To investigate the extent to which the level of androstenone and skatole decreases with a decrease in live weight and/or age at slaughter of entire male pigs produced under organic standards, 1174 entire male pigs were raised in parallel in five organic herds, distributed across four batches in summer and winter. The median androstenone level was high for organic entire male pigs (1.9 µg/g), but varied greatly both within and between herds. Median skatole level was 0.05 µg/g, also with a wide range both within and between herds. Decreasing live weight over the range of 110±15.6 kg s.d. was found to decrease androstenone as well as skatole concentration, however, with different patterns of association. Age did not have significant direct effect on either androstenone or skatole levels. Androstenone levels were higher during winter than summer (P<0.0001), but no difference in skatole was found between seasons. The study concludes that decreasing live weight at slaughter could be an applicable management tool to reduce risk of boar taint and the level of tainted carcasses for a future production of entire male pigs within the organic pig production system, although further studies are needed as great variation in boar taint was found also for low weight animals.

This paper aims to contribute to the development of a cost-effective alternative to expensive on-farm animal-based welfare assessment systems. The objective of the study was to design an animal welfare index based on central database information (DBWI), and to validate it against an animal welfare index based on-farm animal-based measurements (AWI). Data on 63 Danish sow herds with herd-sizes of 80 to 2500 sows and an average herd size of 501 were collected from three central databases containing: Meat inspection data collected at animal level in the abattoir, mortality data at herd level from the rendering plants of DAKA, and medicine records at both herd and animal group level (sow with piglets, weaners or finishers) from the central database Vetstat. Selected measurements taken from these central databases were used to construct the DBWI. The relative welfare impacts of both individual database measurements and the databases overall were assigned in consultation with a panel consisting of 12 experts. The experts were drawn from production advisory activities, animal science and in one case an animal welfare organization. The expert panel weighted each measurement on a scale from 1 (not-important) to 5 (very important). The experts also gave opinions on the relative weightings of measurements for each of the three databases by stating a relative weight of each database in the DBWI. On the basis of this, the aggregated DBWI was normalized. The aggregation of AWI was based on weighted summary of herd prevalence’s of 20 clinical and behavioural measurements originating from a 1 day data collection. AWI did not show linear dependency of DBWI. This suggests that DBWI is not suited to replace an animal welfare index using on-farm animal-based measurements.

Over the past 23 years (1990 to 2012), French beef cattle farms have expanded in size and increased labour productivity by over 60%, chiefly, though not exclusively, through capital intensification (labour–capital substitution) and simplifying herd feeding practices (more concentrates used). The technical efficiency of beef sector production systems, as measured by the ratio of the volume value (in constant euros) of farm output excluding aids to volume of intermediate consumption, has fallen by nearly 20% while income per worker has held stable thanks to subsidies and the labour productivity gains made. This aggregate technical efficiency of beef cattle systems is positively correlated to feed self-sufficiency, which is in turn negatively correlated to farm and herd size. While volume of farm output per hectare of agricultural area has not changed, forage feed self-sufficiency decreased by 6 percentage points. The continual increase in farm size and labour productivity has come at a cost of lower production-system efficiency – a loss of technical efficiency that 20 years of genetic, technical, technological and knowledge-driven progress has barely managed to offset.

