When domestic ruminants are faced with food diversity, they can use pre-ingestive information (i.e. food sensory characteristics perceived by the animal before swallowing the food) and post-ingestive information (i.e. digestive and metabolic consequences, experienced by the animal after swallowing the food) to evaluate the food and make decisions to select a suitable diet. The concept of palatability is essential to understand how pre- and post-ingestive information are interrelated. It refers to the hedonic value of the food without any immediate effect of post-ingestive consequences and environmental factors, but with the influence of individual characteristics, such as animal's genetic background, internal state and previous experiences. In the literature, the post-ingestive consequences are commonly considered as the main force that influences feeding behaviour whereas food sensory characteristics are only used as discriminatory agents. This discriminatory role is indeed important for animals to be aware of their feeding environment, and ruminants are able to use their different senses either singly or in combination to discriminate between different foods. However, numerous studies on ruminants’ feeding behaviour demonstrate that the role of food sensory characteristics has been underestimated or simplified; they could play at least two other roles. First, some sensory characteristics also possess a hedonic value which influences ruminants’ intake, preferences and food learning independently of any immediate post-ingestive consequences. Further, diversity of food sensory characteristics has a hedonic value, as animals prefer an absence of monotony in food sensory characteristics at similar post-ingestive consequences. Second, some of these food sensory characteristics become an indicator of post-ingestive consequences after their initial hedonic value has acquired a positive or a negative value via previous individual food learning or evolutionary processes. These food sensory characteristics thus represent cues that could help ruminants to anticipate the post-ingestive consequences of a food and to improve their learning efficiency, especially in complex environments. This review then suggests that food sensory characteristics could be of importance to provide pleasure to animals, to increase palatability of a food and to help them learn in complex feeding situations which could improve animal welfare and productivity.

The aim of the study was to assess the impact of selection for residual feed intake (RFI) on the behavioural activity of lines divergently selected for RFI during seven generations. In all, six successive batches from the seventh generation of selection were raised in collective pens equipped with a single-place electronic feeder (SEF) from 10 weeks of age to 100 kg BW. Each batch included four groups of 12 pigs: high RFI (RFI+) castrated males, RFI+ females, low RFI (RFI−) castrated males, RFI− females. At 17 weeks of age, health criteria were evaluated using a gradient scale for increased severity of lameness, body lesions, bursae and tail biting. Individual behavioural activities were recorded by 24-h video tape on the day after health evaluation. The investigative motivation towards unfamiliar objects was quantified at 18 weeks of age. The daily individual feeding patterns were computed from SEF records during the 4 weeks surrounding 12, 17 and 22 weeks of age. All pigs spent significantly most of their time lying in diurnal (80% of total scan) and nocturnal (>89%) periods. The RFI− pigs showed a lower proportion of health problems (P<0.01) than RFI+ pigs. The RFI− pigs used the SEF less than the RFI+ pigs, in diurnal (5.3% v. 6.4% of video scans, P<0.05) and nocturnal periods (3.6% v. 4.5% of video scans, P<0.05). This was confirmed by a significantly lower daily number and duration of visits to the SEF computed from the SEF data. The feeding activity measured from the video recording was significantly correlated (R>0.34; P<0.05) with feeding patterns computed from the SEF. The RFI− pigs spent less time standing over the 24-h period (9.7% v. 12.2% of scans, i.e. 35 min/day, P<0.05). In terms of energy costs, this amounted to 14% of the line difference in terms of daily metabolizable energy intake. The castrated males used the SEF more than females, especially at night (4.7% v. 3.4% of total scans, P<0.05), whereas females displayed greater investigation of their environment (7.7±0.3% v. 6.6±0.2% of total scans, P<0.05) and the novel objects (10.7% v. 4.9% of total scans, P<0.05). In conclusion, the lower physical activity associated with reduced energy expenditure in RFI− pigs compared with RFI+ pigs contributed significantly to their improved efficiency and was not related to worsened health scores.

