Browsing by discipline "Husdjursvetenskap"

The purpose of the study was to determine the possibilities of utilizing the by-product streams of fish processing industry in the production of fish oil and silage. In this thesis the effect of different antioxidants on the preservation of salmon scraps was studied and the utilisation of the dregs from which the oil was extracted as feed was considered. The scarps preserved in this study were from farmed salmon and consisted of internal organs and roe. The study had two experiments. The first one lasted for 65 days and in it formic acid was added to the scraps for a final acid content of 3 %. The scraps with only the formic acid acted as the control and the four different antioxidants studied were butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), ethoxyquin mixture (Helmlox) and butylated hydroxytoluene (Ionol). The amount of Ionol was 100 ppm and for BHA, TBHQ and Helmlox there were two different amounts, 50 and 100 ppm. The second experiment lasted for 29 days and the formic acid content was 1 %. BHA and Helmlox antioxidants were used with an amount of 10 ppm. The oil and sediment parts from the experiments were analyzed separately. Based on the analyses the antioxidants or their amounts did not have an effect on the values extracted from the sediment. In the first experiment the analyses from the oil gave mostly highly significant (p<0,001) differences between the control and the antioxidants. There were also clear differences between the antioxidants but the different amounts did not have an effect on the AV-, PV- and TOTOX-values. In the second experiment the analyses from the oil gave only minor differences between the control and the antioxidants, the differences between different antioxidants being larger. The peroxide value of BHA was clearly larger than that of the control and Helmlox and therefore also the TOTOX-value was larger, which contradicts the results of the first experiment. In the second experiment also the measured amino acid contents diminished when the antioxidants were added which contradicts previous research. TBHQ worked best as an antioxidant, then BHA, Ionol and Helmlox in order. The usage of the dregs from the scraps as feed for pigs and chicken is limited by its high fish oil content. However for fur animals salmon scraps are suitable as feed products if the amino acid deficiencies are compensated with other feed products.

In this study the economic values for the breeding goal traits for Finnish Ayrshire cattle were determined by the bioeconomical model. Additionally, the economic value was determined for a new trait, feed efficiency, which was modelled as residual feed intake (RFI). Feed efficiency was added to breeding goals because of intrest in reduction of harmful environmental effects of dairy cattle production. The effect of increasing feed costs on the economic weights was also studied. Economic values were determined by the program ECOWEIGHT. The bioeconomical model included 21 traits, which can be divided a few categories: milk production traits, growth and carcass traits and functional traits (calving difficulty, stillbirth, calf mortality in the rearing period, fertility traits, productive lifetime of cows, incidence of clinical mastitis, somatic cell score (SCS) and residual feed intake (RFI)). Economic values and standardized economic weights were defined for the traits. Profitability of the milk production was negative (?13,3%), when the subsidies were not included in the calculations. Adding RFI didn’t have any effect on the economic values of the other traits and it didn’t change the order of the traits in standardized economical weight. The marginal economic values for RFI of cows and heifers were ?55,8 and ?24,9 €/kg/d, respectively. The highest relative economic weights was found for 305-d milk (36%), protein (14%), fat (9%), mature weight (7%) and calving interval (5%). Relative economic weights for RFI of cows and heifers were 4,6% and 1,5%, respectively. An increase in the feeding costs (10, 30 and 50%) changed the order of the traits in standardized economical weights. The weights of milk production traits were decreased and the weights of growth traits, RFI and calving interval were increased. RFI of cows was the fifth important trait when feeding costs increased 30%. According to the results of this study would be beneficial, especially if the relative im-portance of feed efficiency will increase in the future due to increasing feed costs or in-creasing requirements to mitigate the environmental impact of milk production. However, more research will be needed before adding RFI to the breeding goals.

