This research investigated whether barley can be used as main feed ingredient for raising goats. In experiment 1, six male goats (crossbred Japanese Saanen/Nubian, 2.4 years old) were used. The amount of alfalfa hay cubes was gradually decreased while barley was increased by 50 g each day over three weeks. The ruminal fluids characteristics and ruminal contractions in goats fed 50% barley were almost normal, and uneaten barley, bloat and soft feces were not observed. In experiment 2, twelve male kids (crossbred Japanese Saanen/ Nubian, 3 months old) were separated into two groups of six animals (CFG:control feed, BFG:barley mixed feed). The CFG used formulated feed containing 43% corn, while the BFG used that containing 43% barley. Haycubes were fed twice daily. Hay and water were given ad libitum. Body sizes were measured monthly. The characteristics of carcass were analyzed. Both formulated feeds and haycubes were completely consumed. The hay intake in the BFG after 5 months old was higher than the CFG. The growth rates, meat production and, γ-aminobutyric acid and carnosine contents of the loin in the BFG were larger than the CFG. The results indicate that barley can be used as main feed ingredient for growing goats.

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Bovine uterine enlargement can be attributed to single or multiple pregnancies in physiological cases, or pyometra, hydrometra, uterine tumors, myometritis or uterine perimetritis in pathological cases. However, clinical differential diagnosis has been complicated, thus proper diagnosis and treatment have been considerably difficult. Six types of uterine enlargement from 26 clinical cases were sequentially monitored using transrectal mobile ultrasonography and their outcomes, after appropriate treatments were investigated. They were 12 cases of pyometra, 4 cases of myometritis, 4 cases of hydrometra, 3 cases of perimetritis and 3 cases of uterine tumors. In the cases involving uterine tumors, all of 3 cases were lymphosarcoma on postmortem examinations. The prognosis of chronic myometritis was usually poor; however, prompt and proper diagnostic treatment based on ultrasonographic findings such as combination treatment with prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α), estradiol benzoate and povidone iodine infusion increased the possibility of pregnancy. This suggests that a mobile ultrasonography may be beneficial for conducting a differential diagnosis of uterine enlargement.

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The aim of this experiment was to clarify the most effective cooling periods for reducing decreases in milk yield and milk composition in lactating goats in a hot environment. Fifteen Japanese Saanen lactating goats were divided into three groups (2HC, 4HC, 6HC). Each animal was given excessive amounts of crushed alfalfa hay cubes and 300g of concentrated feed twice daily. The animals were milked twice daily. From day 11 to day 16 of exposure to hot environment (32°C, 80.0%), the room in which the animals were kept was cooled to thermoneutral environment (20.0°C, 80.0%) during the morning and afternoon 2 h feeding periods. From day 11 to day 21 of hot environment exposure, the 4HC and 6HC groups were subjected to 4 and 6 hours respectively of cooling twice each day that was commenced in conjunction with each of the feeding periods. The 2 h cooling had no effect on milk yield and milk composition. The 4 h cooling significantly reduced the decreased milk yield in the hot environment but had no effect on milk composition. The 6 h cooling had significant effect on the reduction of decreases in milk composition and milk components yield.

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This study aimed to construct selection indexes for digestibility in Brachiaria hybrid population of ‘Miyaokikoku’ x ‘Basilisk’ using leaf water content and leaf morphological traits. Forty-nine individual hybrids were examined for in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), leaf water content (LWC), leaf width (LW), leaf length (LL) and leaf shape ratio (LR; LW/LL) in 5 leaves of the first fully expanded leaf. Values of LWC and leaf morphological traits were converted to be percentage of the maximum value of each trait. Selection indexes were constructed by combining adjusted values of each trait, together with different weight of trait according to the partial regression coefficient. LWC, LW and LR were positively correlated with leaf IVDMD. Three selection indexes were constructed as LWC-LW index (0.31 LWC + 0.10 LW), LWC-LR index (0.30 LWC + 0.06 LR), and LWC-LW-LR index (0.30 LWC + 0.07 LW + 0.04 LR), with R2 of 0.35, 0.35 and 0.39, respectively, while R2 of LWC, LW and LR alone were 0.27, 0.14 and 0.14, respectively. Other 45 plants were sampled for validating selection index candidates using regression analysis of IVDMD values of validation set on selection index scores. The validity of selection index candidates was as follow; LWC-LW index (R2 = 0.35), LWC-LR index (R2 = 0.20), and LWC-LW-LR index (R2 = 0.31). The results showed the potentiality of using leaf water content and plant morphological traits for constructing selection indexes for digestibility in Brachiaria breeding.

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　The objective of this study was to investigate the meat quality of Japanese Brown (Kumamoto) (JB-K, n = 3) and Japanese Black (JB, n = 3) steers fed by grazing year-round outdoors on pasture. The peroxide value of the rib loin (longissimus thoracis muscle) for JB steers was lower (P < 0.05) than that of JB-K steers. Coliform numbers were be less than or equal to 10 CFU/g in any samples. The free amino acids content of the rib loin of JB-K steers increased (P < 0.05) by aging. On the other hand, the carnosine content of the rib loin decreased (P < 0.05) by only cold storage compared with Hyo-On treatment.

