Sheep internal parasites (nematodes) remain a major health challenge and are costly for pasture-based production systems. Most current breeding programmes for nematode resistance are based on indicator traits such as faecal egg counts (FEC), which are costly and laborious to collect. Hence, genetic markers for resistance would be advantageous. However, although some quantitative trait loci (QTL) have been identified, these QTL are often not consistent across breeds and few breeding strategies for nematode resistance in sheep are currently using molecular information. In this study, QTL for nematode resistance on ovine chromosomes (OAR) 3 and 14, previously identified in the Blackface breed, were explored using commercial Suffolk (n = 336) and Texel lambs (n = 879) sampled from terminal sire breeder flocks in the United Kingdom. FEC were used as the indicator trait for nematode resistance, and these were counted separately for Nematodirus and Strongyles genera. Microsatellite markers were used to map the QTL and the data were analysed using interval mapping regression techniques and variance component analysis. QTL for Nematodirus and Strongyles FEC were found to be segregating on OAR3 at 5% chromosome region-wide significance threshold in both Suffolk and Texel sheep, and Nematodirus FEC QTL were segregating on OAR14 in both breeds. In addition, QTL for growth traits were also found to be segregating at 5% chromosome region-wide on OAR3 and OAR14. The confirmation that FEC QTL segregate in the same position in three widely used breeds widens their potential applicability to purebred Blackface, Suffolk and Texel sheep, with benefits likely to be observed in their commercial crossbred progeny.

The objective of the first of three studies (experiment 1) was to evaluate the effects of supplementing the pregnant ewe diet with high levels of minerals for the final 4 weeks of gestation on lamb serum vitamin E and immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration at 24 h post partum. Sixty ewes were allocated to one of two treatments (no. =30) and offered a basal diet fortified with 52 g of supplementary minerals/vitamins containing Ca, Mg, Na, P, Co, I, Mn, Se, Zn and vitamin E (M1) for the final 4 weeks of pregnancy or no mineral/vitamin supplement was added (C1). Immediately after birth, lambs were allocated to one of four treatments in a 2×2 factorial design with the factors being ewe treatment (± minerals) and colostrum origin (± minerals). Irrespective of the colostrum origin, the progeny of the mineral supplemented ewes had lower serum vitamin E and IgG concentrations and IgG absorption efficiency at 24 h post partum ( P <0·001). In a second study (experiment 2), 44 ewes were allocated to one of four treatments (no. =11) in week 13 of pregnancy and offered a basal diet in addition to one of the following mineral/vitamin fortifications: 0 g (C2), 52 g of a mineral supplement as in experiment 1 (M2), a supplement as in M1 but with iodine excluded (-I), iodine only offered at a rate (40 mg per ewe per day) equivalent to 52 g of minerals (IO). When iodine was offered either M2 ( P <0·01) or (IO) ( P <0·001) it resulted in the progeny having a reduced serum vitamin E concentration at 24 h post partum. The -I progeny had higher serum vitamin E concentrations at 24 h post partum than the progeny of treatments C2, M2 ( P <0·01) and IO ( P <0·001). In a third study (experiment 3) the effect of incremental levels of iodine supplementation on lamb serum vitamin E concentration was studied. Forty-eight ewes were allocated to one of four treatments (no. =12) and offered the following levels of supplementary dietary iodine: 0 mg (C3), 8·9 mg (LI), 17·7 mg (MI) or 26·6 mg (HI) for the final 6 weeks of pregnancy. There was a linear ( P <0·001) reduction in lamb serum vitamin E concentration as maternal iodine supplementation increased. We conclude that when ewes are offered high levels of iodine during the final 6 weeks of gestation their progeny are pre-programmed in utero to have a reduced ability to absorb colostral vitamin E. These findings support our earlier studies and provide further evidence of the need to reduce the current toxicity values for iodine. for the ewe in late pregnancy.

Nine male and nine female lambs each from the Karagouniko (K), Chios (C) and East Friesland (F) breeds were weaned at a mean age of 50 days and were killed over a commercial range of live weight from 16 to 44 kg (carcass weights 6 to 22 kg).

