Simple Summary The need to become more efficient in agriculture and the food industry exists parallel to the challenge of climate change. Meat and dairy production is the target of much scrutiny due to methane (CH4) emissions and global warming. On the other hand, it should be noted that two-thirds of the world's agricultural land consists of pastures and permanent grasslands and is used for livestock grazing. This land is predominantly unsuitable for arable purposes but facilitates the production of high-quality human-edible protein in the form of ruminant animal-derived meat and milk. This makes a significant contribution to feeding the world's population. There is a need to reduce CH4 emissions, however, and several approaches are being researched currently. Seaweeds are diverse plants containing bioactives that differ from their terrestrial counterparts and they are increasingly under investigation as a feed supplement for the mitigation of enteric CH4. Seaweeds are rich in bioactives including proteins, carbohydrates and to a lesser extent lipids, saponins, alkaloids and peptides. These bioactives could also play a role as feed ingredients to reduce enteric CH4. This review collates information on seaweeds and seaweed bioactives and their potential to impact on enteric CH4 emissions. Seaweeds contain a myriad of nutrients and bioactives including proteins, carbohydrates and to a lesser extent lipids as well as small molecules including peptides, saponins, alkaloids and pigments. The bioactive bromoform found in the red seaweed Asparagopsis taxiformis has been identified as an agent that can reduce enteric CH4 production from livestock significantly. However, sustainable supply of this seaweed is a problem and there are some concerns over its sustainable production and potential negative environmental impacts on the ozone layer and the health impacts of bromoform. This review collates information on seaweeds and seaweed bioactives and the documented impact on CH4 emissions in vitro and in vivo as well as associated environmental, economic and health impacts.

The dog brings great joy and is of great benefit to humans, for example as a companion dog, hunting dog, service dog and assistance dog. In some cases, dogs cause problems and society must then intervene. The Act of Supervision of Dogs and Cats aims at preventing damage and significant inconvenience that can be caused by dogs and cats. If a dog causes damage or nuisance according to The Act of Supervision of Dogs and Cats, the law can support a decision to seize a dog by the County Administrative Board or the Police Authority. Often the dog is seized because it has bitten another dog, human or other animal.

In case of seizure, an investigation must be carried out by the County Administrative Board to assess the dog's mental and physical status. The Police inspector performs a mental examination of the dog, and a Veterinarian examines the dog's physical status. The County Administrative Board then decides whether the dog should be returned to its owner, rehomed, or euthanized. This study has examined the county administrations' work in Norrbotten, Skåne, Stockholm, Västerbotten, Västmanland and Västra Götaland. A total of 89 dogs were seized in the six counties, between the years 2019–2021, 53 male dogs (approx. 60%) and 36 female dogs (approx. 40%). Euthanasia was the most frequently performed measure, 42 dogs were euthanized. Others were returned or rehomed. In general, all six county administrations carry out careful investigations, but a clear difference between them is how often the county administrations follow the police's proposed measures. The county administrative boards decide on euthanasia more often, 42 out of 89 times (47%), than the police give suggestions on euthanasia, 34 out of 89 times (38%).

The new regulation, which entered into force on February 1, 2022, makes it possible for the county administrations to be even more thorough in their investigations of dogs in care. In addition to a mental examination and veterinary examination, the county administrations must also request a statement from the kennel about the dog's behaviour towards people and animals.

Experience can help animals adapt their behaviour to fit the environment or conditions that they find themselves in. Understanding how and when experience affects behaviour is important for the animals we rear in captivity. This is particularly true when we rear animals with the intent of releasing them into the wild as part of population rehabilitation and conservation efforts. We investigated how exposure to a changing, more complex environment promotes behavioural development in juvenile trout. Four groups of fish were compared; (i) fish that were maintained without enrichment, (ii) fish that were exposed to an early period of enrichment, but were then returned to a plain environment, (iii) fish that were maintained in plain conditions, but were then exposed to enrichment towards the end of the rearing phase, (iv) a group that were kept in enriched conditions throughout the 12 week rearing period. We then assessed fish anxiety levels, their spatial learning ability, and the capacity of the fish to find their way through a barrier where different routes were presented across 4 different trials. Fish that experienced enriched conditions for the longest duration had superior spatial learning abilities, and they were better at finding the correct route to get past the barrier than fish from the remaining three treatments. Positive effects on behaviour were, however, also found in the fish that only experienced enrichment in the last part of the rearing period, compared to the control, or fish exposed to early enrichment. No effect of enrichment was found on levels of anxiety in any of the groups.

