School of Plant and Environmental Sciences
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SPES was formed in 2017 from three departments: Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences; Horticulture; and Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science.
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Browsing School of Plant and Environmental Sciences by Department "Animal and Poultry Sciences"
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- Hair sheep performance in a mid-stage deciduous Appalachian silvopastureFannon, Amy G.; Fike, John H.; Greiner, Scott P.; Feldhake, Charles M.; Wahlberg, Mark L. (2019-02)Silvopastoral management has potential to diversify and increase the output from livestock systems. Silvopastures offer solutions to many management issues associated with grazing systems in Appalachia (USA). Several tree species have been proposed for silvopastures in humid temperate regions, but few data comparing animal performance from systems with different deciduous tree species are available. The objective of this project was to compare early-stage honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos)or black walnut (Juglans nigra)silvopastures with open pastures in terms of forage botanical composition, yield, and nutritive value, and in terms of gain, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of hair sheep (Ovis aries) that grazed these systems. Forage and animal performance from open systems (i.e., no trees) was compared with that from silvopastures containing 13- and 14-year-old honeylocust or black walnut trees. Cool-season grass-legume pastures were rotationally stocked with crossbred hair sheep from mid-June through September in 2008 and 2009. Forage production varied by year and pre-graze forage mass in black walnut silvopastures generally was less (P0.05) than in open pastures at most measurement periods. Averaged over the season, forage production in honeylocust silvopastures tended (P=0.0937) to be lower than in open systems in 2008 and was lower (P=0.0001) in 2009. Few differences in forage nutritive value among systems were observed. Total and average daily gains (ADG) did not differ among treatments in 2008, but black walnut silvopastures supported less (P0.05) ADG and total gain than open pastures and honeylocust silvopastures in 2009. Carcass characteristics evaluated did not vary among treatments although hot carcass weights were lower (P<0.05) for lambs that grazed black walnut silvopastures. Although walnut-based systems were less productive and will need modification to improve output, similar levels of performance between open pastures and honeylocust systems show the potential of silvopasture systems to supply multiple products from the land base without reducing agricultural system production.
- Lamb performance in hardwood silvopastures, II: animal behavior in summerPent, Gabriel J.; Greiner, Scott P.; Munsell, John F.; Tracy, Benjamin F.; Fike, John H. (Oxford University Press, 2019-11-25)Integrating trees into pastures, a practice known as silvopasture, may benefit livestock in the summertime through the provision of shade. The purpose of this project was to compare the behavioral patterns of sheep grazing in silvopastures and open pastures. Black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) and honeylocust (Gleditisia triacanothose L.) based silvopasture systems were compared with open pastures in a randomized complete block design with three blocks over two summers. Behavior measures were recorded within a replicate within a week, and these measures were taken sequentially within three experimental periods. Ewe lambs (n = 3) within each experimental unit were equipped with a wideband audio-recording device to detect prehension events. Time-lapse cameras documented sheep behavior every 60 s. In the silvopastures, the lambs spent over 90% of daylight hours within shade from trees. Lambs in silvopastures spent more time lying down than animals in the open pastures (P ≤ 0.01), while lambs in the open pastures spent more than 2 h longer each day standing (P < 0.0001). Lambs in the black walnut silvopastures spent more time grazing (488 ± 14 min · d⁻¹) than lambs in the honeylocust silvopastures (438 ± 14 min · d⁻¹; P = 0.0493) and lambs in the open pastures (417 ± 14 min · d⁻¹; P = 0.0026). There was no difference in grazing time for lambs in the latter two systems (P = 0.5597). Spectral analysis of the imagery revealed that the lambs in the black walnut silvopastures grazed more frequently than the lambs in the other systems for both years. The acoustic analysis, though limited by recorder durability to 47 complete recordings, revealed no difference in total bites taken per day (P ≥ 0.7222) or in the morning (P ≥ 0.2069), afternoon (P ≥ 0.5816), and evening periods (P ≥ 0.9337). Silvopastures provide an opportunity to improve lamb comfort in the summer.
- Quantification of zearalenone and α-zearalenol in swine liver and reproductive tissues using GC-MSPack, Erica; Stewart, Jacob; Rhoads, Michelle; Knight, James W.; De Vita, Raffaella; Clark-Deener, Sherrie; Schmale, David G. III (Elsevier, 2020-12-01)The mycotoxin zearalenone (ZEN) is a common contaminant of swine feed which has been related to a wide range of reproductive anomalies in swine, such as pelvic organ prolapse, anestrous, and pseudopregnancy. New information is needed to understand how ZEN and related metabolites accumulate in swine reproductive tissues. We conducted a feeding study to track ZEN and the metabolite α-zearalenol (α-ZEL) in swine liver and reproductive tissues. Thirty pubertal gilts were randomly assigned one of three treatments, with ten pigs in each treatment group: (1) base feed with solvent for 21 days, (2) ZEN-spiked feed for seven days followed by base feed with solvent for 14 days, and (3) ZEN-spiked feed for 21 days. At the end of the trial, liver, anterior vagina, posterior vagina, cervix, uterus, ovaries, and broad ligament were collected from pigs. ZEN was found in the anterior vagina, posterior vagina, cervix, and ovaries, with significantly higher concentrations in the cervix relative to other reproductive tissues. ZEN and α-ZEL were found in liver tissue from pigs in each treatment group. Our results show that ZEN accumulates more in the cervix than other reproductive tissues. The presence of ZEN in reproductive tissues may be indicative of ZEN-related reproductive symptoms. Future work could examine how ZEN concentrations vary in reproductive tissues as a factor of the pigs age, weight, sex, or parity, to establish parameters that make pig more sensitive to ZEN.