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　Polymorphisms evaluated in this study are registered in the Single Nucleotide Database (dbSNP) of the National Center of Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The objective of this study was to determine the association of polymorphisms in the growth hormone (GH NCBI dbSNP rs41923484 and rs134687399), somatostatin (SST rs17870997), growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH rs380969504), myostatin (GDF8 rs383271508 and rs137528458) and leptin (LEP rs29004487, rs29004488 and rs29004508) genes with growth and carcass traits. To better comprehend the association between the aforementioned polymorphisms and growth, serial measurements of body weight, withers height, chest girth and abdominal girth at 9, 14, 20 and 28 months of age were taken in Japanese Black steers that were under progeny test from 2005 to 2013 (n = 280) at the Livestock Improvement Association of Miyazaki. Carcass measurements were taken and their association with genetic polymorphisms was evaluated. An ANOVA was done and post hoc analysis was done using Tukey-Kramer’s honestly significant test. Polymorphisms in the GH, GHRH, GDF8 (rs137528458) and LEP (rs29004508) were significantly associated (p < 0.05) with some growth and carcass traits. Thus, these polymorphisms might be useful markers for the improvement of growth and carcass traits in Japanese Black cattle.

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　Bamboo ensilage fermentation was compared between crushed (C) and rubbed (R) bamboo in 2 experiments. In experiment 1 the C and R were deaerated and sealed without moisture control. Changes in the viable counts of lactic acid bacteria, pH and organic acid composition in the C and R were investigated 0, 1, 2 and 3 months after sealing. The fraction (<1 mm) occupancy rate of bamboo chips was significantly higher in the R than in the C (P < 0.01). Although little change was found in the pH of the C during the storage period the number of lactic acid bacteria decreased significantly as time progressed (P < 0.05). In contrast, the pH of the R decreased and the lactic acid content increased. The number of lactic acid bacteria and the lactic acid content were significantly higher in the R compared with the C. However, the pH was significantly lower in the former than in the latter the 3rd month after silage preparation (P < 0.05). 　　In experiment 2, the C and R were prepared with a moisture content of 65%. The R showed significantly lower pH, acetic acid content and NH3-N content compared with the C (P　< 0.05). However, the lactic acid content was not different between the R and C the 1st month after the preparation. Therefore, the V2-SCORE was indicative of good quality silage in both the C and the R. 　　From these results, both the C and the R are potential silage materials and their lactic acid fermentation is promoted by moisture control. However, rubbing treatment can provide higher advantage for lactic acid bacteria growth compared with crushing treatment.

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We examined the effect of the licorice on the IGF-1, GH and growth performance of Japanese black Calf. Five calves fed the licorice about 20 days, and other five calves was no fed the licorice at change of raising environment (single raise to group raise). The GH, IGF-1 and growth performance were determined before and after of fed test. The licorice was fed at once per day with concentration. The result of effect of licorice fed showed that GH concentration was higher in fed of licorice group than non-fed of licorice group (p < 0.05), IGF-1 concentration was tend to higher by fed of licorice, and growth performance was no significant difference in each groups. In daily gain, we confirmed that group of fed–licorice was stability changed, but group of non-fed-licorice was unstability changed. These results suggested that GH and IGF-1 level was improved at change of raising environment by fed of licorice.

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　It is thought that the variation in oxytocin function within the brain is related to the individual difference in stress sensitivity. In the present study, we investigated the relationship of oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene promoter region polymorphisms and temperament score during stressful situation in Japanese Brown beef cow (Kumamoto line). Two types of polymorphisms (D and S) in OXTR gene promoter region detected by PCR and gel electrophoresis was utilized in this analysis. The temperament score during blood sampling and body weight measurement in unusual manner tended to be higher (more struggling with human handling) in the D type than in the S type. In the D type, there was strong negative correlations between temperament score and age of months (total score during body weight measurement: r2 = 0.7755, P < 0.001; total score during blood sampling and body weight measurement: r2 = 0.6685, P < 0.001), which means that the temperament score in D type became lower as they get older. It was concluded that the two base repeat sequence polymorphisms of OXTR promoter region might affect OXTR gene function in some way.

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　This study was carried out to examine the effects of different silages on the fermentation quality, protein fraction and fiber fraction of fermented total mixed ration (fermented TMR) with sweet-potato shochu distillery by-product cake (SDC). The TMR used as a basal diet was comprised of SDC, Italian ryegrass silage, flaked corn, flaked barley, beet pulp and soybean meal. Corn silage (CS) or rice whole crop silage (RWCS) as main roughage in the TMR (CS-TMR and RWCS-TMR, respectively) was used to examine the effects. The pH and lactic acid content of the TMR were significantly lower in the RWCS-TMR than in the CS-TMR 90 days after preparation (P <0.05), whereas the levels of acetic, propionic and butyric acids tended to be lower in the latter than in the former. Although the V-SCORE was significantly higher in the CS-TMR than in the RWCS-TMR (P < 0.05), both TMRs had good quality (over 80 points). The protein fraction in the fermented TMR varied depending on the silage, but little variation was found in the fiber fraction. In conclusion, the fermentation quality and changes in the protein fraction of the fermented TMR with SDC over time were affected by basal diet (silage) rather than storage period.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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