The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) allows rope casting and the tying of legs for nonhuman animals laughter without stunning. Thehandling and welfare of bovine livestock (Bosindicus and Bubalus bubalis) were studied in 8 local abattoirs in 5 districts of Bangladesh. A totalof 302 animals were evaluated. At the local abattoirs, approximately 1/3 of the cattle and water buffalo were eithere maciated orinjured/sick. The size and vigor of the animals determined the casting method. Small and weak animals were cast on concrete floors by lifting a foreleg followed by pushing, or simply by twisting the head of the animal and then binding the legs with rope. Vigorous animals such as buffalo were castusing ropes and human force. Bleeding was slow and flaying was sometimes initiated before the animals were unconscious. Pulling and tearing of the trachea and pouring of water into the exposed trache a shortly after cutting were also observed in some cases.The over all animal handling was unnecessarily rough and he OIE standards were not implemented. Animals are subjected to considerable mistreatment, and there is an urgent need for the training nde ducation of the staff in a battoirs concerning humanes laughtering practices as well as a need to build moderns laughtering plants in Bangladesh.

The study was conducted to know the rate of maternally derived antibodies (MDAs) transfer from parents to their offspring and declining the MDAs in their chicks at 0, 7, 14, and 21 days of age against four major poultry viruses like Newcastle disease virus (NDV), Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), Infectious bursal diseases virus (IBDV), and Avian Reo virus (ARV). The MDAs was studied on Grandparent (GP) to Parent stock (PS), and Parent stock (PS) to broiler at 30 weeks and 50 weeks of age in Cobb-500 broiler strain chicken. The MDAs was measured from serum antibody titer by indirect ELISA test. The MDAs transfer rate against NDV from GP to PS at 50 weeks of age was higher (68.82%) than at 30 weeks of age but in case of PS to broiler it was higher (66.01%) at 30 weeks of age and its persistent rate also higher (7.96%) up to 21th days of age. Against IBV, MDAs transfer rates were higher in PS to broiler than GP to PS of both ages and highest rates were revealed in PS to broiler at 30 weeks of age as 70.72%. On the other hand, among all lines MDAs transfer rates against IBDV was higher (86.94%) in GP to PS at 30 weeks of age. For ARV, the MDAs transfer rates were highest in GP to PS in both ages than PS to broiler and within GP to PS at 50 weeks of age, it was highest (94.87%) than 30 weeks of age. Accordingly, the poultry producer may help to develop an effective vaccination schedule by considering the MDAs from above experiment.

Cattle and sheep horns have the potential to grow in such a way that the horn bends toward the animal's head and, if left untreated, may penetrate the skin, causing pressure, pain, and suffering. According to the Swedish Animal Welfare Act, animals must be looked after in a way that prevents ingrown horns; otherwise, the person responsible for the animal may be prosecuted. Here, we present a review of 32 legal cases that occurred in Sweden between 2008 and 2022 for which the charge involved horn-related anomalies in cattle or sheep. The aim being to investigate the nature of these horn-related anomalies and the circumstances under which they occur. Of the legal cases, 53% were discovered during official animal welfare control on farms and 44% at an abattoir during pre-slaughter inspection. These include extreme injuries, e.g. both horns penetrating the periosteum into the skull bone, or a horn penetrating into the eye or oral cavity. The reasons offered by the accused for failing to detect animals with horn-related anomalies included that the animal appeared normal, that it was long-haired, shy, or hard to reach, or that the horns had not undergone gradual growth but had accidentally or suddenly penetrated the skin. Overall, 81% of the cases led to convictions; however, none of these resulted in imprisonment. Reasons for acquittals included insufficient crime description or evidence as to how the horn-related anomaly occurred or of the animal being exposed to suffering. A number of recommendations are provided that could help limit the occurrence of ingrown horns.

The dog is often referred to as man's best friend and it has not lost popularity as a pet in the Swedish home during recent years. Despite its popularity, the dog is the animal that occurs in most cases of neglect worldwide. They are also involved in attacks on humans and other animals, causing major problems. Swedish legislation on animal welfare is regulated by various laws and regulations, where the Animal Welfare Act and the Act of Supervision of Dogs and Cats are the laws that can support a decision to seize a dog. In Sweden, a dog can be seized with the support of the Animal Welfare Act if it is considered to be suffering or with the support of the Act of Supervision of Dogs and Cats to prevent it from causing damage or significant inconvenience. In this study, official decision protocols regarding seizure of dogs in Stockholm and northern Sweden between the years 2019-2020 are reviewed and compared. In Stockholm, more dogs were seized with support of the Act of Supervision of Dogs and Cats. There was also a difference in the distribution of dog breeds between the regions and the reasons for seizing. The reasons for seizure in Stockholm were often related to dental problems, neglected care of fur and claws or that the dog did not receive the veterinary care they needed. In northern Sweden, it was more common for dogs to be kept in large areas outdoors and reasons for seizing were overcrowding, lack of enrichment, lack of weather protection and breach of animal ban. The prospects for the dogs that were seized also differed, both depending on which law that supported the decision, but it also differed between the regions. Dogs seized with support of the Act of Supervision of Dogs and Cats are euthanized to a greater extent than dogs that were seized of with the support of the Animal Welfare Act, in northern Sweden all dogs that were seized with the support of he Act of Supervision of Dogs and Cats were euthanized. Many of the differences between the regions are interesting and important to continue to review regularly, to ensure that the work towards better animal welfare and safety in society is the same throughout the country.

