Start-up entrepreneur to use raw milk from her farm to print 3D cheese

Start-up entrepreneur to use raw milk from her farm to print 3D cheese: Michaela van Leeuwen, who runs a dairy farm with her husband, in Cortenoever, the Netherlands, has set up Print Cheese to print 3D cheese from raw milk.

HERMAPHRODITE KITTEN TURNS AN OVERNIGHT SENSATION TO THE WORLD.

When Bellini the kitten was brought to the St Helen’s Adoption Centre of Cats Protection in the U.K., it was initially thought that the tiny 9-week-old cat was male. The cat was scheduled to be neutered, then it was discovered by a veterinarian at the facility that the kitty possessed both male and female genitalia. This marked a turn for the adoracle kitty that has captured the attention of people worldwide. In a press release on the Cat Protection website, manager Sonia Scowcroft noted how rare it is to see a hermaphroditc cat and stated. "I was pretty stunned, it’s so unusual," she said. "I have seen over 3,000 cats during my time at Cats Protection and only seen one other hermaphrodite cat." "Hermaphrodite – or intersex – cats do not frequently occur and, if they do, they are often tortoiseshell so Bellini is one of the more unusual cats to be found," Louise Waters of Cats Protection told petMD, who explained that it is something that develops when cats are in-vitro. Scowcroft also stated that while it will be impossible for Bellini to reproduce, he is an otherwise happy and healthy cat, despite a mild heart murmur. Waters added that each case with hermaphroditic cats is different and unique, so Bellini's new owners will have to check in with their vet to "ensure that s/he remains healthy." Luckily, Cats Protection was able to re-home Bellini alongside a littermate named Daquiri. Scowcroft pointed out that when it comes to assigning a gender, "it is up to his new owner to decide what they think is best." "Either way," Scowcroft said, "[Bellini] is an absolute cutie pie and will make a really lovely pet." read more www.petmd.com

THE EFFECTS OF COLOSTRUM ON PIGLETS.

Its of paramount importance that piglets take colostrum just after farrow,and the health benefits of protection and nutrient provision has always been the strong point. There is a new information that backs up the earlier fact that the exposure of piglet to colostrum is not short-term,but impacts the condition of the pig for life. The researchers, associated with the Ghent University, Belgium, published their findings recently in the Journal of Animal Science, and they state that proper colostrum intake in the early days of lactation has effects on pigs until later in life that are hard to overestimate. Short-term and long-term performance as well as mortality are also influenced. The long-term effects of colostrum intake on performance and mortality in pigs were analysed thus; a total of 1,455 live-born piglets in 10 commercial herds were followed from birth until 22 weeks of age. Pigs were individually weighed at birth, at weaning, at onset (intermediate weight), and during the finishing period (finishing weight) and colostrum intake was also calculated. The researchers fitted one linear mixed model to model the possible associations between colostrum intake and weight at the weaning, intermediate, and finishing periods. In addition to colostrum intake as the main predictor of interest, the scientists also tested other predictor variables, being birth weight, birth order, sex, breed and the interval between birth and first suckling. The scientists noted that Colostrum intake and birth weight were positively associated with weaning, intermediate, and finishing weights. Higher colostrum intake is more beneficial to weaning, intermediate, and finishing weights in piglets with low versus high birth weights. Colostrum intake significantly influences piglets' short-term and long-term performance and mortality. The colostrum yield is reported to be independent of litter size, sufficient colostrum intake per piglet is crucial, especially in hyperprolific sows. read more at pigprogress.net

VENTILATION IN POULTRY HOUSE AND IMPACT ON LITTER.

Poultry house ventilation not only impacts the quality of the air in the house, it can also maintain good litter conditions. Dr. Jesse Grimes, professor, poultry science, North Carolina State University, explains how ventilation impacts litter quality and discusses potential for Miscanthus grass as a poultry bedding alternative.

INCREASE SOW PRODUCTIVITY WITH BETTER NUTRITION..

World pork production continues to rise year-by-year with increases in the number of pigs produced per sow, but the extra productivity also challenges every breeding herd to find feeding solutions for sows and piglets. The impact of nutrition on productivity cannot be overemphasized, thus balanced ration coupled with proper health management is efficient for productivity. The move for alternative protein source is also another factor to consider in piggery business. The cliche" garbage in garbage out" also hold true in pig production.

ESTRUS SYNCHRONIZATION AND ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION IN PIGS.

The successful artificial insemination of sows depends on the hygienic deposition of enough sperm at the appropriate time so as to have an adequate sperm reservoir in the oviduct at the time of ovulation. The time of natural ovulation is controlled by the surge of Lutenizing Hormone near the onset of estrus. Ovulation will occur in 85 to 90 percent of sows 42 +/- 2 hours after an injection of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) or 38 ± 2 hours after gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH). If ovulation is expected to occur 38 or more hours after detection of estrus, such as would be expected following a gonadotrophin-induced estrus or naturally short wean-to-estrus intervals, treatment with GnRH or hCG will provide a high degree of predictability to the time of ovulation. Recent research shows that 200 μg of triptorelin given intra-vaginally to sows at 96 hours after weaning synchronizes ovulation and results in fertility with number of live born pigs and farrowing rate similar to controls. There are considerable economic benefits of the use of single fixed-time insemination, with the most obvious being the cost savings from the reduction in breeding time and labor. The overall advantage will be having a number of litters per time on farm which will result in proper management and an all in all out strategy. The cost of housing and feeding of boar is also reduced as highly productive boars are sourced and the quality and quantity of sperm weighed against physical mating cannot be compared. The sperm can also be procured from proven stock,hence eliminating the need for your own boar thus saving time and money with regards to management. An artificial insemination parlor will also be an innovative startup in pig industry,where genetically proven boars are fed and raised on a separate facility with the sole aim of operating a sperm bank, with proven genetic traits . # gene pool # sperm bank # Artificial insemination bank # boar farm # stud startup.

BOAR FEEDING AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH.

In pig farming the major aim is to produce large litter sizes that are healthy with high reproductive capacity.The success in pig farming is hinged on genetics as the pig cannot exceed the genetic capacity hence a good genetic line is chosen. Housing and management also influences the outcome of venture, proper housing and animal management is another crucial point. The major key to success is feeding programme,the animals must have access to good quality feed ,balanced and readily available. The importance of feed in the boar cannot be overemphasized as the quality of sperm produced will set the genetic track for the farm. When preparing the feed,you need to ensure that all ingredients that will ensure the following are available; proper muscle development, proper bone development and production of high quality and quantity of sperm. The feed should provide the necessary daily feed intake which must contain dietary energy and protein, additives and vitamins such as organic selenium, vitamin E, zinc, biotin, vitamin C. The breeding boars must be mature animals, so also must the to sows. An underweight or overweight boar or sow will often result in breeding failure,hence feeding should be monitored. Boar libido unlike sperm production, cannot be easily manipulated by changing dietary protein and energy levels but its a known fact only prolonged conditions of over-feeding or under-feeding, and excessive extreme cases of body condition change, can negatively impair boar libido. Scientific research proves that protein and amino acids lysine and methionine + cystine, play an important role in sperm production. In particular, the sulphur-containing amino acids methionine/cystine affect the secretory activity of the epididymis, thus significantly enhancing sperm volume. This effect is very marked in intensively used boars, where sperm production has been shown to be positively influenced when extra protein and methionine was added to the diet. Protein combined with adequate energy intake is very crucial for optimal sperm production.