Carcass weight was linearly related to fasted live weight prior to slaughter (r = 0·994). There were significant but small differences between breeds in mean weight of lungs, pelt and internal fat. The carcass components of bone, muscle and fat tissues were related to carcass weight by linear or quadratic regression. Adjusted to mean carcass weight, the mean weight of bone did not differ between breeds (2·82 kg, s.e. = 0·056 at 12·8 kg carcass). The K and C lambs had significantly less muscle than the F lambs (6·77, 6·63 and 8·20 kg, respectively, s.e.d. = 0·094) and more fat (2·87, 2·95 and 1·29 kg, respectively, s.e.d. = 0·017) when compared at mean carcass weight. The breed differences were significant over the whole range whether compared at equal weight or at an equal proportion of estimated mature weight. At the same proportion of carcass fat, corresponding to the United Kingdom market average (250 g/kg) the calculated carcass weights were 16, 17 and 30 kg, respectively, for K, C and F lambs.

It is concluded that the Friesland breed differs from many others in the proportions of muscle or fat at corresponding carcass weights but this difference is not a general characteristic of dairy sheep. Comparison of breeds at defined proportions of carcass components, as determined by market standards, can be effectively achieved by serial slaughter over a suitable weight range.

The objectives of the present study were to compare the cortisol response caused by ear tagging piglets with the distress caused by other known painful husbandry procedures (e.g. castration and tail docking) and to evaluate the effectiveness of analgesia with meloxicam to reduce the cortisol response caused by these procedures. In total, 210 male piglets were randomised to equal numbers (n=30) into one of seven groups: a control group which was only handled (H), an ear tagged group that received no analgesia (ET), an ear tagged group with analgesia (ETM), a castration group with no analgesia (C), a castration group with analgesia (CM), a tail-docked group with no analgesia (TD) and a tail-docked group with analgesia (TDM). The procedures were carried out on day 3 or 4 after farrowing. Five blood samples were taken from each piglet: 30 min before the respective procedure (baseline value), and 30, 60 min, 4 and 7 h after processing, to assess cortisol concentrations. Means as well as the area under the curve (AUC) value were analysed and the effective sizes of the procedures were established. At 7 h after the experimental treatment, cortisol concentrations had returned to base values in all groups. ET evoked a greater cortisol response than H piglets at 30 min (P<0.001) and 60 min (P=0.001). The cortisol response to ET was lower than C at 30 min (P=0.001) but did not differ significantly at the other sample times. The mean cortisol response was similar between ET and TD piglets over all sample times. Taking both intensity and duration of the cortisol response into account (AUC), ET evoked a greater response than TD. Analgesia (ETM) resulted in significantly lower cortisol levels than ET at 30 and 60 min post-procedure. Castration (C) provoked the highest cortisol response of all procedures; a significant analgesic effect (CM) was shown only at 4 h post-procedure. TD resulted in significantly higher cortisol levels than H piglets only at 30 min; analgesia (TDM) significantly reduced the cortisol response at 30 min. We conclude that ear tagging causes a dramatic increase in cortisol levels compared with handling alone in piglets, which suggests that this procedure causes substantial distress. However, further research is needed to confirm these results.

Selection in dairy cattle for a higher milk yield has coincided with declined fertility. One of the factors is reduced expression of estrous behavior. Changes in systems that regulate the estrous behavior could be manifested by altered gene expression. This literature review describes the current knowledge on mechanisms and genes involved in the regulation of estrous behavior. The endocrinological regulation of the estrous cycle in dairy cows is well described. Estradiol (E2) is assumed to be the key regulator that synchronizes endocrine and behavioral events. Other pivotal hormones are, for example, progesterone, gonadotropin releasing hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1. Interactions between the latter and E2 may play a role in the unfavorable effects of milk yield-related metabolic stress on fertility in high milk-producing dairy cows. However, a clear understanding of how endocrine mechanisms are tied to estrous behavior in cows is only starting to emerge. Recent studies on gene expression and signaling pathways in rodents and other animals contribute to our understanding of genes and mechanisms involved in estrous behavior. Studies in rodents, for example, show that estrogen-induced gene expression in specific brain areas such as the hypothalamus play an important role. Through these estrogen-induced gene expressions, E2 alters the functioning of neuronal networks that underlie estrous behavior, by affecting dendritic connections between cells, receptor populations and neurotransmitter releases. To improve the understanding of complex biological networks, like estrus regulation, and to deal with the increasing amount of genomic information that becomes available, mathematical models can be helpful. Systems biology combines physiological and genomic data with mathematical modeling. Possible applications of systems biology approaches in the field of female fertility and estrous behavior are discussed.