To ensure milk quality and detect cows with signs of mastitis, visual inspection of milk by prestripping quarters before milking is recommended in many countries. An objective method to find milk changed in homogeneity (i.e., with clots) is to use commercially available inline filters to inspect the milk. Due to the required manual labor, this method is not applicable in automatic milking systems (AMS). We investigated the possibility of detecting and predicting changes in milk homogeneity using data generated by AMS. In total, 21,335 quarter-level milk inspections were performed on 5,424 milkings of 624 unique cows on 4 farms by applying visual inspection of inline filters that assembled clots from the separate quarters during milking. Images of the filters with clots were scored for density, resulting in 892 observations with signs of clots for analysis (77% traces or mild cases, 15% moderate cases, and 8% heavy cases). The quarter density scores were combined into 1 score indicating the presence of clots during a single cow milking and into 2 scores summarizing the density scores in cow milkings during a 30-h sampling period. Data generated from the AMS, such as milk yield, milk flow, conductivity, and online somatic cell counts, were used as input to 4 multilayer perceptron models to detect or predict single milkings with clots and to detect milking periods with clots. All models resulted in high specificity (98-100%), showing that the models correctly classified cow milkings or cow milking periods with no clots observed. The ability to successfully classify cow milkings or cow periods with observed clots had a low sensitivity. The highest sensitivity (26%) was obtained by the model that detected clots in a single milking. The prevalence of clots in the data was low (2.4%), which was reflected in the results. The positive predictive value depends on the prevalence and was relatively high, with the highest positive predictive value (72%) reached in the model that detected clots during the 30-h sampling periods. The misclassification rate for cow milkings that included higher-density scores was lower, indicating that the models that detected or predicted clots in a single milking could better distinguish the heavier cases of clots. Using data from AMS to detect and predict changes in milk homogeneity seems to be possible, although the prediction performance for the definitions of clots used in this study was poor.

Selective breeding for desirable traits in strictly controlled populations has generated an extraordinary diversity in canine morphology and behaviour, but has also led to loss of genetic variation and random entrapment of disease alleles. As a consequence, specific diseases are now prevalent in certain breeds, but whether the recent breeding practice led to an overall increase in genetic load remains unclear. Here we generate whole genome sequencing (WGS) data from 20 dogs per breed from eight breeds and document a ~10% rise in the number of derived alleles per genome at evolutionarily conserved sites in the heavily bottlenecked cavalier King Charles spaniel breed (cKCs) relative to in most breeds studied here. Our finding represents the first clear indication of a relative increase in levels of deleterious genetic variation in a specific breed, arguing that recent breeding practices probably were associated with an accumulation of genetic load in dogs. We then use the WGS data to identify candidate risk alleles for the most common cause for veterinary care in cKCs–the heart disease myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD). We verify a potential link to MMVD for candidate variants near the heart specific NEBL gene in a dachshund population and show that two of the NEBL candidate variants have regulatory potential in heart-derived cell lines and are associated with reduced NEBL isoform nebulette expression in papillary muscle (but not in mitral valve, nor in left ventricular wall). Alleles linked to reduced nebulette expression may hence predispose cKCs and other breeds to MMVD via loss of papillary muscle integrity.

An optimal method for stunning animals before slaughter should result in instantaneous and irreversible insensibility. Today, there are various stunning and slaughter practices used around the world for farmed fish. With aquaculture being a growing food sector, the welfare of the animals used has become increasingly important in the consciousness of consumers, researchers and regulatory bodies. With growing research into the subject matter, an overview to summarize and examine how these practices impact on the welfare of the fish, and how well they conform to animal welfare legislation, is warranted to minimize the suffering of farmed fish. Stunning practices used in aquaculture include methods such as electrical and percussive stunning, carbon dioxide and asphyxiation. Each with its own level of effectiveness in terms of how fast the method results in loss of consciousness, whether or not the effect is reversible and how the welfare of the fish is affected as determined by behavioural and physiological stress responses. It was concluded that there is no unambiguous answer as to which stunning method is optimal in regard to animal welfare in modern day aquaculture. The optimal method for a given facility is influenced by factors like practicalities relating to each individual method as well as legislation on EU and national level. Suggestions were made for future research. 

