Why did severe feather pecking and cannibalism outbreaks occur? An unintended case study while investigating the effects of forage and stress on pullets during rearing.

This 2 × 2 factorial experiment aimed to investigate the effects of stimulating foraging behavior from wk 6 and imposed stress at wk 16 on the development of severe feather pecking (SFP) in chickens reared for free-range egg production. Non-beak-trimmed ISA Brown chicks were purchased at one day old and floor-reared on wood shavings. From wk 6, straw was provided daily in dispensers (Forage vs. No forage) to stimulate foraging. At wk 15, there were 16 pens of 50 pullets. "Stressors" were applied to half the pens in wk 16 via combined transport, relocation, and mixing (TRM) of pullets, simulating activities around transfer from the rearing to egg-laying farm (TRM vs. Not TRM). Range access was permitted from wk 21. Behavior, plumage damage (PD), growth, egg production, feed use, injuries, and mortalities were recorded, along with litter moisture and pH. In wk 26, an SFP outbreak commenced. By wk 34, PD was worse in south- than north-aspect pens (P < 0.001). Further, PD was more affected by side of the shed than the experimental treatments. In wk 30, an outbreak of injurious pecking (IP) commenced in the 4 TRM-treatment pens on the south side, with IP deaths almost 3 times more common in the Forage+TRM than No forage+TRM treatment. We suggest factors associated with a 13-day rainfall event that occurred in late winter predisposed the flock to SFP. While multiple factors such as winter cold, muddy ranges, damp floor litter with elevated pH, among others coincided, hens were clearly more impacted in south- than north-aspect pens. Once initiated, SFP possibly spread via social learning, and by wk 40, ∼98% of hens had PD. Interestingly, the IP outbreak was related to a combination of factors (stressors?), such as being housed in colder, damper south-aspect pens (note: southern hemisphere), having added Forage, and TRM. These unexpected relationships could help direct future research to identify the specific factors involved in the causation of SFP and IP/cannibalism outbreaks.

The impact of gender and age on the nutritional parameters of alpaca (Vicugna pacos) meat, colour stability and fat traits.

Meat quality parameters for 50 huacaya alpacas, representing three age groups (18, 24 and 36months) and two genders (females and castrated males) were studied. Prior to chilling, samples of m. longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LL) were taken to determine isocitrate dehydrogenase activity and glycogen concentration, and further meat quality samples were taken after 24h. Alpaca meat has low levels (<1%) of intramuscular fat in the LL, m. semimembranosus and m. biceps femoris, but the level in the LL increases with animal age, with levels of desirable polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) ranging from 96.3 to 136.4mg/100g. Lipid oxidisation post retail display ranged from 1.27 to 1.96MDA/kg meat. Colour stability testing indicated alpaca meat was relatively stable during retail display with day of display having no significant effect on lightness (L*), or the 630nm/580nm ratio. These results may relate to the high proportion (76%) of glycolytic and type IIX muscle fibres in LL.

Risk factors for Escherichia coli O157 shedding and super-shedding by dairy heifers at pasture.

We undertook a longitudinal study within a cohort of 52 dairy heifers maintained under constant management systems and sampled weekly to investigate a comprehensive range of risk factors which may influence shedding or super-shedding of E. coli O157 (detected by direct faecal culture and immunomagnetic separation). E. coli O157 was detected from 416/933 (44.6%) samples (faeces and recto-anal mucosal swabs) and 32 (3.4%) samples enumerated at >10000 c.f.u./g. Weekly point prevalence ranged from 9.4% to 94.3%. Higher temperature (P < 0.001), rainfall (P = 0.02), relative humidity (P < 0.001), pasture growth (P = 0.013) and body score (P = 0.029) were positively associated with increased shedding. Higher rainfall (P < 0.001), hide contamination (P = 0.002) and increased faecal consistency (P = 0.023) were positively associated with super-shedding. Increased solar exposure had a negative effect on both shedding and super-shedding within bivariate analyses but in the final multivariate model for shedding demonstrated a positive effect (P = 0.017). Results suggest that environmental factors are important in E. coli O157 shedding in cattle.

A longitudinal study of the prevalence and super-shedding of Escherichia coli O157 in dairy heifers.

The fecal shedding and super-shedding of the human pathogen Escherichia coli O157 by cattle has been the focus of many previous studies with varied results observed. The heterogeneity of shedding is becoming more accepted, both in the numbers of animals shedding and the levels at which animals shed. To clarify patterns in shedding and super-shedding we undertook a longitudinal study to investigate shedding within a cohort of replacement dairy heifers. The cohort of 52 heifers was sampled 18 times at approximately weekly intervals with no significant changes in management during the sampling period. An overall prevalence of 44.3% (412/930 samples) was detected with prevalence ranging from 9.6 to 94.3% at individual sampling points. Each of the 52 heifers yielded at least one sample which was detected positive for E. coli O157. Super-shedding was detected at a sample level of 3.6% (32/893) and ranged between 0 and 9.6% at each sampling point. Of the 52 heifers, 24 (46.2%) were detected to be super-shedding at some point during the study, 19 of which were detected as super-shedding at only one point. From our findings we conclude that super-shedding is not associated with a small subset of animals that shed at high levels continually as had been proposed by earlier studies. We propose that the term 'super-shedding event' as opposed to 'super-shedding animal' better describes the nature of shedding.