In terms of animal welfare, farming systems of dairy cows are perceived positively by consumers when compared to pigs or poultry. A main reason is that the majority of consumers associate dairy farming with pasture, which in turn they relate with benefits for animal health and welfare. However, holistic scientific assessments of the effects of pasturing on animal welfare are rare. Hence, it was the aim to study the animal welfare level in 61 German loose housing dairy farms by using the measures of the Welfare Quality® protocol for dairy cattle (WQP). Data were collected twice per farm at the end of the pasture season (July to October) and approximately 6 months later at the end of the barn season (December to April). Farms were classified based on the duration cows had access to pasture per day during the pasture season: group 1 (G1)>10 h; group 2 (G2) 6 to 10 h; group 3 (G3)<6 h and group 4 (G4) without pasture access. The average herd size was 129 Holstein-Friesian or Red-Holstein cows (range 58 to 527). In addition to WQP data, performance data were gathered from routine herd data recordings. The indicators were aggregated to criteria applying the scoring system of the WQP. G4 received lower scores at the first than at the second visit for the criterion absence of hunger, while there were no differences between visits in the other groups (P=0.58 – group×farm visit effect). All pasturing groups were scored better at the end of the pasture season than G4 for the criterion comfort around resting (P<0.01). Compared with G1 for both farm visits and G2 for the end of the barn season, G4 reached inferior scores for the criterion absence of injuries, including indicators such as hairless patches, lesions, and swellings and lameness. At both assessments G2 was scored higher than the other groups for the criterion absence of diseases (P=0.04). In conclusion, pasture access had positive effects only on selected welfare indicators, however, these effects were not maintained throughout the barn season.

Some factors affecting perinatal lamb mortality were studied with 63 Finn × Dorset Horn ewes and 85 Scottish Half bred and Greyface ewes, having an average litter size of 2·26. Total perinatal lamb mortality averaged 29 % of which 44% were stillborn, 1 % attributed to dystocia, 35 % died between birth and 48 h of age, 14 % from 48 h to 10 days, and 5 % after 10 days.

For the Finn × Dorset ewes, the 41 viable twin lambs weighed at birth 3·47 kg and 12 twin lambs which did not survive weighed 2·51 kg. Triplet weights were: viable 2·98 kg (34 lambs) and nonsurviving 2·00 kg (14). Quadruplet weights were: viable 2·79 kg (12) and non-surviving 1·90 kg (16). Quintuplet and sextuplet weights were: viable 2·45 kg (2) and non-surviving 1·35 kg (14).

In the aggregated Halfbred and Greyface breeds, viable twin lambs weighed 4·5 kg at birth (91) and non-surviving 3·64 kg (11). Viable triplets weighed 3·77 kg (23) and non-surviving 2·68 kg (16).

Serum gamma-globulin and total serum protein values were lower in the lambs which failed to survive, and this was particularly marked with triplets. Fractionating the gamma-globulins (IgG) indicated that IgGi was particularly low in non-viable lambs.

Litter size, lamb birth weight, and colostrum intake by the lamb had important effects on perinatal lamb mortality.