Reproductive seasonality is a trait that often differs between domestic animals and their wild ancestors, with domestic animals showing prolonged or even continuous breeding seasons. However, the genetic basis underlying this trait is still poorly understood for most species, and because environmental factors and resource availability are known to play an important role in determining breeding seasons, it is also not clear in most cases to what extent this phenotypic shift is determined by the more lenient captive conditions or by genetic factors. Here, using animals resulting from an initial cross between wild and domestic rabbits followed by two consecutive backcrosses (BC1 and BC2) to wild rabbits, we evaluated the yearly distribution of births for the different generations. Similar to domestic rabbits, F1 animals could be bred all year round but BC1 and BC2 animals showed a progressive and significant reduction in the span of the breeding season, providing experimental evidence that reduced seasonal breeding in domestic rabbits has a clear genetic component and is not a simple by-product of rearing conditions. We then took advantage of a recently published genome-wide scan of selection in the domesticated lineage and searched for candidate genes potentially associated with this phenotypic shift. Candidate genes located within regions targeted by selection include well-known examples of genes controlling clock functions (CRY1 and NR3C1) and reproduction (PRLR).

Livestock feeding behaviour is an influential research area in animal husbandry and agriculture. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in automated systems for monitoring the behaviour of ruminants. Current automated monitoring systems mainly use motion, acoustic, pressure and image sensors to collect and analyse patterns related to ingestive behaviour, foraging activities and daily intake. The performance evaluation of existing methods is a complex task and direct comparisons between studies is difficult. Several factors prevent a direct comparison, starting from the diversity of data and performance metrics used in the experiments. This review on the analysis of the feeding behaviour of ruminants emphasise the relationship between sensing methodologies, signal processing, and computational intelligence methods. It assesses the main sensing methodologies and the main techniques to analyse the signals associated with feeding behaviour, evaluating their use in different settings and situations. It also highlights the potential of the valuable information provided by automated monitoring systems to expand knowledge in the field, positively impacting production systems and research. The paper closes by discussing future engineering challenges and opportunities in livestock feeding behaviour monitoring. 

Modern dairy cattle farms are usually equipped with cubicle systems to provide cows with comfortable conditions for lying down and resting. Cows are free to choose any cubicle they want, but in reality, they do not distribute themselves uniformly throughout the barn. There are many factors that affect where a cow lies down, such as hierarchy of a cow, access to resources, cow traffic nearby, etc. In this study, we used real-time location system data from two commercial farms to examine patterns of cubicle occupancy in relation to parity and lactation stage. We summarized cubicle occupancy over several days and compared different areas of the barn. Our findings suggest that, in general, there was a higher occupancy of cubicles close to the feeding areas. High parity cows lay down more frequently in cubicles close to the milking area as opposed to first lactation cows that tend to occupy less busy areas of the barn. The overall conclusion is that cubicle occupancy is not uniform throughout the barn, and patterns related to parity and DIM are seen. This information can be important for future studies on spread of diseases and for management purposes. © 2021 The Authors

A man died in endocarditis due to listeriosis in the late autumn. He had been looking after two goats during the summer. Listeria monocyto?enes was isolated from a rectal swab from one of the goats. The goat faeces isolate and the human blood isolate were of identical serovar. The two isolates, however, were shown to be different by multilocus electrophoretic enzyme analysis and ribotyping, as well as by biotyping, Thus, these results do not support the hypothesis that the man was infected by the goat.

Animal-assisted Education are purposeful interventions with academic and pedagogical targets involving trained animals to support students with disabilities or special needs.. The aim of this study is to examine how animals-assisted education (AAE) can be used in physical education. 

The study aims to answer the following questions: in what ways do educators believe that animals-assisted pedagogy can help students, what are the barriers to using animals-assisted pedagogy, and how do educators describe how animals-assisted pedagogy can work in physical education. 

The theory underlying the study is the theory of motivation and Maslow's hierarchy of needs. This qualitative study is based on empirical research using semi-structured interview method with six educators with different experiences. 

The results of the interviews in the study show that the interviewed educators experience that animals (dogs) contribute to reducing anxiety and stress and instead contribute to a relaxed, positive and stress-free environment; they believe this is due to when we see, interact with or pet the dog, and oxytocin, "feel-good hormone", is released. They are also in agreement that dogs can be used as motivators to primarily motivate students to come to school and in schoolwork where they act as support. They also point out that AAE can support students with different disabilities. 

This study showed that AAE (with a focus on dogs) could positively affect children's learning, well-being, health, self-confidence and self-esteem. It is crucial to have good planning and that the dog handler is trained to ensure safety and effectiveness. AAE can be used in various areas of physical education where animals contribute to movement joy, security, non-threatening social interactions and environment. 

