Arsenic from two sources--arsanilic acid and 3-nitro-4-hydroxyphenylarsonic acid (3-nitro)--was fed to mature wethers and lactating dairy cows, and the uptake and depletion of arsenic in tissues and milk were determined. In experiments with sheep, arsenic concentration in liver, kidney and blood increased as the level of arsenic from arsanilic acid and 3-nitro was increased in feed. Muscle arse...

High protein intakes elevate plasma urea and ammonia concentrations and this can be negatively associated with plasma progesterone concentrations in cows (Jordan and Swanson 1979; Jordan et al. 1983). Low plasma progesterone concentrations may compromise embryo survival and there are reports of negative relationships between protein intake and conception rate in dairy cattle (eg Jordan and Swan...

By 2050, the earth’s population is expected to be more than 9 billion. The need for secure food and water supply will force agriculture to increase production. The major greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the livestock sector are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) throughout the production process. These gases are the key contributor to an in...

Estrus synchronization allows for parturition at suitable times to take advantage of niche markets, feed supplies, labor, and rising price trends. In the past, synchronization of estrus in goats has focused primarily on dairy goats to allow for optimal timing of milk production. However, recent interest in meat goat production has resulted in attempts to use dairy goat, sheep, and cattle synchr...

Milk and dairy products are frequently contaminated with enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus, which is often involved in staphylococcal food poisoning. The distribution of genes encoding staphylococcal enterotoxins (SE) in S. aureus isolated from bovine, goat, sheep and buffalo milk and dairy products was verified by the presence of the corresponding SE production. A total of 112 strains of S...

The mechanism of the effects of glandular-level subclinical mastitis in dairy sheep on milk yield and on its composition as expressed in curd yield was studied. Thirty-six Israeli-Assaf dairy sheep with one udder half infected with identified coagulase-negative staphylococci and the contralateral gland free of bacteria were chosen. The milk yield of the infected halves was significantly lower t...

Focus groups were held with high achieving New Zealand Farmers in four pastoral sectors: sheep, dairy, deer and beef. First, data were gathered regarding the reasons for farmers looking to adopt new technology and strategies for intensification of production. Next, potential technologies for adoption in each sector were identified. Finally, farmers’ views on the likely impact of adoption of pre...

Two isolation methods were compared for isolation of Clostridium difficile from food animal feces. The single alcohol shock method (SS) used selective enrichment in cycloserine-cefoxitin fructose broth supplemented with 0.1% sodium taurocholate, followed by alcohol shock and isolation on tryptic soy agar supplemented with 5% sheep blood, and cycloserine-cefoxitin fructose agar. The double alcoh...

The identification of genes regulating milk secretion by mammary glands is a key-step for exploiting changes in milk composition induced by different diet regimens. Linseed supplementation is a reliable feeding strategy to enhance polyunsaturated fatty acid content in milk fat from sheep, increasing milk quality and nutraceutical value. To investigate the molecular bases of diet induced differe...

Identification of the key genes related to mammary gland development in the dairy goat is important for optimizing milk production. In this research, after comparing the expression of ESTs in 7 Long-SAGE libraries corresponding to different stages of development (early virgin, late virgin, early pregnancy, late pregnancy, middle lactation, early involution and late involution) and sequence alig...