Development and evaluation of online video teaching resources to enhance student knowledge of livestock handling.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of online audiovisual materials to support the acquisition of animal handling skills by students of veterinary and animal science. METHODS: A series of video clips (Livestock Handling modules) demonstrating livestock handling procedures was created and delivered online to students enrolled in the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney. The effectiveness of these modules for supporting student learning was evaluated via an online survey. The survey also sought feedback on how students could be better prepared for handling livestock. RESULTS: The survey indicated that students found the videos a useful part of their learning experience, particularly by familiarising them with correct handling procedures and emphasising the importance of safety when handling livestock. Students also highlighted that online delivery supported flexible learning. Suggested improvements of the Livestock Handling modules centred around broadening the content of the videos and improving the user-friendliness of online access. Student feedback regarding how the Faculty could better prepare them for livestock handling was dominated by requests for more opportunities to practise animal handling using live animals. CONCLUSIONS: The Livestock Handling audiovisual tool is a valuable supplementary resource for developing students' proficiency in safe and effective handling of livestock. However, the results also clearly reveal a perception by students that more hands-on experience is required for acquisition of animal handling skills. These findings will inform future development of the Faculty's animal handling program.

Clarifying plasma melatonin profiles in domestic pigs: a critical and comparative evaluation of two radioimmunoassay systems.

The results of a direct radioimmunoassay (RIA) for porcine plasma melatonin, suggesting a relationship among plasma melatonin, feed intake and photoperiod, were investigated by comparison with the results of an extracted RIA. These findings were further examined by analysis of a small number of samples using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS). The results identified inadequacies in the specificity of the direct RIA and failed to provide evidence for an effect of feed intake on melatonin secretion. Instead, it appeared that feed restriction exacerbated nonspecificity in the direct RIA. The cause of nonspecificity, and its effect on analysis of daily plasma melatonin profiles, were examined. The plasma component(s) responsible for nonspecificity was (were) not identified. However, the results suggest that characteristics of the antiserum used in the direct RIA are involved in the mechanism by which nonspecificity is induced. Results obtained using the extracted assay revealed that plasma melatonin concentrations in prepubertal gilts and pregnant sows exhibit a diurnal pattern, in which concentrations are low during daylight and modestly increased during darkness. Using the direct RIA, the same profiles exhibited highly variable melatonin concentrations showing little association with the light-dark cycle. Thus, assay specificity was identified as a factor contributing to inconsistencies in the literature describing plasma melatonin in the domestic pig and the importance of rigorous validation of RIAs was demonstrated. Furthermore, the results indicate that plasma melatonin concentrations in domestic pigs, as in other mammalian species, are entrained by the light-dark cycle.

Effect of feed restriction and season on LH and prolactin secretion, adrenal response, insulin and FFA in group housed pregnant gilts.

A trial was designed to determine the effect of season and feed restriction on LH and prolactin secretion, adrenal response, insulin and FFA in the early pregnant gilt. Groups of cross bred gilts (n = 24) were mated and allocated to two feeding levels; a non-restricted group received close to ad libitum feeding of 3.6 kg whereas, the restricted group received 1.8 kg as recommended by the NRC. The trial was carried out in winter-spring and repeated in summer-autumn to investigate the effects of season. The feeding regimen were fed to the group housed animals for the first two weeks of pregnancy. A 12 h period of blood sampling every 15 min thereafter revealed higher amplitude LH pulses with larger area under the curve in winter compared with summer (1.17 +/- 0.03 vs. 0.69 +/- 0.03 ng ml(-1) and 65.09 +/- 1.46 vs. 33.60 +/- 1.25, P < 0.05). Overall, feed restriction reduced LH pulse frequency (2.5 +/- 0.1 and 1.6 +/- 0.1 pulses/12 h for high and low feeding levels, P < 0.05), but the difference was large in winter and no difference was detected in summer. An ACTH challenge test carried out the day after the frequent sampling revealed greater response to the ACTH challenge in winter in comparison with summer. Plasma prolactin values were generally very low and ranged from 1 to 4.5 ng/ml with highest values detected in the feed restricted group in summer. Plasma FFA and insulin concentrations showed greater pre- versus post-prandial variation in the feed restricted groups. It was concluded, that feed restriction and season affected LH secretion and those effects appeared to be related to the metabolic changes in the early pregnant group housed gilt.