Domesticated species possess certain cognitive abilities that allow them to thrive in an environment with regular human interaction, and these interactions contribute to the overall human-animal relationship. Studying the human-animal relationship allows us to better understand how domesticated animals perceive and navigate their environment, which can then be used to improve their welfare. In chickens, this relationship is poorly understood, and further research would provide insight into the welfare needs of this animal. Here we show breed differences in the interspecific sociocognitive abilities of Gallus gallus, where the domesticated White Leghorn interacted more with a familiar human than the red junglefowl, and both the domesticated White Leghorn and the red junglefowl breed that had been selected for low fear of humans were habituated to human presence. This study sheds light on the effect of domestication on social cognition in chickens and begins to describe the human-chicken relationship.

The research presented in this thesis focuses on an innovative use of digital imaging, and the machine learning techniques to assess the body rumen fill scoring in dairy cows. This study aims to enhance the efficiency of monitoring and managing dairy cow health, which is crucial for the dairy industry's productivity and sustainability.

The primary objective was to develop an automated annotation system fore valuating rumen fill status in dairy cows using digital images extracted from recorded videos. This system leverages advanced machine learning algorithms and neural networks, aiming to mimic manual assessments by veterinarians and specialists on farms. To achieve the above objectives, this thesis made use of already existing video records from a Swedish dairy farm hosting mainly the Swedish Redand the Swedish Holstein breeds. A subset of these images were then processed, manually classified using a modified rumen fill scoring system based on visual assessment, and supervised classification algorithms were trained on 277 manually annotated images.

The thesis explored various machine learning techniques for classifying these images, including Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machine (SVM), and a Deep Neural Network using the VGG16 architecture. These models were trained, validated, and tested with a dataset that included variations in cow color patterns, aiming to determine the most effective approach for automated rumen fill scoring.The results indicated that while each model had its strengths and weaknesses, the simple logistic model was performing the best in terms of test accuracy and F1 score.

This research contributes to the field of precision livestock farming, particularly in the context of dairy farming. By automating the process of rumen fill scoring, the study aims to provide dairy farmers with a reliable, efficient, and cost-effective tool for monitoring cow health. This tool has the potential to enhance dairy cow welfare, improve milk production, and support the sustainability of dairy farming operations. However, at the current state, the model accuracy of the best model was only moderate. There is a need for further improvement of the prediction performance possibly by adding more cow images, using improved image processing, and feature engineering.

The poultry industry's rapid expansion has made it a significant global meat source, especially in India, which ranks as the eighth largest broiler meat producer. However, severe concerns have arisen over the increasing antibiotic resistance in low and middle-income countries, including India. This study systematically investigated the prevalence of Non-Typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) strains, along with their antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles, in poultry samples from Assam and Karnataka states in India. We found high prevalence of NTS (26%) and E. coli (53%) in various poultry samples, with substantial regional variations. Assam and Karnataka contribute differently to the overall NTS prevalence, with Karnataka bearing the highest burden (39% versus 14%). The presence of NTS and E. coli in treated water intended for watering poultry raises concerns about the effectiveness of water disinfection methods. Serovar analysis highlights the dominance of Typhimurium, Kentucky, Infantis and other serovars, some exhibiting multidrug resistance (MDR), including resistance to fluoroquinolones. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains, including carbapenem-resistant E. coli, presents a potential decline in treatment options. The study highlights the presence of MDR among NTS and stresses the importance of monitoring resistance profiles to devise effective antimicrobial strategies. The study underscores the necessity of collaborative efforts to combat AMR and ensure food safety, health, and wellbeing on a global scale.

Formalin footbaths are commonly used in the dairy industry to prevent cattle hoof diseases. Although formalin is a well-documented disinfectant, it is also a carcinogen and irritant. The aim of this study was to estimate the exposure of farm workers and dairy cattle to formaldehyde from footbaths located in a milking facility and a heifer facility at a dairy farm in western New York, USA. The dairy farm included approximately 3900 dairy cattle including young stock; of these, 1670 cows were milked three times per day in a 60-stall carousel milking parlor, and approximately 800 heifers were located at the heifer facility where footbaths with formalin were in use. The formaldehyde concentration of the air was measured using a Formaldemeter™ htV approximately 50 cm above the 3% formalin footbaths in the milking (one footbath location) and heifer (three footbath locations) facilities on three consecutive days. The measured formaldehyde concentrations varied between 0.00 and 2.28 ppm, falling within the safety guidelines established by the Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the United States. Significant differences were found in the formaldehyde concentrations at the different footbath locations in the heifer facility, potentially due to the varying levels of ventilation at each location. Changes in the ambient temperature during the 3-day sampling period did not significantly affect the concentrations. We believe that the substantial ventilation at both the heifer and milking facilities ensured that the formaldehyde concentrations did not exceed OSHA guidelines, thus permitting the safe use of formalin footbaths in this farm.