In today's production systems, pigs raised for slaughter are mixed many times, resulting in stress and fighting. The negative consequences of mixing are probably more severe with entire males than with castrates, as they fight more. In this project, we studied a system without castration where entire male pigs met unfamiliar pigs only once. Piglets from two litters were allowed to visit each other from circa 2 weeks of age through an opening between the farrowing pens. Entire males from these litters were kept in intact groups from weaning and onwards, and they were slaughtered pen-wise in intact groups. Control pigs were raised and weaned in their litters and mixed with unknown pigs when moved to the growing–finishing unit. They were slaughtered by split marketing based on individual weight. In total, 96 entire males from 24 litters were studied. Activity and social interactions of pigs were studied by direct observations on three observation occasions per pen for pigs kept in intact groups and four occasions for control pigs. All pigs were inspected for skin lesions during raising and at slaughter. Results showed that fewer pigs in intact groups were resting (17.1% v. 28.5%; P = 0.044) and they showed less aggressive behaviour (16.1 v. 27.7 number of interactions per hour; P = 0.001) than control pigs when moved to the growing–finishing unit. They also got fewer skin lesions compared with control pigs (15 v. 35; P < 0.001). Consequently, control pigs tended to grow slower during the 1st week after mixing; however, growth rate during the whole growing–finishing phase did not differ between treatments (P = 0.205). Control pigs directed more aggressive behaviour towards non-litter mates than towards litter mates during the whole growing–finishing phase, whereas pigs from the other treatment made no difference between litter mates and other familiar pigs. At 67 kg, there was more sexual behaviour (mounting) among control pigs (7.6 v. 3.4; P = 0.033), but after slaughter no differences were found in testis weight or boar taint compounds. At slaughter, more entire males that were slaughtered pen-wise and kept in intact groups were without skin lesions compared with the mixed control pigs (74% v. 13%; P < 0.001). This study shows that the welfare of entire male pigs can be improved by socialising piglets and by keeping them in intact groups during raising and at slaughter.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of supplemented condensed tannins (CT) from the bark of the Black Wattle tree (Acacia mearnsii) on production variables and N use efficiency in high yielding dairy cows. A feeding trial with 96 lactating German Holstein cows was conducted for a total of 169 days, divided into four periods. The animals were allotted to two groups (control (CON) and experimental (EXP) group) according to milk yield in previous lactation, days in milk (98), number of lactations and BW. The trial started and finished with a period (period 1 and 4) where both groups received the same ration (total-mixed ration based on grass and maize silage, ensiled sugar beet pulp, lucerne hay, mineral premix and concentrate, calculated for 37 kg energy-corrected milk). In between, the ration of EXP cows was supplemented with 1% (CT1, period 2) and 3% of dry matter (DM) (CT3, period 3) of a commercial A. mearnsii extract (containing 0.203 g CT/g DM) which was mixed into the concentrate. In period 3, samples of urine and faeces were collected from 10 cows of each group and analyzed to estimate N excretion. Except for a tendency for a reduced milk urea concentration with CT1, there was no difference between groups in period 2 (CON v. CT1; P>0.05). The CT3 significantly reduced (P<0.05) milk protein yield, the apparent N efficiency (kg milk N/k feed N) and milk urea concentration; but total milk yield and energy-corrected milk yield were not affected by treatment. Furthermore, as estimated from 10 cows per group and using urinary K as a marker to estimate the daily amount of urine voided, CT3 caused a minor shift of N compounds from urine to faeces, as urea-N in urine was reduced, whereas the N concentration in faeces increased. As an improvement in productivity was not achieved and N use efficiency was decreased by adding the CT product it can be concluded that under current circumstances the use in high yielding dairy cows is not advantageous.

A feeding station is described that is used for individual food intake recordings of group-housed growing pigs. The IVOG®-station can be used for performance testing in group housing or for investigating effects of, for example housing system, food composition, breed or sex on food intake pattern and production traits.

Forty multiparous Large White sows were used to investigate the effects of five ambient temperature levels (18, 22, 25, 27, and 29°C) and two dietary protein contents on their feeding behaviour during lactation. At each temperature treatment, ambient temperature was kept constant over the 21-day lactation period. Dietary protein content was either 140 or 170 g/kg with essential amino acids levels calculated to he non-limiting. Photoperiod was fixed to 14 h of artificial light. The animals were given food ad libitum between the 7th and the 19th day of lactation. Feeding behaviour was not influenced by diet composition. Over the 13 days under ad libitum feeding conditions, voluntary food intake decreased from 7·80 to 3·50 kg/day between 18 and 29°C, which was achieved through a decreased daily number of meals at the highest temperature (6·8 to 4·5 at 18 and 29°C, respectively). No significant difference among temperatures was observed on meal size, even if the highest (1372 g) and the lowest (883 g) values were obtained at 18 and 29°C, respectively. Rate of food intake was not influenced by temperature and averaged 133 g/min; consequently, decreased voluntary food intake under heat exposure resulted in reduced ingestion time (61 and 29 min/day at 18 and 29°C, respectively). Hourly food intake peaked at the beginning and the end of the light period. It resulted in a mainly diurnal partition of food intake. This partition was significantly affected by temperature as proportionately 0·87 and 0·91 of total food intake occurred during the day at 27 and 29°C, respectively, v. 0·81 on average between 18 and 25°C. Number of meals was lower during the night (1·1 v. 5·2 during the day on average); it decreased with increased temperature both during the day and the night. Meal size was lower during the night (938 v. 1080 g during the day on average). The ratio between water and food intake was significantly higher at 29°C (8·1 v. 4·2 l/kg on average between 18 and 27°C). Standing activity averaged 124 min/day with no significant difference between temperatures.

