© 2020 Japanese Society of Animal Science Sleep is one of the essential behaviors in mammalian health and welfare. In this study, we focused on how concentrate-rich diets (Conc) can influence the sleep of cattle. We hypothesized that Conc would suppress the daily sleep of cows because of behavioral frustration according to shorter eating and rumination. We subjected six Japanese black cows according to crossover experimental design. There were two diet treatments. In the Conc group, 70% of required TDN was supplied by concentrate and 30% by grass silage. On the other hand, in roughage fed group (Rough), all required TDN was supplied by grass silage. Maintenance behaviors, postures of cows, and sleep posture were measured by electronic devices. Cows fed with Conc spent less time in eating and rumination and spent more time in rest than Rough. However, contrary to our hypothesis, cows fed with Conc showed longer daily sleep posture duration (96.2 min/day vs. 69.1 min/day) and more frequent sleep posture bouts (15.4 times/day vs. 11.1 times/day) than Rough. We discussed about following possible explanations why cows fed with Conc slept longer as satisfaction, illness, displacement behavior, and shifting sleep posture.

© 2019 Japanese Society of Animal Science The aim of this study was to clarify cow's sleep behavior on farm and to examine the influence of some environment and management factors on cow's sleep. Total 85 behavior data (summer 41, autumn 44) were corrected from 12 commercial tie-stall dairy farm in northern Tohoku area. Daily duration, bout frequency, and averaged bout duration of sleep and lying were measured. Even though there was no significant difference in any lying measurements, daily duration, bout frequency, and averaged bout duration of sleep was significantly different among farms (p < 0.01, p < 0.01, and p < 0.05, respectively). However, we could not find that any managements influence on sleep. There was significant seasonal difference in daily sleep duration (p < 0.01) and sleep bout frequency (p < 0.05). On the other hand, daily lying duration and averaged lying bout duration were significantly different between seasons (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively). Primiparous cows slept longer and more frequent than multiparous (both p < 0.001). Milk solid-non-fat content was positively correlated with daily sleep duration (p < 0.05) and bout frequency (p < 0.01). These results might imply the productive importance of sleep related with anabolic hormones release.

© 2018 by Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences. Objective: Environmental change is one of the stressful events in livestock production. Change in environment disturbs cow behavior and cows require several days to regain a stable behavioral pattern. Sleeping posture (SP) and lying posture (LP) have been used as indicators for animal that are relaxed and well-acclimated to their environment. The aim of this study was to examine the time required by Japanese black cows for stabilization of SP and LP after moving into new environment. Methods: Seven pregnant Japanese black cows were used. Cows were moved into new tie-stall shed and their sleeping and lying posture measured 17 times during 35 experimental days. Both SP and LP were detected by accelerometer fixed on middle occipital and hip-cross, respectively. Daily total time, frequency, and average bout of both SP and LP were calculated. Results: Daily SP time was the shortest on day 1 and increased to the highest on day 3. It then decreased until day 9, after that stabilized about 65 min/d till the end of experiment. Daily LP time changed in same manner as daily SP time. The average SP bout was the longest on day 1, and then decreased to stable level on day 7. On the other hand, the average LP bout was the shortest on day 1, and it increased to stable level on day 7. Conclusion: These results showed that pregnant Japanese black cows needed 1 week to stabilize their SP. However, there were different change patterns between the average SP and LP bout, even though the change pattern of daily SP and LP time were similar.

© 2017 Japanese Society of Animal Science Sleep is one of the essential behaviors for mammals. The aims of this study were to validate the use of accelerometer for measuring sleeping posture of cattle. Duration of sleeping posture of seven Japanese Black cows from 19.00 to 07.00 hours was measured by both accelerometer and video, and a total of 67 accelerometer and video measurement sets were collected. We calculated Cohen's κ coefficient between accelerometer and video measurements and 91.5% of the κ-values were >0.80. Intra- and inter-observer coefficient of variance showed that specific acceleration waveform patterns of sleeping posture could be easily and accurately detected by independent observers. There were no significant differences in the frequency of sleeping posture occurrences between accelerometer and video measurements. We compared averaged sleeping posture bout, and the total sleeping posture time between accelerometer and video measurements using regression. In each trait, the slope was close to 1 and the intercept was not different from 0, which showed a strong agreement between accelerometer and video measurements. This shows that an accelerometer could accurately detect sleeping postures of cattle. We conclude that adequate measurements of sleeping postures can be made using an accelerometer.