Soybean meal in broiler chicken diets can partly be replaced by faba bean seeds. Unfortunately, high levels of antinutritional factors and resistant starch found in these seeds can have a detrimental impact on both broiler chickens’ performance and nutrient digestibility. It is, however, possible to increase the usefulness of faba bean for broiler nutrition by a technological process known as extrusion. In this study, the authors made and attempt to investigate the effect of different forms of faba bean seeds (raw or extruded) on broiler chicken performance, nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy values (AMEN), nutrient utilization and meat quality, as well as on the excretion of total and free sialic acids. In the trial, the total of 160 1-day-old male broiler chicks of the Ross 308 strain were used. Experimental birds were randomly assigned to two dietary treatments, each containing 10 replication (floor pens); one replication included nine birds. The first group contained 300 g/kg diet of raw faba bean seeds, whereas the second group – 300 g/kg diet of extruded faba bean seeds. The applied extrusion process was found to exert a positive impact and led to a decrease in phytic phosphorus, H, NDF, ADF and resistant starch content in studied faba bean seeds. Experimental birds fed diets containing extruded faba bean seeds were characterized by a lower feed intake (2299 g) and feed conversion ratios (FCRs) (1.52 g/g) in comparison with the other group (feed intake 2466 g; FCR 1.61 g/g). Extrusion of faba bean seeds improved dry matter retention, dietary AMEN value, apparent ileal digestibility of dry matter and starch, as well as most amino acids. In addition, the above-mentioned process resulted in a decrease in the excretion of total and free sialic acids. Extruded faba bean seeds failed to have a significant impact on broiler meat quality. It was concluded that application of extrusion can increase the use of faba bean seeds in broiler chicken nutrition.

Data on ovulation rate, embryo survival and litter size have been analysed from the 1988-96 records collected at AgResearch's Woodlands Research Station on 2180 elite (highly prolific) ewes of three breeds: Romney, Coopworth and Perendale. The Romneys included a subgroup found to carry the sex-linked Inverdale high prolificacy gene. Foundation animals for all breeds were screened on high litter size (lambs born, alive or dead, per ewe lambing) from industry flocks. Prior to being transferred to Woodlands between 1979 and 1984, their average litter size was 2·66. Ovulation rates for descendants of the foundation ewes averaged 2·15 (Romney), 2·43 (Coopworth), 2·15 (Perendale) and 2·96 for the Romney subgroup carrying the Inverdale gene. Embryo survival averaged 0·84 except for a low value in Inverdales (0·76). Using a restricted maximum likelihood model, with full relationship matrix, the within-breed heritability of ovulation rate over all ages and breeds (excluding Inverdale) was 0·14 (s.e. 0·03), with repeatability 0·26 (s.e. 0·02). Litter size averaged 1-80 (Romney), 2·05 (Coopworth), 1·76 (Perendale) and 2·17 (Inverdale). The heritability estimate for litter size (excluding Inverdale) was 0·073 (s.e. 0·018), from data for all ages. The genetic correlation between ovulation rate and litter size was 0·91 (s.e. 0·08). The standard deviation for ovulation rate in the Inverdales was 1·75 times as great as the average of the other three breeds. Embryo survival to term for ewes conceiving to two, three or four ovulations averaged 0·89, 0·77 and 0·64, respectively, and was significantly different among breeds fP < 0·001). The greater ovulation rate in Inverdales than Romneys was sufficient to explain the Inverdale effect on reduced embryo survival. The highest embryo survival was observed in the Coopworth breed (P < 0·001).

Duroc and halothane negative British Landrace boars and gilts were performance tested on ad libitum or restricted feeding regimes, with like-sexed non-littermate groups of one, two, three or four pigs per pen. There was a total of 320 pigs with 20 litter groups per breed with four boars and four gilts per litter group. Within each feeding regime, a boar and a gilt from each litter were tested on one of two diets in 1986, for each of the four combinations, and pigs were tested similarly for two other diets in 1987. Carcass composition was determined by half-carcass dissection of 160 pigs allocated between treatments.

There was a breed × sex interaction for growth and performance traits for pigs fed ad libitum. Duroc boars were faster growing and more efficient than Landrace boars, but Duroc gilts grew more slowly and were less efficient than Landrace gilts. On restricted feeding, Duroc pigs were more efficient than Landrace pigs.

