C6-Linbister Farming, Saturday, January 3, 1998
Livestock Notes
Two New Motor Vehicle
Regulations Take Effect
Two important safety regula
tions now apply to our motor
vehicle use habits. It is manda
tory that anybody in the front
seat of a motor vehicle (car or
truck) be wearing the safety
belts provided by the manufac
turer. This has been true for
many yearfc, but under the new
law an officer of the law may
stop and arrest a person for that
reason only. Previously there
had to be a primary reason (stop
sign violations, speeding, etc.)
for the “traffic stop.”
Also under a totally NEW
regulation, in Maryland, one is
required to turn on the low
beam headlights whenever if is
necessary to use the windshield
wipers, regardless of the time of
day. That means turn on the
headlights, not the parking
lights, whenever it is raining,
snowing, or the road surface is
wet causing need to- wipe the
windshield.
Both of the rules are based on
well known statistics - wearing
safety belts saves lives and
using headlights reduces acci
dents.. Wear your safety belts,
use your headlights, and stay
alive!
Lee P. Grant, Specialist,
Agricultural Engineering,
U. of Md.
National 4-H Engineering,
Science, And Leadership
Program
Drs Lee Grant and David
Ross, Department of Biological
Resources Engineering, Univer
sity of Maryland, accompanied
the Maryland team to the
National 4-H Engineering, Sci
ence and Leadership program in
Lafayette, Ind.
The Maryland team placed
well in the events they entered
with team members taking first
and second places in the auto
motive care and safety contest,
third in the bicycle safety con
test, fourth in the computer con
test, second place in the Learn
to-Earn lawn tractor contest,
sixth in the small engines con
test, and eighth in the safe trac
tor operators contest In addi
tion, the team won the Engi
neering Bowl.
Grand chaired the Learn-to-
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agement committee.
Marketing And Shipping
Live Aquatic Products: A
Conference Proceedings
Marketing and shipping of
live aquatic animals is an
expanding industry. Information
on strategies for marketing and
shipping is needed by growers,
harvesters, processors, and
shippers. “Marketing and Ship
ping Live Aquatic Products,
NRAES 107, is the proceedings
of an October 1996 conference
addressing these needs.
The 288-page proceedings
includes 49 papers that discuss
animal welfare, environmental
issues, shellfish, finfish, orna
mentals, holding and transport,
and marketing and regulatory
issues. Information in this pro
ceedings will help improve har
vesting, handling, packaging,
and shipping technology; identi
fy new business opportunities;
provide broader selections for
consumers; develop humane
handling strategies; and ensure
food safety. Specific information
is provided on shrimp, abalone,
clams, crabs, lobsters, oysters,
mollusks, finfish, sole, ornamen-
tals, exotics, and other species
The proceedings was edited
by Brian Faust, Alaska Marine
Advisory Program and John
Peters, Nor’ Westerly Food Tech
nology Services, to create a cohe
sive and consistent proceedings
while preserving each author’s
intent. It includes more than 50
quality illustrations and photos.
The authors include industry
leaders, equipment suppliers,
shippers, regulators, and uni
versity professors. They repre
sent more than ten countries,
twelve states, and three
provinces.
The conference was spon
sored by Alaska Marine Adviso
y Board; Aqua Logic, Inc.; Envi
■otainer; Nor’ Westerly Food
fechnology Services; Novalek,
nc.; and Tech-Pak, Inc.
Marketing and Shipping
Jve Aquatic Products,” NRAES
-107, is available for $65 per copy
SOM (gif’(MOD
plus shipping and handling)
rom NRAES, Cooperative
Extension, 152 Riley-Robb Hall,
thaca, NY 14853-5701. Ship
ring and handling is $7 for a
single copy within the continen
tal United States. All major
:redit cards are accepted, and
;hecks should be made payable
.0 NRAES. For more informa
tion or a free publication cata
log, contact NRAES by phone at
(607) 255-7654, by fax at (607)
254-8770, or by E-mail at
nraes@comell.edu.
Milk Composition
The differences in milk com
position and yield found between
mammals is remarkable. These
differences may be affected by
many factors including genetics,
diet, stage of lactation, and other
factors.
One clear example of milk
composition varying in swine
breeds is in the comparison erf a
U.S. breed (Yorkshire) and the
Chinese Meishan breed. The
Chinese Meishan breed is well
known for its ability to bear and
raise large litters. In addition,
Meishan piglets are reported to
have a faster rate of maturity than
piglets of the U.S. breeds.
The lactation function of the
sow and the composition of her
milk are important, as well as the
number of pigs bom. In a study at
the University of Illinois (Zou et
al. 1992), colostrum and milk
composition of primipaiDus pure
bred Yorkshire gilts and Chinese
Meishan gilts were compared.
Gilts were managed the same
among groups and were fed the
same diets. Samples of mammary
secretions were collected on the
day of farrowing (collected within
8 hours of birth of the first piglet)
and on days 1,7 and 21 after the
day of farrowing.