© 2016 Japanese Society of Animal Science The aim of this study is to identify the factors that comprise farmer attitudes toward dairy cows and jobs in Japan, and examine the relationship between these attitudes and dairy productivity. At first, we executed a questionnaire survey to determine factors that comprise attitudes of farmers toward their jobs and dairy cows, and three factors were extracted. These were named as ‘Positive beliefs to cows’, ‘Negative beliefs to cows’ and ‘Job satisfaction’, respectively. Second, we examined the relationships between attitude and dairy productivity in 35 dairy farms. The positive beliefs scores correlated positively both with milk yield and milk urea nitrogen concentration. We found there to be three farm groups by cluster analysis using three attitude score. The group B farms showed significantly higher positive beliefs scores and job satisfaction scores; on the other hand, the group C farms showed significantly lower positive beliefs scores and higher negative belief scores. The milk yield in group B was significantly higher than that in group C. This study showed that Japanese farmers' attitudes toward cows considerably resemble those seen in previous studies in Western cultures. Positive attitudes toward cows could enhance stockmanship, and could improving animal welfare and productivity.

<p>We investigated the effect of suckling period on growth performance, blood metabolites, and behavior of Japanese Black calves under high-roughage feeding. Seven cow-calf pairs were divided into a 7.5-month (4 pairs) and a 3-month weaning group (3 pairs). The cow and calf in the 7.5-month weaning group lived together until the calf was about 7.5 months old. In the 3-month weaning group, the calves were completely weaned at about 3 months of age. All the calves were fed roughage ad libitum. The average daily gain in the weight of calves was 1.1kg/day in the 7.5-month weaning group and 0.7kg/day in the 3-month weaning group. The feed intake of the calves did not differ between the two groups. The concentration of β-hydroxybutyric acid in the plasma of the calves was considerably higher after weaning in the 3-month weaning group. It increased with age in the 7.5-month weaning group and did not differ between the two groups at 7.5 months of age. In the 7.5-month weaning group, the lying time and the sleeping posture time per day were generally longer than in the 3-month weaning group, and the time that the calf licked from the cow at 3 months of age, when the study was started, was almost the same as it was at 7 months of age. These results indicate that the growth performance of calves was improved and their blood metabolites and behavior differed when the suckling period was extended from these parameters determined in the calves weaned at 3 months of age, under high-roughage feeding.</p>

The effectiveness of four electric fences (4-polywire and 5-polywire fencing, high-tensile wire fencing, and woven polywire mesh fencing) designed to deter Sika deer from entering into meadows was assessed. Frequencies of deer entry into meadows observed using remote cameras were significantly lower in meadows with electric fences than in the meadow with no electric fence. The woven polywire mesh and high-tensile wire fencing exhibited particularly better exclusion of Sika deer than 4-polywire and 5-polywire fencing. The effect of the woven polywire mesh fencing lasted for more than 4 years. These fences are sufficiently strong to withstand pressure from deer. Moreover, in the case of high-tensile wire fencing, an outrigger wire position and its configuration was suitable for giving aversive stimuli to deer touching the fence. Considering the cost performance of its long term use, the installation of durable high-tensile electric fencing equipped with a top wire at more than 140 cm height and with the outrigger wire at 45 cm height is recommended for preventing Sika deer incursions into meadows.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in the physiological responses of lactating Holstein cows between outdoor grazing and indoor housing in summer in Japan. Method: The cows (n=16) were grazed outside from indoor housing and returned indoors 3 weeks later, with a 1-week transition phase to mitigate each environmental change. Grazing cows remained in pasture except for milking twice per day and concentrate feeding before milking. Indoors, the cows were tethered except for milking twice per day and about 5.5. h of exercise in an open-air paddock. Results: When the Temperature-Humidity Index (THI) threshold was above 72, urinary cortisol levels were higher only in the grazing phase. The indoor cows took a longer time to prepare to lie down compared with grazing cows. Conclusions: This study suggests that forcing cows outside during hot weather can induce certain physiological stress responses in lactating Holstein cows. Cows exhibit more fluid lying-down movements on pasture, suggesting that the comfort of lying conditions of indoor housing was not ideal. © 2013 Elsevier B.V..

