Past Events

Several components of dairy farm rearing systems are known to affect developmental programming of calves by acting as epigenet-ic regulators, influencing the trajectory of immune system development.

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is the causative agent of enzootic bovine leukosis (leukosis) and is endemic to the North American dairy cattle population. It is a chronic, contagious disease with no available treatment or vaccine, resulting in lifelong infection. Infection with BLV can lead to persistent lymphocytosis and tumour development within two to five year of infection, and is associated with decreased milk production, immune dysregulation, fertility challenges, and reduced longevity.

The objective of this dissertation was to investigate if dietary supplements could improve dairy calf health and welfare. The first study was focused on investigating the effects of Echinacea purpurea (EP) supplementation on markers of immunity, health, feed intake, and growth of dairy calves. Overall, EP supplementation was associated with blood markers indicative of reduced inflammation and stimulated immunity, with minor benefits to health and growth.

Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid with considerable benefits to gut health, and in recent years has been commonly used as an alternative to antimicrobials in agricultural animal production. In this thesis, we assessed the protective effects of sodium butyrate (NaB) on larval zebrafish during a lethal Pseudomonas aeruginosa polysaccharide (LPS) challenge and elucidated potential protective mechanisms of action. Larval zebrafish were pre-treated with 3 concen-trations of NaB for 24 hours at 72 hours post fertilization (hpf), and then immune challenged with 60 μg/mL of LPS at 96 hpf.

Poorly developed immune and digestive systems in neonatal chicks impede smooth transition to the production environment and have a significant impact on lifetime biological and economic performance. Integration of breeder nutrition may bolster perinatal immunocompetence and resiliency to production stressors. The work presented in this thesis investigated the impact of dietary sources of omega -3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) in broiler breeders and their progeny.

Laying hens housed in complex housing systems (e.g., aviaries) must be raised in equally complex rearing systems to thrive. Using three-dimensional space requires physical and cognitive spatial skills, and low levels of fearfulness reduce the risk of injury. However, rearing aviaries vary greatly in the space and complexity of their brooding compartments, where chicks are confined for the first few weeks of life.

The object of the study was the assessment of the potential and limitations of predicting beef cattle body weight (BW) using machine learning (ML) models trained on measurements extracted from 2D images. From 51 Angus-cross calves, five linear body measurements were measured and recorded either directly from the cattle or from their images. These measurements were collected weekly from ages two to eight weeks.

Dear Department of Animal Biosciences, On behalf of the Animal Biosciences Social Committee, come celebrate the holidays at the Animal Biosciences Holiday Party on December 9th!  Enjoy great food and drinks in a festive atmosphere with your colleagues, friends, and family.  You may also participate in the (optional) Secret Santa Gift Exchange (see below)!

We are happy to have with us Dr. Troy Rowan, an Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee, to present this Friday December 9th, 2022. The seminar will begin at 1:30 PM EDT/EST on the virtual platform Microsoft Teams. The title of the presentation is: "Using unconventional phenotypes to dissect complex traits in beef cattle".