Animal Sciences Commons^™

The Effects Of Super-Dosing Phytase On Nursery And Grower Pigs, Joshua Paul Knapp

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

To determine the effects of super-dosing on pigs fed phosphorous and calcium adequate or deficient diets (Experiment 1); the optimum level of corn express phytase (CEP, Experiment 2); and the effects of xylanase/phytase on growth performance (Experiment 3) in pigs fed reduce nutrient diets, weaned pigs were blocked with initial body weight (BW) and allotted to dietary treatments. Treatments were: Positive control (PC), P/Ca adequate diets (NRC 2012); Negative Control (NC), low P (-0.15%) and Ca (-0.12%), +0, 1000, and 4000 FTU/kg of CEP in both PC and NC (Experiment 1); PC, P/Ca adequate diets; NC, decreased P (0.15%) and …

Defending Wild Dogs: Population Dynamics And Disease In Endangered African Wild Dogs, Elizabeth Claire Arredondo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) are endangered carnivores whose population is decreasing from habitat loss and fragmentation, interspecific competition, and disease. Survival rates are especially low in Kruger National Park (KNP), though it is unclear why. I estimated the abundance in KNP and survival rates over different time spans, six years and nine months, using public photographic survey data. In 2015, there were 298 (SE=12.1) individuals. Using a mark-recapture analysis in program R, I found that the survival rate between 2009-2015 was only 3.2%, and within the 9-month survey period (September 2014 – June 2015), monthly survival rates for the …

Contents, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Dean, Deacue Fields

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Discovery: The Student Journal Of Dale Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences - Volume 19 2018, Several Authors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

New For Discovery: Scholarworks@Uark, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Predicting Kidding Date Using Prepartum Milk Calcium Concentrations And Comparing Kid Growth To Colostrum Quality In Goats, Justin M. Hamm

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Goats have an ancient history with humankind and are used as a red meat source around the world. This provides an opportunity in Arkansas agriculture. There is a gap in goat research which facilitated the conception of the study’s objectives to determine whether prepartum milk in goats showed a rise in calcium levels within 24 to 48 hours of kidding and to ascertain whether an increased colostrum density is indicative of increased weight gain in kids. Eleven does were bred out of season and monitored for mammary development. Then, 5 to 15 mL of prepartum milk were collected, and the …

Primeness In Early Season Arkansas Raccoon Pelts, D. Blake Sasse

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Trapping seasons in the United States are generally set around the time of the year when pelts are in “prime” condition and are in their most valuable state. In order to assess whether the start of the Arkansas trapping season is at an appropriate date 122 raccoons were captured during the month of November in 2014 and 2015. Based on the evaluation of experienced fur dealers, the percentage of pelts in prime condition was then assessed on weekly and half-monthly basis. This study indicates that starting the trapping season in the last half of the month may maximize the percentage …

Organochloride Pesticides Present In Animal Fur, Soil, And Streambed In An Agricultural Region Of Southeastern Arkansas, Matthew E. Grilliot, John L. Hunt, Christopher G. Sims

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Animals in agricultural settings may be subject to bioaccumulation of toxins. For the last several years, we collected hair samples from bats and rodents in an agricultural area near Bayou Bartholomew in Drew County, Arkansas. Samples were submitted to the Center of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of Connecticut for wide-screen toxin analysis. Several of these samples contained measurable amounts of organochloride pesticides or their metabolites, including some that have been banned for decades, such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and chlordane. In addition, we collected several samples of soil from within an agricultural field, from adjacent edge habitat, from …

A Message From The Department Head Of Horticulture And Food Science, Wayne Mackey

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Teat Order On Feed Consumption In Swine From Birth To Nursery, Callan A. Lichtenwalter, Jason K. Apple, Beth Kegley, Tsung C. Tsai

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

A relationship between teat order and feed consumption has been assumed in pigs, but no study has looked at this exact relationship. Pigs were observed shortly after birth to be in either a cranial, middle, or caudal teat positon. Growth performance data and active and total plasma ghrelin concentrations were analyzed at birth, weaning, and at the end of the nursery stage of production to see if a relationship with teat order was present. Overall, no effect of teat order was found on average daily gain, average daily feed intake, gain-to-feed ratio, or body weight among pigs from each section …

