The semi-arid Hindu-Kush-Karakoram-Himalayan region of Pakistan covers 72,000 sq km with a rainfall of 100-400 mm per year5. Limited arable land and water scarcity have made subsistence farming the dominant agro-pastoral farming system. Each household keeps a range of ruminant livestock species such as goats, cattle, sheep, donkeys and yaks their proportion in the herd are 0.53, 0.23, 0.19, 0.03 and 0.02 respectively. In winter, livestock are confined and stall-fed on stored roughages or grazed on marginal lands and fallow agricultural fields close to the villages. The aim of this study was to quantify nutritional inputs in terms of metabolisable energy resources, and to compare these with ME requirements of the animals for maintenance over winter.

During the Soviet era, state or collective farms on the rangelands of Kazakstan moved livestock between winter, spring, summer and autumn pastures in different ecological zones. By the end of the Soviet era, livestock production was still based partly on the traditional migratory system, but had become heavily dependent on supplementary winter feed over the harsh winters. When the majority of former state and collective farms became cooperatives in the mid 1990s, they retained the same management structure, but individuals became members of the cooperatives or had the right to a share of the assets (e.g. livestock, machinery, access to land) and become private farmers. Many individuals, who remained cooperative members and are not private farmers, still keep private livestock. There are, in addition, an increasing number of private farmers. Most flock owners cannot now afford to follow a four-season migratory system of sheep management nor to obtain sufficient winter feed of good quality. Small-scale flock owners with less than about one hundred sheep lack the resources (e.g. family labour, transport) to move animals the long distance between the different pastures. There has been a large decrease in sheep numbers and there is now excess pasture in all ecological zones, as many sheep now spend the whole year within 10 km of the home village or private farm. However they need to be supplied with winter fodder since the vegetation ceases to grow in autumn and is often covered in snow from December to March. The aim of the present study was to determine current management practices and their effects on sheep productivity.

Attempts to improve the productivity of farm animals in developing countries have often been thwarted by the inappropriateness of the technologies to the conditions in the recipient countries. The reasons for the successes and failures are numerous, among them the degree of participation of the client farmers testing technologies, government policy, the strengths of the extension service and the prices of inputs and outputs. A study was conducted between 1990 and 1995 in Iraq, Jordan and Syria that aimed to assess the potential for adoption of a number of technologies which were known to improve sheep productivity. The technologies were tested at the farm level under the supervision of researchers in the three national programs.

Poultry diets and production Poultry diets in northern Europe are composed of relatively high quality ingredients, consisting primarily of wheat and soyabean meal with smaller quantities of barley, peas, beans, rapeseed meal and sunflower meals. The cereal component is usually from the less expensive residual material from human use and as a result the quality of the ingredients tend to vary in nutritional value. The major cost of production of poultry resides with the diet (around 60-70%). Thus, strategies that reduce dietary costs, and increase the efficiency of utilisation of nutrients have important implications in the production of poultry. The major types of poultry production in Europe consists of chicken, turkey and laying hens (6.2Mt chicken meat, 1.8Mt turkey meat, 5.1Mt eggs, from a total of 33.9Mt of meat). Thus poultry products, including eggs, accounts for about 39% of meat products and therefore assumes significant financial importance (FAO, 2002).

The value of auditory enrichment for psychological well-being has been studied in a variety of species, including birds, cattle, horses and primates. To date the effect of auditory stimulation on the behaviour of dogs housed in rescue shelters is unknown. Rescue shelters provide temporary housing for thousands of stray and abandoned dogs every year. However well these dogs are cared for, it cannot be ignored that being in such a situation is stressful. Research suggests that music may be a useful moderator of stress in humans. The question remains as to whether auditory stimulation has such a beneficial effect in dogs. This study investigated the behaviour of sheltered dogs in response to five types of auditory stimulation to determine whether the dogs’ behaviour was influenced by their auditory environment.

The ASL (Local Sanitary Agency) dog pound in Milan is a sanitary structure where stray dogs (dogs which have run away from their owners, abandoned dogs and free ranging dogs) are housed after being found. Dogs cannot be adopted during the first 10 days. After this period, dogs stay in the same structure if space is available (and can be adopted), otherwise they are put in private kennels for unlimited time. Only dogs which are seriously sick or proved to be aggressive and dangerous can be put down through euthanasia (Law 281/91). When an adopted dog is brought back to the pound, the adoptive owner is asked to fill in a questionnaire. However, not everyone accepts to do so.

The aim of this study is to understand: a) the reasons why dogs adopted from the pound are then left again; b) what influences the owner’s decision to leave their pet; c) if the decision is linked to problems caused by the dog or to the owner’s choice.

