Gong, J., Yin, F., Hou, Y. and Yin, Y. 2014. Chinese herbs as alternatives to antibiotics in feed for swine and poultry production: Potential and challenges in application. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 223-241. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a long history of clinical practice, and its own theoretical framework focused on functions at the whole-body level. However, due to cultural differences, TCM has not been fully recognized in Western countries. With the recent development of the theory of whole-body systems biology and “-omics”, there is a new opportunity to study TCM and to close the gap between TCM and Western medicine, because of the similarity in the theoretical foundations between TCM and whole-body systems biology. The uniqueness of TCM theory and practice is the approach to maintain and restore the body balance as a whole with no or little unfavourable side effects. Recent studies have also shown that Chinese herbs used as feed additives can modulate nutritional metabolism, immune responses, and intestinal health of food-producing animals, demonstrating good potential as substitutes for dietary antibiotics. Nonetheless, some issues need to be addressed before Chinese herbs can reach their full application. This article has critically reviewed recent progresses in scientific research of Chinese herbs as feed additives and their potential to replace dietary antibiotics. Possible challenges in future application for swine and poultry production are also discussed.

Chedid, M., Jaber, L. S., Giger-Reverdin, S., Duvaux-Ponter, C. and Hamadeh, S. K. 2014. Review: Water stress in sheep raised under arid conditions. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 243-257. Sheep breeds which are indigenous to arid and semi-arid regions are known for their ability to adapt to rustic environments, to climatic variations as well as to shortages in resources. Water scarcity, often combined with heat stress, is a common challenge facing these animals, causing physiological perturbations and affecting the animal's productivity. This review reports the effect of different forms of water stress on physiological indicators, blood parameters, thermoregulation and immunological status in sheep. Although the breed effect may be significant, the following are generally observed common responses: drop in feed intake and weight loss, increase in evaporative cooling through panting, production of a small volume of highly concentrated urine, haemoconcentration, high blood osmolality, and immunosuppression. Prolonged water shortage may affect lamb birth weight and survival, and lead to a decrease in milk production, especially in non-adapted breeds, which could lead to important economic losses, as reported in heat-stressed sheep husbandries. Novel stress alleviation approaches are also presented, such as vitamin C supplementation.

Durunna, O. N., Girardin, L. C., Scott, S. L., Robins, C., Block, H. C., Iwaasa, A. D., Khakbazan, M. and Lardner, H. A. 2014. The effects of spring versus summer calving on beef cattle reproductive and growth performance in western Canada. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 259-271. The majority of beef producers in western Canada have adopted a spring calving system. Evaluating alternative calving systems such as summer calving may lead to better use of forage resources to optimize cow-calf productivity. In order to evaluate the impact of calving system on cow-calf productivity, 346 Hereford or Angus crossbred cows were used in a 3-yr research study (2007 to 2009) at Brandon, Manitoba; Swift Current, Saskatchewan and Lanigan, Saskatchewan. Cows were bred to calve from February to May (early-calving system, EC) or from May to August (late-calving system, LC). Each system was evaluated for effect on performance and reproductive efficiency. Forage yield, utilization and nutritive value were assessed. Cow body weights (BW), ultrasound measures of backfat and calf BW were evaluated at precalving, breeding and weaning. There was no difference between calving systems for pregnancy rate (P=0.13) EC (93.0%) vs. LC (95.8%); calving rate (P=0.89) EC (92.0%) vs. LC (91.7%) or proportion of calves born alive (P=0.85) EC (99.5%) vs. LC (99.6%). The average length of calving season was not different (P=0.26) between the two systems. The EC cows had greater (P=0.002) BW losses from calving to breeding but greater (P=0.001) BW gain from breeding to weaning than LC cows. Although calves born in LC had greater birth BW (P=0.003) than EC calves, calf weaning rate (P=0.01) and calf weaning BW (P<0.0001) were greater in EC. The higher weaning rate and higher weaning BW with EC has the potential to increase cow-calf productivity and may be more attractive to beef producers in western Canada.