Quality of pork depends on genotype, rearing and pre- and post-slaughter conditions. However, no information is available on rearing system changes and oleic acid supplementation on carcass characteristics and fatty acid (FA) profile of pork from the Alentejano (AL) pig, an obese breed. This study evaluates the effects of feeding low (LO) or high oleic acid diets (HO) to AL pigs reared in individual pens (IND) or outdoor (OUT) with access to pasture. Carcass composition was obtained and longissimus dorsi and semimembranosus samples were collected to analyse chemical composition and neutral and polar intramuscular lipids FA profile by gas chromatography. Statistical analysis was performed by a two-way ANOVA for rearing system and diet effects. OUT-reared pigs presented leaner carcasses than IND-reared ones. Both muscles presented lower intramuscular lipid content in OUT-reared pigs. Treatments affected the FA profile of muscles. Overall, OUT-reared pigs presented lower n-6/n-3 FA ratios, whereas pigs fed the HO diet exhibited lower saturated fatty acids (SFA), higher monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) levels and lower thrombogenic indexes on neutral intramuscular lipids than LO-fed pigs. On the polar fraction, OUT-reared pigs presented lower SAT and n-6/n-3 FA ratio, and higher polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) levels on both muscles. Pigs fed the HO diet exhibited higher MUFA and lower PUFA levels on both muscles, and lower SAT levels on semimembranosus. This study shows rearing system and oleic acid supplementation have complementary effects and influence carcass composition and the nutritional quality of meat.

The major impact of the livestock sector on the environment may be reduced by feeding agricultural co-products to animals. Since the last decade, co-products from biodiesel production, such as rapeseed meal (RSM), became increasingly available in Europe. Consequently, an increase in RSM content in livestock diets was observed at the expense of soybean meal (SBM) content. Cultivation of SBM is associated with high environmental impacts, especially when emissions related to land use change (LUC) are included. This study aims to assess the environmental impact of replacing SBM with RSM in finishing pig diets. As RSM has a lower nutritional value, we assessed the environmental impact of replacing SBM with RSM using scenarios that differed in handling changes in nutritional level. Scenario 1 (S1) was the basic scenario containing SBM. In scenario 2 (S2), RSM replaced SBM based on CP content, resulting in reduced energy and amino acid content, and hence an increased feed intake to realize the same growth rate. The diet of scenario 3 (S3) was identical to S2; however, we assumed that pigs were not able to increase their feed intake, leading to reduced growth performance. In scenario 4 (S4), the energy and amino acid content were increased to the same level of S1. Pig performances were simulated using a growth model. We analyzed the environmental impact of each scenario using life-cycle assessment, including processes of feed production, manure management, piglet production, enteric fermentation and housing. Results show that, expressed as per kg of BW, replacing SBM with RSM in finishing pig diets marginally decreased global warming potential (GWP) and energy use (EU) but decreased land use (LU) up to 12%. Between scenarios, S3 had the maximum potential to reduce the environmental impact, due to a lower impact per kg of feed and an increased body protein-to-lipid ratio of the pigs, resulting in a better feed conversion ratio. Optimization of the body protein-to-lipid ratio, therefore, might result in a reduced environmental impact of pig production. Furthermore, the impact of replacing SBM with RSM changed only marginally when emissions related to direct (up to 2.9%) and indirect LUC (up to 2.5%) were included. When we evaluated environmental impacts of feed production only, which implies excluding other processes along the chain as is generally found in the literature, GWP decreased up to 10%, including LUC, EU up to 5% and LU up to 16%.

The aim of this study was to compare a fully slatted concrete floor (concrete slatted (CS)) with the same floor on which synthetic rubber slats were placed on the concrete slats (rubber slatted (RS)) as housing solution for finishing beef cattle. The present study involved five commercial beef cattle farms in which the floor of at least three pens was kept as fully slatted, and in an equal number of pens a rubber cover was placed on the floor, tightly matching the gap profile of the concrete slats to allow the drainage of manure. A total of 326 finishing beef bulls were used (153 on CS and 173 on RS), and regardless of the floor treatment animals were housed in groups of 6 to 12 bulls/pen with a space allowance of 3.1±0.2 m2/bull. Bulls had similar initial live weights (422.3 kg on CS and 425.0 kg on RS), but bulls on RS were heavier at the end of the finishing period with a higher average daily gain than bulls kept on CS (1.53 v. 1.46 kg/day; P<0.05). The proportion of bulls treated for locomotor problems was lower in RS pens compared with CS. Rubber covering prevented the occurrence of bursitis, but it increased the odds for hoof overgrowth at end of the finishing period. Hoof overgrowth detected in vivo in bulls on RS was confirmed at the slaughterhouse by the longer dorsal wall and diagonal lengths of the hoof as well as by a more acute toe angle. Compared with bulls on CS, bulls on RS showed less inactivity and resting time, increased social interactions, decreased abnormal lying down and unsuccessful attempts to lie down, as well as shortened the time for lying down. Bulls in RS pens were dirtier compared with those in CS pens, likely due to the draining gaps being reduced to 11.6±1.2% of the total pen surface compared with the 16.9±1.7% in CS pens. This study gave further evidence about the positive effects of the RS floor on growth performance and welfare of finishing beef cattle, although compromising cleanliness and hoof overgrowth.

