How to stop heat stress in cattle using yeast and antioxidants.

Heat stress is a growing issue for high producing cattle but rumen specific live yeast and antioxidants can counteract the effects of this problem. Heat stress can cost dairy or beef farmers a large amount of money, due to production losses in milk and growth. 

 In dairy cows, the first short-term impact of heat stress is the reduction of milk yield ,about 10 to 35% reduction is usually recorded and acidosis risks are also increased. While in beef, fattening cattle are the most sensitive to heat stress with consequences such as increased acidosis risks and the reduction of feed intake, especially lower fiber consumption, which translates into lower growth performance and behavioral changes as producers often see less calm but more nervous animals. 

 A study shows that fattening heifers in the shade had a 100 g/day increase in average daily weight gain, as compared to those with no shade, due to higher feed intake in the shade. Moreover, these animals were less stressed and showed less carcass defaults such as dark meat. 

 The Long term consequences can arise on animal health, immune function or reproduction, especially as heat stress generally increases the production of free radicals, leading to oxidative stress. Oxidative stress in dairy cows can lead to increased mastitis frequency and higher somatic cell counts in milk. It can also cause decreased fertility, increased embryo mortality, post-partum retained placenta and early calving, with consequences on the calves’ live weight, mortality and health. Rumen specific live yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae I-1077, considered as a rumen modifier, can help alleviate the impact of heat stress. In particular, its ability to help stabilize rumen pH and enhance fiber degradation in the rumen is particularly adapted to respond to heat stress challenges. Several trials showed good results in both dairy and beef cows. 

 Trials with a nutritional supplement , an antioxidant combination containing organic selenium, and a natural primary antioxidant source showed that the animal’s total antioxidant status (TAS) is improved, translating into: reduced somatic cell count in milk by 40-60%, a sign of enhanced immunity (also shown on dairy goats) and improved meat quality parameters in cattle. 

 There are other nutritional recommendations that can help combat heat-stress in cattle ,these are:1) Increase the energy density of the diet. 2) Add more starch or added fat to the diet as fat is not fermented in the rumen, hence does not release heat during digestion. 3) Mineral electrolytes balance must be maintained as excessive sudation, or panting, leads to losses of sodium and potassium. 4) Provide clean fresh water at all times but most especially after milking. 

 source Dairy Global.

Colostrum and piglet health.

Piglets are the seed of the farm,thus next generation depends on the health status of these piglets. Piglets are the seed capital of any farm,as they have it all in them to become full value pigs or great replacement gilts. The breeding of high numbers of healthy piglets ensures a sound financial future and continuity of farm but it takes a lot of work to ensure the piglets are healthy. The piglets are very vulnerable to diseases,changes in temperature,and other environmental conditions thus making them the weakest link on the farm. Piglets must be properly taken care of from day one until they are weaned. The first line of action is to ensure the piglets are clean and kept warm,this must be followed by ensuring colostrum is given so as to confer immunity on piglets through to weaning . Piglets are born without any immune protection and it takes a couple of weeks before they can build their own active immunity. The only way to protect them in these critical weeks is through passive immunity supplied by the sow. Colostrum is the first milk secreted,and a sufficient colostrum intake in the first hours after birth is one of the most important success factors for pig performance. Colostrum does not only provide the vital energy and proteins essential for the piglets to start suckling and to grow, it is also enriched with the maternal antibodies (immunoglobulins) which provide passive immunity. Naturally, maternal antibodies are built when a sow gets infected with a pathogen. A safer and more consistent way to induce maternal antibodies is by sow vaccination. Colostrum intake depends on the amount of colostrum produced by the sow and the ability of the piglet to suckle as colostrum excretion starts shortly before parturition and ends about 24 hours after farrowing. The first 6 hours are critical, and after 24 hours the gut closes not allowing the immunoglobulins to be absorbed. In contrast to milk yield, colostrum yield is not related to litter size, so the larger the litter the lower the amount of colostrum per pig . A study revealed that up to one third of the sows do not produce enough colostrum to cover the needs of all their piglets. Genetic factors have an influence on the potential of sows to produce colostrum and during gestation and around farrowing you can ensure that the sows can exploit that potential to a maximum. Sows with heavy litters at birth with little weight variation usually have a high colostrum yield. A good body condition of the sow during gestation and at farrowing will reduce within-litter variation in birth weight and prevents metabolic disorders which may cause mastitis and can lead to a reduced colostrum yield. Proper feeding from day 85 upwards is more relevant than in mid gestation as in late gestation new mammary tissue is produced and the piglet’s birth weight is established. The benefits of colostrum

Benefits of supplementing poultry diet with hatchery waste.

