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Effect of floor type and bedding system on sows lifespan
155-160Views:105The paper studies two nucleus pig farms in the Great Plain region of Hungary which have same management, same feeding system but different breeding technology (Farm A had solid floor with straw and Farm B had slatted floor without straw). The genetics of sows were crossbred Dutch Large White and Dutch Landrace. The comparative examination was based on the causes of culling according to the different floor type. To the analysis of culling reasons was applied the methods of survival analysis.
In the analysis there were used the Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox Proportional Hazard model to the estimate the difference between the farms. The results of survival analysis showed significant difference (p<0.05) between the lifespan of sows that caused the difference between the survival probabilities of sows culled due to lameness. Furthermore there was showed that the sows kept on solid floor with straw have stayed in production longer than on slatted floor without straw. The hazard ratio was 1.434 that means that the culling due to lameness is 1.434 times higher by the slatted floor without straw facing by solid floor with straw.
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Optimal age of breeding gilts and its impact on lifetime performance
15-20Views:490Age at first breeding and lifetime reproductive performance was analyzed on 17,558 F1 Landrace x Yorkshire gilts from 9 piglet producing herds of Midwest, United States entered in herds between 1st Jan 2014 and 31st July 2016. At the time of data collection Dec 2018, 15% of the sows were still active in the herds hence excluded from the analysis. Individual gilt data included date of birth, age in days at first mating, piglet total born by parity, lifetime piglet total born and reason for culling. Quality data checks were done before analysis to eliminate all outlier values together with sows that had no entry information for any listed category. The total database of the sows was classified into 6 classes according to age at the first mating in days 170-190(n=754), 191-211(n=4683), 212-232(n=7123), 233-253(n=3385), 254-274(n=1002) and 275-369 (n=611). Piglet total born obtained from each sow during the lifetime production was significantly (P < 0.05) greater for gilts bred between 233-253 days of age at first mating. Gilts that were bred at <233 days appeared to have a higher risk of removal by farrowing productivity as compared to the other groups. However, the results show that the risk of being culled due to health problems and conformation issues increases as the age at first mating is delayed. Overall reproductive failure appears to be the most economical culling reason across all age groups. There is a need to evaluate the best management decisions for gilt initiation in a herd to maximize her lifetime performance. The results indicate that gilts mated for the first time at the right age, 233–253 days, are more productive, both in lifetime total born and have a minimal risk of culling due to farrowing productivity.
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The role of type traits of dairy cattles in long productive life
11-18Views:92In the last few decades, a new intensive milking stock has developed as a result of breed-converter crossing in Hungary. Additionally, the reproduction biology of the population was adversely affected by keeping and feeding technologies. Productive lifetime has shortened and the service period has lengthened. However, profitable milk production requires cows with longer productive lives and larger life-time productions. In our study, we made a comparison between production, culling causes, and type traits of culled Holstein Friesian cows after first calving and of cows with a minimum of eight lactations. We established that the first lactation production of cows with longer productive lives was more or less homogeneous. Disease of metabolism as well as digestive and respiratory problems, were the main causes of the culling of cows with short productive lives, and reproduction and udder problems as well as low production, were the main causes of the culling of cows with long productive lives. We found a significant difference in the distributions of strength, body depth, dairy form, croup width, rear leg side view, foot angle, fore udder attachment and teat placement between the two groups. Furthermore, we established that cows with lower stature, less strength, a somewhat deeper body, better dairy form, narrower croup width, smaller foot angle, looser fore udder attachment and some outside teat placement had longer productive lives.
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Survival Analysis of Hungarian Large White, Duroc and Pietrain Sows
31-36Views:228The aim of the present study was to perform lifetime performance analysis in three pig breeds; Hungarian Large White (n=295), Duroc (n=76) and Pietrain (n=91) on a commercial farm using analysis of survival sows. We took into consideration the age of sows at the time of their inclusion into breeding, their age at the time of culling, time spent in production, number of mating and parities, parity percentage, intervals between litters, number and mean of piglets born alive and born dead, number of raised piglet litters, number and mean of 21 days old piglets, the weight and mean of raised litter and raise percentage.
We carried out the analysis by SPSS 22.0. Single factor analysis of variants, Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox PH model were used. The determination of the significance of risk rates differences was done by Wald chi square test.
Our results showed that the average culling age were 1056 (±33.52) days for the Hungarian Large White, 735 (±73.56) days for Duroc and 818 (±71.98) days for the Pietrain.
The log rank test of the survival analysis indicated a significant difference between the three tested genotypes (χ2=16.981, P<0.001), which means that the survival percentage of the individual breeds varied significantly from one another. In comparison with the Hungarian Large White genotype the Duroc genotype has a 1.6 times higher (P<0.001) culling risk while that of the genotype Pietrain was 1.36 times higher (P<0.001).
Our results can be used to compare the breeds kept under the same conditions and to compare the life span of one genotype under different farming conditions. Factors that increase survival and improve the profitability of pig farming can be determined by this method.
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Evaluation of the relationship between main type traits and longevity in Hungarian Simmental cows
205-209Views:108The Hungarian Simmental cattle is a dual-purpose breed, having good milk and meat production characteristics. Simmental cows have some other important traits, for example, a longer productive life. The longevity or productive life is the time period between first calving and culling. The conformation contributes to productive life, reproduction, and milk production.
The aims of this study were to analyze the longevity of Hungarian Simmental dual-purpose cows, to evaluate the effects of the size of the herd, age at first calving, main type traits (frame, musculature, feet and legs, mammary system), and combination of main type traits (frame and musculature, feet and legs and mammary system).
