton","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101488","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101488","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rabbit meat could represent a sustainable protein source in a context of growing demand for animal products, but information about its environmental footprint and key hotspots along the production chain remain limited. The present study aimed at providing a multifaceted evaluation of the environmental impact associated with rabbit meat production considering the whole production cycle, by using primary data collected from 46 commercial farms and six interviews with academic and industry experts and technicians of the field. An attributional cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Assessment model encompassed all the main production stages, from the birth of the rabbits to their sale to the slaughterhouse, and included two sub-models covering the breeding and the fattening phases. System boundaries were set to consider the impact associated with the animal and manure management, the production of the feeds consumed by animals and the farm use of the energy sources. The assessed impact categories were global warming potential (<strong>GWP</strong>, kg CO₂-eq), acidification potential (<strong>AP</strong>, g SO₂-eq), eutrophication potential (<strong>EP</strong>, g PO₄-eq), cumulative energy demand (<strong>CED</strong>, MJ), land occupation (<strong>LO</strong>, m²/y), abiotic depletion – elements (<strong>ADE</strong>, mg Sb-eq) and fossil energy (MJ), water scarcity (m³-eq) and terrestrial (<strong>TECO</strong>, kg 1–4,DB), freshwater (<strong>FECO</strong>, kg 1–4,DB) and marine (<strong>MECO</strong>, kg 1–4,DB) ecotoxicity. The functional unit was 1 kg live weight (<strong>LW</strong>), and the time reference was 1 year. Considering the whole production cycle, the production of 1 kg LW of meat rabbit generated an average of 2.56 kg CO₂-eq (GWP) and 3.19 kg CO₂-eq (GWP_LUC) with gas contribution 60% CO₂, 26% N₂O, 14% CH₄; 46 g SO₂-eq (AP), 21 g PO₄-eq (EP), 32 MJ (CED), 4.6 m² (LO) and 2.4 m³-eq (water scarcity). The average values for abiotic depletion categories were 2.6 mg Sb-eq (ADE) and 24 MJ (abiotic depletion – fossil energy); ecotoxicity values were 0.3, 2.9 and 269 kg 1,4-DCB for TECO, FECO and MECO, respectively. The fattening phase contributed more (65%, on average) than the breeding phase (35%) to the environmental impact for all the impact categories. Feed production accounted for more than 65% of the impact in EP, CED, water scarcity and abiotic depletion – fossil energy categories, and almost the unique responsible (98–100%) for LO, TECO and FECO categories. According to our study, the environmental impact of rabbit meat production is intermediate between those of poultry and pig meat productions. The fattening phase emerged as a priority area for future mitigation strategies that will address the impact related to feed production.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"19 5","pages":"Article 101488"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143821088","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":"Octopamine alters yellow mealworm body composition","authors":"V. Hill ,&nbsp;L. Williams ,&nbsp;A. Salter ,&nbsp;J. Brameld ,&nbsp;T. Parr","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101490","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101490","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There is the potential to increase the production yield within the emerging insect industry in order to produce high-quality, sustainable protein. In invertebrates, the monoamine, octopamine (<strong>OA</strong>), has a similar role to that of noradrenaline in mammals. Beta-2 adrenergic agonists increase protein and decrease fat deposition in mammals, thereby inducing favourable changes in body composition. We hypothesised that OA would have similar effects in insects. <em>Tenebrio molitor</em> larvae, commonly called yellow mealworms, were fed for 35 days on either control wheat bran or wheat bran containing OA at 5 μg OA/g. There were trends for treatment × time interactions for mealworm group weight (<em>P</em> = 0.075) and individual mealworm weight (<em>P</em> = 0.069), with the OA group becoming heavier/bigger after 18 days. In addition, there was a trend for a treatment × time interaction on cumulative pupation (<em>P</em> = 0.099), with OA−treated mealworms having delayed pupation. After 35 days of OA treatment, there were significant effects on mealworm final body proximate nutrient composition on a DM basis, with fat content being significantly decreased (by 8%, <em>P</em> = 0.006), whilst CP was significantly increased (by 6%, <em>P</em> = 0.019) in OA−treated mealworms compared to control. There was little effect of OA on the fatty acid composition of the mealworms, with small reductions in palmitoleic acid (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.001) and oleic acid (<em>P</em> = 0.082). Despite a significant increase in protein content with OA treatment, SDS-PAGE did not reveal any changes in the proteins being expressed. Hence, OA treatment of mealworms resulted in an increase in the proportion of protein and a decrease in fat, demonstrating that mealworm nutrient composition can potentially be manipulated to provide a higher−value feed ingredient.