A rapidly changing and expanding livestock and poultry production sector is causing a range of environmental problems on local, regional and global scales. Animal Manure Recycling: Treatment and Management presents an accessible overview of environmentally friendly technologies for managing animal manure more efficiently and in a sustainable manner. The book describes the physical and chemical characteristics of animal manure and microbial processes, featuring detailed examples and case studies showing how this knowledge can be used in practice. Readers are introduced to the sustainable use of animal manure for crop fertilisation and soil amelioration. Environmentally friendly technologies for reducing emissions of ammonia, odour and the greenhouse gases nitrous oxide and methane are presented, and reduction of plant nutrient losses using separation technologies is introduced. Finally and most importantly, the book describes methods to commercialise and transfer knowledge about innovations to end-users. Topics covered include: Regulation of animal manure management Manure organic matter: characteristics and microbial transformations Greenhouse gas emissions from animal manures and technologies for their reduction Technologies and logistics for handling, transport and distribution of animal manures Bioenergy production Animal manure residue upgrading and nutrient recovery in bio-fertilisers Life cycle assessment of manure management systems Innovation in animal manure management and recycling Animal Manure Recycling: Treatment and Management presents state-of-the-art coverage of the entire animal manure chain, providing practical information for engineers, environmental consultants, academics and advanced students involved in scientific, technical and regulatory issues related to animal manure management.

Includes proceedings of a seminar held in Silsoe, UK, 26-28 March 1990.

Reissue of this immortal, hilarious, and heartwarming classic about working a chicken farm in the Northwest.

This collection features four peer-reviewed reviews on alternatives to antibiotics in pig production. The first chapter provides a brief overview of antibiotic use in pig production and addresses the consequent development of antibiotic resistance. The chapter reviews recent advances in developing non-antibiotic means of controlling bacterial infections in swine, such as the use of phage therapy. The second chapter considers the use of prebiotics to optimise gut function in pigs. The chapter summarises current knowledge on the effects of prebiotic oligosaccharides on porcine gut function and health, as well as the modes of action of the commonly used prebiotics in pig production. The third chapter reviews advances in nutritional strategies to boost immune function in pigs, including the use of lipopolysaccharide to stimulate the immune system. The chapter considers the need to reduce the use of antimicrobials in swine diets and reviews the effect of dietary supplementation during key stages of a pig's life to enhance immunity. The final chapter reviews the microbiota of the gastrointestinal tract of the young pig and the important role it plays in the early stages of life. The chapter considers the use of probiotics and prebiotics in the post-weaning period of piglets to optimise gut function, animal health and performance.

Pastoralism is a diffused and ancient form of human subsistence and probably one of the most studied by anthropologists at the crossroads between continuities and transformations. The present critical discourse on sustainable and responsible development implies a change of practices, a huge socio-economic transformation, and the return of new shepherds and herders in different European regions. Transhumance and extensive breeding are revitalized as a potential resource for inner and rural areas of Europe against depopulation and as an efficient form of farming deeply influencing landscape and functioning as a perfect eco-system service. This book is an occasion to reconsider grazing communities' frictions in the new global heritage scenario.

Whilst it can mean enhanced biosecurity, intensive and globalised pig production (based on a narrowing genetic base) also potentially increases the risk of disease and its spread. It has been estimated that diseases can lower pig production efficiency by 10-15%, though financial losses can be much greater. Optimising pig herd health and production highlights the need to develop more preventative measures that can be implemented to tackle the increasing threat of disease. The book addresses recent developments in disease prevention, focussing on how farmers and producers can utilise feed management and housing to optimise pig health, as well as the role of vaccine development in preventing the onset of endemic and emerging diseases in pigs. Through highlighting the importance of understanding and identifying disease, the book showcases how our understanding of the mechanisms of transmission for some of the key porcine viral and bacterial diseases can be applied to optimise pig herd health and production.

