The effects of monthly formalin treatments on the survival of salmonellae in earthen sheep yard debris

Further field observations and laboratory studies on the biology and ecology of Damalinia bovis and Linognathus vituli, the two most common cattle louse species in New Zealand, are described.

The life cycle of D. bovis was completed in 27–32 days while L. vituli took 26–31 days. The winter distribution of both species on individual animals was similar with the heaviest concentrations on the cranial half of the body. The effect of the haircoat composition on distribution was examined; correlations between louse counts and hair diameters, colour composition of hair populations, hair and debris density, and sample sites were estimated for both species. The only significant correlation of D. bovis counts was with sample site. Findings were similar for L. vituli except that there was also a significant correlation between louse numbers and weight of hair and skin debris. The importance of self-grooming is discussed in relation to louse distribution.

Reasons for seasonal population fluctuations are considered including coat loss and temperature variations. It was shown experimentally that temperatures 5°C either side of the optimum 35°C prevented D. bovis eggs from hatching.     

Censoring in survival analysis: a simulation study of the effect of milk yield on conception

Survival-analysis methods often are used to analyze data from dairy herds where the outcome of interest is the interval from calving to conception. The purpose of this study was to determine whether an association between milk yield and culling biases the estimation of the effect of milk yield on conception. This was done by simulating four different scenarios modeling dairy-cattle milk yield and reproductive performance with known relationships among study factors. Cox’s proportional-hazards model was used to analyze the effect of milk yield on days open under the following four scenarios: (1) no association between milk yield and culling or between milk yield and conception; (2) association between milk yield and culling only; (3) association between milk yield and conception only; (4) associations between milk yield and both culling and conception. The analyses also were repeated for data sets with an association between milk yield and culling, but with probabilities of culling ranging from 0.01 to 0.4. An effect of milk production on culling appeared to cause a small increase in the parameter estimates for the association of milk yield and days open — particularly when the probability of culling was high. The effect of high milk production on median days open (as estimated by survival functions) changed by 2 to 4 days when an association between milk yield and culling was programmed in the simulated data sets.     

The effect of oestrus on milk production in cows

The rectal temperatures, pulse rates and milk yields of 44 Ayrshire and 38 Friesian cows were recorded during oestrus and compared with values obtained after oestrus had ceased. The fat, solids-non-fat (SNF) and protein percentages and the cell counts of milk samples were also compared. Forty of the cows were housed in cubicles and 42 were kept loose in yards. During oestrus rectal temperatures and pulse rates were significantly raised and milk yields were lowered. Milk had, on average, significantly higher fat contents and cell counts and lower SNF and protein contents than post-oestrous milk. The differences due to oestrus between the cows kept in cubicles and yards were minimal, but the Ayrshire cows tended to show more significant effects than the Friesians, except in the milk cell counts, where the difference was higher in the Friesians.     

The effect of bacterial proteases on milk proteins

The effect of proteolytic microflora on milk protein in fresh cow's milk was studied immediately after milking. The hydrolytic activity was measured by Lowry's method. When the samples were stored for 24 and 48 hours at 4 degrees C, the average value of tyrosine increased from the initial level of 0.37 mg per ml (immediately after milking) to 0.798 mg per ml (after 24 hours) and 0.811 mg per ml (after 48 hours). In milk kept at room temperature the tyrosine values were 0.865 mg per ml and 1.21 mg per ml, respectively. Higher bacterial protease activities were recorded during the first 24 hours of storage. No relationship was statistically demonstrated between tyrosine content and the number of proteolytic microorganisms in milk.     

The effect of late pregnancy feed allowance on the milk composition of the sow's colostrum and milk

The composition of colostrum and milk and of sows fed either 3.4 kg or 1.0 kg daily of a conventional sow diet during the last 14 days of gestation was investigated. The fat content of colostrum of the very restrictedly fed sows was higher compared with the standard fed sows. There was a significantly decrease in the crude protein and immunoglobulin contents of colostrum during the first 4 h post farrowing. The milk composition 14 days after farrowing was not affected by the late pregnancy feeding level. The composition of milk was significantly correlated with the 3 week litter weight. The colostrum IgG content was not correlated to the mortality of piglets during the first week post favouring. The content of crude protein and immunoglobulins in the milk was not correlated with the frequency of post weaning diarrhoea.     

The effect of free amino acid levels in the blood and milk of cows on protein levels in milk

In the cows of the whole group under study, a significant negative relation (r = = -0.4797) was found between the histidine level in arterial blood and protein content in milk; further, there was a significant positive relation (r = 0.4624) between alanine level in milk and protein content in milk, and a significant negative relation (r = -0.5028) for the level of threonine. The group of cows with a higher milk output showed a significant negative relation between methionine level in milk and protein content in milk (r = -0.7482) and a highly significant negative relation between threonine level and protein content in milk (r = -0.8410). The negative relations of some amino acids to the content of protein in milk suggest that there is a poor supply of these amino acids for the production of protein in milk.     