We carried out the field survey of damage to dairy cows under hot summer condition at North Tohoku region. We compared dairy productivity (milk yield, bulk milk composition, comatic cell count), urinary cortisol level, and behaviour (eating, rumination and resting in standing or lying) at 14 dairy farms between hot summer term (July-August) and normal term (October-November). The milk yield and milk composition were almost equal at both terms. Somatic cell count increased in hot summer term. Urinary cortisol level tended to be high in hot summer term. Cows spent significantly longer in standing posture in hot summer term than normal term (P<0.01). Whereas standing idling was increased in hot summer term, eating and standing rumination was as same as normal term. Cows in farm with tunnel ventilation system showed lower urinary cortisol level and spent longer for eating in hot summer term than normal term.

The aim of this study is to examine whether calf training for loading at the weaning period improves later loading. Five calves were allocated to the trained group and the control group, respectively. Calves in the trained group were loaded onto a livestock trailer for 5 successive days at weaning. Trainers led or hauled the calves by rope only. When loading was completed, trainers fed calves with sugar cubes as rewards. Calves in the control group were weaned without any treatment. Five weeks after weaning, tests were carried out under similar conditions as the trained group. Loading efficiency, physical effort on the handler and handling stress on calves between groups were compared. Trained calves were loaded significantly faster than control calves. Trained calves balked less during loading than control calves. Heart rates of handlers after loading were significantly lower in the trained group than in the control group; however, salivary amylase activity and cortisol concentration was not different between groups. Physical effort and stress on handlers would be almost the same in both groups. Heart rate, plasma cortisol, NEFA and CPK of calves were significantly increased only in the control group after loading. These results show calf training improves loading efficiency and reduces stress on calves. © 2012 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

We developed a questionnaire to investigate the occurrence of breakouts of grazing cattle from electric fences and thereby determine the factors that could prevent such breakout. The questionnaire was distributed among farmers whose cattle grazed in the small pastures in 3 prefectures (Yamaguchi, Tottori, and Hiroshima). A total of 106 samples were collected, and 83 samples satisfied the criteria for &quot;electric fence&quot; and &quot;Japanese Black breeding cow&quot;. Among the selected respondents, 47% reported occurrences of breakout. Overgrazing was reported to be the major cause of breakout. &quot;Overgrazing&quot; mainly occurred during the late period of grazing ; therefore, cows should be relocated to another pasture at an appropriate time or provided supplemental food. Malfunction of the equipments of electric fence, such as battery, was the second most common cause. This phenomenon mainly occurred during the early and middle periods of grazing. Therefore, it is necessary to check and replace the equipments of electric fence before grazing. We confirmed that increasing the frequency of checks for the electric fence and electricity prevented incidents of breakout.

In Japan, there has been an increase in the use of abandoned cultivated lands for cattle grazing. It is important to clarify plant succession on these lands for assessment of the sustainability of grazing. We investigated the dynamics of dominant wild plants after the introduction of grazing onto the abandoned lands in western Japan using questionnaires. The main plants before the introduction of grazing were paddy field weeds, Miscanthus sinensis, and Solidago altissima in the order of frequency. The abandoned lands most frequently became dominated by Zoysia japonica after introduction of grazing. In a few cases M. sinensis or S. altissima remained dominant after 4 or more years of grazing. Imperata cylindrica var. koenigii remained dominant in most of the cases, even 10 or more years after grazing in several cases. Paddy field weeds declined within 1 year after grazing in some cases ; however, they did remain dominant for longer periods in several cases. Dwarf bamboo was found to be dominant for 10 or more years after grazing in several cases, while it did not become dominant. Most of the Pueraria lobata that were dominant before introduction of grazing became nondominant after introduction of grazing.

In the course of determining species diversity of medium and large-sized mammals by camera trapping, the effects of possible bias factors such as year, season, type of remote camera, grazing condition, attractants including baits and scent lures, and site selection were evaluated. The survey effort required to detect the present mammal species was also estimated. As a result, the number of species detected and the frequency of each species photographed by camera traps were affected to a various degree by all these possible bias factors. Therefore, the effects of these factors must be reduced when the camera trapping is conducted as an accurate survey of mammal fauna. The survey effort required to detect the present mammal species varied enormously among study sites, and could not be estimated in advance. Thus, the survey effort must be evaluated after a preliminary survey of camera trapping is conducted.