Animal, age at first calving, herd*calving, musculature, the mammary system as well as the combination of mammary system and feet and legs were significant effects on longevity. The highest risk ratio was observed for cows first calved after 31 months. The risk of culling increased with increasing scores of musculature and decreasing scores of the mammary system. The highest risk ratio was estimated in category 11 (lower scores of mammary system with lower scores of feet and legs). In this case, the risk ratio was 36% higher than the reference group.
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Examination of the interval between litters (IBL) of different genotype HLW sows using survival analysis
13-17Views:156In this study our aim was to find out if there is a difference between the genotypes determined for the previously identified mutations of seven genes of the Hungarian Large White in terms of the time spent in production. We identified the previously determined alleles of the seven genes (BF, EGF, ESR, FSHβ, H2AFZ, LEP, PRLR) related to proliferation that were and performed the survival analysis between breeds indicating the risk of culling and the time spent in production on the given farm. Based on the results of survival analysis by Log-rank test, Breslow (Generalized Wilcoxon) and Tarone-Ware test we concluded that they indicated a significant difference in case of the genes BF (Breslow and Tarone-Ware tests) the EGF (Log-rank and Tarone-Ware tests) and ESR (Log rank test) based on which the curves of the survival of the certain genes varied form one another significantly.
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The analysis of ostrich chick vitality
35-40Views:47Examinations on ostrich chick vitality can help to improve the effectiveness of Hungarian ostrich husbandry and hatching technology. The investigations were carried out on an ostrich breeder farm in Eastern Hungary. For the analyses, the Tona et al. (2003) scoring system was applied presenting eight main criteria (activity, feather, condition, eyesight, the condition of navel and leg, the amount of the remaining shell membrane and egg content, and the size and tenderness of the abdomen). Most chicks (98.08%) were vigilant and had clean and dry feathers. There was no difference between the average hatching weights between May and August but a decreasing tendency was shown during the laying season. The vitality total score was above 90 in each evaluated month and was not affected by the hatching month. Our results revealed that the vitality of chicks was not affected by either the hatching month (P=0.51) or the weight category (P=0.11). Neither the hatching weight of chicks and leg condition were correlated (P=0.79). Results showed that the Tona scoring system with small modifications can be well applied to ostrich chicks. Practical on-farm usage of the system can be suggested as an aid in day-old chick evaluation. After individual marking of chicks, the investigation of growth and culling rate could be carried out for more precise conclusions, involving more farms and laying seasons.
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Bacteria in the milk of sheep with or without mastitis- mini Review
47-52Views:302From a nutritional point of view, sheep milk is more valuable than cow and goat milk and the interest for sheep milk is increasing in many countries. However, sheep milk is easily contaminated during milking, handling, and transport and it is an ideal medium for bacterial propagation. Consequently, sheep milk spoils quite quickly. The proper, clean handling of milk is not only of sanitarian interest, but it also serves the farmers’ interests, because contaminated milk may not be distributed, and is unsuitable for producing good quality products. Following this technological trend, this review addresses the bacterial composition of sheep milk with and without mastitis. Even though sheep milk contains a lot of bacteria, this review article highlighted total plate count, Enterobacteriaceae, coliform, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter, Salmonella spp. and Streptococcus spp. Mastitis in sheep is a vital cause of mortality, reduction in milk production and early culling. The reported risk factors for mastitis in sheep were age, a case of mastitis, breed, husbandry systems, and location. The main priority should be implementation of programs to minimize human pathogenic bacteria and mastitis in raw ewe milk.
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Examination of the presence and effect of udder edema in Holstein-Friesian cattle
125-130Views:104Mastitis is the most common disease of dairy cows and the most expensive in terms of treatment. For this reason, great emphasis must be placed on its prevention. Based on literature sources, it can be said that there is a positive correlation between the prevalence of udder edema and the occurrence of mastitis. Our studies were carried out in a dairy farm in Csongrád-Csanád county. So far we have collected data from 64 cows with udder edema. The severity of udder edema was evaluated on a scale of 0–3 points one week before calving and for 3 weeks after calving. We observed that udder edema occurred in 78% of the studied cows at the time of the first calving. After calving, the length and diameter of the four udder teats were examined. Both anterior and posterior teats were shortened in severely edematous cows. When examining the diameter of the teat, we found that, depending on the severity of the edema, the anterior and posterior udder teats were 2.5 and 1.6 and 1.6 and 1.5 mm thicker respectively than those of cows without edema.
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Heat stress of cattle from embryonic phase until culling
11-22Views:246Heat stress becomes a serious problem in the livestock sector as it affects cows' performance negatively. The objective of this paper review is to investigate the effects of heat stress during the different phases of the life cycle of cows; embryos, calves, heifers, and cows. Heat stress during early maternal gestation affects the ability of embryos to develop increasing the risk of abortion and early embryonic death. Heat stress during late maternal gestation affects the performance of calves and heifers later in their life, as it reduces growth performance, conducts physiological changes, impaired immunity, changes the behavior, and reduces the length and intensity of the estrus in heifers with decreasing in milk production in the first lactation. On the level of cows, milk quality and production, meat quality, and the final body weight decrease under hot temperatures. Heat stress decreases the conception rate, alters follicle growth, and estrous symptoms. Hormones secretion and physiological changes because of the heat stress conduct to impair the immunity system, and in oxidative stress and death in some cases. Same as for calves and heifers a change in the behavior of cows was detected in order to decrease their temperature.