Effects of outdoor winter housing and feeding level on performance and blood metabolites of suckler cows fed whole-crop barley silage

The experiment studied the effects of long-term cold climatic housing conditions at a latitude of 62°N on pregnant Hereford cows and their progeny. Thirty-five cows in their third parity were overwintered in outdoor facilities with either a rain-shelter or a three-wall shelter, or in an uninsulated barn. Whole-crop barley silage was offered to the cows either ad libitum or restricted supplemented with oats. The dry matter intake on the restricted diet was 75% of that on the ad libitum diet. The cow live weight (LW) averaged 670 kg at the onset of the experiment. During winter the cows outdoors on the restricted diet maintained their LW while those on the ad libitum diet gained LW (P < 0.05, − 3 vs. 41 kg). On pasture, the LW gain (LWG) was 61 and 32 kg (P < 0.05) for the cows overwintered outdoors on the restricted and on the ad libitum diets, respectively. The initial body condition score (BCS, Scale: 0–5) of the cows averaged 2.90. During winter the cows outdoors on the restricted diet decreased and those on the ad libitum diet increased the BCS (P < 0.01, − 0.14 vs. 0.21). On pasture, the cows overwintered outdoors on the restricted diet increased the BCS more than those overwintered on the ad libitum diet (P < 0.05, 0.31 vs. 0.08). No signs of extraordinary stress, massive consumption of energy stores, frequent muscle injuries or severe inflammations occurred in any of the groups according to blood analyses of cows, e.g. cortisol, long-chain fatty acids, aspartate aminotransferase, creatine kinase and white blood cell count. The calving period was from 11 March to 21 April. Only one indoor calving was classified as difficult due to faulty disposition leading to the loss of the calf. All outdoor calvings were easy. The LWG of the indoor calves of cows on the ad libitum diet was poorer (P < 0.05) pre the grazing period than that of the outdoor calves of cows on the ad libitum diet. On pasture and during the entire experiment the LWG was similar for all calves, averaging 1335 and 1251 g/d, respectively. The breeding season was 82 days. Thirty cows out of 33 were observed to be pregnant after the mating period. All the facilities offered adequate shelter for the mature, pregnant suckler cows. The restricted offering of whole-crop barley silage provided, on average, 101 MJ metabolizable energy/d and gave enough energy for the cows.     

Impacts of a modified farrowing pen design on sow and litter performances and air quality during two seasons

The impacts of using a modified farrowing pen (MOD) on the performance of sows and their litters and on ambient air quality over a hot and a cool season were evaluated. Primiparous Yorkshire × Landrace sows farrowed either during the months of February and March (thermoneutralily, TN) or June and July (heat-stress, HS). Temperatures within each season were controlled to 21 and 29 °C, respectively, for TN and HS. Animals from each group were assigned to a standard farrowing crate (STD; TN, n = 17; HS, n = 16) or a MOD pen (TN, n = 19; HS, n = 19). The MOD pen consisted of a STD crate with a 1.5 × 1.6-m comfort zone in the back, equipped with rubber floor mats, a feeder and a nipple waterer. Litter size was standardized to 10 or 11. No creep feed was provided and piglets were weighed weekly. Sows were weighed on days 2 and 22. Feed intake of sows was monitored daily, a milk sample was obtained on day 21 for compositional analyses and jugular blood samples were collected on days 2 and 21 to measure prolactin, IGF-I and urea. Sows consumed less feed (3.4 vs. 4.7 ± 0.1 kg/day, P < 0.001) in a hot than in a cool season and, at 29 °C, sows in MOD pens consumed more feed (3.9 vs. 3.0 ± 0.2 kg/day, P < 0.01) than sows in STD pens. Sow lactation weight loss was greater (− 26.4 vs. − 19.1 ± 1.9 kg, P < 0.05) for sows in STD than MOD pens in a hot season. The reduction in prolactin concentrations from days 2 to 22 of lactation tended to be greater (P = 0.08) in a hot season for sows in STD pens. Concentrations of urea and IGF-I increased as lactation advanced (P < 0.01) and IGF-I was lower for HS compared to TN sows on both days (P < 0.01), whereas urea was greater for HS sows on day 2 only (P < 0.01). Milk DM was less in a hot than in a cool season (P < 0.01). Average piglet weight gain was reduced in a hot compared to a cool season during the second week of lactation (P < 0.05) and this reduction was less in MOD than STD pens during the third week of lactation (P < 0.01). During a hot season, even though not significant, average weight gain of piglets from days 2 to 21 of lactation was reduced by 6.0% in MOD pens compared to 9.7% in STD pens.     