Tämän maisterintutkielman tavoitteena oli selvittää eroja viiden kaupallisen broilerihybridin kävelykyvyssä ja aktiivisuudessa. Hypoteesina oli, että broilerihybridien väliset erot näkyvät kävelytestin ja muunnellun latency to lie- eli LTL-testin tuloksissa, videomateriaalissa ja tuotantotuloksissa. Kukkoja oli viittä kaupallista, yleisesti käytettyä broilerihybridiä, joista yksi oli hitaampikasvuinen, luomu- ja free range -tuotantoon käytetty hybridi. Sukupuolilajitellut 350 kukkoa (65-75 lintua/hybridi) jaettiin satunnaisesti 25 numeroituun karsinaan hybrideittäin (5 karsinaa/hybridi). Lintujen rehunkulutusta ja kasvua seurattiin koko kokeen ajan viikottain. Lintujen kävelykyky arvioitiin teuraspäivinä kävelytestillä ja muunnellulla LTL-testillä (koepäivät 15, 19, 22, 32, 36, 43 ja 49). Kaikille linnuille tehtiin ylimääräinen kävelytesti myös päivinä 27 ja 40. Lintujen käyttäytymistä videoitiin koepäivinä 12, 17, 25, 34 ja 41. Tarkkailtaviksi valittiin satunnaisesti kuusi värjättyä lintua per hybridi (yhteensä 30 lintua). Videoista analysoitiin jokaiselta päivältä kaksi 10 minuutin pituista jaksoa, joista kirjattiin ylös muutokset lintujen aktiivisuudessa (lintujen ryömintä- ja kävelysummat, seisoma- ja makuufrekvenssit ja kokonaismakuu- ja seisoma-aika). Lintujen tuotantotulosten ja kävelykyvyn väliset yhteydet testattiin Kendallin korrelaatiolla. Hybridillä oli erittäin merkitsevä vaikutus kävelykykyyn mitattuna kävelytestillä (p= 0,001). Hybridillä ei ollut merkitsevää vaikutusta lintujen muunnellun LTL-testin tuloksiin (p=0,394). Erittäin merkitsevä negatiivinen korrelaatio LTL-testitulokseen oli elopainolla (p=0,000) ja kävelytestin arvosanalla (p=0,000). Hybridillä oli erittäin merkitsevä vaikutus lintujen elopainoon (p=0,000). Hybridillä ei ollut merkitsevää vaikutusta lintujen videoista mitattuun aktiivisuuteen. Lintujen aktiivisuus korreloi negatiivisesti tarkkailupäivän ja kävelytestin arvosanan kanssa. Lintujen suurempi rintalihasten paino (p=0,001), elopaino (p=0,008) ja rintalihassaanto (p=0,008) huononsivat lintujen kävelytestin arvosanaa.

Leg weakness is one of the most common production diseases in pigs. Osteochondrosis is a joint disorder in which the endochondral ossification is disturbed. Leg weakness is mainly caused by osteochondrosis in pigs. Many factors like heredity and vitamin D status can affect the prevalence of osteochondrosis. This experiment was part of the international ProHealth project. The aim of this study was to investigate how two different vitamin D3 sources and feeding levels affect the prevalence of leg weakness in boars. Experiment design was 2 x 2 factorial. Commonly used vitamin D3 product (cholecalciferol) and Hy•D® product (25-hydroxycholecalciferol) were compared as vitamin D3 sources. Vitamin D3 feeding level 1 was in accordance of Finnish vitamin D3 recommendations and feeding level 2 was threefold with respect to the recommendations. Practical trial was carried out at Figen Oy’s research center in Längelmäki in 24.3. – 22.8.2016. Trial was conducted with 120 finishing boars. Average live weight of the boars at the end of the trial was 113 kg. Feed intake, daily weight gain, slaughter weight and bone strength were improved by greater feeding level of vitamin D3. Greater feeding level increased feed intake 6,13 kg of dry matter, slaughter weight 2,32 kg and bone strength 124,4 N during the trial. Daily weight gain increased 90,83 g/ d during the finishing period and 30,25 g/ d during the overall trial. Over 80 % of the pigs had excellent or good leg structure with only minor faults and their locomotion was fluent. There were no significant differences in leg structure or locomotion results between treatments. Pigs fed Hy•D® product with greater feeding level got double plasma 25-hydroxycholecalsiferol concentration when compared to pigs fed commonly used vitamin D3 product with greater feeding level. There were no significant treatment differences for 25-hydroxycholecalsiferol concentration in feeding level in accordance of the nutritional recommendations. There were no significant differences in plasma Ca, Pi or ALP concentrations between treatments either. Serious faults were observed more in distal humerus (elbow joint) compared to proximal humerus (shoulder joint) but there were no significant differences between treatments. In total of 11 pigs were removed from the treatments because of medical or tail biting reasons and in total of 50 pigs were medicated during the trial. Number of removed and medicated pigs divided evenly between treatments. According to this study the greater feeding level of vitamin D3 improved production. Feeding level of the vitamin D3 did not affect prevalence of the leg weakness or osteochondrosis. Source of the vitamin D3 did not affect production or prevalence of the leg weakness or osteochondrosis. Nutritional recommendations cover mainly the minimum need for nutrients and take no stand on optimizing production or health records. There is also some variation between research results. More research about the effects of vitamin D3 to prevalence of the leg weakness and the possibility to optimize production and health records with supplemental vitamin D3 is needed.