At constant slaughter weight, Duroc pigs had less subcutaneous fat but more intermuscular fat. Although they had less separable fat in the carcass, Duroc pigs were not leaner as weights of bone, skin, head, feet and tail were heavier than for Landrace pigs.

Group penning and group feeding of pigs may have enhanced competition effects resulting in positive genetic and phenotypic correlations between growth rate and backfat depths on both feeding regimes.

The positive genetic correlation between growth rate and fat deposition resulted in a negative genetic correlation between growth rate and carcass lean content and a lower genetic correlation with lean tissue growth rate than in other studies.

Piecewise Weibull proportional hazard models were used to investigate the effect of genetic and nongenetic factors on functional and true longevity traits of the Slovenian Brown cattle breed. Records of 37 908 Brown cows from 2401 Slovenian herds were used. As these herds were characterised by a relatively small average herd size starting from 6.7 in 1999 and increasing to 8.7 Brown cows per herd in 2008, milk yield classification was made within different herd size groups. The hazard rate was the lowest in the first part of each lactation and was increasing for later stages. Culling risk was lower for cows from herds increasing in size, for cows with higher milk production and for cows from a region with smaller herd sizes and tougher conditions for cattle breeding. The latter result is surprising and may be related to better attention to maintain the animals, despite their lower milk production. The introduction of the milk quota system and drought was found to have an important effect on culling policy between the last seasons of the years 2001 and 2003. Seasonal effects were not related to the milk quota year (from April to March), but to the effect of shortage in fodder during the winter time. The effect of age at first calving and the interaction between year and milk yield class were not found to be significant. Heritability for functional and for true longevity were similar at around 10% each. Inclusion of a correction for class of milk yield to approximate functional longevity increased the herd-year random effect variance by 53%, whereas the sire variance increased by only 14%. The correlation coefficient between ranks of breeding values for functional and true longevity was high (0.91), whereas genetic trends were not found to be significant. To assess their predictive ability, models were compared looking at the survival rate of 4212 second-crop daughters not included in the initial models. The average correlation between estimated breeding values and survival at different stages was 0.39 for true longevity and 0.43 for functional longevity. Results showed that ranking milk yield at population level is appropriate to correct for voluntary culling on low production in small herds.

Pre-pubertal ewe lambs were introduced to rams on 17 August (Tl), 12 September (T2) or 10 October (T3) or isolated from rams until 21 December (Tc) (no. = 13). Blood was taken for progesterone assay three times weekly (no. = 13) from 16 July. Blood was taken for LH assay at 15-min intervals for 8 h (no. = 8) at the time of the introduction of rams and subsequently at the time of further ram introductions. Blood was taken from Tc lambs at each ram introduction. Tl, T2 and T3 lambs ovulated for the first time 16 (s.e. 2·2) days earlier than Tc lambs but only T3 lambs ovulated after and apparently in response to the introduction of the rams. The mean baseline LH levels were higher in Tl, T2 and T3 lambs in comparison with Tc lambs at all sampling periods. The mean pulse frequency of LH secretion was significantly increased by the introduction of rams in T2 and T3 lambs in comparison with Tc lambs. The mean pulse frequency of LH secretion was greater in Tl, T2 and T3 lambs at the October sampling period in comparison to Tc lambs.

Milk yield is reduced by pregnancy, and the present experiment was conducted to study the biological basis for the negative effect of pregnancy on milk yield. A total of 16 dairy cows were fed at either a normal or a low feeding level (eight cows per treatment), and half of them were inseminated after approximately 3 months of lactation and the other half were not inseminated. Mammary biopsies were taken at approximately 9 months of lactation. The milk yield of pregnant cows was reduced by 2.6 kg/day, and lactation persistency was reduced already from the time of insemination. Low feeding level reduced the milk yield by 9.8 kg/day from week 8 to week 39 of lactation, whereas no interaction between pregnancy and feeding level was found. Cell proliferation (Ki-67) and apoptosis (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling, TUNEL) were unaffected by feeding level, and pregnancy tended to reduce cell proliferation but had no effect on apoptosis. Reduced cell proliferation may explain the reduced lactation persistency in pregnant cows. Transcription of oestrogen receptor α, progesterone receptor A and B, and long and short isoforms of the prolactin receptor were higher in pregnant cows compared with non-pregnant cows. Feeding level did not mediate changes in transcription of genes. Transcription of other cell-turnover-related genes (IGF-I, IGF binding protein-5, caspase-3) as well as genes related to the secretory activity of the cells (α-lactalbumin and acetyl CoA carboxylase α) was not affected by pregnancy or by feeding level.