Animals perceiving repeated aversive events can become chronically stressed. Chronic activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis can have deleterious consequences on physiological parameters (e.g. BW, blood chemistry) and behaviour (e.g. emotional reactivity, stereotypies, cognition). Environmental enrichment (EE) can be a mean to reduce animal stress and to improve welfare. The aim of this study was first, to assess the effects of EE in battery cages on the behaviour of young Japanese quail and second, to evaluate the impact of EE on quail exposed to chronic stress. The experiment involved quail housed in EE cages and submitted or not to a chronic stress procedure (CSP) (EE cages, control quail: n=16, CSP quail: n=14) and quail housed in standard cages and exposed or not to the CSP (standard non-EE cages, control quail: n=12, CSP quail: n=16). Our procedure consisted of repeated aversive events (e.g. ventilators, delaying access to food, physical restraint, noise) presented two to five times per 24 h, randomly, for 15 days. During CSP, EE improved quail’s welfare as their stereotypic pacing decreased and they rested more. CSP decreased exploration in all quail. After the end of CSP, quail presented increased emotional reactivity in emergence test. However, the effect of EE varied with test. Finally, chronic stress effects on comfort behaviours in the emergence test were alleviated by EE. These results indicate that EE can alleviate some aspects of behavioural alterations induced by CSP.

At 34 days of age, 376 crossbred rabbits of both sexes were housed in 16 open-top collective pens (1.68 m2) according to a 2×2×2 factorial arrangement with two types of pen floor (plastic v. wooden slatted), two stocking densities (12 v. 16 animals/m2) and two slaughter ages (76 v. 83 days). The rabbits were examined for growth performance, slaughter results and meat quality. The effect of gender was also examined. The percentage of rabbits with wounds due to aggression varied with stocking density (8.2% v. 26.2% for 12 v. 16 animals/m2; P⩽0.001), slaughter age (15.0% v. 22.0% at 76 v. 83 days; P⩽0.10) and gender (11.3% v. 25.8% for females v. males; P⩽0.001). Rearing rabbits on a plastic rather than a wooden slatted floor promoted slaughter weight (2795 v. 2567 g; P⩽0.001), dressing percentage (61.4% v. 60.9%; P⩽0.01), dissectible fat (2.4% v. 2.0%; P⩽0.01) and hind leg muscle-to-bone ratio (5.81 v. 5.35; P⩽0.001). Increased stocking density impaired daily growth (38.5 v. 35.9 g/day; P⩽0.05) and feed intake (140 v. 134 g/day; P⩽0.01) during the second period (55 days to slaughter) and decreased slaughter weight (2725 v. 2637 g; P⩽0.01). At the older slaughter age, the feed conversion ratio was impaired (2.98 v. 3.18; P⩽0.001); the slaughter weight (2574 g v. 2788 g; P⩽0.001), dissectible fat (2.0% v. 2.4%; P⩽0.01) and hind leg muscle-to-bone ratio (5.41 v. 5.75; P⩽0.01) increased; meat thawing losses, cooking losses and shear force decreased (P⩽0.05). The main differences between the females and males were found in the slaughter for transport losses (2.6% v. 2.2%; P⩽0.01) and longissimus lumborum proportions (13.0% v. 12.4%; P⩽0.01). In conclusion, the growth performance of pen-housed rabbits was largely determined by the type of floor and less affected by stocking density. The meat quality depended on ontogenetic factors, such as slaughter age and gender, and not on housing conditions. The differences in the percentages of wounded animals owing to experimental factors deserve further investigation from the perspective of animal welfare issues.