Miar, Y., Plastow, G. S., Bruce, H. L., Moore, S. S., Durunna, O. N., Nkrumah, J. D. and Wang, Z. 2014. Estimation of genetic and phenotypic parameters for ultrasound and carcass merit traits in crossbred beef cattle. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 273-280. Ultrasound measurements of 852 crossbred steers along with carcass merit measurements on 756 of them were used to examine their genetic and phenotypic parameters. Traits including ultrasound backfat thickness (UBF), ultrasound ribeye area (UREA), ultrasound marbling (UMAR), carcass weight (CWT), carcass grade fat (CGF), carcass average backfat thickness (CABF), carcass ribeye area (CREA), carcass marbling score (CMAR), and carcass lean meat yield (CLMY) were measured on 6 yr of residual feed intake trials from 2003 to 2008. Pairwise bivariate animal models were performed for each combination of traits using ASReml software to estimate heritability, phenotypic and genetic correlations among the traits. Significant fixed effects (contemporary group, and sire breed), covariates (age of dam, slaughter weight, and start test age of animal), and random additive effect were fitted in the models. The heritability estimates for UBF, UREA, UMAR, CWT, CGF, CABF, CREA, CMAR, and CLMY were 0.31, 0.17, 0.37, 0.40, 0.22, 0.25, 0.24, 0.38, and 0.28, respectively. Most of the phenotypic correlations were significant (P<0.05). CWT had low to moderate phenotypic correlations with most of the traits. Results show that heavier CWT tends to have more UREA, CGF, CABF, and CREA. Genetic correlations among these traits varied from weak to strong, but most of them were not significantly different from zero. Greater CREA may lead to decreased UMAR, and UBF due to negative genetic correlations (-0.56±0.32, and -0.45±0.23, respectively). The results support the potential value of ultrasound technology in crossbreed beef cattle breeding programs to generate indicator traits for carcass quality. In addition, carcass lean meat yield correlated favourably with backfat thickness and rib eye area but correlated unfavourably with UMAR. The estimated genetic parameters for ultrasound and carcass merit traits can be incorporated into breeding programs that emphasize carcass quality in Canadian crossbred beef cattle populations.

Guo, G., Guo, X., Wang, Y., Zhang, X., Zhang, S., Li, X., Liu, L., Shi, W., Usman, T., Wang, X., Du, L. and Zhang, Q. 2014. Estimation of genetic parameters of fertility traits in Chinese Holstein cattle. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 281-285. The objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for fertility traits in Chinese Holstein heifers and cows. Data of 20169 animals with 42106 records over a period of 10 yr (2001-2010) were collected from Sanyuan Lvhe Dairy Cattle Center in Beijing, China. Traits included age at first service (AFS), number of services (NS), days from calving to first service (CTFS), days open (DO), and calving interval (CI). Genetic parameters were estimated with multiple-trait animal model using the DMU software. Heritability estimates for AFS, NS, CTFS, DO and CI were 0.100±0.012, 0.040±0.017, 0.034±0.011, 0.053±0.019 and 0.056±0.014, respectively. Genetic correlations between traits observed ranged from -0.13 to 0.99. Genetic correlations between AFS with NS, CTFS, DO and CI were -0.31, 0.15, -0.13 and -0.15, respectively. Calving interval was strongly correlated with NS, CTFS and DO (0.49-0.99), and DO showed strong correlation with NS and CTFS (0.49 and 0.58, respectively). The genetic correlation between CTFS and NS was negative moderate (-0.25). Results were in range with previous literature estimates and can be used in Chinese Holstein genetic evaluation for fertility traits.

Guan, L.-Z., Xi, Q.-Y., Sun, Y.-P., Wang, J.-L., Zhou, J.-Y., Shu, G., Jiang, Q.-Y. and Zhang, Y.-L. 2014. Intestine-specific expression of the β-glucanase in mice. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 287-293. The β-glucanase gene (GLU, from Paenibacillus polymyxa CP7) was cloned into a specific expression plasmid (MUC2-GLU-LV). Transgenic mice were prepared by microinjection. Polymerase chain reaction and Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA extracted from the tail tissue of transgenic mice showed that the mice carried the β-glucanase gene. Northern blot analysis indicated that β-glucanase was specifically expressed in the intestine of the transgenic mice. The β-glucanase activity in the intestinal contents was found to be 1.23±0.32 U mL^-1. The crude protein, crude fat digestibility of transgenic mice were increased by 9.32 and 5.09% (P<0.05), respectively, compared with that of the non-transgenic mice, while moisture in feces was reduced by 12.16% (P<0.05). These results suggest that the expression of β-glucanase in the intestine of animals offers a promising biological approach to reduce the anti-nutritional effect of β-glucans in feed.