The aim of this master’s thesis was to investigate the potential of reducing enteric methane production from dairy cows by replacing barley grain with oat grain on a grass silage-based diet. The effects of grain species on in vitro methane production, digestibility, pH and volatile fatty acid (VFA) production pattern were investigated and a regression analysis was performed to entangle possible methane mitigating mechanisms of oats. The study was conducted in the laboratory at the Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden in the autumn of 2016. An in vitro gas production system was applied, consisting of 16 diets with two replicates, four blanks and three runs, each with a three-day incubation time. The feed material consisted of eight varieties of barley, eight varieties of oats and timothy silage incubated at a grain/silage ratio of 1:1 on a dry matter basis. Rumen fluid was collected from two cannulated Nordic Red dairy cows after morning feeding. Gas sampling was performed at 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 32 and 48 hours of incubation, meanwhile VFA-sampling, pH-measurements and sampling of incubation residues were performed at 48 hours. Methane production was estimated as predicted in vivo methane production and stoichiometrically predicted methane production. The in vitro digestibility was determined as true dry matter digestibility (TDMD). Content of indigestible neutral detergent fiber (iNDF) was determined by applying a 12-day in situ incubation in two Ayrshire dairy cows. Oats had a higher content of crude protein, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), iNDF and fat compared to barley, whereas barley had a higher content of starch. Replacing barley with oats decreased predicted in vivo methane production by 9% and stoichiometrically predicted methane production by 11%. Variety within grain was not found to have any significant effect on methane production. True DM digestibility and total VFA production were lower in oat-based diets compared to barley-based diets. No significant differences were observed between the diets considering VFA molar proportions. The pH was lower in barley-based diets compared to oat-based diets. True DM digestibility was the best predictor of methane production. Among grain composition parameters, iNDF content was the best predictor of methane production, followed by NDF. Crude fat content also predicted methane production relatively well. Based on the results of this experiment, it can be concluded that replacing barley grain with oat grain in the diet of dairy cows has a potential to lower methane production predicted in vitro. Furthermore, the methane mitigating effect observed in this experiment is at least partly due to the higher fat content and lower digestibility of oats compared to barley.

Before parturition the wild boar uses plant material to build a nest, which provides the piglets shelter and keeps them warm. Despite domestication, this behaviour has remained as an important part of maternal behaviour in the domestic pig. Nest building behaviour has a big impact on modern pig production, because the possibilities to practise this behaviour affect the sow and the piglets in various ways. In this study, we investigated nest building behaviour in a group farrowing system. We also studied how nest building behaviour is associated to the sow’s physiology and performance. A total of 31 farrowings of 23 group-housed sows were investigated. The nest building behavior and the location of the sows were monitored continuosly starting 24 hours prior to farrowing. When the sow farrowed, blood and colostrum samples were collected to assess the concentrations of progesterone and immunoglobulins. Also the duration of farrowing, the yield of colostrum and the piglets’ growth, colostrum intake and mortality were observed. The sows had excellent conditions for nest building, because they could move freely in their own group farrowing department and had access to large amounts of straw to use as a nest building material. The total duration of nest building behaviour and the way it was distributed varied greatly between sows. Nest building behaviour started on average 23 h 7 min before farrowing and ceased approximately 18 min before farrowing. The mean total duration of nest building behaviour during 24 hours before farrowing was 4 h 29 min. Most of the nest building behaviour, 3 h 32 min, occurred 12–0 h before farrowing and the peak was seen 6–4 hours prior to farrowing. Younger sows started nest building behaviour earlier and spent less time in the pens than older sows. Starting nest building behaviour earlier correlated with a shorter duration of farrowing and, to a lesser extent, with a smaller number of stillborn piglets. Abundant nest building during 24–12 hours before farrowing tended to correlate with lower piglet mortality in the age of 1–3 days. Opposite to our assumptions, abundant nest building during 12–0 hours before farrowing correlated with poorer piglet growth. Nest building behaviour wasn’t related to colostrum yield and intake or the concentrations of progesterone and immunoglobulins. In conclusion, the total duration of nest building behaviour was greater in group farrowing system than in previously studied systems (farrowing crate, loose farrowing pen). Especially the early start of nest building had a positive effect on sows’ performance.