To evaluate meat quality of beef with different α-tocopherol tissue levels, 55 feedlot steers were fed a barley-based finisher diet with four vitamin E supplementation levels (0, 350, 700 and 1400 IU dl-α-tocopheryl acetate/animal per day) for 120 days. Although the increase in oxidation levels overtime was much smaller (P < 0.001) in the high-medium and high groups, α-tocopherol tissue levels did not affect (P > 0.05) pH, proximate analysis, drip and cooking losses, and shear force of steaks. No effect of α-tocopherol tissue levels was found in retail evaluation of steaks after a short ageing time of 6 days, but with 21 days of ageing, a delay in formation of metmyoglobin (P = 0.008) was observed in steaks with higher tissue levels of α-tocopherol. Similar results were found for ground beef (25% fat) prepared from 6-day aged meat. Thus, higher α-tocopherol tissue levels protect ground beef and long-aged steaks from discolouration and lipid oxidation.

Two groups of five sheep (7 months of age) were moved and isolated in pens which did not allow visual and tactile contact with other sheep for 24 h. They were then moved back to their original pens where visual and tactile contact was possible. After 24 h the procedure was repeated seven times for one group (group 8-1) and thirteen times for the other group (group 14-1). One group (control) of five sheep remained in pens where visual and tactile contact was possible. When isolated the lambs spent more time standing still in an alert posture, less time eating and resting, and vocalized more than control lambs. The heart rate of the lambs increased when they were moved between pens and during isolation. The plasma concentration of cortisol was significantly increased after 1·5 h and 3 h of isolation. The plasma concentration of prolactin was increased after 1·5 h of isolation. After 3 h of isolation the number of neutrophils in the blood was increased and the numbers of T-lymphocytes (CD2), T-helper-lymphocytes (CD4) and yd-lymphocytes (T19) were decreased. After 24 h of isolation the lymphocyte blastogenic response to Con A was lower and the numbers of T-lymphocytes and T-helper-lymphocytes were still less than those in control lambs. Although there were still behavioural changes when the lambs were isolated for the seventh time, no cortisol, prolactin and leucocyte changes were found. These results suggest that stressors similar to isolation, which can occur during normal management practice, may elicit short-term leucocyte changes in lambs.

The present work summarizes research related to the definition of nutrient recommendations for feeds used in the intensive production of rabbit's meat. Fibre is the main chemical constituent of rabbit diets that typically contain 320 to 360 and 50 to 90 g/kg of insoluble and soluble fibre, respectively. Instead, the dietary contents of cereal grains (∼120 to 160 g/kg), fat (15 to 25 g/kg) and protein concentrates (150 to 180 g/kg) are usually low with respect to other intensively reared monogastric animals. Cell wall constituents are not well digested in rabbits, but this effect is compensated by its stimulus of gut motility, which leads to an increasing rate of passage of digesta, and allows achieving an elevated dry matter intake. A high feed consumption and an adequate balance in essential nutrients are required to sustain the elevated needs of high-productive rabbits measured either as reproductive yield, milk production or growth rate in the fattening period. Around weaning, pathologies occur in a context of incomplete development of the digestive physiology of young rabbits. The supply of balanced diets has also been related to the prevention of disorders by means of three mechanisms: (i) promoting a lower retention time of the digesta in the digestive tract through feeding fibre sources with optimal chemical and physical characteristics, (ii) restricting feed intake after weaning or (iii) causing a lower flow of easily available substrates into the fermentative area by modifying feed composition (e.g. by lowering protein and starch contents, increasing its digestibility or partially substituting insoluble with soluble fibre), or by delaying age at weaning. The alteration in the gut microbiota composition has been postulated as the possible primary cause of these pathologies.

The aim of this work was to study the effects of mastitis induced by intramammary lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge on milk oxidative stability, as well as to understand the underlying biochemical processes that cause such changes. LPS challenge was associated with nitric oxide burst from the surrounding mammary epithelial cells and consequently induced nitrosative stress that was induced by the formation of NO2• from nitrite by lactoperoxidase. This response was associated with an ∼3-fold increased formation of hazardous compounds: nitrotyrosines, carbonyls and lipid peroxides. We sustained the involvement of xanthine oxidase as a major source of hydrogen peroxide. In consistent with previous findings, catalase has been shown to play a major role in modulating the nitrosative stress by oxidizing nitrite to nitrate. The current hygienic quality criteria cannot detect mixing of low-quality milk, such as milk with high somatic cells, and nitrite with high-quality milk. Thus, development of an improved quality control methodology may be important for the production of high-quality milk.

