Carcass yield traits of kids from a complete diallel of Boer, Kiko, and Spanish meat goat breeds semi-intensively managed on humid subtropical pasture.

Bucklings (n = 275) from a complete diallel of Boer, Kiko, and Spanish meat goats were slaughtered at 7 mo of age (4 mo postweaning) to evaluate genetic effects on carcass yield. Breed of sire did not affect (P > 0.05) live, carcass, and primal weights. Conversely, breed of dam was a consistently significant source of variation for carcass weight traits. Kiko dams produced kids with heavier (P < 0.05) live, carcass, and primal weights than Boer dams. Weights from Spanish dams were intermediate to Boer and Kiko with the significance of differences varying by trait. Cold carcass dressing percent was affected (P < 0.01) by breeds of sire and dam. Boer sires decreased (P < 0.05) dressing percent compared with Kiko and Spanish sires. Dressing percent was also less (P < 0.01) from Boer dams than from Kiko dams; Spanish dams were intermediate and did not differ (P > 0.05) from Boer or Kiko. Subjective conformation scores for muscularity were affected (P < 0.01) by breeds of sire and dam. Boer-sired kids had better (P < 0.01) live scores than Kiko-sired kids. Progeny of Boer dams had better (P < 0.05) live scores than progeny of Spanish dams. Boer-sired kids also had better carcass scores (P < 0.05) than Kiko-sired and Spanish-sired kids. Breed differences for primal cut proportions were negligible. Proportional boneless meat yields did not vary (P > 0.05) by breeds of sire or dam. Direct effects of Boer were negative for carcass weight, dressing percent, and shoulder weight and positive for proportional leg weight. Direct effects of Kiko were positive for carcass weight and shoulder weight and negative for proportional leg weight. Direct effects of Spanish did not differ (P > 0.10) from 0 for any trait tested. Heterosis levels were similar among breed pairings. Heterosis was substantial (P ≤ 0.05) for live, carcass, and primal weights (5 to 9%) but not for dressing percent, proportional boneless meat yield, or primal weight proportions (<2%). Significant genetic variation was observed among goat breeds for carcass yield traits. Dam breed was more influential than sire breed. Boer germplasm was not superior to Kiko or Spanish germplasm for carcass yield when semi-intensively managed on humid, subtropical pasture. Results emphasize the importance of comparative breed evaluations to provide industry with reliable information on carcass yield among goat genotypes.

Efficacy of copper oxide wire particles against gastrointestinal nematodes in sheep and goats.

Profitable sheep and goat production in the USA is severely limited by gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) parasitism, particularly by Haemonchus contortus. Copper oxide wire particles (COWP) have anti-parasitic properties in the diet of small ruminants, but efficacy of COWP may differ between sheep and goats. In a study with weaned kids (Kiko x Spanish cross, 6 months old) and lambs (Katahdin or Dorper x Blackface crosses, 5 months old), grazing the same pasture area in Central Georgia, 2g of COWP in a gel capsule was given to half the animals of each species, while the other half were given no COWP. Fecal and blood samples were taken weekly to determine GIN fecal egg counts (FEC) and blood packed cell volume (PCV). After COWP treatment, animals were grazed for 4 weeks and then slaughtered, with adult GIN recovered from the abomasum and small intestines for counting and identification to species. For both sheep and goats, COWP treatment reduced EPG (P<0.05), increased PCV (P<0.05), and lowered abomasal GIN numbers (P<0.05). For EPG, these differences were 82.5 and 90.5% for sheep and goats, respectively, 26 days after treatment, while adult H. contortus were 67.2 and 85.8% lower for COWP-treated sheep and goats, respectively. In this study, COWP treatment was equally effective against H. contortus infection in lambs and kids and appears to be an effective method of controlling H. contortus infection for up to 6 weeks in small ruminants following weaning.

Administration of copper oxide wire particles in a capsule or feed for gastrointestinal nematode control in goats.

