In dairy farming, social behavior plays a critical role in ensuring welfare and productivity of cows. Understanding social associations in dairy commercial farms could help farmers in creating herd ...management practices able to consider individual animal needs, in particular in stressful conditions as during regrouping. Here, we investigated the social behavior of 150 dairy cows during milking events in a free traffic barn at an Automatic Milking System (AMS) and we compared their social structure between their first lactation (when they were housed in the primiparous area) and their subsequent lactations in the multiparous area. Data on individual milking traffic and daily milk yield were collected for a period of 5 years and 5 months. To identify and analyze consistent social associations among cows, we utilized the time interval between milking events, which is defined as the time difference between the entry time of one cow and the entry time of the next in the milking robot. Our findings revealed significant social differentiations in both areas, indicating the presence of non-random social structures within the herd. During milking, younger cows exhibited a tendency to form stronger social associations with particular individuals based on genetic relatedness. The correlation observed between genetic relatedness and social behavior in young cows indicates that grouping genetically related individuals could provide advantages. On the other hand, as cows age, they tend to exhibit a higher degree of social connectivity with their herd mates. This suggests that older cows have a wider range of social associations which is not driven by genetic relatedness. We examined the potential influence of social associations on cow productivity, and we found no significant correlation between social behavior and milk yield for primiparous and multiparous cows. At a temporal level, we compared their ego-networks, when they were hosted in the primiparous area and when they were hosted in the multiparous area, and we found a significant level of social stability. Although the factors that influence social behavior in cows may differ with age, our findings indicate the tendency to maintain consistent social relationships over time. Maintaining stable relationships is crucial for enhancing the welfare of cows in social contexts, and this knowledge can promote the development of management practices aimed at supporting their social well-being. Our study highlights the importance of understanding social behavior and dynamics in dairy cows and offers valuable insights that can guide the development of effective herd management practices in the dairy farming industry.
•Lactating cows in automatic milking system show non-random social structure.•Younger cows form stronger social associations based on genetic relatedness.•As cow age, they show a broader range of social associations within the herd.•Average milk yield is not influenced by the strength of social associations.•Lactating cows maintain consistent social associations over time.
Former foodstuffs in feed: a minireview of recent findings Srikanthithasan, Karthika; Giorgino, Andrea; Fiorilla, Edoardo ...
Environmental science and pollution research international,
04/2024, Letnik:
31, Številka:
16
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The sustainability of all productive activities, including livestock farming, becomes a fundamental challenge in the current scenario. Livestock production faces both old and new challenges related ...to climate change, food safety, and feed-food competition. The latter aspect has recently become a hot topic, and many researchers are turning their attention to this issue. According to circular economy principles, former foodstuffs have characteristics that make them a promising source of raw material for animal feed. The main objective of the present review is to provide a brief overview of the most recent studies (published between 2016 and 2022) addressing the dietary inclusion of former foodstuffs for livestock. The articles analyzed cover key findings from both in vitro and in vivo studies of former foodstuffs included in the diets for pigs, cows, and broilers, and assess the associated safety aspects. The articles provide information on livestock performances and product quality, as well as feed digestibility, fecal microbiota, and blood analysis. Although the evidence supports the inclusion of former foodstuffs in livestock diets as a safe, effective, and sustainable ingredient, this analysis of the most recent literature also highlights gaps in our knowledge that need to be filled. The present overview will help researchers plan future research and standardize and promote the inclusion of former food products in livestock diets.
Background Veterinarians play an essential role in improving animal care, as they are often viewed as trusted advisors, particularly in relation to disease control and management; however, little is ...known about veterinarians’ perceptions and attitudes toward alternative feeds. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of age, gender, and willingness to adopt on the attitudes of livestock veterinarians toward the use of alternative feeds in farm animals. Methods A total of 136 active veterinarians completed the online survey, distributed through the main veterinary associations in Italy. The questionnaire contained items on dietary recommendation, awareness, benefit and safety perceptions, and a willingness to adopt former foodstuffs (FFs), complemented with socio-demographic questions. Results Almost 90% of the population reported a willingness to adopt FFs as feed. Men and women did not share the same perceptions of the nutritional composition of FFs, while the importance of product availability was found to be a key factor driving the age difference. Participants willing to adopt FFs as feed linked positive attitudes to attributes such as digestibility, energy intake, and positive social implications. Conclusion Our findings provide a basic background on the current use of the FFs in Italy and suggest the need for the development of educational programs and marketing strategies to enhance the acceptability of FFs in farm animals to ultimately promote the transition toward more sustainable animal production. This study has limitations, including the number of recorded responses and reliance on national estimates. Future research is needed to investigate the perceptions of farmers and animal nutritionist from different countries. This could provide a more detailed picture of the current situation in Europe about the potential of using FFs in farm animals’ feed, thus further contributing toward a greener and safer livestock production sector.
