Hair cortisol concentration has been proposed as a biomarker for chronic stress, with the advantages of easy sample collection and storage and the potential for retrospective assessment of stress. This review updates the rapid advancement in research on hair cortisol, methods for its measurement, its relationship to acute and chronic stress, and its repeatability and heritability. We highlight several directions for future research to more fully validate the use of hair cortisol as an indicator of chronic stress.

The Canchim beef cattle breed was developed in Brazil from crossings between Charolais and Indicine breeds. The heritability and genetic correlations were estimated in order to provide support to breeders and to the genetic evaluation program. These results could help improve growth, reproductive and carcass traits.

The genetic variability of a population is the basis for effective selection programs. In order to improve productive traits, a breeding program was started 3 years ago in the Normande population of Colombia. The information from this study can be used to design breeding programs and to develop strategies for maintaining the genetic variability in the breed.

In recent years, there has been great interest in recovering and preserving local livestock breeds. The aim of this work was to investigate the genetic status of the Girgentana goat using microsatellites and to evaluate the milk production traits. The breed appears to have a subdivided population with a high variability in milk yield. A deeper knowledge of the genetic variability and diversity of the analysed populations will help to estimate their possible degree of endangerment and to suggest possible solutions for their conservation.

Beneficial, detrimental or lack of the effects of fish oil supplementation of the diet on sperm production or quality have been reported in both animals and man. This study showed that supplemental fish oil did not affect fresh sperm quality, but simultaneous supplementation of the diet with fish oil and vitamin E may be beneficial when ram spermatozoa are to be frozen.

Optimisation of broiler chicken diets is critical for maximising growth rates, feed efficiency, and meat yield. This study investigated the effect of varying dietary methionine levels in the first week of life, as nutrition during this period can influence muscle growth through to market age. No effect of varying dietary methionine was observed on muscle development, indicating methionine alone is not a limiting factor in muscle growth in this period.

For the purpose of enhancing intestinal health, understanding of the intestinal microbiota is crucial. The goal of the present study was to investigate the development of the cecal-predominant microbiota in broilers that were fed a Lactobacillus salivarius DSPV 001P strain during a complete rearing using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. The obtained data could be relevant for future studies related to the influence of the microbiota resulting from probiotic supplementation on the performance and the immunological parameters of broilers.

Young ruminants rely on their mothers for nutrition, and their mother’s source energy either from their diet, or from their body reserves. How does the body condition of the ruminant supplement feed supply when feed supply is limiting? By grazing red deer hinds on differing amounts of pasture we showed that the body condition of the hind is important when pasture is in short supply, and contributed an extra 4–5 kg in liveweight by weaning.

Beef cattle production in northern Australia is severely constrained by the low quality of the native pastures grazed during the dry season and, whilst supplements can overcome nutrient deficiencies, information upon which to compare supplements is limiting. Growth response curves were developed for cattle using a wide range of different protein and energy supplements, indicating the superiority of protein meals at low intakes. These growth response curves, combined with supplement costs, provide a basis for formulating feeding programs for cattle to reach various target end-points.

Research into the effects of supplements for increasing the growth of beef cattle grazing low-quality tropical pastures in northern Australia has largely targeted the young, growing animal with less attention to the older, finishing animal. Experiments were carried out comparing the growth responses of young and older steers to different protein and energy supplements, indicating similar or greater responses by the older steers. These growth response curves, combined with supplement costs, provide a basis for formulating feeding programs for cattle of different ages to various production end-points

The rise in environmental temperature during summer has negative effects on ruminant production all over the world. The aim of the present study was to see the effect of feeding whole crop corn silage on physiological and digestive responses in sheep exposed to heat; improved physiological responses were observed. Therefore, our approach shows promise for feeding heat-exposed animals.

Back fat tissue is an important meat quality trait and excessive back fat indicates feed waste and is also considered unhealthy by consumers. We showed that supplementation with β-carotene, an important adipose tissue regulator, suppressed fat deposition in beef cattle by inhibiting fat synthesis and enhancing fat hydrolysis. This research may enrich our knowledge of the regulatory mechanism of β-carotene in fat deposition and provide a theoretical basis for improving beef quality, as well as the treatment and prevention of obesity and related chronic diseases in humans.