Farm animals show individual variation in their behavioural responses to handling and management systems on farms. These behavioural responses are presumed to reflect underlying temperament traits such as fear or aggression. Information about the location of genes that influence temperament traits could be used in selective breeding programmes to improve animal welfare, as selection for desirable behavioural responses would increase the ability of animals to cope with stressors encountered on farms. The aims of this study were to obtain reliable temperament measurements in cattle using behavioural tests, and to use this data to localise the genes (quantitative trait loci) that are involved in such traits.

Behavioural data obtained in temperament tests must be shown to reflect underlying traits by demonstrating intra-animal repeatability, inter-animal variability and validity. The objectives of this experiment were i) to carry out four behaviour tests on a group of heifers, and examine the repeatability, variability and validity of the results obtained; ii) to correlate the behavioural data with genotyping data from a large number of heifers to look for associations between behavioural phenotypes and genetic markers. Associations localise quantitative trait loci (QTLs), or regions of the genome, that are involved in these traits.

Most studies which provide qualitative assessments of animal behaviour use prefixed lists of adjectives (e.g. shy, bold, interested). However,Wemelsfelder et al. (2000, 2001), using Free-Choice-Profiling (FCP) methodology, allowed observers to develop their own descriptors for scoring pigs, and found this method to be highly reliable and repeatable. Repertory grid technique (RGT) is a frequently used method in human psychology and resembles FCP. Recently RTG has also been applied to assess personality in chimpanzees (Dutton et al., 1997). The purpose of the present study was to apply RGT to pigs and to correlate obtained pig scores with those previously obtained through FCP.

It has been suggested that feather pecking becomes widespread in groups of birds because it is socially learnt. However, a bird pecking the feathers of another seldom gains obvious extrinsic reinforcement for this behaviour (the feather is not always eaten, or material pecked from the plumage). Two aspects of social learning that have received little attention are whether reinforcement of the bird performing the behaviour (the demonstrator) is required for the watching bird (the observer) to learn, and in addition, whether single or multiple exposures to the behaviour are required. In two experiments we used a model behaviour - operant key pecking - to examine the effects of reinforcement of demonstrators (experiment 1) and the effectiveness of repeated demonstrations (experiment 2) on social learning by domestic hens.

The move towards group housing of gestating sows has highlighted a number of welfare issues associated with social interactions that are directly related to management and pen design. For example feeding method and total space can impact on both behaviour and performance. Individual feeding stalls combined with a straw based lying area and dunging passage have production and behavioural advantages at feeding time by providing safety from aggressive pen mates. Anecdotal observations would suggest that they also provide an alternative lying space. However, in practice many feeders are either kept closed when not being used or are located in areas that do not provide a good thermal environment. This experiment was designed to evaluate environmental and social factors affecting the choice of lying behaviour of sows with and without access to feeding stalls throughout the day.

In the ewe maternal care begins at parturition with grooming of the neonate and cooperation with early sucking attempts (e.g. Shillito-Walser 1978). Subsequently maternal care is expressed through sucking interactions, a close ewe-lamb association and a tendency to seek absent lambs (e.g. Hinch et al 1987). The ewe increasingly controls sucking interactions using a ‘head-up’ posture to signal when the lamb may approach and suck (Lawrence 1984).

Two breeds of sheep, Suffolk and Scottish Blackface, are known to differ in their initial maternal behaviour. Blackface ewes spend longer grooming their lambs, show more cooperation with sucking attempts and less negative behaviour such as aggression and rejection, when compared to Suffolk ewes (Dwyer & Lawrence 1998). The aim of this study was to examine whether these breed differences in the expression of maternal care persist throughout the lactation period.

In a patchy environment, sheep may have to make trade-offs between being close to companions and grazing the preferred vegetation. It has been demonstrated that individual differences in sociability, measured as the tendency to graze close to others in a group, can predict behaviour in a motivational conflict situation (Sibbald et al, 2000). An experiment was carried out, in which sheep with different sociability indices were compared in a test situation which required single animals to move away from the group in order to graze, but where stress due to physical separation was minimised.

Female sheep do not frequently show overt dominance displays while grazing on pasture. This has led to the conclusion that, for female sheep, dominance at pasture is of little importance. While sheep show few agonistic interactions, they do make clear and consistent choices of who they graze close to. This experiment was designed to answer the question whether these choices reflect the underlying dominance relationships between individuals, potentially being the reason for the low level of agonistic interactions on pasture.

Cadmium (Cd) accumulates in the human food chain and poses a risk of kidney dysfunction (Fanconi Syndrome) and bone disorders in humans. The margin of safety between typical Cd intakes by humans and levels associated with toxicity is smaller than for other metals. Consumption of just one sheep kidney could cause an average adult person to exceed their Provisional Maximum Tolerable Daily Intake. However, the rate of accumulation in sheep’s liver and kidney, the primary target organs for Cd accumulation, is unclear. This makes prediction of the effects of varying Cd intake by sheep on the Cd concentration in these organs difficult. We undertook a meta-analysis of independent feeding trials, which sought to integrate previous findings in order to review existing legislation on permitted levels of Cd in animal feeds and organs. Resulting predictions on Cd accumulation in sheep liver and kidneys are applicable to the broad set of exposure situations investigated in the individual studies.