I Norden är bruket av fäbodar eller sätrar mycket gammalt. Sannolikt finns ursprunget i en utvidgad familjegrupps behov för sin boskapsskötsel ochsin övriga försörjning. Alla medlemmar i gruppen har där egna eller delade ansvarsområden. Mellan boskapshjorden och familjekollektivet finns ett förhållande där en djurstock med en viss numerär på ett optimalt sätt ger basförsörjning och arbete åt en grupp med viss storlek. Avvägningen mellan vanligtvis getter och får samt kor förutsätter variation, men i stora drag kan man anta att kollektivens storlek har varit konstanta över tiden. Även om konkurrerande grannar har saknats och tillgången på foder för djuren därförvar obegränsad har det inte varit praktiskt möjligt för deras ägare att hantera den areellt omfattande driften från en enda boplats. Markernas produktionsförmåga innebar en annan påtaglig begränsning. För att kunna utnyttja territoriets resurser har därför, från boskapsskötselns begynnelse, någon form av flerfaldig bosättning varit nödvändig i större delen av Norden.

Owners' ability to recognize signs of chronic pain in dogs undergoing pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic pain interventions during a period of physical rehabilitation is not known. This study aimed to compare dogs with and without chronic pain, and to assess the relationship between explanatory factors, including the probability of owners' response bias induced by pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic pain intervention, and chronic pain in dogs with osteoarthritis (OA). Seventy-one dogs with OA were included in this observational study. Owner-perceived pain interference was measured by Canine Brief Pain Inventory (CBPI) and owner-perceived pain behavior was assessed using Helsinki Chronic Pain Index. A dichotomous variable of Helsinki Chronic Pain Index was used in regression analysis to investigate the association between chronic pain and explanatory factors (body condition, anti-inflammatory medication, animal physiotherapy consultation once or more and owners' perception of pain interfering). Seventy-five percent of the dogs had ongoing anti-inflammatory medication, 51% of were overweight and 45% had a physiotherapy consultation. Higher levels of overt pain behaviors were reported in items addressing activities. Body condition, physiotherapy consultation and medication were not associated with chronic pain. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals of OR for the CBPI were 1.74 (1.23-2.47) and significantly associated with chronic pain. The adjusted OR of the CBPI did not differ from the crude OR. Owner-perceived pain behavior was not confounded by the dogs' medication. Results indicated that CBPI was not mediated by the medication. The CBPI pain interference score was not associated with response bias and may be used as clinical outcome measure of chronic pain and pain-related disability in dogs with OA along a period of physical rehabilitation comprising pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic pain interventions. 

The network project titled “Nordic animal gene banks – added value through Nordic cooperation” (NordFrost), has aimed to strengthen the collaboration and competence for ex-situ conservation of animal genetic resources (AnGR) in the Nordic region. This project was launched as a case study following the Horizon2020 funded IMAGE project (2016-2020) where it was concluded that there is a broad variation in the current state of practices and the distribution of responsibilities related to cryoconservation activities between the Nordic countries.

The national strategies on conserving AnGR emphasise ex-situ conservation in varying degrees. However, collection of samples, metadata, back-up storage of material or common strategies and action plans for ex-situ conservation on a regional level does not exist. This makes conservation of AnGR an exposed area that threatens the resilience of Nordic food security. By developing new collaborative models, strengthening Nordic infrastructure, and enhancing the development of Nordic strategies for ex-situ conservation in the region, this network will contribute to increased sustainability for populations and future Nordic food security.

Funding: The Nordic Joint Committee for Agricultural and Food Research (NKJ).

Initiating organisations and steering group members: Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen) / Farm Animals (coordinator)Aarhus University / Morten Kargo, Center for Quantitative Genetics and GenomicsNorwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) / Ian Mayer, The Faculty of Veterinary MedicineNatural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) / Annika Tienhaara, Bioeconomy and Environment

