Other Animal Sciences Commons^™

The Effects Of Supplemental Rup In Corn Silage Growing Diets And Rup Digestibility Of Corn Silage, The Utilization Of Aggressive Implant Protocols, And The Effect Of Inoculate On Corn Silage And High Moisture Corn, Colton R. Oney

Theses and Dissertations in Animal Science

Three experiments evaluated the effect of implant strategies on feedlot performance and carcass characteristics of crossbred steers and Holstein steers. Final BW, ADG, and G:F were not different between implant strategies in Exp. 1 and 2. The utilization of more aggressive implant strategies has minimal impact on both feedlot and carcass performance of cross breed steers.

Four experiments evaluated the effects of supplemental RUP in corn silage growing diets and RUP content and RUP digestibility of corn silage. Exp. 1, supplemented five concentrations of RUP to growing calves consuming a corn silage diet. As supplemental RUP increased ADG and ...

Exclusion Performance In Dwarf Goats (Capra Aegagrus Hircus) And Sheep (Ovis Orientalis Aries), Christian Nawroth, Eberhard Von Borell, Jan Langbein

Christian Nawroth, Ph.D.

Using a comparative approach, we investigated the ability of dwarf goats and sheep to use direct and indirect information about the location of a food reward in an object-choice task. Subjects had to choose between two cups with only one covering a reward. Before making a choice, subjects received information about the baited (direct information) or nonbaited cup (indirect information). Both goats and sheep were able to use direct information (presence of food) in the object choice task. After controlling for local enhancement, we found that goats rather than sheep were able to use indirect information (i.e., the absence ...

Goats Display Audience-Dependent Human-Directed Gazing Behaviour In A Problem-7 Solving Task, Christian Nawroth, Jemma M. Brett, Alan G. Mcelligott

Christian Nawroth, Ph.D.

Domestication is an important factor driving changes in animal cognition and behaviour. In particular, the capacity of dogs to communicate in a referential and intentional way with humans is considered a key outcome of how domestication as a companion animal shaped the canid brain. However, the lack of comparison with other domestic animals makes general conclusions about how domestication has affected these important cognitive features difficult. We investigated human-directed behaviour in an ‘unsolvable problem’ task in a domestic, but non-companion species: goats. During the test, goats experienced a forward facing or an away facing person. They gazed towards the forward ...

Object Permanence In The Dwarf Goat (Capra Aegagrus Hircus): Perseveration Errors And The Tracking Of Complex Movements Of Hidden Objects, Christian Nawroth, Eberhard Von Borell, Jan Langbein

Christian Nawroth, Ph.D.

Object permanence is the notion that objects continue to exist even when they are out of an observer’s sight. In mammals, the highest stage of object permanence (Stage 6) has been observed only in primates, whereas other species have shown difficulty in following once-hidden objects, particularly when complex movements are involved. We conducted four experiments to examine the ability of dwarf goats to mentally represent once-hidden objects. In Experiment 1, we investigated whether dwarf goats are prone to commit the A-not-B or perseveration error which is commonly used as a measure for self-control. Subjects here continue to search for ...

Human Head Orientation And Eye Visibility As Indicators Of Attention For Goats (Capra Hircus), Christian Nawroth, Alan G. Mcelligott

Christian Nawroth, Ph.D.

Animals domesticated for working closely with humans (e.g. dogs) have been shown to be remarkable in adjusting their behaviour to human attentional stance. However, there is little evidence for this form of information perception in species domesticated for production rather than companionship. We tested domestic ungulates (goats) for their ability to differentiate attentional states of humans. In the first experiment, we investigated the effect of body and head orientation of one human experimenter on approach behaviour by goats. Test subjects (N = 24) significantly changed their behaviour when the experimenter turned its back to the subjects, but did not take ...

“Goats That Stare At Men” – Dwarf Goats Alter Their Behaviour In Response To Human Head Orientation But Do Not Spontaneously Use Head Direction As A Cue In A Food-Related Context, Christian Nawroth, Eberhard Von Borell, Jan Langbein

Christian Nawroth, Ph.D.

Recently, comparative research on the mechanisms and species-specific adaptive values of attributing attentive states and using communicative cues has gained increased interest, particularly in non-human primates, birds, and dogs. Here, we investigate these phenomena in a farm animal species, the dwarf goat (Capra aegagrus hircus). In the first experiment, we investigated the effects of different human head and body orientations, as well as human experimenter presence/absence, of a human on the behaviour of goats in a food-anticipating paradigm. Over a 30-sec interval, the experimenter engaged in one of four different postures or behaviours (head and body towards the subject ...

Goats Learn Socially From Humans In A Spatial Problem-Solving Task, Christian Nawroth, Luigi Baciadonna, Alan G. Mcelligott

Christian Nawroth, Ph.D.

