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Replacing Subjective Assessment of Dairy Cows with Objective Measures
2021
Caleb Sagwa Barasa
In 2067 dairy farms in developing countries will be modernized and automated systems will replace much of the manual labour on farms. Traditionally, livestock management decisions have been based on almost entirely on observations, judgement, and experience of the farmer. However, such manual systems are inherently subjective, labour intensive, time consuming, invasive and unreliable. Today technology-oriented approaches are widely in use in animal agriculture. New data obtained using fast, real time, and affordable objective measures are becoming more readily available to aid farm level monitoring, awareness, and decision making. Computer vision technology and image analysis, digital twins, artificial intelligence, sensors, big data, and machine learning are a game changer in the livestock industry. This review aims at highlighting the main areas where digital technologies for improved animal monitoring and welfare are most applicable in dairy animals. In particular, body condition scoring, lameness detection, mastitis diagnosis, oestrus detection and pregnancy diagnosis. The environmental sustainability of digital technologies is also discussed. The application of technology offers new possibilities to realize food safety and quality, efficient and sustainable animal farming, healthy animals, guaranteed wellbeing and acceptable environmental impact of livestock production.
Show more [+] Less [-]Environmental adaptability, morphometric features with reproductive and productive potentialities of indigenous sheep in Bangladesh
2022
Md. Rezaul Hai Rakib | Nure Hasni Desha | Md. Zillur Rahman | Md. Ahsanul Kabir | Farzana Yasmin | Md. Ashadul Alam | Sonia Akther | Nasrin Sultana
Indigenous sheep are highly adaptable and widely distributed in different regions of Bangladesh. They are famous for their tolerance to harsh environmental conditions, low demand for feed, and disease resistance with minimum or no housing and management facilities. Ample indiscrimi¬nate research reports and case studies on the native sheep of Bangladesh have been published. Nonetheless, a comprehensive review of reproductive and productive performances, as well as their various morphometric physiognomies and climate resilience capabilities, is lacking. This review was designed to explore and summarize the available research reports on indigenous sheep to highlight the gaps and provide an updated database for the future research plan for sustainable native sheep production in Bangladesh. It covers studies on sheep biodiversity, their adaptabil¬ity to the local environment, morphometric features, feeding and nutrition, reproduction and production performances, diseases and health management, and the problems and prospects of sheep farming in Bangladesh. Due to the increased demand for animal protein, especially red meat, the scope of sheep farming increases along with that of other large and small ruminants. The vital constraints of sheep production in Bangladesh include insufficient feed and fodder sup¬ply with its high prices, higher disease occurrence with low or no management practices, kid mortality, and a poor marketing channel with the lower popularity of sheep meat than goat meat. Future research would be a prerequisite to measuring the impact of native sheep on household economies and food security during the year, evaluating the other challenges, and finding out the possible interventions in the fields of nutrition, reproduction, and health management. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2022; 9(4.000): 649-662]
Show more [+] Less [-]A preliminary report on the surveillance of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1) and Newcastle Disease (ND) viruses in edible bird nest swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphagus & Aerodramus maximus)
2012
Lim, K. H. | Khoo, C. K. | Laurentius, N. A. | Yeo, B. K.
The emergence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1) in 2004 draws attention to the safety of rearing edible bird nest swiftlets within the vicinity of human dwellings in urban areas. There is also concern on the safety of the product itself. Convenient sampling of edible bird nest swiftlets (A. fuciphagus and A. maximus) was conducted by the Department of Veterinary Services and Animal Industry from September 2004 until June 2011. A total of 137 samples
were collected from four premises and two natural caves in four locations, namely Tawau, Kunak, Sandakan and Penampang. The samples were collected for Egg Innoculation Tests for H5N1 and Newcastle Disease (ND). All samples yielded negative results for both diseases.
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