Small Mammal Abundances In A Grassland And Forest Area At The Lake Fayetteville Environmental Center, Arkansas, Douglas A. James, S. A. Bartholomew, A. Deshwal, P. Panwar

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

We examined changes in abundance of small mammals in forest and prairie-grassland habitat at Lake Fayetteville, Arkansas over a period of 32 years. We estimated the population size of small mammals using a mark-recapture method by capturing small mammals employing rat-sized Sherman live traps laid out in a grid with 8 rows of traps, 15 traps per row, 9.14 m (30 feet) between traps and rows covering an area of 1.01 ha (2.5 acres) in size. Six species of mammals were trapped in the prairie-grassland and three species were captured in the forest habitat. In the forest, the white-footed deermouse …

Parasites Of The Spotted Sucker, Minytrema Melanops (Cypriniformes: Catostomidae) From Arkansas And Oklahoma, Chris T. Mcallister, Donald G. Cloutman, Anindo Choudhury, Tomas Scholz, Stanley E. Trauth, Thomas J. Fayton, Henry W. Robison

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

During October 2015, March and April 2016 and again between March and April 2017, 15 Spotted Sucker (Minytrema melanops) were collected from sites in the Ouachita (n = 5), Red (n = 1), and St. Francis (n = 5) river drainages, Arkansas, and the Arkansas River drainage, Oklahoma (n = 4), and examined for protozoan and metazoan parasites. Found were Calyptospora sp., Myxobolus sp., Pseudomurraytrema alabarrum, Biacetabulum banghami, Penarchigetes oklensis, and Acanthocephalus sp. New host and distributional records are documented for these parasites.

Additional Records Of Acanthocephalan Parasites From Arkansas Fishes, With New Records From Missouri Fishes, Chris T. Mcallister, Michael A. Barger, Henry W. Robison

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Over the last decade, our research consortium has provided information on acanthocephalan parasites of Arkansas vertebrates, including records from some of the state’s fishes. Here, we continue to provide data on new geographic and new host records of acanthocephalans from Arkansas fishes. In addition, for the first time, we report records of acanthocephalans for some Missouri fishes. We document 2 new state records as well as 10 new host records for some fish acanthocephalans.

A Preliminary Checklist Of The Stoneflies (Arthropoda: Insecta: Plecoptera) Of Arkansas, Henry W. Robison, Chris T. Mcallister

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Seventy-seven species of stoneflies representing 8 families and 24 genera are herein reported from Arkansas. The most diverse families of state stoneflies were Perlidae (26 species), Capniidae (14 species), and Perlodidae (12 species) while Pteronarcyidae had only a single representative species. Additional taxa will surely be added to the list with future taxonomic studies incorporating molecular analyses.

Incidental Captures Of Plains Spotted Skunks (Spilogale Putorius Interrupta) By Arkansas Trappers, 2012-2017, D. Blake Sasse

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Arkansas trappers were surveyed following the 2012 and four subsequent trapping seasons regarding accidental captures of spotted skunks while attempting to trap other species. A total of 132 trappers reported capturing spotted skunks although further investigation confirmed the validity of only 42 reports from trappers that caught a total of 60 spotted skunks. Incidental captures were rare; only 0.35-1.29% of trappers each year caught spotted skunks and came primarily from the Ozark and Ouachita regions of the state.