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"19 5","pages":"Article 101490"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143821020","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":"Review: Mammary gland physiology and modulation during colostrogenesis in dairy goats.","authors":"M González-Cabrera, A Morales-delaNuez, A Argüello, N Castro, L E Hernández-Castellano","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101487","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.animal.2025.101487","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Newborn ruminants are highly dependent on the intake of high-quality colostrum immediately after birth to obtain energy and achieve an appropriate immunisation. Previous research indicates that poor management practices in the last months of gestation can lead to increased neonatal mortality rates by reducing colostrum quality among other factors. In ruminants, colostrum synthesis is a well-preserved mechanism which has been speculated to be regulated by the neuroendocrine system. However, this review aims to explore different approaches such as alternative dry-off management practices, the inclusion of different nutrients on prepartum diets, and the stimulation of the mammary gland immune response to modulate colostrogenesis and consequently, to enhance colostrum quality. Ensuring correct dry-off practices combined with controlled dietary supplementation can support mammary gland reorganisation and potentially modulate colostrogenesis. Despite positive effects on colostrum yield, the bioactive composition of colostrum seems to be irresponsive to prepartum energy, protein, and fat supplementation in dairy goats. On the other hand, mastitis has obvious negative effects on animal health; however, an experimentally induced local inflammation seems to trigger helpful modifications on the blood-milk barrier, enhancing the concentration of some immune components (i.e., immunoglobulin G and M) in goat colostrum. Yet, most research has focused on dairy cattle, leaving a significant knowledge gap on colostrogenesis in small ruminants. Therefore, future studies should focus on developing novel dry-off and dietary strategies to not only promote a healthy lactation but also to guarantee a successful colostrum synthesis.</p>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":" ","pages":"101487"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143812855","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 dietary exogenous feed enzymes on performance, nutrient digestibility, and ruminal fermentation parameters in beef cattle: a meta-analysis","authors":"I.M. Ferreira ,&nbsp;H.C. Mantovani ,&nbsp;M. Vedovatto ,&nbsp;A.S. Cardoso ,&nbsp;A.A. Rodrigues ,&nbsp;B.G.C. Homem ,&nbsp;M.J.I. de Abreu ,&nbsp;A.N. Rodrigues ,&nbsp;L.H. Cursino Batista ,&nbsp;J.S. de Oliveira ,&nbsp;F.L. Viquez-Umana ,&nbsp;A.H.P.M Assumpção ,&nbsp;G.R. Siqueira ,&nbsp;F.D. de Resende","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101481","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101481","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Exogenous feed enzymes (<strong>EFE</strong>) are incorporated into beef cattle diets to improve nutrient utilization and animal performance. This meta-analysis estimates the effects of EFE inclusion on beef cattle performance, feed intake, nutrient digestibility, and ruminal fermentation parameters, while also identifying factors influencing these outcomes. We initially screened 94 articles, and 23 studies met the eligibility criteria, contributing data from up to 83 treatment means. The magnitude of the effect (size effect) was determined using weighted mean differences (<strong>WMD</strong>) between the EFE-treated and control groups (diets without EFE inclusion). Heterogeneity was assessed through meta-regression and subgroup analysis. Results indicated that EFE inclusion did not affect final BW (<em>P</em> ≥ 0.871), DM intake (<em>P</em> ≥ 0.467), average daily gain (<em>P</em> ≥ 0.145), or feed efficiency (<em>P</em> ≥ 0.417). However, a significant increase in hot carcass weight (<em>P</em> = 0.047; WMD = 2.21 kg) was observed. The inclusion of EFE in the diet did not affect the profile of ruminal short-chain fat acid (<em>P</em> ≥ 0.225) or ruminal ammonia nitrogen concentration (N-NH₃; <em>P</em> = 0.143). However, EFE inclusion improved the digestibility of DM (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01; WMD = 16.9 g/kg), CP (<em>P</em> = 0.003; WMD = 20.2 g/kg), and NDF (<em>P</em> = 0.003; WMD = 20.2), with no effect on organic matter or starch digestibility (<em>P</em> ≥ 0.388). Heterogeneity was low (<em>I</em>² &lt; 25%) for most performance and nutrient digestibility outcomes, indicating consistent effect size estimates. Moderate heterogeneity (<em>P</em> ≤ 0.057; <em>I</em>² = 25–50%) was noted for DM and NDF digestibility, with EFE application explaining 28.2% of the variability in DM digestibility (<em>P</em> = 0.032), and fully accounting for the heterogeneity in NDF digestibility (<em>P</em> = 0.045). High heterogeneity was found in ruminal fermentation parameters (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01; <em>I</em>² &gt; 50%). Funnel plot analysis revealed no publication bias for most variables (<em>P</em> ≥ 0.10). Overall, this meta-analysis demonstrates that EFE inclusion in beef cattle diets increases hot carcass weight, likely due to enhanced digestibility of DM, CP, and NDF, without affecting rumen fermentation parameters.