Animals, Volume 9, Issue 2

The aim of this trial was to assess the effect of pasture type and concentrate supplementation on the fatty acids (FA) composition of milk and cheese obtained during summer grazing on mountain pasture. Seventy-two Italian Simmental dairy cows were as...

The use of high grain rations in dairy cows is related to an increase in rumen acidity. This study investigated whether the rumen acidity status affects rumination time (RT), and the production, composition, coagulation properties (MCPs) and cheese y...

In Italy, there are still very few studies on the psychological impact of losing a pet. The need to fill this gap springs from the fact that pet loss counseling services are increasingly being activated. The aim of this study is the Italian adaptatio...

The aim of the present study was to improve the expression level of Trichoderma reesei xylanase (XynB) in Pichia pastoris through a codon optimization strategy and evaluate its effects on the growth performance and carcass characteristics of broiler....

Feeding conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) or medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) to dams has been shown to improve progeny growth and survival, and hence may be particularly advantageous to gilt progeny. Primiparous (n = 129) and multiparous sows (n = 123;...

Despite having huge responsibilities in avian species, published reports on the influence of dietary factors and other possible constraints on the size, development and function of liver are limited. Consideration of the factors that could influence...

This experiment was carried out to determine the effect of breed on mRNA and protein expression levels of lipogenic enzymes acetyl-CoA carboxylase α (ACC), fatty acid synthase (FAS), stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) plus sterol regulatory eleme...

Recent studies have underlined the effect of ovariectomy on the spatial cognition of female dogs, with ovariectomized dogs showing a clear preference for an egocentric rather than an allocentric navigation strategy whereas intact females did not show...

A wide variety of environmental stimuli can influence the behavior of animals including temperature, weather, light, lunar and seasonal cycles, seismic activity, as well as other perturbations to their circadian rhythm. Solar eclipses offer a unique...

(1) Background: Pasture varies in its chemical composition from the top of the sward to the base and cattle prefer to eat the leaf fraction. In pasture-based dairy systems, cattle predominantly walk back to pasture voluntarily after each milking, wit...

Diacylglycerol acyltransferase-2 (DGAT2) plays a key role in the synthesis of animal triglycerides (TGs). This study investigated the relative expression of the DGAT2 gene in tissues, variation in the gene, and its association with carcass and meat q...

Betaine is an organic osmolyte sourced from sugar beet that accumulates in plant cells undergoing osmotic stress. Since the accumulation of betaine lowers the energy requirements of animals and, therefore, metabolic heat production, the aim of this e...

Previous studies have strongly recommended that KISS-1 metastasis suppressor (KISS1) plays an essential gatekeeper of the initiation of reproductive maturation in mammals. However, KISS1 has been recently reported to highly express in ovarian granulo...

Dry-fermented sausages were produced in a traditional way, without addition of nitrites and starter cultures, from meat of an autochthonous breed (Krškopolje pig) raised either in a conventional indoor or organic husbandry system. Physicochemi...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of morphine on social and non-social play behaviour in calves. Twelve calves experienced four treatments in a cross over 2 × 2 factorial design: Calves received an intravenous injection of...

The recent increases in stocking density, in extreme cases resulting in ‘crowding’, have a major impact on poultry welfare. In contrast to available research on adult laying hens, there is a gap in the literature studying the rearing phas...

Several studies suggest human–dog interactions elicit a positive effect on canine oxytocin concentrations. However, empirical investigations are scant and the joint influence of human–dog interaction and physical activity remains unexplor...

Conservation and natural resource management are increasingly attending the ethical elements of public decisions. Ethical considerations are challenging, in part, because they typically require accounting for the moral consideration of various human...

Due to resource limitations, animal shelters in Australia historically have focused on rehoming animals considered ‘highly adoptable’. Increasingly, animal shelters in Australia are rehoming animals with pre-existing medical and/or behavi...

Although Canada is one of the first to provide guidelines on pullet rearing in a new Code of Practice which came into effect in March 2017, little information is available about the housing and management of pullets on Canadian farms. We surveyed 99...

In this cross-sectional study, we measured the association between water provision and milk production on intensively managed small-scale grazing dairy herds. Farms (n = 53) were categorized according to water provision as follows: (1) Restricted&mda...

The aim was to assess the onset of brain stem death for two euthanasia methods—manual cervical dislocation (CD) versus the Koechner Euthanizing Device (KED). Over three days broilers of 36 (n = 60), 42 (n = 80), or 43 days old (n = 60) were eut...

In this paper, we present a study on the evaluation of the effect of xylanase addition to a diet with an increasing content of modern hybrid rye (Brasetto variety) on the performance indices and viscosity of small intestine content in broiler chicken...

Carrion plays a crucial role in the raven’s diet. In the past, domestic pig carrion was widely available in Poland. This changed with an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak and the introduction of strict procedures aimed at stopping the virus fr...

The livelihood of working horses’ owners and their families is intimately linked to the welfare of their equids. A proper understanding of human-animal interactions, as well as the main factors that modulate them, is essential for establishing...

Pecking-related problems are common in intensive egg production, compromising hen welfare, causing farmers economic losses and negatively affecting sustainability. These problems are often controlled by beak trimming, which in Finland is prohibited....

Euthanasia of companion animals is a challenging responsibility in the veterinary profession since veterinarians have to consider not only medical, but also legal, economic, emotional, social, and ethical factors in decision-making. To this end; an a...

The objective of this experiment was to study the effects of the unsaponified fraction (UP), the acetylated unsaponified fraction (AUP), and the total lipid fraction (TL) extracted and purified from Chlorella sorokiniana (CS) on the proliferation and...

Floor-laying in commercially farmed Pekin ducks is not well understood. This exploratory study aimed to determine if behavioral differences exist between floor-laying and nest-laying ducks. Retrospective analysis of video footage from a small commerc...

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of different dietary energy levels on serum concentrations of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), as well as gene expression of their associated binding proteins and...

The cashmere hair follicle (HF) perpetually goes through cycles of growth, involution and rest. The photoperiod is the main factor in the control of seasonal coat change in cashmere goats while stem cells play a crucial role in the HF growth. Several...

The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a novel 3-molecule boar pheromone (BOARBETTER^®, BB,) to improve sow reproductive performance (breeding, conception, farrowing rates, pigs born alive, stillborn, mummies and total bor...

It is important to understand the biological factors influencing the poorer lifetime performance of gilt progeny in comparison to sow progeny and determine whether this may be partially due to differences in lactation performance between primiparous...

Heat shock proteins 70 have triggered a remarkable large body of research in various fishes; however, no genome-wide identification and expression analysis has been performed on the Hsp70 gene family of Boleophthalmus pectinirostris. In this study, w...

Fallow deer (Dama dama) are important meat producing species providing venison and other products to an international market. The present study investigated the effects of different feed rations on the growth, carcass characteristics and physical att...

Sub-fertility represents a common challenge in canine reproduction. Different protocols, supplementing daily given quantities of micronutrients, were investigated to improve poor sperm concentration and/or function, which represent breeding major con...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary inclusion of stevioside on feed intake, feeding behavior, nutrient digestion, rumen fermentation, and serum biochemical parameters in goats. Nine male Xiangdong black goats (21.8 &plu...