1. The effect of gathering reindeer on the composition of the blood was studied in female reindeer and their calves herded in northern Finland. Blood samples were taken in summer at three gathering places, under differing conditions and in autumn at the same places during gatherings which lasted for longer than 2 days. These were compared with samples taken from little-disturbed animals during winter.

2. Measurements were made of concentrations of glucose and lactate in whole blood and of urea, calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium in serum, together with serum creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and glutamine oxalacetic transaminase (GOT) activities.

3. Gatherings affected nearly all the blood parameters studied. In summer the temperature during separation seemed to influence glucose and lactate concentrations. The duration of the gathering and the distance the animals were driven clearly affected serum GOT and urea values.

4. During the long autumn gathering serum urea concentration increased about eight-fold in 2 days accompanied by a simultaneous decrease in serum calcium.

5. Serum CPK and GOT activities were higher during the summer and autumn than during the winter. Serum CPK and blood glucose concentrations were higher in young calves than in adult females.

Goats have played a key role as source of nourishment for humans in their expansion all over the world in long land and sea trips. This has guaranteed a place for this species in the important and rapid episode of livestock expansion triggered by Columbus’ arrival in the Americas in the late 1400s. The aims of this study are to provide a comprehensive perspective on genetic diversity in American goat populations and to assess their origins and evolutionary trajectories. This was achieved by combining data from autosomal neutral genetic markers obtained in more than two thousand samples that encompass a wide range of Iberian, African and Creole goat breeds. In general, even though Creole populations differ clearly from each other, they lack a strong geographical pattern of differentiation, such that populations of different admixed ancestry share relatively close locations throughout the large geographical range included in this study. Important Iberian signatures were detected in most Creole populations studied, and many of them, particularly the Cuban Creole, also revealed an important contribution of African breeds. On the other hand, the Brazilian breeds showed a particular genetic structure and were clearly separated from the other Creole populations, with some influence from Cape Verde goats. These results provide a comprehensive characterisation of the present structure of goat genetic diversity, and a dissection of the Iberian and African influences that gave origin to different Creole caprine breeds, disentangling an important part of their evolutionary history. Creole breeds constitute an important reservoir of genetic diversity that justifies the development of appropriate management systems aimed at improving performance without loss of genomic diversity.

The effects of food quality, breed type and sex (ram and ewe) on lamb growth and carcass composition, and their changes throughout growth, were measured. The three breed types were Scottish Blackface (B; no. = 24), Suffolk (S; no. = 28) and their reciprocal crosses (X; no. 33). The lambs had free access to a nutritionally non-limiting food, H, or a bulky food, L. Each lamb was scanned using X-ray computed tomography to measure the weights of fat, lean and bone in the carcass at three degrees of maturity (0.30,0.45 and 0.65) in live weight. Live weight and food intake data were recorded weekly. Average daily gains in live weight (ADG) and carcass tissues, intake (ADI) and efficiency (EFF = ADG/ADI) were calculated for each lamb between degrees of maturity. Gompertz and Spillman functions were used to investigate relationships between weight and both time and cumulative food intake.

There was a breed by food interaction for fat and lean proportions (P < 0.05). Only on H was there a breed difference (P < 0.05) with S having less fat and more lean than either B or X, which did not differ from each other (P > 0.1). On food L there were no breed effects (P > 0.1). Across breeds, sexes and stages of maturity, food L caused lambs to have 0.810 as much fat and 1.063 as much lean compared with H (P < 0.001). There were breed by food interactions for ADG (P < 0.05) and EFF (P < 0.01). ADG on L was 0.72 of that on H for S, as compared with 0.79 for B and X. EFF on L was 0.463 of that on H for S, as compared with 0.586 for B and X. These were such that S was more sensitive to food effects on growth. The Gompertz and Spillman functions described growth well.

