Search
Now showing items 1-10 of 12
Aufsatz
Emerging Development Pathways of Urban Livestock Production in Rapidly Growing West Africa Cities
(2016-11-19)
In this study, we try to capture the degree of specialization or integration, and of intensification or extensification, of (peri-) urban livestock production, along with the factors that influence such decisions and their impact on natural resource uses. A total of 181 and 187 structured questionnaires were completed in livestock-keeping households in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and Tamale (Ghana). Categorical principal component and two-step cluster analysis were used to identify homogenous groups of livestock-keeping ...
Aufsatz
Spatio-temporal patterns of herbage availability and livestock movements: A cross-border analysis in the Chinese-Mongolian Altay
(Springer, 2016-07-04)
Due to increasing population and the recent implementation of policies to intensify the use of land and water resources, the transhumant pastoral systems in the Chinese-Mongolian Altay-Dzungarian region are rapidly changing, leading to modifications of herd size, herd composition and spatial distribution of livestock grazing. This may have major consequences for the supply and quality of rangeland biomass. Despite similar topographic settings, the socio-political framework for Chinese and Mongolian pastoralists differs ...
Aufsatz
Evolution of Rural Livelihood Strategies in a Remote Sino-Mongolian Border Area: A Cross-Country Analysis
(2018-03-29)
Ecologically sound natural resources management is still the backbone of rural livelihoods in many regions of the world. The Altai-Dzungarian region between China and Mongolia constitutes an ideal site to study how political, economic, infrastructural, and cultural differences affect rural livelihoods. Structured semi-quantitative interviews were conducted with 483 households on both sides to characterise their current livelihood strategies and assess the importance of the various activities for the households’ current ...
Aufsatz
Participatory Mapping as an Approach to Identify Grazing Pressure in the Altay Mountains, Mongolia
(2018-06-11)
Sustainable rangeland management is crucial for maintaining forage resources in pastoral systems, globally. However, pastoral regions are often remote and therefore data poor when it comes to resource monitoring. We tested participatory mapping as a means to rapidly assess rangeland use to identify areas with high grazing pressure. Participatory geographic information system data and herbaceous biomass production data were collected and georeferenced to establish a grazing pressure index for a summer pasture in the ...
Aufsatz
Evaluation of breeding strategies for polledness in dairy cattle using a newly developed simulation framework for quantitative and Mendelian traits
(2016-06-29)
Background: Intensified selection of polled individuals has recently gained importance in predominantly horned dairy cattle breeds as an alternative to routine dehorning. The status quo of the current polled breeding pool of genetically-closely related artificial insemination sires with lower breeding values for performance traits raises questions regarding the effects of intensified selection based on this founder pool.
Methods: We developed a stochastic simulation framework that combines the stochastic simulation ...
Aufsatz
Metabolic disorders in the transition period indicate that the dairy cows' ability to adapt is overstressed
(2015)
Metabolic disorders are a key problem in the transition period of dairy cows and often appear before the onset of further health problems. They mainly derive from difficulties the animals have in adapting to changes and disturbances occurring both outside and inside the organisms and due to varying gaps between nutrient supply and demand. Adaptation is a functional and target-oriented process involving the whole organism and thus cannot be narrowed down to single factors. Most problems which challenge the organisms ...
Aufsatz
Phenotypic diversity, major genes and production potential of local chickens and guinea fowl in Tamale, northern Ghana
(2017-06-26)
Objective:
Our study provides information on phenotypes of local chickens and guinea fowl and their body measures as well as on major genes in local chickens in northern Ghana.
Methods:
Qualitative and morphometric traits were recorded on 788 local chickens and 394 guinea fowl in urban households in Tamale, Ghana.
Results:
The results showed considerable variation of color traits and numerous major genes in local chickens, while color variations and related genotypes in guinea fowl were limited. In local chickens, ...
Aufsatz
The relevance of herders’ local ecological knowledge on coping with livestock losses during harsh winters in western Mongolia
(2018-01-29)
In many regions of the world, traditional and local ecological knowledge is still important today for coping with environmental challenges. This study explored the relevance of such knowledge for predicting and coping with harsh winter conditions (dzud) in a remote area of western Mongolia, where government support to disaster-affected herders is restricted by weak infrastructure. Structured face-to-face interviews were held in 50 households (HHs), addressing aspects of livestock possession and management as well as ...
Aufsatz
Identification and development of measures suitable as potential breeding traits regarding dairy cows´ reactivity towards humans
(Elsevier B.V., 2016-09-19)
Behavioural indicators of the human-animal relationship (HAR) are predominantly used in animal welfare science. However, the reactivity of dairy cows – as part of the HAR - is also of interest in the context of dairy breeding, due to its estimated moderate heritability. The avoidance distance (AD) towards an unfamiliar experimenter in a standardized test is regarded an established behavioural indicator of the HAR, but for breeding purposes more feasible measures would be advantageous.
The aim of the present pilot ...
Aufsatz
Behavioural response of dairy cows with and without calf-contact to hair of own and alien calves presented in the milking parlour
(Elsevier B.V., 2016-05-06)
In systems where dairy cows are milked and additionally suckle their calves during the first months of lactation, problems with alveolar milk ejection during machine-milking occur. As olfaction is a key sense for kin recognition and acceptance at the udder, olfactory stimulation might alleviate this challenge. In this pilot study, we investigated whether cows behaviourally respond to calf hair presented in the parlour, and whether this is affected by suckling the own calf or not. Discrimination between hair of the ...