A recent research published in PlosOne shows that supplementing poultry diets with hatchery waste is beneficial to the birds as it enhances growth performance and confers immunity . The study has examined the effect of hatchery eggshell membranes (HESM) as a short term feed supplement on growth performance and immunity of chickens under bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenged conditions. Eggshells are a significant part of hatchery waste which consist of calcium carbonate crust, membranes, and proteins and peptides of embryonic origins along with other entrapped contaminants including microbes. The researchers of the University of Arkansas hypothesized that using this product as a nutritional additive in poultry diet may confer better immunity to the chickens in the paradigm of mammalian milk that enhances immunity. Three studies were conducted to find the effect of HESM supplement on post hatch chickens. In the first study, the chickens were fed either a control diet or diets containing 0.5% whey protein or HESM as supplement and evaluated at 5 weeks of age using growth, hematology, clinical chemistry, plasma immunoglobulins, and corticosterone as variables. The second and third studies were done to compare the effects of LPS on control and HESM fed birds at 5 weeks of age following at 4 and 24 h of treatment where the HESM was also sterilised with ethanol to deplete bacterial factors. HESM supplement caused weight gain in 2 experiments and decreased blood corticosterone concentrations. While LPS caused a significant loss in body weight at 24 h following its administration, the HESM supplemented birds showed significantly less body weight loss compared with the control fed birds. The result shows that post-hatch supplementation of HESM improve performance, modulate immunity, and increase resistance of chickens to endotoxin.

Genetic engineering unlocks new vaccine for Marek's disease.

Scientists at The Pirbright Institute have used genetic engineering to develop a more efficient and effective vaccine for Marek’s disease which could pave the way for a new generation of poultry disease vaccines. The Marek's disease vaccine (MDV) is currently controlled by vaccination and over 20 billion vaccine doses are administered worldwide each year. Turkey herpes virus (known as HVT), is widely used in the development of avian vaccines as a method of delivering elements of avian pathogens (disease causing agents), into birds to create the immune response that protects them against disease. The technologies currently available for creating HVT recombinant vaccines are difficult and time consuming to use, however. In the case of Marek’s disease, the existing methods also hinder the level of protection the vaccines can offer. Advances in technology have facilitated the development of a new gene editing technique called CRISPR/Cas9 (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Palindromic Repeats/ associated Cas9), which enables greater speed and accuracy in targeting, cutting and editing gene sequences. This technique was used by Dr Yongxiu Yao, to genetically modify HVT; inserting part of the Marek’s disease virus into it to generate a completely new genetically modified (GM) vaccine, which is capable of protecting against the most dangerous strains of the virus. Dr Yao said, “This was a great opportunity to create a new generation of vaccines. HVT is widely used in the production of a variety of avian disease vaccines and genetically engineering it in this way has unlocked its potential to protect against all strains of Marek’s disease virus, as well as other dangerous avian viruses such as bird flu, which is also a danger to humans.

OFFLU; the global network of expertise on animal influenza.

OFFLU is the OIE-FAO global network of expertise on animal influenza working to reduce the negative impacts of animal influenza viruses by promoting effective collaboration between animal health experts and with the human health sector. The animal health community will provide early recognition and characterization of emerging influenza viral strains in animal populations, and effective management of known infections, thereby better managing the risk to human health and supporting global food security, animal health and welfare, and other community benefits derived from domestic animals and wildlife. The objectives of OFFLU are as follows 1)To share and offer technical advice, training and veterinary expertise to international organisations and Member Countries to assist in the prevention, diagnosis, surveillance and control of animal influenza. 2) To exchange scientific data and biological materials (including virus strains) within the network, to analyse such data, and to share such information with the wider scientific community. 3)To collaborate with the WHO on issues relating to the animal-human interface, including pandemic preparedness for early preparation of human vaccine. 4)To highlight influenza surveillance and research needs, promote their development and co-ordination.more

OIE creates global avian influenza web portal.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has created a web portal on avian influenza to help public gain a better understanding of the international avian influenza situation.According to the OIE, gaining a better understanding of the disease, providing easy access to recommendations on how to control it, and raising awareness of the current global avian influenza situation are the main objectives for creating the portal. The new OIE portal on avian influenza brings together a wealth of information, enabling a greater understanding of the disease and detailing the biosecurity measures recommended by the OIE, at both the farm and trade level, to halt its spread. The platform describes the actions taken by the OIE and its partners. Indeed, the prevention and control of zoonotic influenza's is one of the three priorities of the alliance between the OIE, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the World Health Organization (WHO). During recent months, the avian influenza strain H5N8, in particular, has been in the news, having been successively identified in several regions of the world, particularly Europe and America, as well as Asia and the Middle-East. The new OIE portal allows us to follow this strain’s global evolution as well as the other H5 and H7 strains in real time. check it out

Forage grass could increase milk production by 40%.

A new reports states that African dairy farmers could benefit from new varieties of high-quality, drought-resistant forage grass known as Brachiaria that boosts milk production by 40 per cent.The forage grass could enable farmers increase their incomes, according to experts at the Colombia-headquartered International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) – a CGIAR Research Center. The study demonstrates the high potential for improved forages in East Africa and high payoff for investment in improved forages. Brachiaria grass is climate-friendly and has high crude protein and less fiber, which leads to better use and digestion by cattle, in turn leading to less methane gas produced for each unit of livestock product such as milk or meat. Methane is one of the gases associated with global warming. The grass is relatively drought-tolerant compared to the Napier or elephant grass commonly used in East Africa and the grass can easily be conserved as hay for utilization during forages scarcity or for sale. The study shows that a 40% increase in milk production is achievable in East Africa after feeding livestock with Brachiaria,milk production increased by 150 per cent between 2004 and 2012, from 197.3 million litres to 497.9 million litres. continue