It has been suggested that periparturient breakdown of immunity to parasites (BIP) has a nutritional basis (Coop and Kyriazakis, 1999). In support of this hypothesis, recent studies have shown that an increased supply of metabolizable protein (MP) reduces the magnitude of periparturient BIP in sheep (Houdijk et al., 2001). Improved MP supply to ewes, infected with gastrointestinal nematodes, has been associated with reduced nematode egg excretion and smaller worm burdens. These immunity indicators may differ in their sensitivity to changes in MP supply. This hypothesis has been addressed in the current doses-response experiment, which also allowed us to estimate the MP requirements of parasitized, lactating, twin-rearing ewes. The latter can be expected to be larger than those of non-parasitized ewes, due to MP requirements for mounting an immune response and for replenishing protein losses.

Feeding and management during the rearing period has a major effect on the subsequent performance and welfare of dairy herd replacements. Recently, Carson et al. (2000) found that increasing the live weight of high genetic merit Holstein Friesian heifers from 540 to 620 kg at first calving increased first lactation milk yield by 11%. Mammary growth is a major determinant of milk yield capacity and longevity of lactation and may be the primary driver behind the observed increases in milk production with larger heifers. The first objective of the current study was to evaluate the effects of rearing regime, in terms of diet offered and target weight at 18 months of age, on mammary gland development of high genetic merit Holstein-Friesian heifers. The second objective of this study was to investigate the effect of rearing regime on solear haemorrhages and heel erosions in Holstein-Friesian heifers.

Information on the digestibility of a feed or feed ingredient is of crucial importance to the feed compounder leading to reduced variability and a more accurate prediction of nutrient content. As it is not possible to carry out in vivo studies on every feed or feed ingredient, in vitro techniques have been investigated as an alternative means for obtaining this vital information. There have been several methods developed to determine in vitro digestion in monogastrics at both the ileal and overall level. It has been suggested that the methods of Boisen and Fernandez (1995; 1997) to determine in vitro digestibility of CP at the ileal level and of energy at the overall level, are the most reliable and accurate methods available (Moughan 1999). The objectives of this study were to compare in vivo and in vitro digestibility coefficients of both barley and barley-based diets and to evaluate the in vitro techniques.

Peasant pig production in South of Mexico consist in kept pigs in the backyard. This is a complementary activity for the family income. The pigs are a significant source of protein, but their real meaning lay in their role as a “peasants’ savings bank”, an asset that could easily be tapped into when cash is needed. In this system Creole pigs are used mainly. The Creole pig is descendent from Iberico and Celtico pigs carried from Spain after the conquest of Mexico five hundred years ago. The Creole pig is fatter, have a reduced liveweigth gain and less fertility in comparison to selected breeds of pigs. However, these characteristics are an advantage for the peasant pig system, due to low nutrient requirements of Creole pigs that match very well with the feed available from the agriculture such as maize, Mucuna beans (Stilozobium deerengianum) and forages. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate digestibility and nitrogen retention in Creole pigs fed with feedstuffs obtainable from agriculture in peasant systems in comparison with a diet utilised commonly in commercial pig production systems.

At weaning, piglets must adapt to considerable changes in their environmental, immunological, and nutritional status. This period of adaptation is accompanied by a reduction in piglet growth rate that has been associated with the shift from sow’s milk to a solid dry diet. Consequently, feeding management strategies that result in increased feed intake may increase piglet growth rate postweaning. This study evaluated the effects of providing feed as a gruel and feeding on floor mats on piglet performance for three weeks after weaning

Evidence from studies involving zinc supplementation is equivocal. Carlson et al., (1999) stated that both early- and traditionally weaned pigs must be fed 3,000 ppm Zn for at least the first 2 weeks after weaning to enhance growth. Others have also demonstrated that weanling pigs exhibit increased growth performance when fed pharmacoloigcal concentrations of zinc (Zn) as zinc oxide (ZnO) (e.g. Hahn and Baker, 1993). However, the mode of action has not yet been fully elucidated. Specifically, there is no research available on the effects of pharmacological Zn concentrations on piglet gut morphology and gut microflora load. Accordingly a preliminary study was designed to examine the effects of dietary Zn and growth-promotant levels of avilamycin supplementation on gut morphological characteristic (villus height, width and crypt depth), together with gut microlflora characteristics, and digesta pH which is an independent factor influencing microflora colonisation.