Additional County Records Of Invertebrates From Arkansas, Chris T. Mcallister, Henry W. Robison, Renn Tumlison

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Economic Contribution Of The Agricultural Sector To The Arkansas Economy In 2015, Leah English, Jennie Popp, Wayne Miller

AAES Research Reports and Research Bulletins

Agriculture and associated agricultural activities are major contributors to the Arkansas economy. Agriculture is defined as the sum of agricultural production and processing activities, unless otherwise specified, and includes crop and animal production and processing, agricultural support industries, forestry and forest products, and textile goods. Agriculture contributes to the economy through direct agricultural production and value-added processing, and also leads to economic activity in other parts of the economy. This report is the tenth in a series of reports examining agriculture’s economic contribution to the Arkansas economy. The total economic contribution of agriculture (direct, indirect, and induced effects) on value …

The Effect Of Pet Ownership On Esl Students’ U.S. Academic Success, Emily Benjumea

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study examines the academic success of English as a second language (ESL) students based on ownership of and/or relationship with a pet, due to pets’ ability to benefit and support their owners. A survey was compiled for middle school, ESL students in the Fayetteville, Arkansas school district. The goal of the study was to discover if pet ownership has an effect on ESL student academic success in terms of the academic, social, and emotional aspects of school. It was found that pets aid in some academic aspects of school but more so in the social and emotional aspects such …

Identifying Genetic Factors Influencing Sperm Mobility Phenotype In Chicken Using Genome Wide Association Studies, Primordial Germ Cell Transplantation, And Rnaseq., Sohita Ojha

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sperm mobility is a major determinant of male fertility in chicken. In spite of low heritability of reproductive traits, sperm mobility has high heritability index which suggests presence of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) governing the trait. Our research focused on three objectives: i) to identify the QTLs affecting low mobility phenotype in chicken, ii) to understand the impact of Sertoli-cells and germ cells interactions in influencing the mobility phenotype and iii) to identify the genes and gene networks differentially expressed in male and female PGCs. To detect the QTLs, genome wide association studies (GWAS) was conducted which revealed the presence …

A Study Of The Prevalence Of Gastrointestinal Nematodes In Goats Obtained From Northwest Arkansas, Christine Rose Weingartz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Parasitic helminths have always been an issue in small ruminant production; pathogens that pose great negative impact on goat health and productivity. Insufficient work has been done to document the prevalence of parasitic helminths in the United States, especially in the south and southeast, where the largest goat populations are found.

The aim of this study was to survey the prevalence of infections by gastrointestinal nematodes in goats in Northwestern Arkansas. Gastrointestinal tracts were examined from 41 goats of various locations around Northwest Arkansas. Worm species were identified and population burdens were determined. Coprology was correlated with the actual worm …

Experimental Approaches To Understand And Control Salmonella Infection In Poultry, Yichao Yang

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Salmonella is a major foodborne pathogen around the world and chickens are the major reservoir to transmit Salmonella into the human food chain. For decreasing the infection of Salmonella, we developed six attenuated live vaccines based on Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) and Typhimurium (ST) for testing the cross-serovar and cross-serogroup protection from the challenge of Salmonella Heidelberg and Campylobacter jejuni. One of the constructed vaccine strain showed ability to protect against challenge from Salmonella Heidelberg. Even though some preventive approaches are able to decrease Salmonella colonization in the gastrointestinal tract of chickens or other farm animals, Salmonella transmission mechanisms remain unclear. …

Time Series Forecast Analysis In Wholesale Broiler Markets, Christopher R. Sims

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2016 the chicken industry provided nearly 1.2 million jobs, 68 billion dollars in wages, 313 billion dollars in economic activity and 24 billion dollars in government revenue (John Dunham & Associates, Inc., 2016). Broiler production has changed dramatically from the early 90’s to the turn of the 21st century. Technological advancements, continuous improvements, production efficiencies and industry changes have made the industry the global market it is today. The poultry industry is an extremely volatile market with prices constantly fluctuating in response to input price volatility and demand and supply changes. These changes are often driven by world economic …

A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment Of Nutritionally Equivalent Meals With And Without Pork, Kelli Young

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The following report details a life cycle assessment of several dietary and meal scenarios with and without pork. The goal of the LCA was to identify the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and land use of pork containing and porkless diets and meal plans in a field-to-fork analysis. The dietary and meal plan scenarios are iso-caloric meaning they contain the same number of calories. The first set of diets is based on a USDA consumption pattern, 2000 kcal per day. This diet was used to create three other dietary scenarios with and without pork. The USDA recommended food …