Hartling, I., Cinel, B., Donkor, K. K., Ross Friedman, C., Paetkau, M. J. and Church, J. S. 2014. Short Communication: Tenderness of suckler beef produced in British Columbia. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 295-298. In order to investigate the potential of suckler beef production in British Columbia, shear force values were determined using Warner-Bratzler shear (WBS) force tests on 10 major muscles obtained from suckler-raised Simmental cattle along with the longissimus thoracis from grain- and grass-fed cattle of similar breeding. Shear force values obtained for suckler beef were then compared with literature values from grain-fed beef. All suckler beef muscles except the psoas major and spinalis dorsi had lower WBS values than their grain-fed counterparts from literature values, while the longissimus thoracis was shown to have equal tenderness in all three production systems. Results suggest that a higher number of muscles from suckler beef in this study could be used as steaks than is typically observed in the North American beef industry.

Khakbazan, M., Carew, R., Scott, S. L., Chiang, P., Block, H. C., Robins, C., Durunna, O. N. and Huang, J. 2014. Economic analysis and stochastic simulation of alternative beef calving and feeding systems in western Canada. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 299-311. Biological and economic data from three field-experimental sites in Manitoba (Brandon Research Centre) and Saskatchewan (Western Beef Development Centre; Semi-Arid Prairie Agriculture Research Centre) were used to determine the economic and financial benefits of alternative beef calving and feeding systems. Stochastic budgets and Monte Carlo simulation techniques were used to evaluate the profitability and risk levels of four alternative livestock beef management systems: early-calving/rapid-gain post-weaning feeding (ER), late-calving/rapid-gain post-weaning feeding (LR), early-calving/slow-gain post-weaning feeding (ES), and late-calving/slow-gain post-weaning feeding (LS). Economic budgets were constructed to evaluate the viability of different phases of beef production including backgrounding, pasture, swath grazing and finishing. Statistical analysis considered operational costs (feed, yardage, implants, medicine, labor, marketing, and other costs), price variables (fed-steer, feeder cattle, and grid pricing premiums/discounts) and steer performance measures such as average daily gain (ADG). Results from the simulation analysis revealed that late-calving systems provided higher returns for livestock producers, while rapid-feeding systems were more preferable for producers who were more risk-averse.

Fernandes, J. I. M., Murakami, A. E., Gomes de Souza, L. M., Ospina-Rojas, I. C. and Rossi, R. M. 2014. Effect of arginine supplementation of broiler breeder hens on progeny performance. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 313-321. Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of arginine (Arg) supplementation of broiler breeder hens on the performance, carcass yield, and bone measurements of their progeny. In both experiments, the maternal diet was supplemented with five levels of digestible Arg (0.94, 1.09, 1.24, 1.39 and 1.54%). In exp. 1, a total progeny of 1050 chicks were housed in pens according to maternal diet and fed a typical diet without L-Arg supplementation. In exp. 2, a total progeny of 960 chicks were kept in pens according to maternal diet and fed diets containing supplemental L-Arg from 1.30 to 1.90% in the starter phase and from 1.15 to 1.75% in the grower phase. The data obtained in both experiments were deployed in orthogonal polynomials to allow for an analysis of variance and a regression analysis. In the starter phase, there was a quadratic effect (P<0.05) of Arg level in the maternal diet on the feed:gain ratio of the non-supplemented progeny. In the Arg-supplemented progeny, there was a quadratic effect (P<0.05) of Arg level on the feed intake and feed:gain ratio and a linear increase (P<0.05) in body weight gain, and carcass and breast yields (P<0.05). Femur length, tibia diameter, and the Seedor index of both bones increased linearly (P<0.05) in broilers fed the Arg-supplemented diet. Arg supplementation in the broiler breeder hen diets had little positive effect on the non-supplemented progeny; thus, Arg supplementation in the progeny diet is necessary to optimize performance, carcass yield, and bone quality of these hens′progeny.