"You’ll be in awe of the work of the American rancher and wildlife alike." — Fox News "... Krantz delivers a true sense of not only the size and scope of Art and Catherine Nicholas’ Wagonhound Ranch, but also the deep sense of stewardship the Nicholas family and their crew bring to ranching every day." — Western Horseman "...Anouk’s photographs tell a visual story of the rancher and his relationship with the land." — The Eye of Photography "A stunning photographic collection that celebrates the reality of ranch life." — Big Sky Journal Wagonhound is a historic working ranch spanning over 300,000 acres in Wyoming, where the elevation ranges from 5,000 feet to 9,000 feet; where talented, strong, and steady quarter horses supplied by the ranch-owned remuda are required to help the cowboys manage the herds in a spectacularly rugged terrain. Catherine and Art Nicholas, who took the reins of the historic ranch in 1999, take the stewardship of the land very seriously — their vision has been to honour tradition, preserve the land, which is steeped in history, and return it to a pristine condition. In Ranchland: Wagonhound, Anouk Krantz’s beautiful photography reveals the daily and seasonal rhythms of the ranch and the daily lives of its men and women cowboys, whose long hard days — starting in the dark and finishing in the dark — involve everything from cattle driving to branding to training the best quarter horses in the country and more. Set in a stunning large-format book, these photographs and the stories offer an inspiring new perspective into today's cowboy/ranching culture and land stewardship of the American West. 

This collection features four peer-reviewed reviews on infertility and other reproductive disorders in dairy cattle. The first chapter discusses the physiology of the main impediments to fertility and management issues that need to be addressed to ensure good fertility of dairy cows. The chapter focusses on parturition and uterine health, the importance of the post-partum environment and the role of oestrus, as well as methods of establishing pregnancy and the effect of heat stress on cows' fertility. The second chapter considers recent developments in automated monitoring of livestock fertility and pregnancy, focussing on its implementation in dairy cattle production. The chapter explores the physiological basics of the reproductive cycle in dairy cattle and the use of artificial intelligence to monitor and report changes in animal behaviour. The third chapter reviews progress in understanding the role of genetics in addressing the decline in fertility rates in dairy cattle. The chapter discusses strategies to improve the reproductive performance of dairy cattle, including the use of different breeds, measures of fertility and genomic data. The final chapter reviews best practices to detect reproductive problems and limitations in dairy cattle. The chapter identifies key areas which are known to limit performance and provides strategies which can be implemented to optimise reproductive performance and maximise animal health.

"Practical Beekeeping" is the complete guide to the bee and its management. Topics covered include the bee and its environment; hives and other equipment; management of the apiary; and control of pests and diseases. Profusely illustrated with photographs and specially commissioned line illustrations, this book will be an invaluable addition to the bookshelf of anyone involved in beekeeping.

Long-term management of rare breeds is a complicated endeavour, and strategies for success have been detailed in the first and second edition of Managing Breeds for a Secure Future. For many the challenge of knowing exactly what to do when very short-term actions are needed to rescue a numerically small population of animals remains. Such situations point to a need for a specific set of recipes that can be followed in different situations in order to assure successful outcomes. This new edition addresses that need. Each rare breed rescue comes with its own array of specific problems, but several general concepts run through all of them. These concepts provide a good framework for breed rescue work. This book relies on these concepts in order to help breeders chart a course when confronted with a rare population (breed or bloodline) that faces immediate threat of loss. Some of the updates to new edition include: * Biological Issues * Population Analysis * Pedigree-based Analyses * Managing a Genetic Defect * General Rescue Principles Managing Breeds for a Secure Future Third Edition is an expanded version of the second edition. It is re-organized to flow better, and has additional chapters on specific breeding protocols for maintaining breeds. It also delves more deeply into rescuing rare populations, through both theory and practice.

This collection features four peer-reviewed literature reviews on lameness in dairy cattle. The first chapter provides an overview of lameness and its impact on dairy cow health and welfare. The chapter reviews existing methods for manual and automated detection of lameness, including approaches that detect changes and abnormalities in the gait, stance and behaviour of the animal, including the use of video, accelerometers and spatial positioning systems. The second chapter discusses the aetiology of the four main causes of lameness in dairy cows: sole ulcer, white line, digital dermatitis and interdigital phlegmon. The chapter reviews the importance of prompt and effective treatments, as well as the best practices to optimise foot health to prevent the onset of lameness. The third chapter reviews advances in dairy cattle breeding to improve resistance to claw and foot disorders, primarily lameness. It considers the various steps in breeding, from the definition of the breeding goal to genomic evaluation and data validation, as well as the consequent challenges which can develop. The final chapter examines the impact of lameness on dairy production and highlights the importance of optimising foot health in dairy cattle to prevent the occurrence of lameness. The chapter discusses claw horn disruption and concludes with a case study on an outbreak of lameness in a herd of 800 Holstein cows.

