Within early lambing systems, there is a heavy reliance on concentrate feeding in late pregnancy. Therefore, the possibility of replacing conventional dietary ingredients (e.g. barley, fishmeal) with cheaper by-products, such as sugar beet pulp and brewers grains, is of particular interest. Pelleted distillers barley grains fed with molassed sugar beet nuts have been shown to be a suitable feed for pregnant ewes (Merrell and Hyslop, 1994). However, some health problems have been noted when feeding malt distillers wet grains (Vipond and Lewis, 1993). The objective of this trial was to investigate the effect of feeding grainbeet (a mix of 5 parts brewers grains to 1 part molassed sugar beet pulp) on ewe performance, colostrum production and lamb performance.

The feeding of lowland sheep on straw-based systems during pregnancy was developed at ADAS Rosemaund during the last decade (Davies and Chappie 1995). Results showed that ewe and lamb performance were satisfactory, providing adequate compound supplementation was fed. Whole barley and soya bean meal has been the standard ration, but feeds based on high protein molassed sugar beet feed (Probeet Trident Feed) and maize distiller's dark grains could improve palatability and be easier to feed. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects on ewe and lamb performance of feeding sugar beet feeds and maize distiller's dark grains to pregnant ewes on a straw-based feeding system.

Recently there has been increased interest in the effect of sire breed on the carcass characteristics of lambs. However, when breeding ewe replacements maternal characteristics are important. For example, an adequate supply of colostrum is vital to the newborn lamb in order to provide energy for heat production, and maternal antibodies for protection against infectious diseases. The objective of this study was to examine the effect on colostrum production of using a meat type ram rather than a milk type ram when producing crossbred ewes.

It is vital that lambs receive at least 50ml/kg body weight of colostrum as soon as possible after birth. Without this, the lamb will be deprived quickly of energy for thermoregulation, as well as antibody protection. Colostrum contains high levels of fats and lactose, proteins and vitamins; however the consistency and colour vary between individual animals. Little is known of the cause of these variations. This experiment aimed to examine whether there were breed, age, genotype and litter size differences in the fat and protein levels of ewe colostrum collected within one hour of parturition.

Perinatal lamb mortality remains a major economic and welfare concern in sheep farming with 80-90% of pre-weaning lamb losses occur in the immediate postnatal period (Haughey, 1993). One of the predominant factors in the death of neonatal lambs is failure of ewe-lamb bonding leading to delay or lack of sucking. Successful sucking requires the co-ordinated expression of appropriate behaviour from both the ewe and lamb. Previously we have demonstrated an interaction between ewe and lamb breed in the rate of successful sucking (Dwyer et al., 1996) with Blackface lambs having a higher rate than Suffolk lambs but also a higher rate with Suffolk ewes than with Blackface ewes. In the present study we investigated the role of ewe responses to lamb sucking attempts in determining the sucking success of neonatal lambs.

Fishmeal has been regarded as a valuable feedstuff for sheep as it supplies high levels of digestible undegradeable protein, however there is increasing consumer concern regarding the feeding of fishmeal to ruminants. The objective of this trial was to evaluate an alternative foodstuff based on 935g/kg protected soya, 15g/kg protected methionine (SmartamineTM) and 50g/kg yeast culture, Diamond V ‘XP’ yeast (FivexTM, Rumenco). The performance of silage fed pregnant ewes offered Fivex, was compared with similar ewes offered fishmeal with a barley based, 18% crude protein (CP) ration, as well as those offered a supplement based on rapeseed and soya, or rapeseed and soya with Diamond V ‘XP’ yeast culture.

The current E.U. Directive 95/29/EC allows the transport of sheep to slaughter for 14 h, then 1 h rest and a further 16 h. of travel. During the rest the sheep should have access to food and water. In this study, the welfare of sheep was monitored using physiological and behavioural measures during a journey in a commercial type road vehicle. Measures of body weight and meat quality were also made. The results were compared with those of three other studies.