Effect Of Endophyte-Infected Tall Fescue Toxins On Growth Performance And The Microbial Community In The Rumen And Feces In Pregnant Ewes, Saleh Alrashedi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fifty pregnant Katahdin ewes grazed pastures with high (HE) and moderate (MI) levels of Neotyphodium coenophialum-infected tall fescue between February 1 and May 24 to determine the impacts of tall fescue toxins on body weight (BW), body condition scores, FAMACHA scores, fecal egg counts (FEC), and serum Cu, Zn, prolactin, and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA). Within those 50 ewes, 15 were selected randomly for fecal and rumen sampling to assess the impacts of HE and MI on the microbiome community. Total bacterial DNA was extracted from rumen and fecal samples, and alpha and beta diversities were used to relate microbiome …

Effects Of Labeling And Consumer Health Trends On Preferred Ground Beef Color Characteristics, Fat Content, And Palatability In Simulated Retail Display, Fred W. Pohlman Ii

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Nutritional concerns and attempts to limit fat in the diet over the past decades have impacted the protein market, decreasing red meat consumption as well as prompting the advent of lean and extra lean ground beef. Such lean blends of ground beef may suffer in palatability, however, resulting in less satisfied consumers turning to other protein sources. While consumers are demanding lean ground beef, fatter blends may be more palatable. This study seeks to bridge the gap between perceived health and palatability by evaluating preferred fat content and instrumental color characteristics between labeled and unlabeled packages of ground beef in …

Bee Communities On Managed Emergent Wetlands In The Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley Of Arkansas, Phillip Lee Stephenson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Native bee communities that use emergent wetlands are among the least studied systems in bee research. Most native bee species are thought to be in decline based on the loss of usable habitat across the United States. I surveyed emergent wetlands in the lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley of Arkansas during the summers of 2015 and 2016 using pan traps, blue-vane traps, and sweep nets to determine the current status of bee communities in this system. I surveyed 11 sites in 2015 and 17 sites in 2016 and found that bee communities were similar in actively versus passively managed emergent wetlands. …

Characterization Of The Thermal Environment During Transport Of Commercial Broiler Chickens, Douglas J. Aldridge

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Transport of commercial broiler chickens from the farm to the processing plant is perceived to compromise welfare under some circumstances. Research has been conducted using European standard equipment to characterize the environment experienced by poultry during broiler transport. In contrast no studies have been reported on the environment experienced by broilers under United States standard industry practices during transport. Moreover, microenvironment temperatures within industry trailers have not been reported.

The present study characterized the thermal micro-environment experienced by broiler chickens during transport across different seasons. The temperatures were influenced by temperature mitigation practices (plastic wrap, double side board, single side …

Supplemental Trace Minerals (Zn, Cu, And Mn) As Sulfates Or Hydroxy Trace Mineral Sources For Beef Heifers, Randy Hunter Burnett

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Crossbred heifers (n = 286, 255 ± 4.5 kg initial BW, 295 ± 16.5 d of age) were used over a 2-yr period to determine the effects of mineral source on beef heifer development at 2 locations (n = 71 and n = 72, Fayetteville, blocks 1 and 4; n = 72 in each of 2 breeding groups, Batesville, blocks 2 and 3). Heifers were stratified based on initial BW, age, health, prior research projects, and sire, and then assigned to 6 groups of 12 heifers, that were assigned randomly to 1 of 2 trace mineral treatments. The 2 treatments …

A Comparative Analysis Of Feed And Environmental Factors On Broiler Growth In The United States, Alexandra Gulli

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Broiler production in the United States has become an important industry within the last half century. As the demand for poultry continues to increase and the concern of climate change also increases, it will become an important part of the industry to become more sustainable. This study uses a feed optimization model, a broiler growth model, and a life cycle assessment (LCA) to determine how feed ingredients and the barn environment can affect the broiler’s growth and production emissions. A multi-criteria ration optimization model is used to produce feeds based on carbon footprint and cost. A growth model is used …