de Ridder, K. A. G., Farmer, C., de Lange, C. F. M., Shoveller, A. K. and Luimes, P. H. 2014. Plasma amino acids, prolactin, insulin and glucose concentrations in lactating sows following venous infusion of isoleucine, leucine, lysine, threonine or valine. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 323-330. The amino acid supply to lactating sows affects their milk yield, and the current study aims at establishing whether this is mediated via increases in concentrations of insulin and prolactin, two hormones that are important for lactation. Six multiparous Yorkshire sows (252.8±18.5 kg body weight) were fitted with an ear vein catheter and were used in a 6×6 Latin square design experiment from days 7 to 10 of lactation (am and pm infusions on 3 consecutive days). Sows were fed a commercial corn and soybean meal diet (17.1% crude protein) three times daily (1.5 kg at 0600 and 1200, 3.0 kg at 1830). Starting 2 h after the 0600 or 1200 feeding, sows received an infusion of saline (control), isoleucine, leucine, lysine, threonine or valine at a rate of 33 mL min^-1 during 30 min. The infused dose was equivalent to 18±0.9% of true ileal digestible intake for each of the amino acids. Serial blood samples were taken, starting 30 min prior to infusion and until 240 min after infusion. Plasma concentrations of amino acids, prolactin, insulin, and glucose were determined. Data were analyzed as repeated measurements and also using areas under the curve. Intravenous infusion with each of the five amino acids studied increased the corresponding free plasma amino acid concentrations (P<0.05). However, concentrations of prolactin, insulin, and glucose were not affected by infusion of any of the amino acids studied (P>0.10). Therefore, supplying intravenously 18% of the daily intake of isoleucine, leucine, lysine, threonine or valine brings about expected increases in amino acids, but does not alter the short-term response in prolactin, insulin or glucose concentrations of lactating sows.

Zhou, X., Young, M. G., Zamora, V., Zijlstra, R. T. and Beltranena, E. 2014. Feeding increasing dietary inclusions of extruded Brassica juncea canola expeller-pressed cake on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and jowl fatty acids of growing-finishing pigs. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 331-342. The energy value of canola meal is considered low because of its relatively higher fibre and depleted oil content. Brassica juncea is a novel canola species with thinner seed coat and reduced fibre, but twice the glucosinolate content of B. napus. Remaining oil in canola cake provides greater dietary energy compared with solvent-extracted meal. Extrusion prior to expeller pressing may increase fat and protein digestibility and decrease the antinutritive effects of glucosinolates. A total of 880 pigs (38 kg), housed in 40 pens by sex, were fed 0, 5, 10, 15, or 20% extruded B. juncea expeller-pressed cake (EPC) to slaughter weight (120 kg) to evaluate the effects on growth performance, dressing, carcass traits, and jowl fatty acids. Diets provided 9.6 MJ net energy (NE) and 1.0, 0.9, 0.8, 0.7, and 0.7 g standardized ileal digestible Lys:MJ NE over five growth phases (days 0-14, 15-35, 36-56, 57-74, day 75 to slaughter weight). Each 5% EPC inclusion linearly decreased (P<0.05) feed disappearance (ADFI) by 46 g and weight gain (ADG) by 8 g, but did not affect gain:feed. Each 5% EPC inclusion linearly decreased (P<0.01) carcass weight by 440 g, loin depth by 0.6 mm, and increased days on test by 0.43, but did not affect dressing, backfat thickness, lean yield, or carcass index. Each 5% EPC inclusion linearly increased (P<0.001) mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acid content and iodine value by 0.8, 1.0 and 1.4 g 100 g^-1 of jowl fat, respectively. In conclusion, increasing dietary EPC inclusions decreased ADFI, ADG, carcass weight, and loin depth, and increased jowl fat unsaturation. We attributed much of the decrease in feed intake to greater 3-butenyl (9.7 µmol g^-1) content in extruded B. juncea canola expeller-pressed cake, a glucosinolate more bitter than others in conventional canola.