基于灰色关联分析的房价与地价的关系

近年来我国房地产市场获得了迅猛发展,房地产成为消费热点和投资热点.部分大中城市出现了房价快速上涨的局面.快速上涨的房价导致部分城镇家庭购房困难,这种现象引起了社会各界的关注和忧虑.居住是人类的基本生活需要.住房问题不仅是一个经济问题,而且是一个社会问题.弄清房价与地价的关系,有效控制房价,成为政府和学者们关注的焦点,本文采用灰色关联性分析房价与地价的关系,并计算灰色关联系数.     

Effects of individual or combined housing systems on behavioural and growth responses of dairy calves

Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of individual versus combined housing systems on behavioural and growth responses of dairy calves in order to test the hypothesis that when calves were kept in early age individually and later in groups, they would increase growth performance and social behaviours. Twenty-four Holstein Friesian calves were allocated to two different housing systems. After three days of colostrum feeding, individually housed (IH) calves were kept in pens (1 m×1.5 m) for 60 days while combined housed (CH) calves were kept in group pens (3 m×3 m) for 30 days after individual housing during the period of 4–33 days. Each calf was monitored twice a week for a period of 1 h starting at 08.00, 10.00, 12.00, 18.00, 20.00 and 22.00 h at 10-min intervals. Behavioural activities were playing, walking, licking objects, idle standing, lying, restlessness, grooming and tongue playing. Calves’ live weights, body measurements and feed intakes were determined on a weekly basis. The results were: 1) combined housing calves increased their calf starter intake (37.35±1.24 kg vs. 23.39±0.86 kg; p<0.001), alfalfa hay intake (8.76±0.35 kg vs. 7.14±0.43 kg; p<0.05) and total feed intake (46.11±1.04 kg vs. 30.53±0.86 kg; p<0.001) compared to individual housed calves; 2) combined housing increased the proportional events of playing (12.80 vs. 2.86%), walking (19.14 vs. 3.81%) and grooming (8.06 vs. 4.60%), but decreased licking objects (1.03 vs. 2.94%), idle standing (20.73 vs. 36.29%), lying (30.19 vs. 39.53%) and restlessness (1.69 vs. 3.47%) compared to individual housing systems (p<0.001) without affecting tongue rolling (6.36 vs. 6.50%); 3) combined housing system increased body weight gain by about 2.36 kg and body length by about 1.48 cm per calf compared to those kept in individual pens (p<0.05). In conclusion, combined housing system provided calves more opportunity to show their walking, playing and grooming activities, reflecting increases in feed intake, body weight gain and length compared to individual housing system.     

基于社会排斥理论的农民工住房保障模式选择

在农民工住房保障方面,基于社会排斥理论,为解决农民工社会排斥问题建立了相应的住房评价体系,并对已有的农民工住房保障模式进行评价,指出在促进农民工家庭融入城市方面,集中兴建农民工公寓的方式并不是最有效的,而分散式建设模式则效果较好,从而在不同视角为农民工住房保障问题提供解决方案。     

气候影响邵阳房屋朝向、间距的考量

根据太阳在天空中的位置,分析计算了邵阳水平面各墙壁的日照时数、直达辐射量、建筑物阴影、各向墙壁日照时间和冬夏盛行风向等。分析表明:邵阳房屋最佳朝向在正南偏东偏西各15°的范围内,不宜朝西、朝北(东北);起居室、办公室、会议室等,宜安排在南向房间内,楼道、厨房、厕所等,宜安排在北向房间中。     

适老性居住空间的部品化设计研究

随着社会的发展和医疗技术水平的提升,人类平均寿命延长,世界老年人口比重逐年上升,中国人口基数大,老龄化严重,养老问题是当下人们关注的重点和热点。基于当前养老服务体系不健全和住宅产业化发展刚刚起步的现状,笔者通过研究老年人行为模式,针对居家养老模式,将集成化设计理念引入老年住宅,提出一套较完整的适老性居住空间的部品化设计体系。优化老年部品设计既体现了对老年群体的关注,推动我国养老事业的发展,又紧跟住宅产业化和生产绿色化潮流,提高了经济和社会效益。     

农村宅基地流转机制创新及对策探讨

随着新农村建设的加快和城镇化进程的推进,农村居民通过土地流转方式提供了大量的建设用地供给,同时农村宅基地流转问题逐渐凸显。笔者通过对农村宅基地使用现状问题和存在问题的阐述,分析了现行宅基地流转制度的若干缺陷,并提出了相应的建议,期望能够建立起合法完善的宅基地流转体系,从而真正维护农民的权益,深入推进社会主义新农村建设。     

新农村康居示范村建设规划研究——以泗洪县梅花镇大罗村小王庄为例

康居示范村是社会主义新农村建设的重要内容,做好康居示范村村庄规划具有重要意义。文中通过对江苏泗洪县梅花镇大罗村小王庄现状的分析,规划整体布局,并对建筑单体设计、基础设施、绿化景观等进行详细规划。