Zebu

Objective. To compare two fixed-time artificial insemination protocols (FTAI) according to the pregnancy percentage in Brahman cattle. Materials and methods. 60 cows between days 90 and 360 postpartum were selected and randomly divided into two groups. For Treatment 1 (T1; n=30), an intravaginal device (IVD) containing 0.5 g of progesterone and 2.0 mg of estradiol benzoate were inserted on Day 0. At the time of IVD withdrawal (Day 8), 150 mg of PGF2α, im and 300 UI of eCG, im and 0.5 mg of estradiol cypionate, im were administered. FTAI was performed on Day 10, 48 – 50 h after IVD withdrawal. For Treatment 2 (T2; n= 30) an IVD was inserted on Day 0 and 0.01 mg GnRH, im were administered. At the time of the IVD withdrawal (Day 5), two doses of 0.150 mg of PGF2α were administered at midnight and noon. FTAI was performed on Day 8, 72h after IVD withdrawal, and 0.01 mg of GnRH, im was administered. FTAI was performed using semen of proven fertility. Results. Pregnancy diagnosis by rectal palpation occurred 45 days after the FTAI. T2 and T1 presented pregnancy percentages of 46.7% (14/30) and 33.3% (10/30), respectively. Conclusions. Treatment 2 is preferred in terms of results and public health.

In this article it is suggested that the Indus-Saraswati civilization was not faceless and one of its names was Magadha which is a synonym of the Sanskrit term Maha Uksha. This is the parent word of Melukkha which designated the Harappan cities. One seal can be read with fair certainty as Tri-Shiva which echoes Teshub of the Hittites.

Very little data exist on shoulder heights of cattle from archaeological contexts in eastern, central and southern Africa, in no small part due to the virtual absence of complete long bones. We report on complete metapodia of cattle from Mutokolwe, a Late Iron Age site in South Africa that was occupied by Venda-speakers. The shoulder height of cattle from Mutokolwe ranges between 106.90 and 129.49cm indicating the presence of a small breed of cattle. We present shoulder heights for a number of cattle breeds from eastern, central and southern Africa to show that indigenous, unimproved cattle from this region are often small in stature, well within the range for that recorded at Mutokolwe. Dwarf cattle have previously been reported from Nyanga in eastern Zimbabwe dating from the Late Iron Age. The size of cattle at Nyanga, although small, is within the range of other indigenous cattle from the subcontinent.

Zebu (Bos indicus) Cattle Domestication Large number of cattle bones, including those shortened in size (implying already domesticated cattle), have been found from Mehrgarh dating to the earliest IA period. It has been studied and reported in detail by Meadow, Jarrige etc. 1 The genetic evidence too has proved an independent domestication of cattle in this region, and dispersal to East Africa, Central Asia and West Asia during the Bronze Age.

Objective. To determine how some non-genetic factors influence weights at birth (BW), weaning (WW) and yearling (YW) of Brahman calves. Materials and methods. Data corresponding to 58257, 57045 and 40364 for BW, WW and YW, respectively, were analyzed. The models included the effects of year and season of birth and sex, and were considered simple interactions. Results. All effects were significant (p<0.05) for BW, WW and YW. Only the season of birth didn’t have a significant effect (p>0.05) on WW. The average general BW, WW and YW were 32±3.2, 188±37.7 and 291±56.8 kg, respectively. Variables evaluated that take into account the year of birth show a trend to increase weight each year. In relation to the birth season on BW and YW, it was observed that calves born during the rainy season were heavier than those born during the dry season. Similarly, male calves were heavier than females at birth, weaning and one year of age. The effects of the analyzed interactions were significant (p<0.05) for the three variables, except for the season of birth per sex interaction, which did not have a significant effect (p>0.05) for BW and WW. Conclusions. The studied non-genetic factors were important and should be taken into account in management strategies when striving to increase the efficiency of the productive system.

— Background The changes that occurred in the Brazilian dairy industry since 1990 began the advances in milk production observed in recent years and the greatest reflection of this transformation was the implementation of the new legislations. The somatic cell count (SCC) and total bacterial count (TBC) in milk are among the most discussed factors due to their importance in Brazil and related to losses at farms and industry. Studies evaluating the effect of TBC on the milk components are scarce and generally assess the effects of confounding between SCC and TBC. The objective of this study was to evaluate the milk from Zebu contamination by somatic cell count (SCC) and total bacterial count (TBC), isolated. Material, Methods and Results The samples were collected monthly from 180 farms in the Territory of Identity of the Middle Southwest Bahia. The samples were collected in the farms after manual milking and before cooling in sanitized plastic containers with a volume of 1 L. The contents of crude protein, fat, and lactose, SCC and TBC were determined electronically. Were formed 4 classes of the SCC and TBC. The up limit of the SCC was200,000 cells/ml were selected in order to evaluate only the effect of TBC on milk components, being classified in the same categories mentioned above. As the SCC increased, the contents of fat, crude protein, and total solids increased, an inverse behavior in relation to the content of lactose, which decreased. The TBC presented an inverse behavior, and, as it increased, the contents of fat, protein, and total solids decreased, however with no significant effect between the first and the last class. Discussion The increase in the content of crude protein in milk with high SCC is caused by the increase in serum proteins, especially the immuno-globulins; however, the fraction which is the most important for the dairy industry, the casein, decreases. The TBC results indicate that the country will face difficulty to produce milk and derivatives for export.Still, the TBC indicate that there are effects on the macrocomponents of milk, without a very clear behavior. However, the most adverse effects are observed in the degradation process of these. Two processes interact to decrease the content of lactose in the milk, i) mastitis, which causes reduced production in the mammary gland, and; ii) increased consumption by contaminant microbiota, with the increase of that population. The action of the contaminant microbiota on the macrocomponents of milk does not make the adverse effects very clear. The analytical method used in this study determines the protein fraction as a whole, as well as the lipid fraction. However, the protein fraction is divided in: i) casein (CN): α-s1-CN and α-s2-CN; β-CN, γ-CN; ii) serum protein: α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin; iii) nonprotein nitrogen. Among these, casein is the most important for the dairy industry, and the SCC exerts negative effect on it. The proteolytic action of the enzymes produced by the natural microbiota of milk exists; however, with the contamination of the milk (mastitis, or microbial contamination after milking), this exogenous flora increases this proteolysis.In the lipid fraction in milk, there are: i) phospholipids; ii) cholesterol; iii) triacylglycerols; iv) diacylglycerols; v) free fatty acids; vi) monoacylglycerols; vii) free cholesterol; and others. In addition to evaluating the effects on the content of fat, it is necessary to know the effect of SCC and TBC on the lipid fraction.As related, both (SCC and TBC) are the principal factors related to milk quality, especially, TBC. Conclusion The somatic cell count and the total bacterial count negatively affect the physical and chemical composition of milk from zebu animals. Few studies were found in the literature that evaluated the effects of contamination of milk from zebu cows, which demonstrates the importance of this study.