Hypothermia, experienced by piglets, has been related to piglet deaths and high and early use of a heated creep area is considered important to prevent hypothermia. The aims of the present study were to investigate how a newly invented radiant heat source, eHeat, would affect piglets’ use of the creep area and whether light in the creep area works as an attractant on piglets. A total of 39 sows, divided between two batches, were randomly distributed to three heat source treatments: (1) standard infrared heat lamp (CONT, n=19), (2) eHeat with light (EL, n=10) and (3) eHeat without light (ENL, n=10). Recordings of piglets’ use of the creep area were made as scan sampling every 10 min for 3 h during two periods, one in daylight (0900 to 1200 h) and one in darkness (2100 to 2400 h), on day 1, 2, 3, 7, 14 and 21 postpartum. On the same days, piglets were weighted. Results showed an interaction between treatment and observation period (P<0.05) with a lower use of the creep area during darkness compared with daylight for CONT and EL litters, but not for ENL litters. Piglets average daily weight gain was not affected by treatment, but was positively correlated with piglets’ birth weight and was lower in batch 1 compared with batch 2. Seen from the present results, neither eHeat nor light worked as an attractant on piglets; in contrast, piglets preferred to sleep in the dark and it would therefore be recommended to turn off the light in the creep area during darkness. Heating up the creep area without light can be accomplished by using a radiant heat source such as eHeat in contrast to the normally used light-emitting infrared heat lamp.

In pig production, piglets are tail docked at birth in order to prevent tail biting later in life. In order to examine the effects of tail docking and docking length on the formation of neuromas, we used 65 pigs and the following four treatments: intact tails (n=18); leaving 75% (n=17); leaving 50% (n=19); or leaving 25% (n=11) of the tail length on the pigs. The piglets were docked between day 2 and 4 after birth using a gas-heated apparatus, and were kept under conventional conditions until slaughter at 22 weeks of age, where tails were removed and examined macroscopically and histologically. The tail lengths and diameters differed at slaughter (lengths: 30.6±0.6; 24.9±0.4; 19.8±0.6; 8.7±0.6 cm; P<0.001; tail diameter: 0.5±0.03; 0.8±0.02; 1.0±0.03; 1.4±0.04 cm; P<0.001, respectively). Docking resulted in a higher proportion of tails with neuromas (64 v. 0%; P<0.001), number of neuromas per tail (1.0±0.2 v. 0; P<0.001) and size of neuromas (1023±592 v. 0 μm; P<0.001). The results show that tail docking piglets using hot-iron cautery causes formation of neuromas in the outermost part of the tail tip. The presence of neuromas might lead to altered nociceptive thresholds, which need to be confirmed in future studies.

A meta-analysis on the effects of management and animal-based factors on the performance and feed efficiency of growing pigs can provide information on single factor and interaction effects absent in individual studies. This study analysed the effects of such factors on average daily gain (ADG), feed intake (FI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of grower and finisher pigs. The multivariate models identified significant effects of: (1) bedding (P<0.01), stage of growth (P<0.001) and the interaction bedding×lysine (P<0.001) on ADG. ADG was higher on straw compared with no bedding (710 v. 605 g/day). (2) FI was significantly affected by stage of growth (P<0.01), bedding (P<0.01), group composition (P<0.05), group size (P<0.01), feed CP content (P<0.01), ambient temperature (P<0.01) and the interaction between floor space and feed energy content (P<0.001). Pigs housed on straw had a lower FI in comparison with those without (1.44 v. 2.04 kg/day); a higher FI was seen for pigs separated by gender in comparison with mixed groups (2.05 v. 1.65 kg/day); FI had a negative linear relationship with group size, the CP content of the feed and ambient temperature. (3) Stage of growth (P<0.001), feed CP (P<0.001) and lysine content (P<0.001), ambient temperature (P<0.001) and feed crude fibre (CF) content (P<0.01) significantly affected FCR; there were no significant interactions between any factors on this trait. There was an improvement in FCR at higher ambient temperatures, increased feed CP and lysine content, but a deterioration of FCR at higher CF contents. For ADG, the interaction of bedding×lysine was caused by pigs housed without bedding (straw) having higher ADG when on a feed lower in lysine, whereas those with bedding had a higher ADG when on a feed higher in lysine. Interaction effects on FI were caused by animals with the least amount of floor space having a higher FI when given a feed with a low metabolisable energy (ME) content, in contrast to all other pigs, which showed a higher FI with increased ME content. The meta-analysis confirmed the significant effect of several well-known factors on the performance and efficiency of grower and finisher pigs, the effects of some less established ones and, importantly, the interactions between such factors.

