The Bologna Declaration of 19 June 1999 was a pledge, signed by 29 European countries, to reform higher education systems in order to create a European Space for Higher Education by 2010. As the deadline approaches, it is time to specify how the veterinary curricula can most adequately be oriented to adapt to the guidelines of the Declaration. The increasing demand for food of animal origin has...

Based on production guidelines, organic livestock farming has set itself the goal of establishing environmentally friendly production, sustaining animals in good health, realising high animal welfare standards, and producing products of high quality. By striving for these goals, organic livestock farming meets the demands of an increasing number of consumers who are critical of conventional pro...

How may emergent biotechnologies impact upon our relations with other animals? To what extent are any changes indicative of new relations between society and nature? This paper critically explores which sociological tools can contribute to an understanding of the technologisation of animal bodies. By drawing upon interview data with animal scientists I argue that such technologies are being par...

CTX-M-1-producing Escherichia coli were isolated from 56 pigs, three farm personnel, two manure samples, and two air samples from two Danish pig farms where an association between prophylactic ceftiofur use and the occurrence of cephalosporin resistance was previously demonstrated. Human, animal, and environmental strains displayed high genetic diversity but harbored indistinguishable or closel...

The extent of the loss of life and productivity associated with the breeding of farm livestock is summarized in Table I and shows that in farm stock the stillbirth rate is usually much higher than that in man and that animal infant mortality exceeds human infant mortality by a factor of at least four, and usually ten. Furthermore, in animals maternal mortality rates, particularly in sheep, gros...

A model has been developed to simulate pasture growth and animal production, using various management strategies and climate profiles. The purpose of the model is to enable simulation of research scenarios to select the most promising for more expensive and time-consuming field trials. The whole farm model links detailed sub-models of the major components on the farm. The model is currently bei...

Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), the ratio between N outputs in products over N inputs, is often used to evaluate N use outcomes of an agricultural system and/or the risk of environmental N losses. In this paper we address the question what NUE goals are realistic for dairy production systems. We use the following definitions of NUE: Crop NUE, defined as the percentage of the total N inputs taken...

Domestication of animals has resulted in phenotypic changes by means of natural and human-directed selection. Body composition is important for farm animals because it reflects the status of energy reserves. Thus, there is the possibility that farm animals as providers of food have been more affected by human-directed selection for body composition than laboratory animals. In this study, an ana...

Losses of both product quality and quantity during the critical pre-slaughter period are inevitable. These losses are the result of social, physical, environmental and nutritional stresses imposed on the animal between the farm/ feedlot and the abattoir knocking box. In the interests of animal welfare and beef quality, it is essential that effective management strategies be implemented to minim...

395 Blowfly strike of Merino sheep in relation to selection strategy, as well as to objective and subjective wool traits S.W.P. Cloete, J.J. Olivier and E. du Toit Animal Production Division, Elsenburg ADC, Private Bag X1, Elsenburg 7607, South Africa. Irene Animal Improvement Institute, Private Bag X529, Middelburg 5900, South Africa. Tygerhoek Experimental Farm, PO Box 25, Riviersonderend 725...