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between milk cortisol concentration (MC) and behavioral responses to stress. As a stress response, the behaviors of 37 postpartum cows were observed when they were introduced into a new group. Milk samples for MC measurement and milk trait data were collected on the test day every 2 months after calving. The best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) was estimated from each behavioral and milk trait data. Behavioral BLUP data were subjected to principal component (PC) analysis and three PCs were extracted. The first PC, with large loadings for eating and allogrooming, was positively correlated with milk yield. Therefore, individual differences in behaviors closely related with PC1 would have been unconsciously paid a lot of attention in terms of productivity. However, the second PC, with large loadings for drinking and self-grooming, uncorrelated with any milk traits, had a negative correlation with MC. The third PC, with large loadings for exploring, fighting and the frequency of agonistic behavior, was uncorrelated with all traits. Both PC2 and PC3 were independent of productivity, and individual differences in behaviors related with these PCs may be scarcely considered. © 2010 The Authors; Journal compilation © 2010 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

The aim of this study was to clarify the relationships between flight distance (FD) and the physiological and behavioral responses in cows during handling. We measured the FDs of 16 Japanese Black cows that are not routinely handled and selected the 4 longest (LFD) and 4 shortest FD cows (SFD). During the handling test, each cow was tethered and brushed by same person who conducted the FD test. Behavioral responses (vocalization, tail swinging, head shaking and stepping) and heart rate (HR) of each cow were recorded before, during and after the handling period (5min per period). Behavioral responses and the mean HR (MHR) of each period, the percentage of time the HR during handling was higher than MHR before handling (PHR) and the recovery times from the first peaks during handling to MHR before handling (RT) were compared between the LFD and SFD cows. No difference between LFD and SFD cows was found for any behavioral response. However, the MHR (P<0.05) and PHR (P=0.05) were higher in LFD than in SFD cows. Furthermore, RT was longer in LFD than in SFD cows (P=0.07). Therefore, flight distance might be associated with physiological traits of animals in response to human contact.

At a private farm where forest grazing was started in 2004, effects of cattle on the abundance of small mammals and their habitats were evaluated. Small mammals were trapped during 2003-2007; their numbers at grazing and non-grazing forest sites were compared. Four characteristics of small mammals' habitats at grazing and non-grazing forest sites, i.e. vegetation structure, plant cover, litter thickness, and soil hardness, were investigated and compared. Numbers of small mammals at grazing and nongrazing forest sites did not differ. No significant cumulative effect of 4 years' forest grazing was found. Although three habitat qualities of small mammals, vegetation structure, plant cover and litter thickness, were different between grazing and non-grazing forest sites from the non-grazing condition identified at the start of this study, these habitat differences showed no significant cumulative effect attributable to 4 years' forest grazing. These results demonstrate that forest grazing by cattle with light intensity, 11.7-25.9 cow-days ha^<-1> had little impact on small mammal populations and their habitats.

The foraging behavior of deer can be influenced by both food availability and the " critical distance" from protective vegetation cover. The effect of the distance from the farm periphery on the risk of forage damage by sika deer was investigated in a public pasture in Tochigi Prefecture in central Japan from May to November 2006 and in May 2007. The risk of forage damage by sika deer, evaluated by deer pellet group density, was compared along three line transects at different distances from the farm periphery (10, 110 and 210 m) and among 18 paddocks at different distances from the farm periphery. Deer pellet group abundance in the line transects did not differ significantly with the distance from the periphery but decreased significantly with the distance from the nearest escape cover. The transect-based deer pellet abundance was more significantly influenced by other factors such as paddock identity and survey month in a generalized linear model. Deer pellet group abundance in the paddocks showed a significant albeit weak negative correlation with distance from the periphery in May 2007, but not in November 2006. The paddock-based deer pellet abundance was more influenced by sward height than by the distance from the periphery in a generalized linear model. Furthermore, a high density of deer pellet groups was exclusively observed in the paddock just after pasture renovation. These results show that the foraging behavior of sika deer was influenced partially by the distance from the nearest escape cover but largely by other factors such as herbage quality and seasonality. © 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of approach direction and pace on flight distance of beef breeding cows. Five Japanese Black breeding cows were used as experimental cattle. Three approach directions were tested; that were the approach toward the head of the test cow from the front direction (FRONT), the approach toward to the foreleg of the test cow from the right or left (SIDE) and the approach toward to hind-leg of the test cow diagonally from the right or left rear (BACK). Three levels of approach pace were also tested; that were the approach at a pace of 7 km/h, the approach at a pace of 4 km/h, and the approach at a pace of 1 km/h. The shortest distance between observer and cow's at the moment of the cow's withdrawal was defined as the flight distance. The flight distance in FRONT was significantly shorter than that in SIDE. The effect of the approach pace was significant. The faster an observer approached to cow, the greater the flight distance shown by the cow. The manner of approach to cattle markedly affects the flight distance. Therefore, the manner of approach to cattle must be standardized to measure flight distance for sharing results obtained by several researchers under various conditions. © 2008 The Authors.