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of level and pattern of food intake in post-partum beef cows on the length of the post-partum anoestrous period and associated luteinizing hormone profiles. Forty-six multiparous cows were allocated at calving to one of three feeding regimes: 55 MJ metabolizable energy (ME) per day throughout (LL), 145 M] ME per day throughout (HH), or 55 M] ME per day until 6 weeks post partum and then 145 M] ME per day thereafter (LH). The duration of the post-partum anoestrous period was assessed from plasma progesterone profiles. Luteinizing hormone profiles in the peripheral circulation were determined at weeks 3, 6, 8 and 11 post partum from samples collected every 20 min for 10 h.

Feeding regime had no effect on either the length of the post-partum anoestrous period, being 99, 89 and 91 (s.e.d. 12·2) days for the LL, LH and HH cows respectively, or on any aspect of luteinizing hormone pulsatility. Body condition at calving was negatively correlated with the duration of the post-partum anoestrous period, each unit increase in body condition at calving being associated with a decrease in the post-partum anoestrous period of 86 (s.e. 21·8) days. Luteinizing hormone pulse frequency at 6 weeks post partum was positively correlated with body condition at calving.

This experiment confirms the importance of body condition at calving in influencing the duration of the post-partum anoestrous period and indicates that level and pattern of feeding post partum has little effect when cows calve at a body condition of approximately 2·25.

This review assesses factors affecting fouling in conventional pens for slaughter pigs. Fouling of the pen happens when pigs change their excretory behaviour from occurring in the designated dunging area to the lying area. This can result in a lower hygiene, bad air quality, extra work for the farmer, disturbance of the pigs’ resting behaviour and an increase in agonistic interactions. A systematic search was conducted and results narrowed down to 21 articles. Four factors were found to affect fouling directly: insufficient space allowance, the flooring design of the pen, the thermal climate and pigs’ earlier experience. Further, these primary factors are affected by secondary factors such as the shape of the pen, the weight of the pigs and especially the heat balance of the pigs, which is affected by several tertiary factors including, for example, temperature, humidity and draught. Results indicate that the most important factor to control when trying to prevent fouling of a pen is the pen climate. An appropriate climate may be accomplished through floor cooling in the designated lying area, sprinklers above the designated dunging area and by ensuring a more optimal ambient temperature curve that also fits the weight of the pigs in different stages of the production. All in all, fouling of the pen in conventional slaughter pigs is a multifactorial problem, but it is important to focus on increasing the comfortability, and especially the climate, of the designated lying area.

The objective of the present study was to quantify the extent of genetic variation in three health-related traits namely dagginess, lameness and mastitis, in an Irish sheep population. Each of the health traits investigated pose substantial welfare implications as well as considerable economic costs to producers. Data were also available on four body-related traits, namely body condition score (BCS), live weight, muscle depth and fat depth. Animals were categorised as lambs (<365 days old) or ewes (⩾365 days old) and were analysed both separately and combined. After edits, 39 315 records from 264 flocks between the years 2009 and 2015 inclusive were analysed. Variance components were estimated using animal linear mixed models. Fixed effects included contemporary group, represented as a three-way interaction between flock, date of inspection and animal type (i.e. lamb, yearling ewe (i.e. females ⩾365 days but <730 days old that have not yet had a recorded lambing) or ewe), animal breed proportion, coefficients of heterosis and recombination, animal gender (lambs only), animal parity (ewes only; lambs were assigned a separate ‘parity’) and the difference in age of the animal from the median of the respective parity/age group. An additive genetic effect and residual effect were both fitted as random terms with maternal genetic and non-genetic components also considered for traits of the lambs. The direct heritability of dagginess was similar across age groups (0.14 to 0.15), whereas the direct heritability of lameness ranged from 0.06 (ewes) to 0.12 (lambs). The direct heritability of mastitis was 0.04. For dagginess, 13% of the phenotypic variation was explained by dam litter, whereas the maternal heritability of dagginess was 0.05. The genetic correlation between ewe and lamb dagginess was 0.38; the correlation between ewe and lamb lameness was close to zero but was associated with a large standard error. Direct genetic correlations were evident between dagginess and BCS in ewes and between lameness and BCS in lambs. The present study has demonstrated that ample genetic variation exists for all three health traits investigated indicating that genetic improvement is indeed possible.