Milk lactose, fat, and total pro
tein were determined in die sam
ples. At the time of farrowing, lac
tose content was about SO percent
lower in colostrum from Meishan
gilts compared with Yorkshire
gilts. By 24 hours after farrowing,
lactose in mammary secretions
from Meishan gilts was 20 percent
lower than in the Yorkshire gilts
Lactose content was not different
between these breeds on day 7 of
lactation or on day 21 of lactation.
Typically lactose is lowest in
colostrum immediately after far
rowing and then increases over the
next few days postpartum. Lac
lose is readily digested by the
suckling pig to provide a wurce of
glucose for energy.
Total protein in colostrum
Tune-up for winter with these cool weather specials!
(within 8 hours of birth of the fust
pig) was slightly higher in the
Meishan gilts than in the York
shire gilts. On day 7 and 21 of lac
tation, die total protein content of
the milk from Meishan gilts was
lower than in the Yorkshire gilts.
Fat content in colostrum and
milk of Meishan gilts was signifi
cantly higher than the Yorkshire
gilts throughout the lactation per
iod. The greatest difference was
on day 1 where Meishan gilts had
10.9 percent milkfat vs. Yorkshire
gilts with 6.6 percent milkfat.
Reaching the goal of increased
litter must be matched by the abili
ty of the sow to provide sufficient
nutrients for the larger litter.
Breed differences in colostrum
and milk compostion may enter
into considerations for increasing
litter size. In this example, the
highly prolific Meishan gilts pro
duced milk with higher fat con
tent. but lower colostral lactose
content These differences may be
eliminated in the availability of '
these components as energy sour
ces to the newborn piglet
Alternative Methods of
Estrous Synchronization
Several systems ate being used
for estrous synchronization of
dairy cattle. Many herds have
been using a two injection prosta
glandin (PG) program with a
14-day interval between injections
and inseminating cows as they
come into heat after die injections.
Several years ago the OvSynch
program was introduced. This sys
tem involves administering Gona
dotropin-Releasing Hormone
(GnRH) followed seven days later
with an injection of prostaglandin
(PG) and then 36 to 48 hours the
cows receive a second injection of
GnRH. All cows are inseminated
at a fixed time 16 to 20 hours after
this second GnRH injection. Now
a third system has been developed.
As you might expect this is hybrid
between the other two systems.
Previously several research
groups had shown that when
GnRH was given on days 11 to 13
of the estrous cycle the dominant
follicle either luteinized or formed
a secondary corpus luteum. If
these cows received a PG injec
tion seven days later approximate
ly 80 percent had a synchronized
heat compared to only 50-60 per
cent of the cows that did not re
ceive the GnRH. These results
suggest that follicular develop
ment was more tightly -hron
ized with his approach. t does
this new system compa
Before comparing tlu 'stems
it is important to realize Inc differ
ence between conception rate and
pregnancy rale. Conception rate it
defined as the number of pregnan
cies divided by the number of
cows observed in heat and in.
seminated. Pregnancy rate is num
ber of pregnancies obtained di.
vided by the number of cows
treated with the respective system
(conception rate x heat detection
rate). Recently researchers at Kan
sas State compared the heat detec
tion rate, conception rate and pm
gnancy rate using die standard two
injection PG system (14-day inter
val) with the newer system admin-,
istering GnRH seven days before
the second injection of PG. The
heat detection and pregnancy rates
were similar for both systems. For
some unexplained reason the con
ception rate was lower for the sys
tem using GnRN seven days be
fore the second PG injection.!
Overall there was no improvement!
in fertility with the GnRH treat- ‘
ment
A multi-university study com
pared the traditional two injection
PG system with the Ovsynch pro
gram for heifers and cows. Preg
nancy rates for cows that were
confirmed pregnant after a single
insemination were similar for both
programs. However, there was a
distinct advantage of using the PG
system for heifers. The advantage
of the Ovsynch system is that all
cows are inseminated at a fixed
time without estrous detection.
Thus when one compares the per-
cows pregnant by a set
number of days in lactation after
several inseminations, for ex
ample 120 days, there will likely
be an advantage to this system.
However, there is the additional
cost of drags and handling cows
four times, three for injections and
once for AI. The Ovsynch pro-/
gram is especially useful in herds'
where cattle are not turn-out for
heat detection on a routine basis or
in herds where heat detection effi
ciency is low. Research from
Florida suggests that Ovsynch
limed-AI may be mote beneficial
during periods of low fertility
such as during heat stress. This
system should not be used for
heifers.
In summary, the use of GnRH
' as part of the traditional PG pro
gram is probably not warranted.
The choice between the two injec
tion PG program with heat detec
tion and Ovsynch system with
timed-AI depends upon the cost of
GnRH, time spent handling cows,
the efficiency of heat detection
and the cost of routine heat detec
tion.
Michael O’Connor,
Dairy & Animal
Science Extension
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