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Animal Sciences Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Animal Sciences

Effects Of Premortem Stress On Heat Shock Protein Abundance, Oxidation, And Color In The Longissimus Lumborum Of Holstein Steers Following Harvest, Reganne K. Briggs Dec 2020

Effects Of Premortem Stress On Heat Shock Protein Abundance, Oxidation, And Color In The Longissimus Lumborum Of Holstein Steers Following Harvest, Reganne K. Briggs

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Consumers consider tenderness and steak color to be two important attributes associated with meat quality. However, inconsistencies in both tenderness and steak color remain despite similar production practices of beef cattle. Stressful events before harvest may impact meat quality by initiating certain pathways such as abundance of heat shock proteins (HSP) and oxidation within the skeletal muscle. Heat shock proteins have been associated with tenderness while oxidation may affect steak color and flavor. In this study, 40 Holstein steers were administered adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) to mimic a stressful event before harvest. Animals were harvested at different times following the ACTH …


Predicting Voluntary Forage Intake Of Supplemented Beef Cattle, Connor Biehler Dec 2020

Predicting Voluntary Forage Intake Of Supplemented Beef Cattle, Connor Biehler

Masters Theses

A major priority of beef cattle production is to meet animal nutrient requirements in order to achieve a desired level of productivity. Accurately predicting voluntary forage intake (VFI) is necessary to accurately predict the total nutrient intake of grazing or forage-fed beef cattle that are also supplemented with other sources of nutrients. Therefore, the objectives of this experiment were to utilize data from published literature to 1) identify factors that explain variation in VFI, and 2) develop and validate one or more mathematical models that predict VFI or total nutrient intake of grazing or forage-fed and supplemented beef cattle. A …


Enhancing The Production And Sustainability Of Pasture-Fed Beef Using Non-Traditional Legume Forages, Andrea I. Bolletta Aug 2020

Enhancing The Production And Sustainability Of Pasture-Fed Beef Using Non-Traditional Legume Forages, Andrea I. Bolletta

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Despite the increasing worldwide demand for beef as a protein source, consumers are concerned about the sustainability of ruminant production systems. Their main concerns are animal welfare for feedlot-fed animals, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, global warming and worker safety. Traditional feedlot-based beef production systems have been associated with locally greater levels of soil, water and air contamination, as well as the overuse of antibiotics and growth hormones. The use of legume pastures such as cicer milkvetch (CMV) and birdsfoot trefoil (BFT), which fix their own nitrogen (N) and often contain beneficial secondary compounds such as tannins and provide for rapid …


Effects Of A Moderate And Aggressive Implant Strategy On The Rumen Microbial Community And Metabolome In Steers, Madison Henniger Aug 2020

Effects Of A Moderate And Aggressive Implant Strategy On The Rumen Microbial Community And Metabolome In Steers, Madison Henniger

Masters Theses

The effects of growth-promoting implants have been well-defined for their ability to impact growth in beef cattle. Production-relevant microbiomes in the rumen have also been associated with growth traits. However, the role of implant strategies on the rumen microbiome is not understood. The objective was to determine if varying doses of implant hormones cause gain-associated ruminal microbial community shifts. To assess this, a completely randomized design was used and 336 fall-born steers between 450-470 days of age from the germplasm evaluation population at the US Meat Animal Research Center (Clay Center, NE) were divided into two treatment groups: 1) a …


Partitioning Variation In Measurements Of Beef Carcass Traits Made Using Ultrasound, Bradie M. Schmidt Jan 2020

Partitioning Variation In Measurements Of Beef Carcass Traits Made Using Ultrasound, Bradie M. Schmidt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ultrasound technology provides cattle breeders a relatively quick, non-invasive, and economical way to gather carcass data on live animals. Ultrasound provides the means to accurately predict body composition and develop estimated breeding values; however, national cattle genetic evaluations assume homogenous additive genetic and residual variances. These assumptions may be violated when estimating genetic merit for carcass traits by ultrasound because of differences in variance due to scanning technician and image interpretation laboratory. The objective of this study was to partition the phenotypic variance of measurements of carcass traits that were made using ultrasound into components attributable to additive genetic effects, …


Impact Of Postweaning Management Strategies On Beef Carcass Characteristics And Meat Quality, Christina Elaine Bakker Jan 2020

Impact Of Postweaning Management Strategies On Beef Carcass Characteristics And Meat Quality, Christina Elaine Bakker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The overall objective of this dissertation was to determine the impact of selected post weaning management strategies on beef carcass characteristics and meat quality. The specific objectives were 1) determine the effect of a rumen-protected long chain fatty acids fed during finishing on live performance, serum fatty acid profile, carcass traits, and predicted carcass composition, and 2) determine effects of feeding brassica-based cover crops to cattle during backgrounding on live animal performance, carcass characteristics, tenderness, juiciness, and flavor of strip steaks, and case life of ground beef and strip steaks. Results from both objectives indicate post weaning management strategies do …