Being able to obtain an objective and repeatable measurement of stress levels from a single subject represents a primary issue in animal welfare science, especially in relation to cattle farming. A ...potential solution has been recently identified in the determination of cortisol’s salivary levels: a non-invasive method strictly related to acute stress. The development of an on-field, easy-to-use method to perform the analysis is yet to be validated. In this study, we developed and tested the reliability of salivary cortisol as a marker for the evaluation of animal welfare. We aimed to develop an on-field use Lateral Flow Immunoassay (LFIA) for the evaluation of acute stress in bovines. The availability of this non-invasive diagnostic tool will facilitate monitoring of animal welfare. In the short term, this innovation is expected to assist farmers and veterinarians in performing a more objective evaluation of the animal’s acute stress levels. In the long term, the device could become a key-instrument for the EU’s growing necessity to better monitor and identify the potential stressor factors in animal farming.
SARS-CoV-2 continues to have a high rate of contagion worldwide. The new variant of concern, Omicron, has mutations that decrease the effectiveness of vaccines and evade antibodies from previous ...infections resulting in a fourth wave of the pandemic. It was identified in Mexico in December 2021.
The Traveler's Preventive Care Clinic from the Faculty of Medicine UNAM at Mexico City International Airport has performed rapid antigen and PCR SARS CoV2 tests since January 2021 to comply with the new travel requirements. Demographic and clinical characteristics were collected from each passenger and the fourth wave of the pandemic in Mexico mainly caused by Omicron was analyzed in the travelers.
A total of 5176 travelers attended the clinic between the second half of December 2021 and January 2022. Ten percent of all the tests performed were positive (13% of PCR and 9.3% of antigens, p = 0.001). Most of the SARS CoV2 positive cases were asymptomatic (78%), with a ratio of 3.5:1 over the symptomatic. By age groups, this ratio was higher for those under 20 years old (8.7:1).
This study shows the rapid escalation of positivity that occurred in Mexico, detected in travelers, from the second half of December 2020 and throughout the month of January 2021. The incidence of COVID-19 was extremely high in travelers who were mostly asymptomatic for the period under study.
•10% of Mexico City International Airport travelers during the fourth wave tested positive to SARS CoV2.•78% of cases were asymptomatic, those traveling to North America were 4 times higher.•The highest asymptomatic/symptomatic ratio of all ages (8.7) was in younger than 20 years old.
Introduction
SARS-CoV-2 viral load has been related to COVID-19 severity. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 viremia and SNPs in genes previously studied ...by our group as predictors of COVID-19 severity.
Materials and methods
Retrospective observational study including 340 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in the University Hospital La Princesa between March 2020 and December 2021, with at least one viremia determination. Positive viremia was considered when viral load was above the quantifiable threshold (20 copies/ml). A total of 38 SNPs were genotyped. To study their association with viremia a multivariate logistic regression was performed.
Results
The mean age of the studied population was 64.5 years (SD 16.6), 60.9% patients were male and 79.4% white non-Hispanic. Only 126 patients (37.1%) had at least one positive viremia. After adjustment by confounders, the presence of the minor alleles of rs2071746 (
HMOX1
; T/T genotype OR 9.9
p
< 0.0001), rs78958998 (probably associated with
SERPING1
expression; A/T genotype OR 2.3,
p
= 0.04 and T/T genotype OR 12.9,
p
< 0.0001), and rs713400 (eQTL for
TMPRSS2
; C/T + T/T genotype OR 1.86,
p
= 0.10) were associated with higher risk of viremia, whereas the minor alleles of rs11052877 (
CD69
; A/G genotype OR 0.5, p = 0.04 and G/G genotype OR 0.3,
p
= 0.01), rs2660 (
OAS1
; A/G genotype OR 0.6,
p
= 0.08), rs896 (
VIPR1
; T/T genotype OR 0.4,
p
= 0.02) and rs33980500 (
TRAF3IP2
; C/T + T/T genotype OR 0.3,
p
= 0.01) were associated with lower risk of viremia.
Conclusion
Genetic variants in
HMOX1
(rs2071746),
SERPING1
(rs78958998),
TMPRSS2
(rs713400),
CD69
(rs11052877),
TRAF3IP2
(rs33980500),
OAS1
(rs2660) and
VIPR1
(rs896) could explain heterogeneity in SARS-CoV-2 viremia in our population.
