At present lamb-marking practices such as castration, tail-docking and ear-tagging are carried out with no pain relief, and only local anaesthesia is available for the mulesing operation. This review examines the evidence that transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation provides effective analgesia for various painful procedures, and whether or not electroanalgesia has potential application for relief of the pain associated with lamb-marking practices.

The scientific literature is practically devoid of estimates of breed effects on hide yield and leather properties. Direct genetic effects of exotic breeds tested in South Africa reduced hide yield but improved leather properties relative to the indigenous Afrikaner.

Little is known about the effects of ovariectomy on production performance and meat quality in hens. In this study we reported that ovariectomy increased bodyweight, altered breast meat quality by increasing redness values, and had no effects on carcass composition yield in female chickens. Therefore, poulard production can be used as a resourceful complement to the poultry meat market.

The use of antibiotic growth promoters in broiler chickens is under scrutiny due to increased concerns of development of antibiotic resistant pathogenic bacteria. The present study investigated the effect of a combination of essential oil and organic acid as an alternative growth promoter in broiler chickens. The results showed that the combination of essential oil and organic acid could improve growth performance and immunity in broiler chickens challenged with pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli.

There is a tendency to use alternative feedstuffs in animal diets. However, these ingredients contain high levels of fibres that impair their performance. Therefore, the fermentation technique by cellulolytic bacteria may be one of the important keys to improving the nutritive quality of alternative feedstuffs. Overall, the findings in this study showed that palm kernel cake could be included in broilers up to 15% after fermentation without any adverse effect on their performance.

Ewes and rams that are culled from the flock are often subjected to poor nutrition and in the process, body condition declines leading to lower quality and market value of the carcass. Short-term escalated feeding on a high concentrate based ration improves their body condition and enhances carcass yield and consumer acceptability traits. Reducing costs of feeding, through incorporation of urea in place of costly mustard cake, may promise better economic returns to farmers.

Dairy systems require accurate nutrient composition of feeds if there is to be continued improvements in animal productivity, health and reduced environmental impacts. We documented the nutrient composition of a broad variety of feed types used on dairy farms across Australia, and highlighted the variation that can occur between and within feed types. Farmers and nutritionists, can use the ranges in nutrient composition when formulating dairy rations.

Lamb produced in southern Australia does not always have access to the best pasture during summer, so identifying supplements to support optimum production is important. Summer pasture was supplemented with either flaxseed flakes or algae and fed to lambs resulting in faster growth and heavier carcasses with flaxseed, and slower growth and unaffected carcass weights with algae. Flaxseed and algae provide options for producers to meet lamb finishing requirements, but further work is required to determine optimum feeding rates.

Ergot contamination of sorghum severely impairs the growth of cattle in feedlots, effects apparently mediated through the animal’s reduced tolerance to heat load. Experiments set up with cattle fed feedlot rations based on sorghum during the cooler months still showed reduced cattle growth but indicated greater tolerance to ergot compared with earlier results from summer feeding. Based on the combined studies, new ergot inclusion thresholds for cattle feedlot rations have been determined for different seasons.

Confinement is one of the leading animal welfare concerns for farm animal production, and sufficient space should be provided for animals to socially interact while minimising aggression. This study investigated whether social interactions in groups of indoor-housed gestating sows are affected by stocking density and day after mixing through a detailed analysis of all social behaviours exchanged rather than only aggression. Providing more space early after mixing encouraged non-injurious social interactions, but differences vanished a week later.

There is currently no study evaluating how the residual leaf area index (rLAI) affects the ingestive behaviour of sheep in tropical conditions. Thus, the objective of this study was to compare the spatial distribution of the morphological components of Tifton 85 pastures for different rLAI and the effect on the ingestive behaviour of grazing sheep. The results demonstrated that grazing time decreased and rumination time increased as rLAI increased and sheep tend to graze longer when rLAI was lower and forage supply was possibly less.

Probiotics are gaining in popularity as a non-antibiotic alternative to improve health and performance of calves. The aim was to show a novel spore-forming probiotic, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain H57, was able to be incorporated into calf pellets to improve the transition from milk to dry feed. H57 calves weaned 9 days earlier had less diarrhoea and were 19% more efficient in converting feed to liveweight.

More delicious and nutritious meat is needed and can be obtained by feeding animals on probiotics in the diet. In this study, Lactobacillus johnsonii BS15 showed its ability to increase flavour and nutritional substances of chicken meat and thus to produce high-quality meat. The results brought the possibility of using BS15 as a desirable alternative to antibiotic growth promoters.

Dietary protein contents have received great attention in connection with heat tolerance in poultry production. The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent at which the dietary protein content of laying hens can be reduced based on performance criteria. The results showed that the level prediction of 14.38% for crude protein is the best estimate that can be used under hot summer conditions.

The post-weaning period for pigs is characterised by a myriad of stressors including exposure and often infection with Escherichia coli. These stressors may increase the requirement for some essential amino acid such as tryptophan and sulfur amino acids. The present study found that dietary supplementation of weaner pigs with tryptophan and sulfur amino acids had additive beneficial effects on feed conversion to body gain as well as anti-inflammatory effects and reduced plasma urea, a marker of protein utilisation.

We have elicited the importance of dietary supplementation on quality of meat production. Hence, we investigated the effects of dietary supplementation of oriental herbal medicine residue (OHMR) and methyl sulfonyl methane (MSM) on the growth performance and meat quality of ducks. Our dietary supplements containing MSM and OHMR significantly affected the growth performance and meat quality in ducks.

Gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections are the second highest cost to production for Australian sheep producers with drench resistance an important element contributing to this cost. This research investigated whether integrated parasite management (IPM) strategies could reduce the cost of GIN in lamb production systems in a high summer rainfall region. Results indicated that production loss due to GIN in these production systems was small and the number of drenches administered can be reduced using IPM strategies.

Gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) did not affect growth of suckling meat-breed lambs despite high worm egg counts at weaning indicating resilience to GIN infection in lambs growing at 200 g/day. In contrast, post-weaning growth was reduced by GIN infection, despite effective treatment at weaning and movement to GIN ‘safe’ pastures. The susceptibility of weaned lambs to the effects of GIN infection highlights the importance of effective control measures at this time.

The increased use of chicken breeds selected for high performance and mass production has resulted in a decline in the breeding of old Hungarian chickens in the Carpathian Basin. This study investigates the adaptation and conservation of an old Hungarian chicken breed in a subtropical region. The maintenance of such populations away from their native environment is a positive way to protect and involve them in practical production.

Marbling is a major quality-grade factor in the beef industry, as consumers judge meat quality on the basis of the degree of marbling, and they are willing to pay more for highly marbled meats. The present study aimed at evaluating the effect of marbling and chilled ageing on the technological quality traits, flavour compounds and sensory characteristics of Hanwoo beef. Our results demonstrate that high marbling positively affected some technological quality traits and the eating quality of beef, and also responded to ageing at a faster rate.