Space allowance could be an important variable affecting production, health, reproductive performance and behaviour of dairy cattle. Also, high and low yielding cows may have different ways of coping with insufficient space allowance. The aim of this experiment was to study the influence of space allowance and milk yield level on the performance and behaviour of strawyard housed dairy cows.

The experiment was carried out using 24 Holstein Friesian cows with two groups in early lactation of high (over 30 kg/day milk yield) and two groups in late lactation of low yield (under 25 kg/day milk yield). The groups were allocated to strawyard systems with low stocking density (bed area/cow = 9 m2; pen area/cow = 13.5 m2; feed face width/cow = 1.5 m) or high stocking density (bed area/cow = 4.5 m2; pen area/cow = 6.75 m2; feed face width/cow = 0.75m) conforming to a changeover design with two periods, each of four weeks. The cows were fed a total mixed ration ad libitum and 2kg/cow/day of concentrate in the milking parlour. All animals were milked twice daily.

A wide range of measures have been employed in an attempt to determine social structure in groups of animals and different analyses of social behaviour may result in the construction of different hierarchies (Tomback et al. 1989). In order to investigate social aspects of welfare in group-housed sows it is important to establish a meaningful measure of group dynamics. We therefore wished to establish whether different measures of social status resulted in the construction of similar hierarchies in dry-sows housed in indoor or outdoor group-housing systems.

Flooring in the farrowing house has changed dramatically over the years from straw bedding on concrete to metal, cast iron or plastic slats. Animals can develop abrasion injuries from these floors (Edwards and Lightfoot, 1986) and sows have been shown to avoid slatted floors during and immediately after farrowing (Phillips et al., 1996). There is some evidence that providing a cushioning material in the pen could improve animal welfare (Gravas, 1979). The objectives of this study were to assess the effect of providing mats in the farrowing house on behaviour and lesion development in sows and piglets.

Nineteen sows and their litters housed on metal slatted floors (Tri-bar, Nooyen, Duerne, The Netherlands) and nineteen sows and their litters on mats (Productive Comfort, Pemarsa, S.A.) were included in the study. Mats were made of micro-cellular foam and were placed in the area of the farrowing crate and on both heat pads. Sows were examined in 34 locations for skin lesions on entry to the farrowing house and again at weaning, approximately four weeks later. Lesions were scored according to their severity (1 to 6); addition of scores yielded a total score for each sow.

Weaning is a time at which many different stressors are imposed on the piglet and poor health and performance are significant commercial problems. It is therefore important to understand which factors influence a piglet's adaptation to weaning, and how this might be improved. UK national recording scheme data demonstrate consistently better post-weaning performance for piglets from outdoor breeding herds than for indoor-bred piglets. There are many differences between the outdoor and indoor situation, and these are being systematically investigated. One potential difference which might influence the response to weaning is the greater degree of environmental and social diversity typically experienced by outdoor piglets during lactation.

Fifty-four sows and their litters were allocated according to farrowing date and parity to one of three enrichment treatments: treatments were (1) Control (C) in which litters remained in fully slatted farrowing pens with crates throughout lactation, (2) Socially enriched (SE) in which two adjacent litters were allowed to co-mingle from 12 days of age by removal of the dividing partition, and (3) Environmentally enriched (EE) in which piglets in similar housing were presented with a variety of small moveable objects and a rooting substrate.

A number of studies have been carried out on open pen farrowing systems and where these systems have appeared to function well, the minimum pen dimension has been 2.2m. The original pen system at ADAS Terrington had a maximum width of about 1.5m - the space occupied by a pen with a farrowing crate. The aim of this experiment was to determine whether increasing the pen width affected sow behaviour and production in a three-sow group farrowing system.