Domestication drives changes in animal cognition and behaviour. In particular, the capacity of dogs to socially learn from humans is considered a key outcome of how domestication shaped the canid brain. However, systematic evidence for social learning from humans in other domestic species is lacking and makes general conclusions about how domestication has affected cognitive abilities difficult. We assessed spatial and social problem-solving abilities in goats (Capra hircus) using a detour task, in which food was placed behind an inward or outward V-shaped hurdle. Goats performed better in the outward than in the inward detour without human demonstration. Importantly, a ...

Juvenile Domestic Pigs (Sus Scrofa Domestica) Use Human-Given Cues In An Object Choice Task, Christian Nawroth, Mirjam Ebersbach, Eberhard Von Borell

Christian Nawroth, Ph.D.

Research on the comprehension of human-given cues by domesticated as well as non-domesticated species has received considerable attention over the last decade. While several species seem to be capable of utilizing these cues, former work with domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domestica) has shown inconclusive results. In this study, we investigated the use of human-given cues in an object choice task by young domestic pigs (N = 17; seven weeks of age) who had very limited human contact prior to the experiments. Subjects had to choose between two bowls of which only one was baited with a reward. Over the course of ...

Are Juvenile Domestic Pigs (Sus Scrofa Domestica) Sensitive To The Attentive States Of Humans? The Impact Of Impulsivity On Choice Behaviour, Christian Nawroth, Mirjam Ebersbach, Eberhard Von Borell

Christian Nawroth, Ph.D.

Previous studies have shown that apes, dogs and horses seem to be able to attribute attentive states to humans. Subjects chose successfully between two persons: one who was able to see the animal and one who was not. Using a similar paradigm, we tested a species that does not rely strongly on visual cues, the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domestica). Subjects could choose between two unfamiliar persons, with only one showing attention, in three different conditions (body, head away, body turned - head front). Subjects (n = 16) only showed a tendency towards the attentive human in the head away condition. However ...

Judgement Bias In Goats (Capra Hircus): Investigating The Effects Of Human Grooming, Luigi Baciadonna, Christian Nawroth, Alan G. Mcelligott

Christian Nawroth, Ph.D.

Animal emotional states can be investigated by evaluating their impact on cognitive processes. In this study, we used a judgement bias paradigm to determine if shortterm positive human-animal interaction (grooming) induced a positive affective state in goats. We tested two groups of goats and trained them to discriminate between a rewarded and a non-rewarded location over nine training days. During training, the experimental group (nD9) was gently groomed by brushing their heads and backs for five min over 11 days (nine training days, plus two testing days, total time 55 min). During training, the control group (nD10) did not experience ...

Visual Attention And Its Relation To Knowledge States In Chimpanzees, Pan Troglodytes, Megan J. Bulloch, Sarah T. Boysen, Ellen E. Furlong

Ellen Furlong

Primates rely on visual attention to gather knowledge about their environment. The ability to recognize such knowledge-acquisition activity in another may demonstrate one aspect of Theory of Mind. Using a series of experiments in which chimpanzees were presented with a choice between an experimenter whose visual attention was available and another whose vision was occluded, we asked whether chimpanzees understood the relationship between visual attention and knowledge states. The animals showed sophisticated understanding of attention from the first presentation of each task. Under more complex experimental conditions, the subjects had more difficulty with species-typical processing of attentional cues and those ...

Associations Between Infectious Bovine Keratoconjunctivitis At Weaning And Ultrasongraphically Measured Body Composition Traits In Yearling Cattle, Lucas D. Funk, James M. Reecy, Chong Wang, Richard G. Tait Jr., Annette M. O'Connor

James M Reecy

Objective—To assess associations between infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK) diagnosed at weaning and production traits in yearling beef calves. Design—Retrospective population-based cohort study. Animals—1,882 Angus calves. Procedures—Angus calves from 1 farm were evaluated over 7 years. The association between yearling body production traits and detection of IBK lesions at weaning was evaluated. Results—Yearlings that had evidence of IBK at weaning had less 12th rib fat depth, ribeye area, and body weight than did cohorts without evidence of IBK. Average daily gain was greater in cattle that had IBK lesions at weaning, but this did not ...

An Economic Study Of The Baby Beef Enterprise In Southern Iowa, J. A. Hopkins, W. D. Goodsell, R. K. Buck

Research Bulletin (Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station)

The ability of the operator seemed to be much more important in determining the number of beef cows carried and the cost of raising calves than did the type of land on a group of southern Iowa baby beef farms. The type of land, however, had an influence in determining the type or cattle enterprise that was to be followed. Regardless of topography or the percentage of land in crops, the usual number of beef cows for the average-sized farm was 10 per 100 acres. For larger farms it was eight to nine.

Farmers who were able to arrange their ...