Widespread anthelmintic resistance in small ruminants has necessitated alternative means of gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) control. The objective was to determine the effectiveness of copper oxide wire particles (COWP) administered as a gelatin capsule or in a feed supplement to control GIN in goats. In four separate experiments, peri-parturient does (n=36), yearling does (n=25), weaned kids (n=72), and yearling bucks (n=16) were randomly assigned to remain untreated or administered 2g COWP in a capsule (in Experiments 1, 2, and 3) or feed supplement (all experiments). Feces and blood were collected every 7 days between Days 0 and 21 (older goats) or Day 42 (kids) for fecal egg counts (FEC) and blood packed cell volume (PCV) analyses. A peri-parturient rise in FEC was evident in the untreated does, but not the COWP-treated does (COWP x date, P<0.02). In yearling does, FEC of the COWP-treated does tended to be lower than the untreated (COWP, P<0.02). FEC of COWP-treated kids were reduced compared with untreated kids (COWP x date, P<0.001). FEC of treated and untreated bucks were similar, but Haemonchus contortus was not the predominant nematode in these goats. However, total worms were reduced in COWP-fed bucks (P<0.03). In summary, it appeared that COWP in the feed was as effective as COWP in a gelatin capsule to reduce FEC in goats. COWP administration may have a limited effect where H. contortus is not the predominant nematode.

Accuracy of the FAMACHA system for on-farm use by sheep and goat producers in the southeastern United States.

FAMACHA is a practical on-farm system designed to provide small ruminant producers a tool for improving their management of Haemonchus contortus infections. Although this system has become very popular and widely accepted by small ruminant producers in many regions of the southern United States, there is very limited data reported on the effectiveness of the FAMACHA system when performed by farmers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the FAMACHA system for on-farm use by small ruminant producers during the summer season. Small ruminant producers from Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, and Puerto Rico were trained to use the FAMACHA system by veterinarians and scientists experienced with this method. FAMACHA scores were assigned at least every 2 weeks by producers to weaned and mature sheep (n=552) and goats (n=676) of various breeds and ages between April and September 2004. At intervals that varied among farms from 2 to 8 weeks, researchers determined body condition scores (BCS; 1=thin and 5=fat) and collected blood and feces from a group of animals selected randomly to determine packed cell volume (PCV) and fecal egg counts (FEC). Two separate anemia thresholds were evaluated; these were defined by either FAMACHA score (>or=3 versus >or=4) or PCV (or=3 were considered anemic and PCV cutoff was or=3 were considered anemic and PCV cutoff was

Validation of the FAMACHA eye color chart for detecting clinical anemia in sheep and goats on farms in the southern United States.

Recent studies on sheep and goat farms in the southern United States indicate that multiple-anthelmintic resistance in Haemonchus contortus is becoming a severe problem. Though many factors are involved in the evolution of resistance, the proportion of the parasite population under drug selection is believed to be the single most important factor influencing how rapidly resistance develops. Therefore, where prevention of resistance is an important parallel goal of worm control, it is recommended to leave a portion of the animals untreated. Recently, a novel system called FAMACHA was developed in South Africa, which enables clinical identification of anemic sheep and goats. When H. contortus is the primary parasitic pathogen, this system can be applied on the farm level to reduce the number of treatments administered, thereby increasing the proportion of the worm population in refugia. Since most studies validating the FAMACHA method have been performed in South Africa, it is important that the method be tested in other regions before its use is broadly recommended. We performed a validation study of FAMACHA by testing the system in sheep (n = 847) and goats (n = 537) of various breeds and ages from 39 farms located in Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, and the US Virgin Islands. The color of the ocular conjunctiva of all animals were scored on a 1-5 scale using the FAMACHA card, and blood samples were collected from each animal for determination of packed cell volume (PCV). Fecal samples were also collected from a majority of the animals tested for performance of fecal egg counts (FEC). Correlations between PCV and eye scores, PCV and FEC, and FEC and eye scores were all highly significant for both sheep and goats (P < 0.001). Data for both FAMACHA scores and PCV were evaluated using two separate criteria for anemia: eye score values of 3, 4 and 5 or 4 and 5, and PCV values of < or =19 or < or =15 were considered anemic. Specificity was maximized when eye score values of 4 and 5 were considered anemic and PCV cut off for anemia was < or =19, but sensitivity was low. In contrast, sensitivity was 100% for both sheep and goats when eye score values of 3, 4 and 5 were considered anemic and PCV cut off was < or =15, but specificity was low. In both sheep and goats, predictive value of a negative was greater than 92% for all anemia and eye score categories, and was greater than 99% for both eye score categories when an anemia cutoff of < or =15 was used. Predictive value of a positive test was low under all criteria indicating that many non-anemic animals would be treated using this system. However, compared to conventional dosing practices where all animals are treated, a large proportion of animals would still be left untreated. These data indicate that the FAMACHA method is an extremely useful tool for identifying anemic sheep and goats in the southern US and US Virgin Islands. However, further studies are required to determine optimal strategies for incorporating FAMACHA-based selective treatment protocols into integrated nematode control programs.