In ruminants, methane (CH4) is a by-product of digestion and contributes significantly to the greenhouse gas emissions attributed to agriculture. Grazed grass is a relatively cheap and nutritious feed but herbage species and nutritional quality vary between pastures, with management, land type and season all potentially impacting on animal performance and CH4 production. The objective of this study was to evaluate performance and compare CH4 emissions from cattle of dairy and beef origin grazing two grassland ecosystems: lowland improved grassland (LG) and upland semi-natural grassland (UG). Forty-eight spring-born beef cattle (24 Holstein–Friesian steers, 14 Charolais crossbred steers and 10 Charolais crossbred heifers of 407 (s.d. 29), 469 (s.d. 36) and 422 (s.d. 50) kg BW, respectively), were distributed across two balanced groups that grazed the UG and LG sites from 1 June to 29 September at stocking rates (number of animals per hectare) of 1.4 and 6.7, respectively. Methane emissions and feed dry matter (DM) intake were estimated by the SF6 tracer and n-alkane techniques, respectively, and BW was recorded across three experimental periods that reflected the progression of the grazing season. Overall, cattle grazed on UG had significantly lower (P<0.001) mean daily DM intake (8.68 v. 9.55 kg/day), CH4 emissions (176 v. 202 g/day) and BW gain (BWG; 0.73 v. 1.08 kg/day) than the cattle grazed on LG but there was no difference (P>0.05) in CH4 emissions per unit of feed intake when expressed either on a DM basis (20.7 and 21.6 g CH4 per kg DM intake for UG and LG, respectively) or as a percentage of the gross energy intake (6.0% v. 6.5% for UG and LG, respectively). However, cattle grazing UG had significantly (P<0.001) greater mean daily CH4 emissions than those grazing LG when expressed relative to BWG (261 v. 197 g CH4/kg, respectively). The greater DM intake and BWG of cattle grazing LG than UG reflected the poorer nutritive value of the UG grassland. Although absolute rates of CH4 emissions (g/day) were lower from cattle grazing UG than LG, cattle grazing UG would be expected to take longer to reach an acceptable finishing weight, thereby potentially off-setting this apparent advantage. Methane emissions constitute an adverse environmental impact of grazing by cattle but the contribution of cattle to ecosystem management (i.e. promoting biodiversity) should also be considered when evaluating the usefulness of different breeds for grazing semi-natural or unimproved grassland.