Tyrophagus putrescentiae mites grown in dog food cultures and the effect mould growth has on mite survival and reproduction

The purposes of this study were to determine whether the storage mite, Tyrophagus putrescentiae , could survive and thrive on dog food and if mould growth was important to their survival. All of the chambers ( n  = 42) were started with 10 female mites and evaluated every other day for mite survival and for the spontaneous development of mould. Ten chambers tested the effect of low moisture on mite survival. Eight chambers were used as positive and negative controls ( n  = 4 each); positive control mites were fed Fleischmann's^® yeast and negative controls had no food source. Three dog foods were evaluated in the same manner. Four chambers had food but mould development was limited by replacing the food kernel every 48 h and four chambers were allowed to grow mould. Mites grown in chambers without moisture died from desiccation within 5 days. The termination point was day 34 when all mites in the negative control group (moisture but no food) died. Although T. putrescentiae survived and grew on all three commercial dog foods, there was no statistically significant difference in mites counts among the dog foods ( P  < 0.10). Mite counts in the 'no' mould and mould groups ranged from 8 to 11 and 144 to 245, respectively, and differences were significant ( P  < 0.0001). This study found that T. putrescentiae is a fungivorous storage mite that can grow and flourish on dog food. The study demonstrated that the presence of mould positively influences mite viability, while low relative humidity can result in detrimental consequences for T. putrescentiae.     

The effect of aging of milk samples on the accuracy of infrared analysis of milk composition]

The effect of a decrease (and/or fermentation) in the lactose content during milk storage under different conditions was investigated on the accuracy of the results obtained on a Milko-Scan apparatus to contribute to the present knowledge of this problem. The results were in agreement with some results cited in the literature. These wavelengths are used for infrared spectrophotometry on the above apparatus: for fat 3.48 microns, for proteins 6.46 microns and for lactose 9.60 microns. Bulk milk samples used for the tests were untreated or treated with potassium dichromate, bronopol, sodium azide and Milkofix at the temperatures of storage in darkness 20 degrees C and 4 degrees C. The differences against the reference values (measured on the first day) were determined and evaluated in milk composition and characteristics as arising during milk storage. These differences were used in form of either cumulative means of differences (Figs. 1 to 5) or individual differences (Fig. 8). In the first part significant correlation coefficients (P less than 0.001) were calculated for the relationship between the variations of lactose content and the fat and protein contents: r = -0.59 and/or -0.73 (Figs. 6 and 7). This suggests that the decrease in the lactose content by 0.10% recorded by the infrared analysis and caused by lactose decomposition is accompanied by a "seeming" increase in the fat and protein content by about 0.04%. In the second part the correlation coefficients for the fat and protein contents r = -0.96 and -0.96 (P less than 0.001; Figs. 9 and 10; Tab. II) were calculated on the basis of an observation of the lactose decrease in an untreated milk sample (20 degrees C for 28 hours). These coefficients are somewhat different from the preceding ones; this is due to the lower homogeneity of the first set where the milk samples were treated in a different way, but the coefficients confirm the same conclusions. The values of the correlation coefficients for the dependence between the development of the acquired titratable acidity (SH) and the variations of fat (F), protein (P) and lactose (L) contents were as follows: r = 0.95; 0.95; -0.99 (P less than 0.001; Figs. 12, 13; Tab. II). Thus the above-mentioned "seeming" increase in the F and P contents can be explained to the extent of 92.2% from the decrease in the L content, which also causes the increase in titratable acidity to the extent of 98.0%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

产犊季节对荷斯坦奶牛产奶量的影响

对宁夏平吉堡奶牛场荷斯坦奶牛4个不同的产犊季节的305d产奶量影响进行了分析。结果表明．在宁夏地区荷斯坦奶牛的产犊季节对奶牛305d产奶量有显著的影响。4月份产犊奶牛的305d产奶量最高,显著高于1、7和10月份产犊奶牛的产奶量,1月份和10月份产犊奶牛产奶量明显高于7月份产犊奶牛产奶量,但1月份年口10月份间没有差异,7月份产犊奶牛305d产奶量最低。     

The presence of salmonellae during the rearing of Turkeys

1. The incidence of salmonellae was investigated in two batches of turkeys in the environmentally‐controlled houses and naturally ventilated pole‐barns of a commercial turkey enterprise.

2. The poults were free from contamination on arrival at the rearing house but were contaminated via the water supply from troughs which had been ineffectively fumigated.

3. Foodstuffs did not appear to be a source of contamination.

4. The spread of salmonellae in this turkey rearing enterprise was very similar to that in chicken rearing houses.     

The effect of mastitis on milk progesterone concentration in dairy cows

A within cow comparison was made between milk progesterone levels in healthy and mastitic quarters. Material was collected from cows with mastitis induced by bacterial inoculation, or by inoculation with bacterial endotoxin. Furthermore material from cows with spontaneous subclinical mastitis was used. Milk progesterone levels were lowered due to mastitis. However, the decrease was not large enough to cause misinterpretation of where in the oestrous cycle (luteal phase or non-luteal phase) the samples were taken.     

中国乳品消费水平及影响因素的经济学分析

我国乳品消费近年来增长迅速，但消费水平仍然偏低，城乡居民乳品消费差距巨大；开拓农村市场潜力巨大，但任重道远。本文采用双对数模型对影响乳品消费的因素进行弹性估测，乳品消费的自价格弹性和上一期消费量的影响弹性值较大，说明提高消费意识、培育消费习惯的重要性。