A total of 36 LW x Landrace sows of similar genetic stock (PIC, Abingdon, UK) and ranging from 1st to 7th parity were studied from 7 days before farrowing until 7 days after farrowing. The farrowing systems comprised three individual strawed pens, a communal passageway and an outdoor dunging area. Each pen had a heated creep at the rear and sloping walls along the sides of the pen with a piglet escape area at the bottom. Four replicates of 3 sows were studied in the Narrow Pen (width = 1.6m) treatment and eight replicates of 3 sows were studied in the Wide Pen (width = 2.4m) treatment.

Stockperson-directed aggression by the sow is a potential problem in open farrowing systems, but may have advantages for piglet survival. The aims of this study were to compare the levels of aggression exhibited in open and confined farrowing systems and to determine whether there was any relationship between aggression in the farrowing house, the responses of the sow in a human approach test during gestation and piglet survival.

A total of 62 LW x Landrace gilts (PIC, Abingdon, UK) were subjected to a standard approach test, followed by a test in which the experimenter approached the pig. At testing, approximately 6-8 weeks prior to parturition, each group of 3-5 gilts was moved to a handling area. Here, each gilt in turn was fitted with a heart rate monitor and moved to a 2.4m x 2.4m test arena. After 2 min acclimatisation, an unfamiliar experimenter entered the pen and stood for 3 min against one wall. After this, the experimenter approached the gilt and touched her on the snout. Behaviour and heart rate were recorded continuously.

The requirement for water of growing pigs in large groups has been neglected. Current MAFF recommendations suggest one nipple drinker per 10 pigs, while farmers have often used a ratio of 1 per 20 animals. Neither approach is based on empirical investigation. The relationship between group size and the number of drinking points can not be assumed to be linear. The aim was to assess group size and the two conflicting ratios of drinkers for their effect on welfare, as measured by production performance, drinking and social behaviour.

A total of 640 Large White x Landrace growing pigs (start weight 36kg) were housed in a fully slatted commercial grower house for five weeks. Four replicates were used and each animal was assigned to 1 of 4 treatments in a 2 x 2 factorial design of two group sizes (20 vs 60) and two ratios of nipple drinkers to pigs (1:10 vs 1:20). The groups of 20 comprised of pigs from 3 different pens, while 9 pens contributed to the groups of 60. The floor space per pig was maintained constant across treatments. Nine focal pigs (three each of heavy, medium and light weight) were selected from each pen.

Farrowing crates are widely used in commercial practice but restrict sow movement. Pens have therefore been developed which allow the sow greater freedom of movement but this may result in piglets being exposed to events likely to cause injury or death due to crushing. This is particularly the case immediately after farrowing. The behaviour of sows during lying and piglet aggregation behaviour may be factors contributing to these problems. We therefore wished to compare these behaviours and production performance in crates and oval pens.

The subjects were 18 Large White x Landrace sows; 10 farrowed in crates and 8 in oval pens (balanced for parity and time of year; c. half farrowed Aug. - Nov. 1996 and half April - July 1997). Sows entered the accommodation five days before the farrowing date. Feeding was manual, daily at 08.00h and 15.00h. Crates and oval pens were cleaned and shavings (crate) or straw (pen) were added daily. There was a piglet drinker in each accommodation and creep feed was available 14 days post-partum. Piglets were teeth-clipped and iron-injected within 48h post-partum.

One of the costs of living in a group is the imposition by certain group members of constraints on the behaviour of others (Mendl and Deag, 1995). This appears to be the case with feeding behaviour where individual pigs show a large number of small meals but group members have fewer larger meals (de Haer and de Vries, 1993). Morgan et al. (1997) found that grouped pigs given straw bedding had more smaller meals than those without, suggesting some alleviation of the group constraint. The aim of this experiment was to investigate if changing straw provision resulted in similar and reversible effects in this behaviour.