The expertise and knowledge of veterinary advisors on improving animal health management is key towards a better herd health status. However, veterinary advisors are not always aware of the goals and priorities of dairy farmers. To dairy farmers animal health is only one aspect of farm management and resources may be allocated to other more preferred areas. Veterinary advisors may experience this as non-compliant with their advice. To explore the preferences of European Union (EU) organic dairy farmers for improved animal health management relative to other farm management areas an adaptive conjoint analysis (ACA) was performed. A total of 215 farmers participated originating from organic dairy farms in France (n=70), Germany (n=60), Spain (n=28) and Sweden (n=57). The management areas udder health and claw health represented animal health management whereas barn, calf and pasture management represented potential conflicting management areas. Results indicate that EU organic dairy farmers differ in their preferences for improved animal health management within the farming system. In general, improved calf management was the most preferred area and improved claw health management was found to be least preferred, the remaining areas were of intermediate interest. Cluster analyses on claw health measures and udder health measures resulted in respectively seven and nine distinct preference profiles. The results indicate a high degree of variation in farmers’ preference, which cannot be explained by the typical herd characteristics. With the individual preferences revealed by ACA, a veterinary advisor can now find out whether his intended advice is directed at a favourable or unfavourable management area of the farmer. If the latter is the case the veterinarian should first create awareness of the problem to the farmer. Insights in individual farmers preferences will allow veterinary advisors to better understand why farmers were incompliant with their advice and improve their advice by showing, for example, the potential benefits of their advice.

Behavioural and cardiac responses of multiparous dairy cows (n=24) during milking in a 2×4 stall herringbone milking system were evaluated in this study. Heart rate (HR), parasympathetic tone index (high frequency component, HF) of heart rate variability and sympathovagal balance indicator LF/HF ratio (the ratio of the low frequency (LF) and the HF component) were analysed. Measurement periods were established as follows: (1) standing calm (baseline), (2) udder preparation, (3) milking, (4) waiting after milking in the milking stall and (5) in the night (2 h after milking). Step behaviour was recorded and calculated per minute for the three phases of the milking process (udder preparation, milking and waiting after milking). HR was higher during udder preparation and milking compared with baseline (P=0.03, 0.027, respectively). HF was significantly lower than baseline levels during waiting in the milking stall after milking (P=0.009), however, during udder preparation, milking and 2 h after milking did not differ from baseline (P>0.05, in either case). LF/HF during the three phases of the milking process differed neither from baseline levels nor from each other. Steps occurred more often during waiting after milking than during udder preparation (P=0.042) or during milking (23; P=0.017). Our results suggest that the milking procedure itself was not stressful for these animals. After milking (following the removal of the last teat cup and before leaving the milking stall), both decreased parasympathetic tone (lower HF) and increased stepping rate indicated a sensitive period for animals during this phase.

Production of entire male pigs could be a future strategy for organic pig production. However, production of entire males leads to increased risk of carcasses with elevated boar taint levels. It is hypothesized that skatole levels in pig meat are affected by faecal soiling and that organic housing facilities can increase the risk of pigs being heavily soiled. Therefore, the overall aim of this study was to investigate if increased pig and pen soiling increases skatole concentration in entire male pigs. In five herds, 1174 organic entire male pigs were reared in four batches across two seasons, summer and winter. Measurements of pig and pen soiling, as well as fat skatole and androstenone concentration and human nose sensory tests of fat odour, were performed. Skatole and androstenone concentrations varied greatly within and between herds with a 10% and 90% percentile for the overall population of 0.02 and 2.25 µg/g for skatole and 0.53 and 4.84 µg/g for androstenone. Human nose positive tests averaged 18.3% with great variation between herds and seasons. Pen soiling had significant effects on pig soiling. Moreover, outdoor pen soiling significantly affected skatole concentration in interactions with herd and season (P<0.001 and P=0.003) and affected human nose positive risk in interaction with herd (P=0.005). Soiling on indoor pen areas did not affect skatole levels and no effect on androstenone was found for any pen area. Soiling of pigs affected both skatole and androstenone levels, with the size of the head and abdomen body areas covered in manure showing significant positive effects on skatole concentration. No effect of density of the manure layer was found on either boar taint measure. Herd significantly affected both skatole and androstenone in fat as well as the human nose positive risk. The human nose test revealed no effect from pig soiling. A large variation in the different boar taint measures was found for both high and low scores of pen and pig soiling, and only a small difference in skatole and androstenone concentrations between the high and low soiling categories was found. Therefore, while increasing the hygiene management could be a strategy for reducing boar taint in production of organic entire male pigs, it should be emphasized that other factors would also need to be considered.