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"19 5","pages":"Article 101481"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143791185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimisation of variance component estimation and genomic prediction in a commercial crossbred population of Duroc x (Landrace x Yorkshire) three-way pigs","authors":"S. Liu,&nbsp;Z. Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101480","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101480","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Crossbreeding is often used in livestock breeding, and genomic selection (<strong>GS</strong>) is implemented with the breeding goal of selecting purebreds (<strong>PB</strong>) with high genetic merit for hybridisation to produce crossbreds (<strong>CB</strong>) with generally improved performance. Previous studies have demonstrated the practicality and efficiency of using CB progeny from a commercial population as a reference population for GS, where a reference population consisting of extreme phenotypic individuals showed a predictive advantage. However, this completely extreme sampling strategy would significantly overestimate the genetic variance of traits, resulting in a significant inflation of the genomic estimated breeding values (<strong>GEBV</strong>) of PB candidates. So, we explored and optimised the variance component (<strong>VC</strong>) estimation and genomic prediction using different sampling strategies in a commercial CB population based on data from a Duroc x (Landrace x Yorkshire) pigs three-way crossbreeding system. We first compared the performance of completely extreme sampling, completely random sampling, and four mixed sampling schemes combining extreme and random sampling for VC estimation and genomic prediction for traits with high, medium, and low heritability (<span><math><msup><mrow><mi>h</mi></mrow><mn>2</mn></msup></math></span> = 0.5, 0.3, and 0.1) at different sample sizes (500–6 500). The results showed that the VC estimated from the reference populations obtained using mixed sampling strategies was more accurate than completely extreme sampling, and the mixed reference populations can carry out more accurate predictions and achieve higher response to selection. Furthermore, we applied an optimisation strategy for the mixed reference populations by solving the mixed model equation based on the VC estimated from only random CB therein, which proved to be very positive for improving the GEBV inflation caused by extreme phenotypic CB, effectively reducing the prediction bias while ensuring the prediction accuracy and response to selection. The combination of accurate VC estimation from random CB and the advantage of extreme phenotypic CB in prediction accuracy allows the mixed reference populations to achieve a superior predictive performance in GS. The optimised strategies can maximise the information from commercial CB populations in livestock genomic breeding.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"19 5","pages":"Article 101480"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143791184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Kinematic changes in dairy cows with induced, unilateral forelimb lameness during straight line walk","authors":"A. Leclercq ,&nbsp;K. Ask ,&nbsp;Y. Mellbin ,&nbsp;A. Byström ,&nbsp;M. Söderlind ,&nbsp;E. Telezhenko ,&nbsp;C. Bergsten ,&nbsp;P. Haubro Andersen ,&nbsp;M. Rhodin ,&nbsp;E. Hernlund","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101482","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101482","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Early detection of lameness in dairy herds is essential to enable timely treatment of affected animals, thereby avoiding unnecessary costs and animal suffering. Since claw diseases most commonly affect the hind claws, specific kinematic changes in cows with forelimb lameness have not been investigated. However, in-depth knowledge on movement pattern alterations occurring during lameness of varying sources is essential to develop efficient lameness detection tools. In this study, 27 gait analysis trials consisting of &gt; 2 000 strides were collected from 12 clinically sound dairy cows. The cows were equipped with nine body-mounted inertial measurement units (<strong>IMU</strong>s) and contributed with one baseline trial and one or two lameness trials each. A lameness induction method causing increased claw pressure was used to introduce mild, reversible, unilateral forelimb lameness. From the IMU data, 31 limb-and upper body movement parameters, mainly focusing on motion symmetry, were computed for each stride. Baseline and lameness data were compared in linear mixed models, where between-cow variability was accounted for. Twenty-two movement parameters differed between the two conditions (<em>P</em> ≤ 0.05). Forelimb lameness caused a more pace-like walk; the relative time between