There isn't one conversation about animal ethics. Instead, there are several important ones that are scattered across many disciplines.This volume both surveys the field of animal ethics and draws professional philosophers, graduate students, and undergraduates more deeply into the discussions that are happening outside of philosophy departments. To that end, the volume contains more nonphilosophers than philosophers, explicitly inviting scholars from other fields-such as animal science, ecology, economics, psychology, law, environmental science, and applied biology, among others-to bring their own disciplinary resources to bear on matters that affect animals. The Routledge Handbook of Animal Ethics is composed of 44 chapters, all appearing in print here for the first time, and organized into the following six sections: I. Thinking About Animals II. Animal Agriculture and Hunting III. Animal Research and Genetic Engineering IV. Companion Animals V. Wild Animals: Conservation, Management, and Ethics VI. Animal Activism The chapters are brief, and they have been written in a way that is accessible to serious undergraduate students, regardless of their field of study. The volume covers everything from animal cognition to the state of current fisheries, from genetic modification to intersection animal activism. It is a resource designed for anyone interested in the moral issues that emerge from human interactions with animals.

This book provides an extensive review of research into Campylobacter, Helicobacter and Arcobacter species found in poultry. It includes the epidemiology, diagnosis, immune response and disease control of these organisms in commercial poultry production. Antimicrobial resistance, and the incidence and human disease potential of these bacteria is also discussed. A global perspective is presented by experts from four continents - South America, North America, Europe and Africa. This reference work will be of value to the poultry industry, research laboratories, public health workers and students. An extensive overview of the relevant literature is provided by the reference lists at the end of each chapter.

A comprehensive forage-to-fork book on beef farming that delivers veterinary level information to farmers and farm-related information to vets. The Veterinary Book for Beef Farmers is a complete guide to farming cattle for protein emphasising good practice, herd health management and disease prevention. The book begins with an introduction to the beef industry, moving on to health management through cattle life stages - neonatal health, weaned calf health etc. The next section covers disease and production problems through the same life stage format - disease problems in the breeding bull for example. Section 4 covers the monitoring and measurement of disease on the farm and the final section presents the business management of beef farming employing the balanced scorecard method as a management measurement tool. The emphasis throughout is on health maintenance and long term sustainable farming.

Stimulating and thought-provoking, this important new text looks at the welfare problems and philosophical and ethical issues that are caused by changes made to an animal's telos, behaviour and physiology, both positive and negative, to make them more productive or adapted for human uses. These changes may involve selective breeding for production, appearance traits, or competitive advantage in sport, transgenic animals or the use of pharmaceuticals or hormones to enhance production or performance. Changes may impose duties to care for these animals further and more intensely, or they may make the animal more robust. The book considers a wide range of animals, including farm animals, companion animals and laboratory animals. It reviews the ethics and welfare issues of animals that have been adapted for sport, as companions, in work, as ornaments, food sources, guarding and a whole host of other human functions. This important new book sparks debate and is essential reading for all those involved in animal welfare and ethics, including veterinarians, animal scientists, animal welfare scientists and ethologists.

Modern beekeeping, influenced by new technologies and breeding methods, has increased honey production but left bee colonies weak and vulnerable to disease. With the alarming decline of the bee population raising concerns about an impending ecological crisis, many beekeepers are seeking a more sustainable way of caring for bees. Biodynamic Beekeeping is the first book to offer practical instruction on caring for bees using biodynamic theories and methods. By considering the influence of the movement of the stars and the planets on the bees' natural habits, biodynamics encourages beekeepers to be more in tune with their bees indicating, for example, the best days on which to inspect colonies or gather honey. This fascinating book offers beekeepers detailed advice and instruction on how to work more holistically, including: -- the challenges and advantages of breeding queen bees -- how to artificially induce swarming to propagate colonies -- how to use biodynamic ashing techniques to combat varroa mites -- instructions for making winter-feed according to current biodynamic thinking

"The Health of Poultry," by Mark Pattison, is a unique book describing the overall concepts of poultry health with the emphasis on creating the right conditions and environment to minimise the occurrence of disease. By demonstrating the interrelationships between husbandry, medicine and nutrition, the author shows how to prevent diseases and to maximise the genetic potential made possible with modern breeds of poultry.

