'Looking up' behavior in the holding area of the milking parlor: its relationship with step-kick, flight responses and productivity of commercial dairy cows

Commercial dairy cows milked in a parlor system are packed close together in the holding area before milking. The present study examined the relationships of ‘looking up’ behavior with some other behaviors and the productivity of 1116–1153 cows from five farms. The individual identities of the cows looking up in the holding area were recorded at 5 min intervals during six intermittent afternoon milking sessions. Entrance into the milking parlor and the numbers of steps and kicks by cows while the milking person was attaching the milking cups, were recorded in six milking sessions. Flight responses in the pasture after milking were recorded over four days intermittently. The frequency of ‘looking up’ behavior weakly, but significantly correlated with flight starting distance (r = 0.10, P < 0.05), while the correlation with the number of step‐kicks during milking was not significant. As for productivity, lactation number (r = ?0.18, P < 0.001), milk yield (r = ?0.15, P < 0.001) and fat content (r = ?0.15, P < 0.001) were negatively correlated with the frequency of ‘looking up’ behavior. Age of cows was correlated with the frequency of ‘looking up’ behavior as well as lactation number (r = ?0.21, P < 0.001). Entrance order was positively correlated with the frequency of ‘looking up’ behavior (r = 0.15, P < 0.001). The ‘looking up’ behavior was observed more frequently in cows in their third or less lactation compared with cows which were in their fourth or greater lactation (P < 0.05). The lactation number of cows was correlated with their milk yield (r = 0.36, P < 0.001) and flight starting distance (r = ?0.21, P < 0.001). In conclusion, ‘looking up’ behavior shown by cows in the holding area before milking might be an indicator of low motivation for milking, mainly because of fear of humans, and an aversion to milking caused by insufficient experience in being milked.     

Securing Garbage from Florida Black Bears: Why are the Appropriate Measures Not Implemented at the Municipal Level?

Anthropogenic food conditioning of bears has resulted in recent increases in human–bear conflicts (HBCs) in Florida. Garbage is the leading cause of food conditioning of bears. Despite increased HBCs and related human safety concerns, municipal governments in Florida have generally not taken independent steps to prevent HBCs through altered garbage management. Rather, governments have relied on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to manage garbage-related HBCs. We used semi-structured interviews to identify obstacles to securing garbage from bears at the municipal level. Respondents included local government administrations and waste service providers. Political and economic costs of implementing bear-resistant garbage management practices were the major obstacles to securing garbage. Respondents argued that households will not pay for, or support, the implementation of bear-resistant trash cans. Recent adoption by four counties of ordinances requiring residents to secure their garbage from bears suggests that objections to adopting bear-resistant garbage management were overstated.     

影响内蒙古三河牛泌乳曲线参数的非遗传因素

为了解三河牛泌乳曲线形状及其影响因素,试验对三河牛的486个泌乳期记录,应用Wood模型进行泌乳曲线拟合,结果显示,Wood模型能够较好拟合三河牛泌乳曲线,平均拟合优度R2为0.93±0.004。应用方差分析进一步研究场效应、产犊年度、产犊季节及胎次对Wood模型各参数的影响情况,结果表明,场效应对参数c、tmax、per、Y305影响差异极显著;不同产犊年度间,参数b表现为差异显著(P0.05),参数c、ymax、Y305表现为差异极显著(P0.01);各产犊季节间,参数a、b、c、Y305均表现为差异极显著(P0.01),参数per表现为差异显著(P0.05);胎次对参数a、ymax、Y305影响差异极显著(P0.01);其它参数与效应间均表现为差异不显著(P0.05)。     

国内外肉牛分子标记辅助育种的研究进展

分子标记辅助育种(Marker assisted selection,MAS),直接从DNA分子水平上反映种间差异,不受环境、发育阶段、组织等的影响,稳定可靠,多态性好,因而在家畜育种中被广泛利用,本文详尽概述了分子标记辅助选择对于遗传力低的性状如肉质性状和屠宰性状等改良效率相关的研究进展。     

甘肃天祝牧区白牦牛乳脂肪中脂肪酸的分析

以甘肃天祝地区3个牧场所产的白牦牛乳为研究对象,采用气相色谱-质谱联用检测方法,测定3个牧场所产白牦牛乳中脂肪酸含量,比较在枯草期、枯草末期、返青期、青草期4个时期及不同胎次的白牦牛所产牦牛乳中脂肪酸的构成及含量.结果表明:3个牧场白牦牛乳中乳脂肪酸含量差异不显著(P＞0.05);1～5胎次母白牦牛乳中脂肪酸含量差异不显著(P＞0.05).枯草期、枯草末期、返青期、青草期4个时期白牦牛乳中饱和脂肪酸(SFA)、不饱和脂肪酸(USFA)含量比值分别为1.86、1.75、1.62、1.32.随着气温的升高及牧草的成熟,白牦牛乳中饱和脂肪酸含量逐渐降低,而不饱和脂肪酸的含量逐渐升高.     

The effect of approach direction and pace on flight distance of beef breeding cows

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of approach direction and pace on flight distance of beef breeding cows. Five Japanese Black breeding cows were used as experimental cattle. Three approach directions were tested; that were the approach toward the head of the test cow from the front direction (FRONT), the approach toward to the foreleg of the test cow from the right or left (SIDE) and the approach toward to hind‐leg of the test cow diagonally from the right or left rear (BACK). Three levels of approach pace were also tested; that were the approach at a pace of 7 km/h, the approach at a pace of 4 km/h, and the approach at a pace of 1 km/h. The shortest distance between observer and cow's at the moment of the cow's withdrawal was defined as the flight distance. The flight distance in FRONT was significantly shorter than that in SIDE. The effect of the approach pace was significant. The faster an observer approached to cow, the greater the flight distance shown by the cow. The manner of approach to cattle markedly affects the flight distance. Therefore, the manner of approach to cattle must be standardized to measure flight distance for sharing results obtained by several researchers under various conditions.     

BPI指数在西杂牛经济类型划分上的应用研究

[目的]进一步提高我区西杂牛的选育水平,为培育河西肉牛新类群提供理论依据。[方法]通过采用BPI指数法,对172头西杂牛的测定分析。[结果]一岁公牛BPI指数平均为6.81±1.24、二岁公牛为7.14±1.38、三岁公牛为5.58±1.47,均达到或超过5.9的肉用型指标;一岁母牛BPI指数平均为4.45±1.07、...