Exploring The Impact Of Olfaction On Short-Term And Long-Term Maternal Recognition In Peromyscus Californicus, Mariah F. Conley

Honors Projects

Previous studies have established a connection between social behavior and olfaction, in that as anosmia causes a decrease in perception of social cues, social behavior itself decreases. Studies investigating maternal behavior specifically have focused on foster care, in which the behaviors formed during parturition are conserved and displayed with unrelated pups. The combination of long-term retention of maternal behavior, maternal recognition, and olfaction has yet to be explored. In this study, I induced anosmia in Peromyscus californicus, a monogamous, biparental species, and analyzed their behavior with their own pups and with foreign pups in the days after birth, as well ...

Cost And Utilization Of Power And Labor On Iowa Farms, Wylie D. Goodsell

Research Bulletin (Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station)

An analysis of the records of 753 cooperating farmers in 1936 and 958 in 1937 indicates clearly that general-purpose tractor farms are considerably larger than standard tractor farms and that standard tractor farms are larger than horse farms.

The average net cost of keeping a horse on 53 Iowa horse-operated farms in 1936 and 49 farms in 1937 was $91.44 and $86.08, respectively. The horses worked an average of 814 hours in 1936 and 802 in 1937 at an average cost of 11.2 cents and 10.7 cents per hour. Feed costs constitute about 65 percent of ...

Fluorine Toxicosis In The Albino Rat, J. A. Schultz

Research Bulletin (Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station)

The toxicity of fluorine compounds once considered of little general importance is no longer so regarded. The increasing use of fluorides as insecticides, the discovery that fluorine may be a component of many foodstuffs and the work of Dr. Margaret Cammack Smith and associates (77·88) in proving that potable waters containing as little as 0.9 parts per million of fluorine may produce mottled teeth in growing children when regularly ingested over periods of several years, has excited much popular as well as scientific interest in fluorine toxicoses. Ostrem, Nelson, Greenwood and Wilhelm (55) have shown that this mottling ...

Investigation Of The Impact Of Increased Dietary Insoluble Fiber Through The Feeding Of Distillers Dried Grains With Solubles (Ddgs) On The Incidence And Severity Of Brachyspira-Associated Colitis In Pigs, Bailey Lauren Wilberts, Paulo Elias Arruda, Joann M. Kinyon, Timothy S. Frana, Chong Wang, Drew Robert Magstadt, Darin M. Madson, John F. Patience, Eric Ryan Burrough

Bailey (Wilberts) Arruda

Diet has been implicated as a major factor impacting clinical disease expression of swine dysentery and Brachyspira hyodysenteriae colonization. However, the impact of diet on novel pathogenic strongly beta-hemolytic Brachyspira spp. including “B. hampsonii” has yet to be investigated. In recent years, distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), a source of insoluble dietary fiber, has been increasingly included in diets of swine. A randomized complete block experiment was used to examine the effect of increased dietary fiber through the feeding of DDGS on the incidence of Brachyspira-associated colitis in pigs. One hundred 4-week-old pigs were divided into five groups ...

Genetic Aspects Of The Danish System Of Progeny-Testing Swine, Jay L. Lush

Research Bulletin (Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station)

1. The history of the Danish system of progeny testing swine is traced briefly.

2. Changes in the average characteristics of the Danish swine since this system began in 1907 are shown in graphs.

3. The variance of six of these characteristics is analyzed, largely by means of correlations between litter mates, between half-sibs and between progeny tests of sire and of son, to find the extent to which individual variance in each characteristic can be attributed to the additive effects of genes.

4. A little less than half the individual variance in body length, thickness of back fat and ...

Associations Between Infectious Bovine Keratoconjunctivitis At Weaning And Ultrasongraphically Measured Body Composition Traits In Yearling Cattle, Lucas D. Funk, James M. Reecy, Chong Wang, Richard G. Tait Jr., Annette M. O'Connor

Annette O'Connor

Objective—To assess associations between infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK) diagnosed at weaning and production traits in yearling beef calves. Design—Retrospective population-based cohort study. Animals—1,882 Angus calves. Procedures—Angus calves from 1 farm were evaluated over 7 years. The association between yearling body production traits and detection of IBK lesions at weaning was evaluated. Results—Yearlings that had evidence of IBK at weaning had less 12th rib fat depth, ribeye area, and body weight than did cohorts without evidence of IBK. Average daily gain was greater in cattle that had IBK lesions at weaning, but this did not ...

Associations Between Infectious Bovine Keratoconjunctivitis At Weaning And Ultrasongraphically Measured Body Composition Traits In Yearling Cattle, Lucas D. Funk, James M. Reecy, Chong Wang, Richard G. Tait Jr., Annette M. O'Connor

Annette O'Connor

Objective—To assess associations between infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK) diagnosed at weaning and production traits in yearling beef calves. Design—Retrospective population-based cohort study. Animals—1,882 Angus calves. Procedures—Angus calves from 1 farm were evaluated over 7 years. The association between yearling body production traits and detection of IBK lesions at weaning was evaluated. Results—Yearlings that had evidence of IBK at weaning had less 12th rib fat depth, ribeye area, and body weight than did cohorts without evidence of IBK. Average daily gain was greater in cattle that had IBK lesions at weaning, but this did not ...