hoof-on of both hindlimbs and their respective ipsilateral forelimb decreased by 0.022 and 0.036 (ratio of stride duration), while the relative time between hoof-on of the hindlimb contralateral to the lame forelimb, and the lame forelimb increased by 0.050. The maximum protraction angle of the lame forelimb increased by 1.5°, while the protraction angle of the non-lame forelimb, and the retraction angle of the lame forelimb, decreased by 1.7° and 3.0°. All hindlimb protraction and retraction angles, except the protraction angle of the hindlimb contralateral to the lame forelimb, decreased by 1.2°–1.4°. Following signal decomposition of upper body vertical motion, the largest changes were detected for the head and neck; there were notable increases (0.13 and 0.11) of their first harmonic (asymmetric component) amplitudes, and decreases (0.10 and 0.050) of their second harmonic (symmetric component) amplitudes (relative to the range of motion). Changes in the within-stride differences in the withers’ position during limb spread and midstance (respectively) were also detected. The vertical range of motion per stride increased for the head, neck, and back, but decreased for the pelvis. Although the investigated parameters hence show promise as lameness indicators, the movement changes occurring with the induced fore claw pain should be confirmed in clinical lameness cases, to ensure usability of the described pattern for early, automated forelimb lameness detection.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"19 5","pages":"Article 101482"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143791187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Predicting piglet survival until weaning using birth weight and within-litter birth weight variation as easily measured proxy predictors","authors":"J.M. Mbuthia ,&nbsp;C. Kasper ,&nbsp;M. Zenk ,&nbsp;G. Bee ,&nbsp;C.C. Metges ,&nbsp;G. Daş","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101479","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101479","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Individual piglet birth weight (<strong>BW0</strong>) and within-litter birth weight variability (<strong>BWvar</strong>) strongly affect preweaning survival. Piglet mortality in commercial pig operations poses significant economic and ethical concerns, as well as animal welfare implications. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of BW0, BWvar and other potential sow and environmental factors, including parity, sex, litter size, year, season and farm, on piglet survival from birth to weaning age using a logistic regression approach. The study determined the critical threshold values for BW0 and BWvar, both separately and for a combined index to predict preweaning survival. This was done through a receiver operating characteristic (<strong>ROC</strong>) curve analysis. Data consisted of 68 394 piglet records from 1 661 sows obtained from two research farms; the Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology in Germany and Agroscope in Switzerland. The BW0 and BWvar significantly influenced piglet survival at birth, but their influence changed with piglet age and management interventions such as cross-fostering. The BW0 exerted the greatest effect on survival, with the probability of survival increasing with increasing BW0 following a curvilinear trend. A significant observation was that BWvar was more important than litter size in determining piglet survival at birth. The ROC analysis revealed that piglets below a BW0 cut-off value of 1.18 kg (accuracy = 0.73) had a lower survival probability at birth compared to their heavier counterparts. With a cut-off value of 0.277 g (accuracy = 0.50), the BWvar amongst total piglets born predicted survival less accurately. Piglets with low BW0 and born in litters with high BWvar had the lowest survival probabilities. Consequently, two novel indexes were developed, namely the birth weight-to-variation ratio and the birth weight-to-variation composite index, to offer a comprehensive assessment of piglet viability. The results suggest that using the derived indexes for predicting piglet survival was more informative (accuracy = 0.89) than relying solely on BW0 or BWvar. This study demonstrates a robust methodology for the identification of low-viability piglets using fundamental and easy-to-measure birth weight traits.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"19 4","pages":"Article 101479"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143724308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Repeatability and genetic parameters for phenotypes of methane emission in crossbred beef × dairy slaughter calves","authors":"K.K. Johansen ,&nbsp;M. Kargo ,&nbsp;O.F. Christensen ,&nbsp;M. Bjerring ,&nbsp;P. Løvendahl ,&nbsp;A.J. Buitenhuis","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101478","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101478","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Crossbreeding beef sires with dairy cows to produce beef × dairy calves is becoming increasingly common. To incorporate CH₄ reduction into breeding objectives, it is essential to accurately measure related traits and phenotypes in a sufficient number of animals to capture genetic