In comparison to monogastric animals, ruminants show some peculiarities in respect to the regulation of mineral homeostasis, which can be regarded as a concerted interplay between gastrointestinal absorption, renal excretion and bone mobilisation to maintain physiological Ca and phosphate (Pi) concentrations in serum. Intestinal absorption of Ca or Pi is mediated by two general mechanisms: paracellular, passive transport dominates when luminal Ca or Pi concentrations are high and transcellular. The contribution of active transport becomes more important when dietary Ca or Pi supply is restricted or the demand increased. Both pathways are modulated directly by dietary interventions, influenced by age and regulated by endocrine factors such as 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. Similar transport processes are observed in the kidney. After filtration, Ca and Pi are resorbed along the nephron. However, as urinary Ca and Pi excretion is very low in ruminants, the regulation of these renal pathways differs from that described for monogastric species, too. Furthermore, salivary secretion, as part of endogenous Pi recycling, and bone mobilisation participate in the maintenance of Ca and Pi homeostasis in ruminants. Saliva contains large amounts of Pi for buffering rumen pH and to ensure optimal conditions for the rumen microbiome. The skeleton is a major reservoir of Ca and Pi to compensate for discrepancies between demand and uptake. But alterations of the regulation of mineral homeostasis induced by other dietary factors such as a low protein diet were observed in growing ruminants. In addition, metabolic changes, for example, at the onset of lactation have pronounced effects on gastrointestinal mineral transport processes in some ruminant species. As disturbances of mineral homeostasis do not only increase the risk of the animals to develop other diseases, but are also associated with protein and energy metabolism, further research is needed to improve our knowledge of its complex regulation.

The objective of this study was to investigate the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with birth weight, weight gain from birth to weaning and from weaning to yearling, yearling height and cow weight in Nelore cattle. Data from 5064 animals participating in the DeltaGen and PAINT breeding programs were used. The animals were genotyped with a panel of 777 962 SNPs (Illumina BovineHD BeadChip) and 412 993 SNPs remained after quality control analysis of the genomic data. A genome-wide association study was performed using a single-step methodology. The analyses were processed with the BLUPF90 family of programs. When applied to a genome-wide association studies, the single-step GBLUP methodology is an iterative process that estimates weights for the SNPs. The weights of SNPs were included in all analyses by iteratively applying the single-step GBLUP methodology and repeated twice so that the effect of the SNP and the effect of the animal were recalculated in order to increase the weight of SNPs with large effects and to reduce the weight of those with small effects. The genome-wide association results are reported based on the proportion of variance explained by windows of 50 adjacent SNPs. Considering the two iterations, only windows with an additive genetic variance >1.5% were presented in the results. Associations were observed with birth weight on BTA 14, with weight gain from birth to weaning on BTA 5 and 29, with weight gain from weaning to yearling on BTA 11, and with yearling height on BTA 8, showing the genes TMEM68 (transmembrane protein 8B) associated with birth weight and yearling height, XKR4 (XK, Kell blood group complex subunit-related family, member 4) associated with birth weight, NPR2 (natriuretic peptide receptor B) associated with yearling height, and REG3G (regenerating islet-derived 3-gamma) associated with weight gain from weaning to yearling. These genes play an important role in feed intake, weight gain and the regulation of skeletal growth.

Twenty-four Large White × (Landrace × Large White) gilts were allocated to one of four treatments such that one gilt from each of the litters was on each treatment. Three of the treatments involved 30-min daily contact with a boar, the boar being either (1) 2 years of age, (2) 11 months of age, or (3) 6·5 months of age, at the start of the trial. The fourth group were controls, receiving no boar stimulation.

The experiment began at a gilt age of 165 days and continued until puberty was detected. The gilts were slaughtered 5 days after puberty was reached.

The results indicate no significant difference for age at puberty between gilts exposed to the 2-year- or 11-month-old boars (182·0 v. 181·6 days respectively), although both were significantly younger at puberty than gilts exposed to the 6·5-month-old boars or having no boar contact (P<001) (206·0 v. 203·0 days respectively).

Bovine blood neutrophil oxidative burst activity, the total leukocyte count and its differentiation, as well as progesterone, glucose and cortisol levels were studied on 10 cows from 1 week prior to calving until 8 weeks after parturition.

From day –7 before parturition a decrease in the metabolic oxidative burst activity of neutrophils was observed, reaching the lowest value 3 days after calving (0·28 (s.e. 0·06) nmol/l H2O2 per min 106 neutrophils) (P <0·01). Thereafter, values increased with a maximum of activity 26 days after parturition (0·57 (s.e. 0·05) nmol/H202 per min per 106 neutrophils). At the end of the experiment the neutrophils H2O2-productionwas comparable to values observed on day–7.