Four wethers were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square to study the feed intake, apparent digestibility, nitrogen balance and ruminal fermentation characteristics when fed total mixed ration (TMR) silages which included wet barley tea grounds (WBTG). The TMR silages were prepared using compound feed including wet brewers' grains (WBG), corn, oat hay, alfalfa hay, dried beet pulp, salt and vitamin-mineral supplement in a ratio of 30.7:15:8:24:10:12:0.15: 0.15, respectively, on a dry matter (DM) basis. The WBTG and soybean meal mixture (7:3 on DM basis) were substituted for WBG at ratio of 0% (Control), 5% (LTG), 10% (MTG), and 15% (HTG) on DM of TMR. WBTG addition to the TMR silages increased lactic acid concentration, decreased pH, acetic acid and ammonia-N (P < 0.001). Feed intakes and digestibilities for LTG and MTG (except ether extract (EE) digestibility) treatments were not different from the control (P > 0.05). However, EE and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) intake, crude protein, EE and NDF digestibility was lower, but the DM and gross energy digestibility was higher for the HTG treatment compared to control (P < 0.01). With progressive increases in WBTG concentrations, nitrogen intake, fecal nitrogen and retention nitrogen did not differ, but the urinary nitrogen for MTG and HTG treatments were lower than that of the control (P = 0.001). The ruminal total volatile fatty acid concentration and the molar ratios of propionate and butyrate were higher, but the acetate, ratio of acetate to propionate and ammonia-N content were lower for the HTG treatment compared with the control (P < 0.05). Therefore, the possible proportion of replacing WBG with WBTG for TMR silage can be 10% or less of the diet DM. © 2008 The Authors.

The objective of this experiment was to determine the ensiling characteristics and in situ degradation of barley tea grounds (BTG) treated with contrasting additives. The BTG was ensiled without additive (control), or with mixtures of lactic acid bacteria and Acremonium cellulase (LAB + AUS), formic acid (FA), and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) for a period of 60 days. Three ruminal-fistulated steers were used to determine in situ degradabilities of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) in the BTG and its silages. In the LAB + AUS treated silage, the pH value (P<0.001) and ammonia-N content (P=0.007) were lower and the lactic acid content (P<0.001) was higher than the control. The FA and NaOH treated silages were well preserved as indicated by low ammonia-N content (P=0.007), no propionic acid and butyric acid. The LAB + AUS treated silage had higher rapidly degradable fraction of DM and CP than the control and BTG (P<0.001). The NaOH treated silage had higher contents of rapidly degradable fraction, slowly degradable fraction and effective degradability of DM and CP than control and BTG (P<0.01). © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

This experiment was designed (1) to study the effects of lactation stage, season, and parity on milk cortisol concentrations in Holstein cows, and (2) to elucidate the relationships between milk yield, quality, and milk cortisol concentration. Subjects of this study were 24 dairy cows kept in a free stall barn. Milk samples were taken on test day in May, August, November, and February. Data of milk yield, quality, and cortisol concentration were collected. Random effects of animals and fixed effects of lactation stage, test day, and parity on milk yield, quality, and cortisol concentration were analyzed using mixed models. We estimated the best linear unbiased prediction of each trait (BLUP) which was an animal-specific value. Correlation among milk yield, quality, and cortisol concentration was calculated using raw data and BLUP. The effect of the lactation stage on milk cortisol concentration was significant: the value observed in early lactation was higher than in other stages. However, the correlation between milk yield and cortisol concentration was low. The beginning of lactation might be a strong stressor for every cow. Calculated with raw data, milk cortisol concentration had respectively significant negative correlation with milk protein contents and solid not-fat contents. Calculated with BLUP, milk cortisol concentration showed a significant and negative correlation with milk protein contents. The lactation stage and milk protein contents should be considered for measurement of milk cortisol concentrations. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