The energy cost associated with maintenance results from a continuous process of synthesis, degradation and replacement of body tissue to be renewed. In cow-calf systems, control grazing intensity of rangelands, through management of herbage allowance, determined cows grazing a high herbage allowance maintained greater BCS and gross energy content than cows grazing a low herbage allowance. Cow genotype affected composition of mobilised/retained weight during the winter gestation period, and crossbred cows (Angus/Herford) showed greater protein tissue mobilisation than purebred cows.

Supplementation with lipid has been used for highly productive animals in grazing systems. This study evaluated the effect of different supplementation frequencies with different forms of soybean oil (SO) on nutrient digestion and rumen fermentation of heifers grazing pasture. The reduction of supplementation frequency had no effects on fermentation activity of the rumen microbial population and supplementation with SO increases propionic acid concentration.

Alfalfa or a combination of white and red clovers inter-seeded into bermudagrass swards were compared with monocultures of bermudagrass fertilised with 0, 56, or 112 kg nitrogen/ha over four grazing seasons. Carrying capacity of swards inter-seeded with legumes was greater than fertilised bermudagrass in the spring and early summer, but did not differ from fertilised swards in the late summer. Including legumes in bermudagrass swards can alleviate the reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertilisation.

Alfalfa or a combination of white and red clovers inter-seeded into bermudagrass swards were compared with monocultures of bermudagrass fertilised with 0, 56, or 112 kg nitrogen/ha over four grazing seasons. Replacing synthetic nitrogen with either alfalfa or clovers in bermudagrass swards can support the growth of herbage with equivalent or superior nutritive value to bermudagrass monocultures fertilised with 112 kg nitrogen/ha during the early summer and equivalent to 56 kg nitrogen/ha during the late summer.

Alfalfa or a combination of white and red clovers inter-seeded into bermudagrass was compared with bermudagrass fertilised with 0, 56, or 112 kg N/ha over four grazing seasons. The data from this study indicates that inter-seeding bermudagrass pastures with either alfalfa or a mixture of red and white clovers can provide equivalent animal performance and greater liveweight gain per hectare than fertilised bermudagrass.

Sugarcane tops are the major by-product of the sugarcane industry left in the field after cane harvest and can be utilised as a roughage source for ruminants. We evaluated the productive and economic performances of beef bulls fed increasing levels of sugarcane tops, as a substitute for sugarcane, provided with a high-concentrate diet. Partial or total substitution of sugarcane by sugarcane tops in high-concentrate diets did not affect performance of feedlot bulls, but total substitution reduced production costs.

Shearing is necessary for wool production and animal health but its effects on metabolism have been less studied. In this study, growth performance and metabolic parameters were measured in shorn and unshorn lambs. Result showed that, in summer, rectal temperature, respiratory rate and thyroxine level were lowered by shearing and it seems that under this condition, shearing helps lambs survive and remain productive by changing their metabolism.

Pain assessment in cattle is difficult, but is essential to assess the effect of surgery and analgesic drugs. Nociceptive threshold testing is an objective pain assessment tool that has not been described in Bos indicus cattle. A technique for mechanical nociceptive threshold testing was developed for use in Bos indicus cattle undergoing surgical castration to evaluate post-operative pain.

Recording calving date in extensive grazing systems is extremely difficult and so calf date of birth cannot be effectively included in breeding programs. The use of walk over weigh to monitor weight profiles of cows can be used to identify cow calving dates. Walk over weigh technology has the potential to be incorporated into management systems for breeding purposes but needs refinement.

Mutton products are being invariably implicated for health intricacies on the grounds of higher saturated fatty acids, cholesterol, low dietary fibre and oxidation-prone status. These products could be made healthier with the incorporation of functionally rich nuts. The desirable level of almond incorporation in emulsion-based mutton nuggets was optimised as 15% and then product profile characteristics were evaluated. The findings indicated that functional components of almond can be very well incorporated to develop superior products in terms of lipid profile, antioxidant activity, calorific value and dietary fibre content.