The maximum total leukocyte count was observed on the day of parturition (8, 108 (s.e. 370) leukocytes per /A blood) (P <0·01) returning to normal levels about 3 weeks after calving. Lymphocytes and neutrophils showed a trend analogous to that of the total leukocytes. Eosinophils and monocytes did not change during the entire period. With the rapid increase of circulating neutrophils observed on the calving day, a marked left shift was observed with a maximum number of immature neutrophils (48·6%) observed on day +3 (1477 (s.e. 242) immature neutrophils per fjl blood) (P <0·01), reaching normal values about 4 weeks after parturition.

A significant increase (F < 0·01) of plasma glucose was found on the day of parturition (91·4 (s.e. 6·8) mg per 100 ml plasma), while the levels of cortisol reached their maximum 3 days after calving (22·05 (s.e. 8·46) nglml plasma).

Progesterone levels averaged 4·07 (s.e. 1·21) jigll 7 days before calving, declining precipitously to 0·06 (s.e. 0·45) Hg/l 3 days after calving (F < 0·01), remaining very low for a period of about 3 weeks. Minimum and maximum anoestrus post-partum were 22 and 57 days, respectively.

Despite great hormonal variation observed in the peripartum period, no significant correlation was found between measured hormones and the oxidative burst activity of neutrophils.

Heart size of purebred boars (13 Landrace, 12 Yorkshire, and 14 Duroc) and crossbred (Landrace × Yorkshire × Duroc) boars (no. =18) and gilts (no. = 24) was studied. Purebred boars were raised from 30 kg for 110 days and slaughtered. Crossbred pigs of various body weights (30 to 110 kg) were selected and their plasma and blood volume were measured before sacrifice. The variation of heart size of pigs was studied and its correlation with growth performance or to vascular space was investigated. According to the principal component analysis heart size was best expressed by its weight, followed by the thickness of the anterior ventricle septum or the thickness of the left ventricle (LV) wall. The food/gain ratio of boars during testing period was significantly correlated with some size characteristics of their heart including weight, width, and LV thickness. The back fat thickness at 100 kg was significantly negatively correlated with heart weight, heart/body weight ratio, and LV thickness. Thus, selection for growth performance would result in a bigger heart in domestic pigs. In the crossbred study, an allometry fitting of H = 12·18B0·73 (r = 0·96) was obtained between heart weight (H, g) and body weight (B, kg). The fittings of heart weight to blood/plasma volume generated values of r of between 0·79 and 0·75 in allometry models or between 0·84 and 0·80 in linear models. Thus, vascular space is no better than fractional body weight as the basis to express relative heart weight in pigs. It is suggested that the normal exponent relating heart size to body weight in growing pig is effectively 0·75, similar to the exponent of metabolic size, 0·734 or 0·75. Therefore, the size of the heart of domestic pigs varies in size proportionally with the changes of metabolism seen in terms of growth or maybe even reproduction. The wild boar, the ancestor of domestic pigs, has a heart proportionately about 0·5 bigger than modern pigs when scaled according to M0·75. The attribution of metabolic difference to the bigger heart of wild boar is uncertain and needs further elucidation. The trend to bigger hearts in domestic pigs under current selection pressure for leanness should not necessarily be interpreted as returning to a natural form but may reflect a pathophysiological change.

This study investigated the effects of genotype and diet on meat fat composition and palatability obtained from Alentejana (AL) and Barrosã (BA) breeds. Herein, 20 males from each breed allocated at 11 months of age were fed ad libitum a low-forage diet or a high-forage diet and slaughtered at 18 months of age. Trained sensory panel analysis found that the longissimus lumborum (Ll) muscle from BA had higher tenderness, juiciness and overall acceptability scores than the AL breed. The highest scores for those attributes were observed in the BA breed fed the high-forage diet. Regarding the semitendinosus (St) muscle, breed was a source of variation of tenderness scores. In contrast to the Ll muscle, the highest tenderness scores for the St muscle were observed in the AL breed. The intramuscular fat (IMF) content was positively correlated with tenderness, juiciness and overall acceptability in Ll muscle and negatively correlated with flavour in the St muscle. The levels of 14:0 and 16:0, 16:1c9, 18:1c9 and 18:1c11 were positively correlated to juiciness, tenderness and overall acceptability in the Ll muscle. These correlations were not observed in the St muscle, which may be related to its low IMF content. Nonetheless, negative correlations were observed for the St muscle between flavour and 14:0, 16:0 and 18:0 FA contents.