The control of transcription is crucial for homeostasis in mammals. A previous selective sweep analysis of horse racing performance revealed a 19.6 kb candidate regulatory region 50 kb downstream of the Endothelin3 (EDN3) gene. Here, the region was narrowed to a 5.5 kb span of 14 SNVs, with elite and sub-elite haplotypes analyzed for association to racing performance, blood pressure and plasma levels of EDN3 in Coldblooded trotters and Standardbreds. Comparative analysis of human HiCap data identified the span as an enhancer cluster active in endothelial cells, interacting with genes relevant to blood pressure regulation. Coldblooded trotters with the sub-elite haplotype had significantly higher blood pressure compared to horses with the elite performing haplotype during exercise. Alleles within the elite haplotype were part of the standing variation in pre-domestication horses, and have risen in frequency during the era of breed development and selection. These results advance our understanding of the molecular genetics of athletic performance and vascular traits in both horses and humans. A previous study discovered that a genomic region close to the Endothelin3 gene was associated with harness racing performance. Here, careful phenotypic documentation of athletic performance and blood pressure measurements in horses, followed by state-of-the-art genomics, allowed us to identify a 5.5 kb regulatory region located approximately 50 kb 3' of the EDN3 gene. A comparative analysis of the region using human HiCap data supported a regulatory role as, in endothelial cells, interaction was observed between the region and multiple genes relevant to blood pressure regulation and athletic performance. Long range cis-regulatory modules are critical for cooperatively controlling multiple genes located within transcriptionally active domains. We measured blood pressure in Coldblooded trotters during exercise and demonstrated that horses with two copies of the elite-performing haplotype had lower blood pressure during exercise and better racing performance results, compared to horses with two copies of the sub-elite performing haplotype. In addition, horses with the elite-performing haplotype also had higher levels of Endothelin3 in plasma. The results reported here are important for understanding the biological mechanisms behind blood pressure regulation in relation to racing performance in both horses and humans.

Animal traits differ not only in mean, but also in variation around the mean. For instance, one sire’s daughter group may be very homogeneous, while another sire’s daughters are much more heterogeneous in performance. The difference in residual variance can partially be explained by genetic differences. Models for such genetic heterogeneity of environmental variance include genetic effects for the mean and residual variance, and a correlation between the genetic effects for the mean and residual variance to measure how the residual variance might vary with the mean.

The aim of this thesis was to develop a method based on double hierarchical generalized linear models for estimating genetic heteroscedasticity, and to apply it on four traits in two domestic animal species; teat count and litter size in pigs, and milk production and somatic cell count in dairy cows.

The method developed is fast and has been implemented in software that is widely used in animal breeding, which makes it convenient to use. It is based on an approximation of double hierarchical generalized linear models by normal distributions. When having repeated observations on individuals or genetic groups, the estimates were found to be unbiased.

For the traits studied, the estimated heritability values for the mean and the residual variance, and the genetic coefficients of variation, were found in the usual ranges reported. The genetic correlation between mean and residual variance was estimated for the pig traits only, and was found to be favorable for litter size, but unfavorable for teat count.

The possibility of breeding for uniform individuals by selecting animals expressing a small response to environment has been studied extensively in animal breeding. Bayesian methods for fitting models with genetic components in the residual variance have been developed for this purpose, but have limitations due to the computational demands. We use the hierarchical (h)-likelihood from the theory of double hierarchical generalized linear models (DHGLM) to derive an estimation algorithm that is computationally feasible for large datasets. Random effects for both the mean and residual variance parts of the model are estimated together with their variance/covariance components. An important feature of the algorithm is that it can fit a correlation between the random effects for mean and variance. An h-likelihood estimator is implemented in the R software and an iterative reweighted least square (IRWLS) approximation of the h-likelihood is implemented using ASReml. The difference in variance component estimates between the two implementations is investigated, as well as the potential bias of the methods, using simulations. IRWLS gives the same results as h-likelihood in simple cases with no severe indication of bias. For more complex cases, only IRWLS could be used, and bias did appear. The IRWLS is applied on the pig litter size data previously analysed by Sorensen & Waagepetersen (2003) using Bayesian methodology. The estimates we obtained by using IRWLS are similar to theirs, with the estimated correlation between the random genetic effects being −0·52 for IRWLS and −0·62 in Sorensen & Waagepetersen (2003).

The genetic improvement in litter size in pigs has been substantial during the last 10-15 years. The number of teats on the sow must increase as well to meet the needs of the piglets, because each piglet needs access to its own teat. We applied a genetic heterogeneity model on teat numberin sows, and estimated medium-high heritability for teat number (0.5), but low heritability for residual variance (0.05), indicating that selection for reduced variance might have very limited effect. A numerically positive correlation (0.8) between additive genetic breeding values for mean and for variance was found, but because of the low heritability for residual variance, the variance will increase very slowly with the mean.