Educational methodology in dealing with animal rights and welfare in public service.

Animal rights and animal welfare have biological, economic, social, philosophical, emotional, political, legal and policy dimensions. Hundred of organizations are active in some aspect of these issues. Viewpoints range in a continuum from animal rights advocates to livestock producers. One long-range goal is to increase understandings of both the benefits and the costs of animal rights and animal welfare for individuals and society. In the short-range, solutions and (or) alternatives for crisis situations are needed. Key aspects for using education as a means to solve these problems are 1) characterization of the issue(s), 2) identification of the audience(s), 3) selection of communications media and channels, and 4) development of appropriate educational materials. Task forces of educators and clientele for audience involvement are essential in planning and testing educational methods. When situations involve political, legal, and policy aspects, two task forces are needed: 1) a multidisciplinary educational group of scientists and educators to prepare objective usable information, and 2) an action group of clientele to communicate potential impacts of political, legal or policy action. Liaison between two groups is very important. Contemporary examples are presented.

Immunosuppressive effect of uterine secretory protein from Angus and Brahman cows upon lymphocytes in vitro.

Uterine luminal protein collected on d 17 (estrus = d 0) from Angus (n = 20) and Brahman (n = 19) cows of varying reproductive status was evaluated for immunosuppressive activity in vitro. Reproductive status consisted of the following categories: nonpregnant (uterine flushing was devoid of embryonic material); remnant (uterine flushing contained obvious degenerative fragments of embryonic tissue) and pregnant (uterine flushing contained an intact conceptus). Uterine protein was tested for suppressor activity in both phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC) systems. Incorporation of [3H]-thymidine into 1 X 10(6) Angus or Brahman lymphocytes for PHA cultures and 5 X 10(5) lymphocytes from each breed for MLC experiments served as the index for lymphocyte blastogenesis. For all experiments, uterine luminal protein from nonpregnant, remnant and pregnant Angus and Brahman cows suppressed (P less than .01) lymphocyte blastogenesis for Angus and Brahman lymphocytes, respectively. In two lymphocyte-uterine protein specificity experiments containing PHA, uterine protein from Angus cows suppressed (P less than .01) blastogenesis of Brahman lymphocytes and uterine protein from Brahman cows suppressed (P less than .01) blastogenesis of Angus lymphocytes. Within and between breed comparisons of suppressor activity were evaluated when expressing uterine protein culture data as percentages of control (no test protein) cultures. At 200, 400 and 800 micrograms/ml of uterine protein, suppressor activity was consistently greater in secretions from pregnant than from nonpregnant cows for each breed. For between breed comparisons, there were nonsignificant trends toward greater suppressor activity for nonpregnant Angus than for nonpregnant Brahman cows at 200, 400 and 800 micrograms/ml of protein. Suppressor activity was greater (P less than .10) for pregnant Angus than for pregnant Brahman cows at 400 micrograms/ml of protein and tended to be greater for pregnant Angus than for Brahman cows at 800 micrograms/ml of protein. These data indicate that uterine secretory protein collected on d 17 from Angus and Brahman cows exerted immunosuppressive activity in vitro. Further, suppressor activity in each breed was greater in pregnant than in nonpregnant cows and suppressor activity tended to be greater for Angus than for Brahman cows.

Ovarian and uterine morphology and function in Angus and Brahman cows.