Two experiments were conducted to assess preference by sheep for endophyte-infected tall fescue growing in monoculture at least 5 m away from alfalfa (fescue-middle (FM)) over endophyte-infected tall fescue growing adjacent (0.2 to 1 m; fescue–alfalfa (FA)) to alfalfa (FA), and the effect of legume scent on preference for endophyte-infected tall fescue. In Experiment 1, 10 six-month-old lambs were offered for 12 days a choice of freshly harvested FA and FM. On days 13 and 14, lambs were offered the same choice, except cages (to allow access only to scent) containing freshly harvested alfalfa were put in the feeders containing FA, whereas cages containing freshly harvested FM were included with the feeders containing FM. Forage intake was measured 1 h after feeding and at three consecutive 2-h intervals thereafter. FA contained greater (P<0.002) concentrations of the alkaloid ergovaline (360±27 ppm) and CP (8±0.4%) than FM (219±27 ppm and 6±0.4%, respectively). Lambs preferred (P<0.05) FA to FM during the 1st hour of feeding, but the differences became smaller and disappeared in later feeding periods (P<0.005). Lambs offered FA with alfalfa scent or FM with FM scent preferred (P<0.05) FA but only on the 2nd day. In Experiment 2, 10 six-month-old lambs were offered a choice of FM with cages (to allow access only to scent) containing freshly harvested alfalfa or FM for 8 days. During the following 4 days, FM in the cages was replaced with freshly harvested sainfoin. Preference was greater (P<0.05) for FM offered with alfalfa scent than for FM offered with FM scent only on days 4 and 8. When lambs were offered FM with alfalfa or sainfoin in cages, they preferred (P<0.05) tall fescue with sainfoin scent over fescue with alfalfa scent, but intake was variable across hours and days (P<0.001). It is concluded that (1) lambs adjusted their intake of and preference for FA and FM over successive feeding bouts within each day, likely owing to an attempt to balance intakes of nutrients and alkaloids and (2) olfactory cues influenced preference, but to a lesser extent than nutrients and alkaloids in endophyte-infected tall fescue.

A better understanding of how livestock respond to weather is essential to enable farming to adapt to a changing climate. Climate change is mainly expected to impact dairy cattle through heat stress and an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events. We investigated the effects of weather on milk yield and composition (fat and protein content) in an experimental dairy herd in Scotland over 21 years. Holstein Friesian cows were either housed indoors in winter and grazed over the summer or were continuously housed. Milk yield was measured daily, resulting in 762 786 test day records from 1369 individuals, and fat and protein percentage were sampled once a week, giving 89 331 records from 1220 cows/trait. The relative influence of 11 weather elements, measured from local outdoor weather stations, and two indices of temperature and humidity (THI), indicators of heat stress, were compared using separate maximum likelihood models for each element or index. Models containing a direct measure of temperature (dry bulb, wet bulb, grass or soil temperature) or a THI provided the best fits to milk yield and fat data; wind speed and the number of hours of sunshine were most important in explaining protein content. Weather elements summarised across a week’s timescale from the test day usually explained milk yield and fat content better than shorter-scale (3 day, test day, test day −1) metrics. Then, examining a subset of key weather variables using restricted maximum likelihood, we found that THI, wind speed and the number of hours of sunshine influenced milk yield and composition. The shape and magnitude of these effects depended on whether animals were inside or outside on the test day. The milk yield of cows outdoors was lower at the extremes of THI than at average values, and the highest yields were obtained when THI, recorded at 0900 h, was 55 units. Cows indoors decreased milk yield as THI increased. Fat content was lower at higher THIs than at intermediate THIs in both environments. Protein content decreased as THI increased in animals kept indoors and outdoors, and the rate of decrease was greater when animals were outside than when they were inside. Moderate wind speeds appeared to alleviate heat stress. These results show that milk yield and composition are impacted at the upper extreme of THI under conditions currently experienced in Scotland, where animals have so far experienced little pressure to adapt to heat stress.