The aim of this study was to investigate the ensilability of field pea and faba bean bi-crop with spring wheat when ensiled as whole-crop with different additives. In this study we attempted to clarify use of pea – wheat and faba bean – wheat bi-crop in organic farming. Forages was sown at 4th to 7th of June in Luonnonvarakeskus (Luke) Ruukki and forages were ensiled in laboratory silos at 26th of August 2013. Silages were ensiled without additive (PR), with formic acid (MH) and with two different heterofermentative inoculants (B1 and B2) as additive. Each treatment were made three replicants. Silos were opened after 106 ensiling days at 9th of December in Luke Jokioinen. Chemical and microbiological compositions were determined from samples of herbage. From silage samples were analysed fermentation quality, microbiological composition and aerobic stability. All samples were wet. Faba bean – wheat bi-crop was a little wetter than field pea – wheat bi-crop. Field pea – wheat forage contained more crude protein, water-soluble carbohydrates, starch and had stronger buffering capacity than faba bean – wheat. Faba bean – wheat bi-crop contained more neutral-detergent fiber (NDF) and had also lower digestibility. Both of crops were easy to ensile and growth stage were different between crops. All samples included lot of micro-organism especially yeast, moulds and epiphytic lactic acid bacteria. Field pea – wheat silage contained more fermentation products than faba bean – wheat silage. MH- treated silages had better fermentation quality than other silages although there were higher pH values in MH silages. MH silages contained less lactic and acetic acids and ammonium nitro-gen. Inoculant treated silages mostly did not differ from PR treatment in fermentation parameters. That is probably due to high epiphytic lactic acid bacteria account in herbage. Silages contained only a little butyric acid. Microbiological quality of silages predisposed them to aerobic deteriora-tion because there were considerable high amounts of yeasts and moulds. Field pea –wheat silages were more aerobically stable than faba bean - wheat. This is probably due to higher concentration of fermentation acids in field pea-wheat silages. MH treatment was the most aerobically stable of field pea – wheat silages. B2 treatment was the most stable of field pea – wheat silages. Mixed ration of these silages were more prone to aerobically deterioration than silages.

Patellar luxation is a typical orthopaedic disorder in small sized dogs. Patella can luxate either medially or laterally, medial luxation being by far more common than the lateral luxation. PL is considered hereditary since certain breeds have great susceptibility to get the condition, and the symptoms may occur at young age. PL is diagnosed by following the so-called Putnam’s scale where the stifle joint is palpated and manipulated. PL is graded from 0=normal…4=permanent luxation. The aim of this study was to estimate the variance components and the heritability of PL, to visualize PL’s genetic trend and to calculate the genetic correlation between left and right stifle and between PL and hip dysplasia (HD) in Japanese Spitz. The PL, HD and pedigree data were provided by the Finnish Kennel Club. Data were modified with both R-program and Microsoft Office Excel. The pedigree check was performed with RelaX2 program and variance component analyses were done with DMU program using the restricted maximum likelihood method. Heritabilities (h2) were from very low to low depending on the model and breed. When the dependent variable was the mean of left and right patellae of an individual the lowest heritability was in the Pomeranian h2=0.03 and highest in the Chihuahua h2=0.18. The genetic correlation of left and right patellae was 1 in all breeds which suggests that they are genetically the same trait. In the Japanese Spitz the genetic correlation between PL and HD was -0.05. The genetic trend of PL was favorable in the Chihuahua and the Japanese Spitz. In the Pomeranian the trend was negative and neutral in the Finnish Spitz. Based on the results, the selection against PL has not been efficient. In future, patellae health should be controlled by using breeding indexes because the heritability of PL is low. Also, improvements in phenotyping could lead to more accurate selection.