Ovarian characteristics, daily serum progesterone (P4) and estradiol-17 beta (E2) concentrations (d 7 through 17) and uterine luminal secretory protein components and histological variables were evaluated in parous Bos taurus (Angus, n = 20) and Bos indicus (Brahman, n = 19) cows. Cows were slaughtered on d 17 (estrus = d 0) for measurement of ovarian structures, flushing of uteri and removal of uterine tissue for histological evaluation. Cows were placed into one of three reproductive categories: nonpregnant, remnant (flushings contained remnants of embryonic tissue) or pregnant. For ovarian and uterine variables, there were only a few differences among reproductive categories within breeds. For combined categories, weight of the active ovary (containing the corpus luteum) was similar between breeds, but inactive ovarian (P less than .001) and follicular fluid (P less than .01) weights, stromal weight (P less than .01) and number of follicles less than 5 mm in diameter (P less than .01) for both ovaries combined were greater in Brahman than Angus cows. Corpus luteum weight (P less than .001), luteal P4 content (P less than .08) and number of follicles greater than 5 mm in diameter for both ovaries combined (P less than .05) were greater for Angus than for Brahman cows. Overall, mean serum P4 concentrations were greater in nonpregnant (P less than .05), pregnant (P less than .005) and combined (P less than .025) reproductive categories for Angus than corresponding categories of Brahman cows and mean serum E2 concentrations were greater in remnant (P less than .025) and combined (P less than .05) reproductive categories for Angus than corresponding categories of Brahman cows. Mean total uterine luminal protein was greater (P less than .05) in Angus than in Brahman cows for pregnant (23.4 vs 14.7 mg, respectively) and combined reproductive categories (22.4 vs 16.1 mg, respectively). Using electrophoretic analyses, percentage composition of three uterine specific cathode migrating protein bands and quantitative estimates of proteins with molecular weights (MW, X 10(-3)) of 9, 15.5, 34.2, 41.3, 46.2 and 183.1 were greater (P less than .05 to P less than .001) in uterine flushings from Angus than from Brahman cows. Uterine, myometrial and endometrial thicknesses, number of glands/microscopic field and uterine luminal epithelial cell height variables were generally greater (P less than .05 to P less than .001) in pregnant and combined reproductive categories for Angus than for Brahman cows.

Selenium and reproductive function in boars fed a low selenium diet.

A study was conducted with 24 crossbred boars (77.5 +/- 2.8 days of age) to determine the effects of low Se status on various spermatozoal characteristics and on Se concentration in semen, serum and primary and accessory reproductive tissues. All boars were fed a low Se diet (cornstarch and Torula yeast) ad libitum. Twelve boars were injected every 14 +/- 1 days with sodium selenite (.33 mg Se/kg body weight) and 12 served as saline-treated controls (low Se status). At 210 +/- 5 days of age, six boars in each group were slaughtered, and serum and various tissues were collected and assayed for Se. Treated boars had higher concentrations of Se in the serum (P less than .001), kidney (P less than .001), liver (P less than .001), heart (P less than .001), skeletal muscle (P less than .01), testis (P less than .01), epididymis (P less than .05), seminal vesicle (P less than .01), bulbourethral gland (P less than .001) and prostate (P less than .001) tissues. Starting at 230 +/- 4 days of age, semen samples were collected from the remaining boars at 4- to 6-day intervals until a total of four ejaculates had been obtained from all but two boars. There were no significant treatment differences in semen volume, percentage normal spermatozoa, percentage viability or spermatozoa concentration/milliliter; however, for combined semen Se data, treated boars had more Se than control boars in the whole semen (.165 vs .07 ppm, respectively), spermatozoa (.418 vs .199 micrograms/10(9) spermatozoa, respectively) and seminal plasma (.03 vs .007 ppm, respectively). The boars were castrated around 250 days of age, and no differences in testis length, diameter, weight and spermatozoal concentration were found between groups. Additionally, there were no apparent differences in daily gain, daily feed consumed and the feed to gain ratio between control and treated boars. Although concentrations of Se in serum, semen and reproductive tissues were much lower in control boars than in treated boars, no apparent impairment of sperm morphology or viability resulted from low Se status.