120 male pigs (40±0.4kg) were used in three blocks each with 4 pens of 10 pigs. In each block of 42d duration one pen had no straw throughout (treatment A); one pen had no straw for 21d (period 1) followed by straw for 21d (period 2)(B); one pen had straw followed by no straw(C) and one pen had straw throughout (D). The pens were situated in a naturally ventilated building with light from 0600 to 2000h.

Physiological parameters in rats have been shown to predict the outcome of a fight before the result is behaviourally apparent (Schuurman, 1980). In pigs, Marchant et al. (1995) have demonstrated that losing animals have higher heart rate values than winning ones during and just after agonistic interactions. The present study aimed to investigate at what stage differences in pig heart rate can be detected between animals which will lose and animals which will win an ensuing aggressive encounter.

Three groups of seven multiparious PIC Camborough sows were subjected to pair wise food competition tests, within groups. In each group all possible 21 pairs were tested. Sows had spent at least two weeks in their groups prior to testing and were normally fed in stalls.

The Codes of Recommendation for the Welfare of Livestock (pigs) recommends “Pigs should be kept in stable groups with as little mixing as possible”. In practice, mixing can not always be avoided, particularly towards the end of the finishing period. The present study investigated welfare aspects of mixing finishing pigs in two different types of accommodation.

A total of 240 finishing pigs (weight: 29.0 kg, SD=2.6 kg), housed in groups of ten, were subjected to a 2 x 4 factorial designed study. The factors were housing (two treatments) and mixing / moving (four treatments). The mixing treatments were applied at 55 and 75 kg average group weight, by either mixing half the group with half the pigs from another group in a pen unknown to both groups (MIX), or moving the pigs to a new pen (MOVE). The four mixing treatments therefore were: A (control). MOVE at 55 and 75 kg, B: MIX at 55 and MOVE at 75 kg, C: MOVE at 55 and MIX at 75 kg and D: MIX at 55 and 75 kg. The housing treatments were: scrape-through dunging area with strawed kennel (KEN) and strawed sloping floor without kennel (NO). Agonistic behaviour was recorded during the first two hours after MIX or MOVE, of four focal pigs in each group.

There has been concern about the stress involved in loading pigs into CO2 stunning units. Present systems suffer from the innate problem that it is a “stop-go” procedure. Therefore, studies were required to test alternative systems for improving loading of pigs into CO2 units and reduce distress caused to the animals.

The four alternative systems for loading pigs into CO2 stunning units tested in the lairage of a commercial plant on 1600 slaughter pigs were as follows:

• 1) Semicircular loading pen - direct individual feeding into a simulated CO2 entrance;

• 2) Semicircular loading pen - feeding individuals into a simulated CO2 entrance through a single file race;

• 3) Semicircular loading pen - feeding animals into a twin race ending with a flap gate allowing exit of one animal at a time;

• 4) Loading pen (no swing gate) and a twin race ending with a flap gate allowing single exit.

Considering that most CO2 handling systems have to restrict entry of pigs into units, both restricted and unrestricted entry to the simulated gas unit was tested in our evaluation.

Lameness in the dairy cow results in large financial losses to the industry and severely compromises the welfare of the cows affected. A large proportion of lameness involves haemorrhage and lesions of the solar horn of the hoof. Deterioration of hoof horn quality may involve inadequate keratinisation, with differences in the amount of specific keratins present in the horn. Few studies of the keratin composition of solar horn have been carried out. The present study examines specifically the expression of the type I, acidic cytokeratin 9 (CK9). since this protein appears to be a major constituent of hardened epidermal structures. In human epidermal studies, CK9 has only been identified in the calloused palmar and plantar sites (Langbein et al, 1993). A comparable cytokeratin has been demonstrated in the epidermis of the bovine heel pad, but not at other body sites studied (Knapp et al, 1986). CK9 has not previously been reported in the solar horn.

Bovine hoof soles from adult cows were obtained from abattoirs. Samples of cornified Stratum comeum material from below the pedal bone (the commonest site of solar lesions) were taken and the proteins extracted in 8M urea.