Each of the main poultry species - chicken including breeder and broiler, turkey and duck - is dealt within separate chapters that each explain the principle of disease control with the emphasis on preventative medicine. All aspects of care are drawn together to provide guidance on devising a rigorous health regime that is controlled by proper management. Chapters on hatchery, nutrition, environment and housing examine topics such as planning, ventilation, hygiene, quality control and medication. The important role of genetics in flock health is discussed encompassing important issues such as genetic resistance to disease, vertically transmitted diseases and strategies for disease control.

"The Health of Poultry" provides a holistic view of health and welfare of poultry. As such, it will be a highly practical addition to the bookshelves of poultry farmers, specialists and veterinarians. Agriculture and veterinary students embarked on BSc and diploma courses in poultry will find the coverage informative and the style lucid and accessible.

The major theme of this book is environmental preservation by controlling release of undesirable greenhouse gases to realize the sustainable development of animal agriculture. Technology exists for the effective collection of methane generated from anaerobic fermentation of animal effluent and its use as a biomass energy source. Fossil fuel consumption can be reduced and there can be increased use of locally available energy sources. In addition, promoting environmentally-conscious agriculture which does not rely on the chemical fertilizer can be realized by effective use of animal manure and compost products.

When the late Reg Scott wrote the first edition of this book in 1981, his intention was 'to produce a script generally interesting to those readers requiring more information on cheese'. It was not conceived as a book that covered the most recent developments with respect to lipid or protein chemistry, for example, but rather it was hoped that the text would reveal cheesemaking as a fascinating, and yet technically demanding, branch of dairy science. The fact that the author had some 50 years' experience of cheesemaking gave the book a very special character, in that the 'art' of the traditional cheesemaker emerged as a system that, in reality, had a strong scientific basis. Today, cheesemaking remains a blend of'art and science' for, while much cheese is made in computer-controlled factories relying on strict standard ization to handle the large volumes of milk involved, the production oftop quality cheese still relies on the innate skill of the cheesemaker. It was considered appropriate, therefore, that this revised edition ofCheesemaking Practice should include, at one end of the spectrum, details of the latest technology for curd handling and, at the other, simple recipes for the production of farmhouse cheeses. Obviously a student of dairy science will need to consult other texts in order to complete his/her knowledge of the cheesemaking process, but if this revised edition stimulates its readers to delve more deeply, then the task of updating the original manuscript will have been worthwhile."

An early book on producing poultry and eggs on a small scale for pleasure and profit. Published 1909. A complete and practical guide to the breeding and management of all varieties of poultry at home. Contents Include: Housing Eggs Rearing Management Selection Table Poultry Ducks, Geese and Turkeys for Market Pea Fowl and Guinea Fowl Poultry Farming Poultry in the Garden Ailments etc. The book is well illustrated with b/w photos and drawings. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Home Farm Books are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Fish Nutrition, Fourth Edition is an up-to-date, authoritative presentation of all key elements of the nutrition of fish and crustaceans. As aquaculture is rapidly expanding, more than 200 herbivorous and carnivorous species occupy a diverse range of ecological niches, and have therefore evolved to utilize a wide array of food sources. This new edition highlights these differences and covers the complexity and challenges associated with fish nutrition, addressing nutrient requirements to produce high-quality, healthful and sustainable resources, the essential nutrients for fish species, including proteins and amino acids, vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids, a feed quality assessment, and fish pathology. Led by a team of international experts, this edition provides readers with new information on the use of high-throughput technologies in fish nutrition research, the role of feeds on the community structure of the microbiome, and advances in essential nutrient requirements.

The term Mycotoxin literally means poison from fungi. Mycotoxins are substances produced from fungal secondary metabolic processes, which impair animal health thereby causing great economic losses of livestock through disease. This book gives an overview of mycotoxins in feedstuff and ingredients. It lists the degree of contamination, concentration and country of origin/detection for each case of mycotoxin contamination. In addition, the book shows whether a feedstuff/ingredient is predisposed for a mycotoxin contamination, detailing the number of mycotoxins as well as number of citations concerning one feedstuff.