He, M. L., Xu, L., Yang, W. Z., Gibb, D. and McAllister, T. A. 2014. Effect of low-oil corn dried distillers′ grains with solubles on growth performance, carcass traits and beef fatty acid profile of feedlot cattle. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 343-347. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary inclusion of low-oil corn dried distillers′ grains with solubles (LO-DDGS) on growth, carcass traits and beef fatty acids profiles of finishing feedlot cattle. One hundred and eighty British crossbred steers (450±28.5 kg; six pens/treatment) were offered barley grain-barley silage as the control diet with LO-DDGS replacing barley grain at 200 and 300 g kg^-1 dry matter basis in treatment diets. Compared with control, LO-DDGS at 200 g kg^-1 did not affect growth performance or carcass traits, whereas at 300 g kg^-1 it decreased (P<0.05) gain:feed, but increased (P<0.05) levels of desirable fatty acids in beef. LO-DDGS can replace 200 g kg^-1 barley grain in finishing feedlot diets without undesirable impacts on growth performance or carcass traits.

Castillo-Lopez, E., Klopfenstein, T. J., Fernando, S. C. and Kononoff, P. J. 2014. Effect of dried distillers′ grains and solubles when replacing corn or soybean meal on rumen microbial growth in vitro as measured using DNA as a microbial marker. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 349-356. The objectives were to evaluate the use of rDNA markers to measure the effects of dried distillers′ grains with solubles (DDGS) and the potential treatment×time interaction on microbial crude protein (MCP) synthesis in vitro and secondly to measure the contribution of yeast based protein originating from DDGS. Treatments were: (1) CONT, control with no DDGS, but with alfalfa hay, corn silage, ground corn (GC) and soybean meal (SBM) included at 25% (DM basis); (2) LOWCORN, 20% DDGS (DM basis) replacing GC; (3) LOWSBM, 20% DDGS (DM basis) replacing SBM; and (4) LOWCORNSBM, 20% DDGS (DM basis) replacing 10% GC and 10% SBM. Treatments (0.5 g) were incubated in 50 mL of inoculum in duplicate. At 0, 4, 16, 32, 48 and 96 h of fermentation total DNA was extracted from each treatment and MCP was measured using rDNA markers. The sum of bacterial crude protein (BCP) and protozoal crude protein (PCP) was considered as MCP. Data were analyzed as a completely randomized design. The treatment×time interaction was tested and the SLICE option was included to evaluate the effect of treatment at each fermentation time point. There was a tendency to a treatment×time interaction (P=0.07) for MCP. Specifically, at 16 h, LOWCORNSBM yielded greater (P<0.05) MCP compared to either CONT or LOWCORN with estimates of 68.5, 33.8 and 23.3±8.9 mg g^-1 DM, for LOWCORNSBM, CONT and LOWCORN, respectively. At 48 h, however, LOWCORN yielded greater MCP (P<0.05) compared with LOWSBM with estimates of 72.2 and 32.5±8.9 mg g^-1 DM, for LOWCORN and LOWSBM, respectively. Yeast crude protein (YCP) was not affected (P=0.21) and averaged 0.04±0.02 mg g^-1 of substrate (DM basis). Overall, rDNA markers were effective for quantifying MCP, but further research on the methodology is needed. With DDGS inclusion, MCP was maintained; however, yeast cells were extensively degraded during fermentation.