Some horses experience a problem called free faecal liquid (FFL). The condition is not characterized by classical diarrhoea but by free liquid that is voided separately from the solid part of the faeces. Problems with FFL include irritation and abrasive lesions in the skin in the rear end. No health issues of more severe character are usually present in these horses, apart from preliminary findings indicating a higher risk of colic when compared to horses without FFL. The reason for why horses develop FFL, and its effects on the horse, are unknown as the subject has not been studied much. It has been suggested that one reason could be in how the horses are fed. It has been speculated that haylage could have an impact on the development of FFL. A study was done with the aim to collect information about feeding and management of horses affected with FFL in Sweden and Norway (n = 100), and to compare faecal composition in horses with and without FFL. This particular part of the study focused on the faecal properties. The objective was to compare chemical composition of the faeces of affected and unaffected horses, in order to detect possible reasons for FFL, which could be studied further. The study was performed with three repeated samplings on all horses. Case and control horses were paired and were housed at the same farm and were fed the same forage. The horse owners were collecting faecal samples using a standardized protocol. The variables examined in faecal samples were dry matter (DM), pH, volume of free liquid after centrifugation, sand, osmolality, acetate, propionate, isobutyrate, n-butyrate and total volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration of the samples. In samples from the first sampling occasion, differences (P < 0.05) between cases and controls were found in concentration of acetate, isobutyrate and total amount of VFA. Tendencies toward differences (0.10 < P > 0.05) were found in the volume of liquid and sand as well as in n-butyrate concentration. At the second sampling tendencies toward differences were found in the amount of sand and in n-butyrate concentration. In samples from the third sampling a tendency toward difference was present for pH value. All values were or tended to be higher for horses with FFL. Also, clear correlations were found between nearly all the variables. The pH value was found to correlate negatively with osmolality and all the VFAs except for isobutyrate where no correlation was found in any of the sampling occasions. Osmolality was also found to correlate positively with all the VFAs. VFAs correlated positively with one another. The results showed a tendency toward difference in n-butyrate concentration and presence of sand in faecal samples when case and control horses were compared, although not with consistency as samples form the third sampling occasion did not follow results from the first and second samplings. As the results were not constant throughout the study, these two variables may not be reliable when trying to find possible reasons for FFL. Almost all the variables were found to correlate with one another, exception being isobutyrate with pH. As butyrate is a major source of energy for horses and important for the health of the equine intestine, this information could be useful in further studies concerning the possible reasons for FFL.

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of faba bean and pea based lactation diets on changes in weight and condition of gilts and sows and weight gain of piglets in organic production. In addition, the effects of phase-feeding on sow and piglet productiveness was surveyed. The study was conducted in experimental farm of MTT Agrifood Research Finland, in Hyvinkää. Experiment was carried out with 28 gilts and 46 sows, which were all divided into three test groups. The control feed was organic lactation feed containing 19,7 % of pea. Test diet 1 was organic lactation feed containing 19,7 % of pea and after 22 day of lactation additional 3,35 % of rapeseed expeller. Test diet 2 was organic lactation feed containing 16,4 % of faba bean and after 22 day of lactation additional 3,61 % of rapeseed expeller. Also the effect of parity on sow productivity was examined by comparing the results between gilts and sows. The sow weights were measured, fat measurements performed and condition scores evaluated during the experiment. Piglet weights were also measured. No differences between the sow groups occurred in feed intake during the first three weeks of lactation. However at the end of the lactation feed intake in test groups 1 and 2 (204,8 kg DM and 200,0 kg DM, respectively) was higher than in the control group (181,9 kg DM). The weight loss of sows in all groups was similar and no effect of feed was found. Parity had an effect on the sow feed intake and weights, as gilts consumed less feed and had smaller weights compared to older sows. In addition, the litters of the older sows were larger compared to the gilts, but no differences was found in piglet weights. In this study faba bean seemed to be comparable with pea as organic protein feed for sows, as there were no major differences between the test groups in feed intake, weight loss nor piglet production. Also, rapeseed expeller had no effect on the sow conditions after weaning.