variation. This paper will outline a method for phenotyping CH₄ in growing beef × dairy calves using a sniffer system, while also integrating growth and feed intake data. The objectives of this study were to investigate the repeatability of methane phenotypes measured by a non-intrusive sniffer setup in slaughter calf production, focusing on beef × dairy crossbred calves. Genetic parameters and heritabilities were estimated for the methane phenotypes. The study involved 9 113 beef × dairy offspring sired by Danish Blue, Charolais or Angus sires to Holstein dams. An IR gas sensor was installed in automatic feed intake recorder boxes to measure CH₄ and CO₂ gas concentration during feeding visits. Concentrations of CH₄ and CO₂ over feed box visit time were summarised as the mean, median, mean of peak concentrations observed during eructations, and the total area under the curve. Live weight and feed intake were also recorded to permit calculations of daily methane production. The repeatability of phenotype measurements on a per-visit basis, as well as their daily and weekly means, were analysed using a genetic sire-dam model. Repeatable variation was found for all traits of CH₄ and CO₂ concentration, and repeatability increased when summarising phenotypes from visits to daily and weekly means. Summarising CH₄ and CO₂ concentration by mean across visit showed higher repeatability than alternative methods. Weekly mean concentrations of CH₄ and CO₂ showed the highest repeatability of investigated methods comparable to estimates found using GreenFeed and respiration chambers. Moderate heritabilities of the sire and dam components were found for live weight, DM intake, CH₄ concentration, and CO₂ concentration. Daily methane production had a heritability of 0.28 (SE 0.07) for the sire component and 0.18 (SE 0.07) for the dam component when estimated by the ratio between CH₄ and CO₂ concentrations and information on live weight and growth. Genetic correlations did not show significant differences for sire and dam components. The study shows that there is repeatable and heritable variation in methane emission traits in beef × dairy slaughter calves, indicating that this can be included in future breeding goals for beef sires to use in beef × dairy matings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"19 4","pages":"Article 101478"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143697313","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Applying recursive modelling to assess the role of the host genome and the gut microbiome on feed efficiency in pigs","authors":"P. Nuñez ,&nbsp;G. Martinez-Boggio ,&nbsp;J. Casellas ,&nbsp;L. Varona ,&nbsp;F. Peñagaricano ,&nbsp;N. Ibáñez-Escriche","doi":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101453","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.animal.2025.101453","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The gut microbiome plays an important role in the performance and health of swine by providing essential nutrients and supporting the immune system. Recent studies have demonstrated that the gut microbiome can explain part of the variation observed in growth, health, and meat quality. Feed efficiency is crucial in swine production, as feed cost account for more than 60% of total production costs. This study aimed to assess the relationships between the host genome, gut microbiome, and feed efficiency in Iberian pigs raised under intensive conditions. The specific objectives were to assess the mediating effects of the gut microbiome on feed efficiency and to estimate the direct and total heritability of feed efficiency. The data set included the feed conversion ratio (<strong>FCR</strong>) and residual feed intake (<strong>RFI</strong>) from 587 Iberian pigs, as well as the 16S rRNA gut microbial abundance from 151 of those pigs raised in a nucleus of selection. We reparametrised variance components from standard bivariate mixed models into recursive models to disentangle the microbiome’s mediating effect on feed efficiency. In our models, the host genome has direct effects on both the phenotype (G→P) and the gut microbiome (G→M). Additionally, there is an indirect effect of the host genome on the phenotype mediated by the microbiome (G→M→P). We identified a total of 14 taxa with relevant effects on FCR and 16 taxa with relevant effects on RFI. We categorised the gut microbiome into groups for potential practical application in pig farming. The gut microbes with relevant causal effects and low heritability can be manipulated through management interventions, while those microbes with relevant causal effects and moderate heritability can be targeted through selective breeding. Our findings indicate that incorporating microbiome data leads to a reduction in total heritability for both FCR and RFI. This study provides new insights into the link between the gut microbiome and feed efficiency, presenting practical methods to target microbes that can be influenced through selective breeding or management interventions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50789,"journal":{"name":"Animal","volume":"19 3","pages":"Article 101453"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143551266","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}