Altered secretion of LH does not explain seasonal effects on early pregnancy in gilts.

This work was undertaken to study the effects of energy intake and gut fill on LH secretion in the early pregnant gilt to investigate the role of the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis in the seasonal disruption of pregnancy. Four groups of mated gilts (N = 23 in total) were individually housed and fed four different energy levels (23, 46, 47 and 55 megajoules digestible energy per day, MJ DE day-1) for two weeks after mating during the season identified as a period of increased rate of early pregnancy failures from January till April (summer-autumn). The energy content of base feed (13 MJ kg-1) was increased by means of adding a fat supplement (soybean oil) to the feed of two groups of gilts, while the other two groups were given different levels of the basic feed. The groups gained weight and backfat according to energy intake levels during the two-week period. Frequent blood samples (15-min interval) collected on day 14 revealed a significant treatment effect on LH pulse amplitude: the group on the highest energy intake level (55 MJ DE day-1) had higher LH pulse amplitude compared with the other groups (1.01 +/- 0.04, 0.74 +/- 0.04, 0.72 +/- 0.08 and 0.66 +/- 0.05 ng ml-1 in the descending order of energy intake, P < 0.01). There was no effect of energy intake on LH pulse frequency, mean level, area under the curve or mean nadir (P > 0.10). Plasma insulin concentrations tended to increase (P < 0.08) in each group with time after feeding, but no significant differences between the treatment groups were found. Plasma free fatty acid (FFA) concentrations were decreased 1 h after feeding (P < 0.05) in all but the group on 55 MJ DE day-1. This group also had higher postprandial FFA concentrations in comparison with other groups (P < 0.05). In conclusion, these results show that energy density of feed and energy intake have little effect on LH secretion in the early pregnant gilt. Protective effect of high feeding level against seasonal disruption of pregnancy appears to be mediated by mechanisms other than an alteration in LH secretion.

Seasonal effects on fertility in gilts and sows.

The ancestral wild pig is a short day length seasonal breeder. The domestic pig appears to have retained some of this seasonality as evidenced by a reduction in fertility during the summer-autumn period. The most important aspect of this seasonality is a reduction in the number of mated sows that farrow. Many of these sows conceive and embryos develop normally for 20-25 days before pregnancy is terminated and the sow returns to oestrus (25-35 days after mating). In other species, transduction of photoperiodic information is achieved by release of melatonin during the dark period. In the pig, the pattern of melatonin secretion and the subsequent hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal responses appear to be more complex. A relatively high light intensity is required for pigs to generate a distinct diurnal melatonin rhythm and they appear unable to respond appropriately to abrupt changes in photoperiod. Pigs on restricted feeding and maintained under long photoperiods (but not under short photoperiods) have higher concentrations of melatonin than do similarly maintained pigs fed ad libitum. Continuous release melatonin implants have a deleterious effect on farrowing rate, suggesting that the abnormally high melatonin concentrations observed in sows in summer-autumn play a role in the pathogenesis of seasonal infertility. Ad libitum feeding of sows during the first few weeks of pregnancy may prevent the increase in melatonin concentrations and so remove the seasonal influence on fertility. The pituitary response to different photoperiods is also somewhat confusing. Although there is some evidence of increased sensitivity to the negative feedback of ovarian steroids in the prepubertal gilts and weaned sows during summer-autumn, LH concentrations are increased in early pregnant sows. It is proposed that the failure of sows to maintain pregnancy in summer-autumn results from disruption of maternal recognition of pregnancy causing regression of the corpora lutea, loss of pregnancy and return of the sow to oestrus.