The effects of age of dam (IDV) and julian birth date (DJN) on daily weight gain of beef calves from birth to wean were analyzed and correction factors were calculated. Data from 463,971 and 39,220 Nelore and Tabapuã animals were used in the analyses. The IDV, modeled by a polynomial segmented quadratic-quadratic with a knot at seven years and DJN modeled by a polynomial segmented with three quadratic segments and two knots at 185 and 295 days were included in the statistical model. The IDV and DJN had significant effects on daily weight gain of beef calves from birth to wean, and significant difference between breeds was observed for both effects. The best daily weight gain from birth to wean was observed for cows averaging 6 and 9 years for Tabapuã and Nelore breeds, respectively. The best daily weight gain from birth to wean was also observed in the winter for both breeds. Correction factors were calculated for breed, and those for IDV were calculated separately for males and females. The correction factors for DJN were calculated for each season. The calculated correction factors allowed higher precision in the selection of animals by reducing the non genetic effects on the variation of daily weight gain from birth to wean.

The polymorphism of 11 microsatellites from zebu cattle (Bos indicus) was studied using
a commercial multiplex system to estimate genetic variability. Allele frequencies
polymorphism information content and heterozygosis were calculated. Allele frequencies
revealed that in the analyzed sample the markers were not equally polymorphic. The
average allele was 14.2 with the highest values for the TGLA122 microsatellites. The
mean heterozygocity was 0.7056 and the polymorphism information content was 0.668.
This multiplex analysis could be used for pedigree information and for adequate genetic
improvements in breeding programs and paternity test.

... Butana milk production is estimated at about 2000 kg per lactation under practical conditions, comparable to that of Red Sindhi and Tharparkar, and slightly less than for Sahiwal and slightly higher than for other tropical breeds (Osman, 1983). Chaudhry et al. ...

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is prevalent in intensive dairy farms in Ethiopia. Vaccination could be an alternative control approach given the socio-economic challenges of a test-and-slaughter control strategy. The efficacy of the BCG was evaluated on 40 Holstein-Friesian (HF) and zebu crossbred calves recruited from single intradermal cervical comparative tuberculin (SICCT) test negative herds and randomly allocated into two groups. Twenty-two calves were vaccinated within 2 weeks of age, and 18 were kept as a control. Six weeks post-vaccination, the two groups were exposed and kept mixed with known SICCT test positive cows for 1 year. Immune responses were monitored by interferon gamma (IFN-γ) release assay (IGRA), SICCT test, and antibody assay. Vaccinated calves developed strong responses to the SICCT test at the sixth week post-vaccination, but did not respond to ESAT-6/CFP-10 peptide antigen-based IGRA. During the exposure, IFN-γ response to the specific peptide cocktail [F(2.44,...

For decades, economic historians of Latin America have  tudied the raw material to explain the nature of international commercial connections in the region. However, very few have focused on stockbreeding. The authors propose that this lack of interest is relat ed to the characteristics of stockbreeding regions. For example, by examining the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, one can observe that the difficulties to enter the market are directly related to a combination of contradictory priorities, inefficiencies, and preconceived ideas. The authors conclude that this lack of dynamism hides  transformations that significantly impacted other stockbreeding
regions, which deserve more attention at a time when the effects of tropical stockbreeding are capturing the public’s attention.

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Resumen:
Por décadas historiadores economicos de América Latina han estudiado las materias primas, para explicar el carácter de las conexiones comerciales internacionales de la región, pero muy pocas han reflexionado sobre la ganadería. En este artículo se propone que esta falta de interés se encuentra relacionado
con las características propias de las regiones ganaderas. Por ejemplo, examinando el estado brasileño de Mato Grosso, se observa que las dificultades para ingresar en el mercado están relacionadas directamente con la combinación de prioridades contradictórias, ineficiencias, e ideas preconcebidas. Se concluye que esta falta de dinamismo oculta las  ransformaciones que impactaron de manera significativa
otras regiones ganaderas, que merecen más atención en un momento en el que los efectos de la ganadería tropical capta la atención pública.