ABSTRACT We examined the role of trees as grooming objects in grazing pasture and investigated their necessity. Four grazing Japanese Black cows were used. Experimental pastures with restricted (RST) and released (RLS) grooming with trees were established. Examination was carried out for 24 h in each RST and RLS. The respective frequencies and duration of self-grooming, allo-grooming (social grooming) and grooming with trees was recorded by a continuous scan sampling method, and maintenance behavior was recorded by a 2-min group animal scan sampling method. Grooming with trees in RLS occurred 29 ± 12 times/24 h and for 1342 ± 475 s/24 h. Total frequencies and duration of grooming in RLS tended to increase from that in RST (P = 0.08, P = 0.06, respectively). However, self-grooming and allo-grooming exhibited no differences. The results indicate that cattle may enrich their grooming through the use of trees if the latter are available. Furthermore, they may not substitute grooming with trees with other forms of grooming if no trees are available in the grassland. No difference was observed in the general proportion of their maintenance behavior. These results suggest that trees in grassland provide a good environmental enrichment object that satisfies cattle's potential needs of grooming and did not restrict their general behavior. © 2007 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

We investigated mammal fauna of 12 public pastures in Tochigi prefecture, Japan, with two survey methods, camera trapping and field sign survey, and compared the results between these methods. We also examined the features of camera trapping data for future technical refinements. A total of 16 wild mammal species including 9 out of 13 medium-size and large-size mammal species in Tochigi were detected by camera trapping (12 species) and sign survey (14 species). Although the detectability of mammal signs was seasonally affected, such effects were not observed in camera trapping, suggesting that camera trapping is available throughout the year. The contingency of detected species and the correlation of abundance index (frequency of photos and signs) between these two methods were weak (kappa statistics: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.29-0.56) and mild (r=0.58, p<0.05), respectively. These methods were considered to be complementary. It took an average of 218.4 camera-days (range: 24.4-780.9) to reach the maximum species number detected in each pasture while a single remote camera per pasture was not enough to reach the maximum. There may be greater effectiveness of a fixed intermission between photographing in the remote cameras as suggested, comparing among different types of remote cameras. Practically, camera trapping in mammalian faunal surveys in pastures should be conducted with several remote cameras per pasture for at least 3 months with supplemental field sign surveys.

We evaluated the applicability of the Animal Needs Index (ANI), a general evaluation standard of the farming environment for animal welfare in the German bloc, in the grazing environment. Four grazing lands with different grazing conditions were evaluated by ANI35L/2000 for cattle. The grazing conditions were as follows: (1) Range-K in Akita prefecture: About 30 Japanese Shorthorn cattle were grazed in 2,000ha of mountainous area for 150-180 days a year^<-1> in continuous grazing. (2) Farm-O in Iwate prefecture: 170 Japanese Shorthorn and Japanese Black cattle were grazed in 260ha of pasture for 250 days a year^<-1> in a rotational grazing system. (3) Farm-I in Miyagi prefecture: 85 Japanese Black cattle were grazed in 144ha of pasture with some concentrates for 250 days a year^<-1> in a rotational grazing system (for the gestation period) or an on-and-off system of continuous grazing (for the postpartum period until weaning). (4) Pasture-D in Tochigi prefecture: Four Holstein steers were grazed in 1ha of pasture for 180 days a year^<-1> in a rotational grazing system. The scores of the standards for grazing in ANI ranged from -1 to 16 occupying 31.2% of all of the scores in ANI. The scores for each grazing land were (1) 11 points, (2) 14.5 points, (3) 14 points, and (4) 11.5 points, respectively. These scores reflected the number of grazing days, because the standards for grazing in ANI were mainly comprised of the number of grazing days. We suggest that it is necessary to devise a more detailed standard such as the topography, the scale and the vegetation of the grazing lands for application to various grazing systems.