The IMF varied widely in the Ll but not in the St muscle. The latter had higher levels of 16:1c9 and trans fatty acids (∑TFA) in the BA than in the AL breed. Regarding the Ll muscle, the BA had higher amounts of 14:0, 16:0, 16:1c9, 18:0, 18:1c9, 18:1c11, saturated fatty acids (∑SFA), cis monounsaturated fatty acids (∑cis MUFA), ∑TFA and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (∑n-3 PUFA) than the AL breed. The diet exerted an influence on the IMF content and on the levels of 14:0, 16:0, 16:1c9, 18:0, 18:1c9, 18:1c11, ∑SFA, ∑cis MUFA and ∑TFA in both Ll and St muscles. Moreover, the levels of ∑n-3 PUFA in the Ll muscle and 18:2n-6, 20:4n-6, ∑n-6 PUFA and ∑PUFA in the St muscle were influenced by diet. The results obtained in this study, with two Portuguese breeds, confirm that genetic background plays a major role in the determination of meat eating quality.

The aims of this study were to estimate the genetic variation of traditional milk coagulation properties (MCPs), milk acidity, curd firmness (CF) modeled on time t (CFt; comprising: RCTeq, rennet coagulation time estimated from the equation; CFP, the asymptotic potential curd firmness; kCF, the curd firming instant rate constant; and kSR, the syneresis instant rate constant) and maximum CF traits (MCF; comprising CFmax, the maximum CF value; and tmax, the time of attainment). Furthermore, we investigated 96 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 54 candidate genes, testing their associations with the above-listed traits. Milk and blood samples were collected from 1271 cows (each sampled once) from 85 herds. Genotyping was performed using a custom Illumina VeraCode GoldenGate approach. A Bayesian linear animal model (including the effects of herd, days in milk, parity and additive polygenic effects) was used to estimate the genetic parameters of the studied traits. The same model with the addition of the SNP genotype effect was used for our association analysis. The heritability estimates of CFt and the MCF traits (RCTeq=0.258; kCF=0.230; CFmax=0.191; tmax=0.278) were similar to those obtained using traditional MCPs (0.187 to 0.267), except for the lower estimates for CFP (0.064) and kSR (0.077). A total of 13 of the 51 tested SNPs had relevant additive effects on at least one trait. We observed associations between MCPs and SNPs in the genes encoding ATP-binding cassette sub-family G member 2 (ABCG2), chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2), growth hormone 1 (GH1), prolactin (PRL) and toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2). Whereas, CFt and the MCF traits were associated with polymorphisms in the α-s1-casein (CSN1S1), β-casein (CSN2), GH1, oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor 1 (OLR1), phospholipase C β1 (PLCB1), PRL and signal transducer and activator of transcription 5A (STAT5A) genes.

The movement of sows (Sus scrofa domesticus) out of individual gestation stalls and into group housing can introduce new sources of stress due to the enhanced environmental and social complexity. Some sows may have the behavioral capacity to adapt to these changes better than others. However, little is known about individual differences in behavioral responses, or personality traits, in gestating sows and how they impact the animal’s ability to cope with group housing. The temporal consistency in the assessment of an animal’s behavior is a prerequisite to the establishment of personality traits and was addressed at an interval of approximately five months during two consecutive gestation periods in the present study. Forty-six group-housed sows from a commercially available genetic line were assessed for aggressive and social behaviors at mixing into a group, reaction to human approach, ease of handling, exploration of an open field, and reaction to a novel object. Principal component analysis revealed the presence of three traits accounting for over 60% of the variance in behaviors: aggressive/dominant, avoidant of humans and active/exploratory. Individual component scores were significantly correlated between pregnancies demonstrating temporal stability of trait assessment. Significant relationships were found between aggressive/dominant component scores and individual feed rank at electronic sow feeding stations and skin lesion scores, as well as between avoidant of humans component scores and average number of stillbirths per litter. These findings provide evidence for the temporal stability of distinct behaviors contributing to personality traits within a group of genetically similar sows and demonstrate how these traits may be useful in identifying individuals likely to succeed in group housing.