The quality of the laboratory diagnostic approach in farm animals can be severely affected by pre-analytical factors of variation. They induce increase/decrease of biochemical and hematological analyte concentrations and, as a consequence, they may cause unsuitable conclusions and decisions for animal health management and research projects. The pre-analytical period covers the preparation of sampling, the sampling procedure itself, as well as all specimen handling until the beginning of the specific laboratory analysis. Pre-analytical factors may have either an animal-related or a technique-related background. Animal-related factors cover daytime/season, meals/fasting, age, gender, altitude, drugs/anesthesia, physical exercise/stress or coinfection. Technique-related factors are the choice of the tube including serum v. plasma, effects of anticoagulants/gel separators, the anticoagulant/blood ratio, the blood collection procedure itself, specimen handling, contamination, labeling, storage and serum/plasma separation, transportation of the specimen, as well as sample preparation before analysis in the laboratory. It is essential to have proper knowledge about the importance and source of pre-analytical factors to alter the entire diagnostic process. Utmost efforts should be made to minimize controllable factors. Analytical results have to be evaluated with care considering that pre-analytical factors of variation are possible causes of misinterpretation.

Lying behaviour is important for the welfare of the cow. Therefore, reliable electronic devices may improve the management of the cows, and the devices can be used as a tool in research. However, accelerometer-based devices measure acceleration, and an algorithm is therefore necessary for the calculation of lying behaviour. Thus, validation of such devices is imperative prior to use. The objective of this study was to validate the use of the AfiTagII device for measurements of the lying time and frequency of lying bouts of Danish Holstein (DH) and Danish Jersey (DJ) cows in a loose-house system on two different bedding materials. The validation included correlations and linear regression analyses of data collected by the AfiTagII compared with data collected both by direct observations and recordings from a previously validated device (IceQube). In total, 40 cows were observed directly with primiparous and multiparous DJ and DH cows, equally represented. Furthermore, 21 cows were monitored with both AfiTagII and IceQube devices, and data from both devices were collected simultaneously. The devices were attached to the hind leg of the cow. The estimates of the lying time from the AfiTagII device was highly correlated with the recordings from direct observations (r=0.98), and there was a linear relation between these with an intercept equal to 0 and a slope close to 1. The estimates of the lying time from the AfiTagII device was also highly correlated with the IceQube recordings (r=0.94). However, the intercept deviated from 0. The frequency of lying bouts recorded by the AfiTAgII compared to direct observations showed a positive predictive value of 0.96 for lactating cows on the slatted floor and of 0.85 for the dry cows on the deep bedding. The correlations between frequency of lying bouts recorded with the two devices were high (r=0.94), but the intercept deviated from 0. In conclusion, the AfiTagII has a high accuracy for the measurements of lying behaviour in both DH and DJ cows kept on different bedding materials.

Genetic selection for milking speed is feasible. The existence of a correlation structure between milking speed and milk yield, however, necessitates a selection strategy to increase milking speed with no repercussion on genetic merit for milk yield. Residual milking duration (RMD) and residual milking duration including somatic cell score (RMDS), defined as the residuals from a regression model of milking duration on milk yield or milk yield plus somatic cell score (SCS) have been advocated. The objective of this study was to undertake a first ever genetic analysis of these novel traits. Data on electronically recorded milking duration and other milking characteristics from 235 005 test-day records on 74 608 cows in 1075 Irish dairy herds were available. Variance components for the milking characteristic traits were estimated using animal linear mixed models and covariances with other performance traits, including udder-related type traits, were estimated using sire models. The heritability of milking duration, RMD and RMDS was 0.20, 0.22 and 0.18, respectively. There were little differences in the heritability of RMD or RMDS when defined using genetic regression. The genetic standard deviation of RMDS defined on the phenotypic or genetic level was 36.8 s and 37.6 s, respectively, clearly indicating considerable exploitable genetic variation in milking duration independent of both milk yield and SCS. The genetic correlation between phenotypically derived RMDS and milk yield was favourable (−0.43), but RMDS was unfavourably genetically correlated with SCS (−0.30); the genetic correlations with both traits when RMDS was defined at a genetic level were zero. RMDS defined at the phenotypic level was negatively (i.e. unfavourable) genetically correlated (−0.35; s.e. = 0.15) with mastitis; however, when defined using genetic regression, shorter RMDS was not associated with greater expected incidence of mastitis. RMDS, defined at the genetic level, is a useful heritable trait with ample genetic variation for inclusion in a national breeding strategy without influencing genetic gain in either milk yield or udder health.