Early experiences may alter later behavioural expressions in animals and these differences can be consistent through adulthood. In dogs, this may have a profound impact on welfare and working ability and, it is therefore interesting to evaluate how experiences during the first weeks of life contribute to shaping the long-term behaviour. We analysed data from 503 dogs from 105 litters, bred at the Swedish Armed Forces Dog Kennel. For each dog, the data comprised information on dam and sire, sex, litter size, sex ratio of litter, date of birth, and weight at birth, and at 10 days of age. Between the ages of 377 and 593 days, the dogs were tested in a temperament test, assessing their suitability as working dogs. The behaviour test comprised 12 different sub-tests, and was scored on a behavioural rating scale. A principal component analysis showed that the test performance could largely be attributed to four principal components (explaining 55.7% of variation), labelled Confidence, Physical Engagement, Social Engagement and Aggression. We analysed the effects of the different early life variables and sex on the principal component scores (PC scores) using linear modelling. PC scores on Confidence were affected by parity, sex and litter size, and Physical Engagement was affected by parity, growth rate, litter size and season of birth. Social Engagement was affected by growth rate and sex, and Aggression was affected by sex. Some of these effects disappeared when they were combined into a single linear model, but most of them remained significant also when controlling for collinearity. The results suggest that the early environment of dogs have long-lasting effects on their behaviour and coping styles in a stressful test situation and this knowledge can be used in the work with breeding of future military or police working dogs.

ABSTRACTThis study evaluated the effect of feeding silage to pigs on nitrogen (N) utilization and ammonia (NH3) volatilization. In total, 128 Yorkshire ? Hampshire (30?110?kg) pigs were fed commercial feed (Control) or commercial feed mixed with dried, milled silage in pelleted form (Pellet-S), fresh, chopped silage (Silage-Ch) or intensively treated silage (Silage-Pr). Silage replaced 20% of the crude protein (g/kg). Diet affected daily N excretion, which was higher for pigs fed Silage-Ch and Silage-Pr than for pigs in the Pellet-S and Control treatments. Ammonium nitrogen (NH4-N) content in the manure and NH3 volatilization from fresh manure were higher for Control pigs than for pigs in the other treatments. Overall, these results show that pre-treatment of silage influences N utilization and excretion. Furthermore, the results indicate that feeding silage to pigs can reduce NH3 volatilization from fresh manure.

Although embryo transfer (ET) is a biotechnology ready for the swine industry, there are factors to be solved, the availability of embryo donors as one. Multiparous sows as donors ought to be considered since weaning is a natural and efficient method for estrus synchronization. In addition, superovulation treatments at weaning are effective in increasing the efficiency of donor embryo production. However, ET programs typically require more donors than those available from a single weaning, imposing grouping several weanings to establish a batch for ET. Since short-term administration of Altrenogest is effective in delaying estrus after weaning without effects on ovulation and embryo development, we investigated how Altrenogest combined with superovulation would affect reproductive parameters and embryo quality and quantity of weaned multiparous donor sows. The sows were administered Altrenogest from the day of weaning for 14 (SS-14 group; N = 26), 7 (SS-7 group; N = 31) and 4 (SS-4 group; N = 32) days. The sows were superovulated with eCG 24 h after the last administration of Altrenogest and with hCG at the onset of estrus. Sows not treated with Altrenogest that were superovulated with eCG 24 h post-weaning and hCG at the onset of estrus (SC group; N = 37) and sows with natural estrus after weaning (C group; N = 34) were used as control groups. The percentage of sows showing estrus within 10 days was not affected by the treatment, but the interval from Altrenogest withdrawal to estrus was longer (P < 0.05) in the SS groups than the interval from weaning to estrus in the controls. SS treatments increased (P < 0.05) the percentage of sows with ovarian cysts and the development of polycystic ovaries. The pregnancy and the fertilization rates, and the overall embryo production efficiency were also negatively affected by the SS treatments (P < 0.05). Interestingly, almost 70% of the structures classified as unfertilized oocytes or degenerated embryos in sows from the SS groups were immature oocytes. In conclusion, although superovulation of weaned sows was highly efficient, short-term administration of Altrenogest in combination with superovulation had negative effects on most of the reproductive parameters assessed, particularly affecting the overall efficiency of pregnancy and embryo production.

This study explores dairy farmers’ accounts of farm animals in a context heavily influenced by the concept of farm animal welfare (FAW). We illustrate how external demands linked to FAW, performance concerns, and proximity to animals shape farmers’ formal and cognitive accounts of animals. We explain how different accounts underlie farmers’ accountability for animals. Using FAW as an example of a referent concept, we propose that accountability can be limited conceptually by its referent. This limit is not a matter of its (in)ability to account fully for all lived experiences. Rather, it is a matter of what one is or is not accountable for—such as the mortality rate but not culling—as well as assumptions regarding the referent—such as the nature of animal welfare and how it can be assessed and safeguarded. Even when it is conceptually bounded in this way, self-accountability has potential to alter farming practices by reflecting on caring about animals and on what this implies for oneself and the animals.