Until the turn of the century, farmers in West Africa considered cotton to be the ‘white gold’ for their livelihoods. Large fluctuations in cotton prices have led farmers to innovate into other business including dairy. Yet the productivity of cows fed traditional diets is very poor, especially during the long dry season. This study combines earlier published results of farmer participatory experiments with simulation modelling to evaluate the lifetime productivity of cows under varying feeding strategies and the resulting economic performance at farm level. We compared the profitability of cotton production to the innovation of dairy. The results show that milk production of the West African Méré breed could be expanded if cows are supplemented and kept stall-fed during the dry season. This option seems to be profitable for better-off farmers, but whether dairy will replace (some of) the role of cotton as the white gold for these smallholder farmers will depend on the cross price elasticity of cotton and milk. Farmers may (partly) replace cotton production for fodder production to produce milk if the price of cotton remains poor (below US$0.35/kg) and the milk price relatively strong (higher than US$0.38/kg). Price ratios need to remain stable over several seasons given the investments required for a change in production strategy. Furthermore, farmers will only seize the opportunity to engage in dairy if marketing infrastructure and milk markets are further developed.

A feeding station is the area of forage a grazing animal can reach without moving its forefeet. Grazing behavior can be divided into residence within feeding stations (with bites as benefits) and movement between feeding stations (with steps as costs). However, relatively little information has been reported on how grazing animals modify their feeding station behavior seasonally and interannually in response to varying environmental conditions. The feeding station behavior of beef cows (Japanese Black) stocked on a tropical grass pasture (bahiagrass dominant) was monitored for 4 years (2010 to 2013) in order to investigate the association of feeding station behavior with meteorological and sward conditions across the seasons and years. Mean air temperature during stocking often exceeded 30°C during summer months. A severe summer drought in 2013 decreased herbage mass and sward height of the pasture and increased nitrogen concentration of herbage from summer to autumn. A markedly high feeding station number per unit foraging time, low bite numbers per feeding station and a low bite rate were observed in summer 2013 compared with the other seasons and years. Bite number per feeding station was explained by a multiple regression equation, where sward height and dry matter digestibility of herbage had a positive effect, whereas air temperature during stocking had a negative effect (R2=0.658, P<0.01). Feeding station number per minute was negatively correlated with bite number per feeding station (r=–0.838, P<0.001). It was interpreted that cows modified bite number per feeding station in response to the sward and meteorological conditions, and this largely determined the number of feeding stations the animals visited per minute. The results indicate potential value of bite number per feeding station as an indicator of daily intake in grazing animals, and an opportunity for livestock and pasture managers to control feeding station behavior of animals through managements (e.g. fertilizer application, manipulation of stocking intensity and stocking time within the day).

Play behaviour has been proposed as a measure of good welfare in growing animals and locomotor play by calves is often reduced after weaning off milk. Adjusting weaning age according to individual calves’ abilities to eat solid feed maintains energy intake and weight gain during weaning. We investigated the effects of this method of weaning on locomotor play of calves and the relationship between locomotor play and energy intake and weight gains. We measured the running behaviour of 56 Holstein heifer calves before and after weaning. Calves were housed in groups of eight, fed milk, grain starter and hay from automated feeders. Weaning began when their voluntary intake of grain starter reached either 200 or 400 g/day, and weaning was completed when starter intake reached either 800 or 1600 g/day. Before weaning, older calves ran less than young ones; and the duration of running correlated with weight gains and digestible energy intake. Immediately after weaning, digestible energy intake and locomotor play decreased but no correlation was observed between these variables. One week after weaning, the duration of running was correlated with both energy intake and weight gain. Digestible energy intake increased but locomotor play continued to decrease. The amount of running a calf does after weaning partly reflects energy intake and weight gain, supporting suggestions that locomotor play is good indicator of welfare and fitness of growing animals. However, the decline in locomotor play following weaning is not solely due to decreased energy intake.