Relling, A. E., Loerch, S. C. and Reynolds, C. K. 2014. Intravenous glucagon like peptide-1 infusion does not affect dry matter intake or hypothalamic mRNA expression of neuropeptide Y, agouti related peptide and proopiomelanocortin in wethers. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 357-362. The objectives of the present study were to determine the effects of jugular vein infusions of glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and dietary fat inclusion on dry matter intake, nutrient digestibility and hypothalamic mRNA concentration of neuropeptide Y, agouti related peptide, and proopiomelanocortin in growing sheep. Thirty-six wethers were used (40.7±3.3 kg BW). Treatments were a control diet (n=11), dietary addition (6% of dry matter) of Ca salts of palm oil fatty acids (n=12), or 6-d jugular vein infusions of 0.155 µg kg^-1 body weight/day of GLP-1 (n=11). Hormone concentrations were measured in jugular vein plasma from samples taken on days 1, 4 and 6. On day 7, the wethers were slaughtered for hypothalamus collection to measure mRNA concentration. The dietary addition of 6% of Ca salts of palm oil increased plasma GLP-1 concentration (P<0.01) and decreased dry matter intake on day 1, but not on day 6 (time×treatment interaction, P<0.05). The infusion of GLP-1 did not change dry matter intake (P>0.20), but increased neutral detergent fibre digestibility (P<0.01). In conclusion, glucagon like peptide-1 infusion or feeding fat did not decrease dry matter intake or affect hypothalamic neuropeptide mRNA concentrations of sheep.

Narvaez, N., Alazzeh, A. Y., Wang, Y. and McAllister, T. A. 2014. Effect of Propionibacterium acidipropionici P169 on growth performance and rumen metabolism of beef cattle fed a corn- and corn dried distillers' grains with solubles-based finishing diet. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 363-369. A growth and metabolism experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of Propionibacterium acidipropionici P169 on feedlot steers fed a corn- and corn dried distillers' grains with soluble (DDGS)-based finishing diet. Steers (40 non-cannulated and 8 ruminally cannulated) were divided into two groups and administered 10 g head^-1 d^-1 of maltodextrin containing 1×10¹¹ colony-forming units (CFU) of P169 or the same amount of carrier (Control), top-dressed once daily upon feeding. Feed intake, growth rate and feed efficiency were determined over 115 d. For cannulated steers, ruminal pH was monitored continuously for 5 d during the second week of each month over the entire feeding period with rumen samples collected 3 h after feeding on days 1 and 5. Molar proportions of butyrate, branched-chain volatile fatty acids (VFA) and NH₃-N concentration increased (P<0.01) with P169, whereas total VFA, molar proportions of propionate, the acetate:propionate ratio, and lactate concentration did not differ (P>0.05) between treatments. P169 had a limited effect on ruminal pH as duration and area under the curve both at pH 5.5 and 5.2 as well as frequency of acute ruminal acidosis bouts were similar (P>0.05) for both groups. Compared with control steers, steers fed P169 had more (P<0.05) bouts of subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA). All steers had similar (P>0.05) feed intake, growth rate, feed efficiency and carcass characteristics, except for longissiumus muscle area, being less (P<0.05) for P169 steers than controls. Supplementing P169 to beef cattle fed a corn- and corn DDGS-based finishing diet had no effect on growth performance of beef cattle or ruminal pH and increased the bouts of SARA.

Zhang, S. X., Wang, H. B., Zhang, H., Liu, H. F., Zhou, Z. F., Zhang, J. T. and Gao, L. 2014. Pilot laparoscopic ileal cannulation in pigs. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 371-377. Pilot laparoscopic ileal cannulation was performed in eight anesthetized pigs (40.5±1.9 kg) positioned in dorsal recumbency using three portals in the abdomen. The T-shaped ileal cannulation site was located 15 cm anterior to the ileocecal valve on the antimesenteric section of the ileum. A transabdominal suspension suture was placed approximately 3 cm caudal to the ileal cannulation site. A purse-string suture was placed first around the insertion site, and a stab incision was made in the middle of the purse-string suture. The T-shaped cannula was inserted into the ileal lumen through the stab incision, and the purse-string suture was tightened. The T-shaped ileal cannula was pulled out of the abdominal cavity through the exit wound located 3-5 cm lateral and 10-12 cm caudal to the right or left side of the umbilicus. The transabdominal suspension suture was then removed. The T-shaped cannula was secured to the skin with a finger-trap suture. Surgical time and complications were recorded. Repeat laparoscopy was performed 35 d later. No major intraoperative or postoperative complications were encountered. The ileal contents were collected easily. On repeat laparoscopy, firm adhesion between the ileum and the abdominal wall was observed in all pigs, and there was no evidence of digesta leakage or consequential peritonitis.