The present study examined and discussed the way the basal diet (BD) during the preliminary phase and the last diet (LD) before the food selection test affected the selective feeding behavior of heifers. For the BD and LD, oat hay and concentrate were used. Three different levels of roughage content (low, medium and high) were prepared by changing the mix ratios of oat hay and concentrate. Low and high roughage diets were used for the BD, and all three of the roughage levels were used for the LD. A mixture of orchard grass and white clover (MIX), and Japanese pampas grass leaf (JP) were used as testing foods. In the preliminary phase, all heifers were fed the BD three times per day. In the test phase, heifers were fed the LD for the first meal (06.00-12.00 hours), and food selection under different BD and LD was examined during the second meal (13.00-16.00 hours) of the day. The effects of the BD were significant for MIX dry matter intake (DMI), JP DMI and the rate of MIX DMI for total DMI. Under the high roughage BD condition, heifers ingested more MIX than under the low roughage BD condition. The effect of the LD was significant on JP DMI, whereas the rate of MIX DMI for total DMI was not significant. Selective feeding behavior was strongly affected by the BD and slightly by the LD.

The present study examined the way the selective feeding behavior of calves was affected by basal diet. Three basal diets containing oat hay and concentrate, with the addition of different levels of roughage content (low, medium and high) were prepared by changing their mix ratios. Orchard grass (OG) and Japanese pampas grass leaf (JP) were used as testing foods. In the preliminary phase, all calves were fed each basal diet three times per day and then food selection between JP and OG was examined. Dry matter intake (DMI) of JP and OG throughout the test was significantly different. Increasing the roughage rate in the basal diet decreased the DMI of JP, whereas the DMI of OG was increased. There was no significant effect of basal diet condition on nutrient intake, whereas the acid detergent fiber and neutral detergent fiber ingestive efficiency were affected by the basal diet condition. It is suggested that calves prefer food that complement the basal diet, even if nutrient requirements are met.

The species composition of the small mammal fauna in pastures and its relationship with pasture characteristics were investigated in the northern part of Tochigi, Japan. Small mammals were captured using the Sherman trap in the spring, summer, and autumn of 2001. Sixty-seven animals of 6 species (Apodemus speciosus, Micromys minutus. Microtus montebelli, Crocidura dsinezumi, Urotrichus talpoides, and A. argenteus) and 466 animals of 6 species were caught at pastures and woodlands. The number of captured animals in woodlands was seven times larger than that in pastures. Species richness is high in tall-grass pastures and shows significantly negative correlations with grazing intensity. In order to raise livestock in pastures while sustaining high species richness of small mammal fauna, it is important that grazing management is designed in consideration of the wood-land-pasture combination and tall-grass type pasture maintained by partial grazing regulations.

We examined the relationships between calf productivity, anemia and Theileria orientalis sergenti infection from records of 109 Japanese shorthorn calves during a grazing period and we quantified the relative importance of the T. orientalis sergenti infection-resistance criteria used. A decrease in average parasitemia (AvePara) and an increase in average packed cell volume (AvePCV) would cause a decrease in the number of drug treatments. An increase in AvePCV would decrease the number of drug treatments more efficiently than a decrease in AvePara. An increase in AvePCV would cause an increase in dairy gain, while a decrease in AvePara would cause a decrease in dairy gain. Therefore, an improvement in the capacity to control anemia development would improve T. orientalis sergenti infection resistance more efficiently than an improvement in the capacity to control parasitemia development.

Japanese theileriosis, which is caused by the intraerythrocytic protozoan Theileria orientalis sergenti, is one of the most harmful anemic diseases to grazing calves in Japan. In this paper, we estimated genetic and phenotypic parameters of packed cell volume (PCV) and productivity in 435 Japanese Shorthorn calves, and discussed the feasibility of the genetic improvement for higher anemia tolerance. The heritabilities of PCV at pre-grazing (PrePCV) and minimum PCV during grazing period (MinPCV), age at MinPCV (MinAge), the times of theileriacidal drug treatment (TRT) and daily body weight gain during the grazing period (DG) were 0.54±0.11, 0.13±0.06, 0.21±0.07, 0.35±0.21 and 0.65±0.06, respectively. There were weakly negative genetic correlations between MinPCV and DG. MinAge had a strongly positive genetic correlation with MinPCV, while a strongly negative genetic correlation with DG. TRT had negative phenotypic and genetic correlations with all traits. From the results of simulations of selection, a single improvement in DG would reduce MinPCV and TRT in a population as a correlated response. Although it would lead to a reduction in TRT as a correlated response, it would also lead to temporarily severe anemia. This would require more labor for management of grazing herds and frequent times of sanitary check. On the other hand, a simultaneous improvement in DG and anemia tolerance would be inferior in efficiency of improvement in DG. Instead of a low efficiency of improvement in DG, a simultaneous improvement would decrease TRT more efficiently and increase MinPCV. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.