In Legehennenbeständen wurde die Schutzwirkung von vier Impfprogrammen, die der Zentralverband der Deutschen Geflügelwirtschaft e.V. empfiehlt und einer Impfung nach der Hühner-Salmonellen-Verordnung untersucht. Unterschiede in den Impfschemata konnten unter den gewählten Versuchsbedingungen nicht festgestellt werden. Eine Impfung gegen Salmonellen garantiert keine vollständige Elimination des Erregers, sondern eine Reduktion der Besiedelung der Organe sowie der Ausscheidung und der Eikontamination. Auch eine zusätzliche Impfung mit Inaktivatimpfstoffen erbrachte keinen effektiveren Schutz vor Salmonella Enteritidis und Salmonella Thyphimurium. Die Schutzwirkung einer Impfung ist am besten, wenn die Salmonellen-Exposition gering ist.

Mithilfe des Embryotransfers können mehrere Embryonen und somit mehr Nachkommen pro Jahr aus einer züchterisch wertvollen Stute erzeugt werden. Im sächsischen Hauptgestüt Graditz wurden dazu bei mehreren Spenderstuten Spülungen durchgeführt. Die Embryonen wurden entweder direkt in die Empfängerstuten transferiert oder für eine spätere Nutzung kryokonserviert. Das Verfahren ist insbesondere für Sportpferdezüchter geeignet und nun auch für sächsische Züchter nutzbar.

In zwei Legehennenställen mit den Volieresystemen Natura 60 und High Rise 3 wurden Stallklima und Emissionen untersucht. Die ermittelten Kenndaten wie Lufttemperatur und -feuchte, Stallstaub, Luftkeime und Geruch sowohl im Stallraum als auch im Abluftstrom wurden mit vorliegenden Kenndaten anderer Volieresysteme verglichen. Die untersuchten Haltungssysteme unterscheiden sich in den Ammoniakemissionen (88 bzw. 32 g/Tierplatz und Jahr). Die Messwerte liegen am unteren bzw. oberen Rand vergleichbarer Messungen anderer Volieresysteme. Die Untersuchungen belegen, dass häufig durchgeführte Kotbandentleerungen die Emissionen mindern. Die Staubbelastung der Abluft (66 bzw. 47 g/Tierplatz und Jahr) war im Vergleich zu anderen Volieresystemen (146 g/Tierplatz und Jahr) deutlich gemindert. Der Effekt ist konstruktionsbedingt und wird auf die treppenhausartige Anordnung der Volieren und das dadurch veränderte Bewegungsverhalten der Legehennen zurückgeführt. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse lassen einen deutlichen Einfluss der Abluftstromführung erkennen. Die ermittelten Geruchsemissionen (9 bzw. 24 GE/GV*s) sind differenziert und ordnen sich in den bisherigen Kenndatenbereich für Volierenhaltungen ein.

Bei den Fleischrinderrassen Angus, Fleckvieh und Limousin wurde untersucht, inwieweit Rasseunterschiede und biotechnische Verfahren den Erfolg der Künstlichen Besamung (KB) beeinflussen. Im Ergebnis sollen optimale Zeitspannen für die KB nach verschiedenen Hormonapplikationen abgeleitet werden. Bei 40 von insgesamt 88 besamten Tieren konnten mittels Ultraschalluntersuchung 34 Tage nach der KB Trächtigkeiten nachgewiesen werden. Der Besamungserfolg war bei Kühen etwas größer als bei Färsen, bei Fleckvieh etwas geringer als bei den anderen Rassen. Bei Tieren, deren Gelbkörper zum Zeitpunkt der PGF2α-Gabe einen Hohlraum aufweist, sollte die anschließende KB nur bei guter Brunstsymptomatik stattfinden. Hinsichtlich des KB-Termins erscheint eine Besamung bei gleichzeitiger GnRH-Gabe 68 bis 70 Stunden nach PGF2α-Injektion am sinnvollsten. Die Zeitspanne zwischen PGF2α-Injektion und Ovulation lag im Mittel bei 85 Stunden.

Escherichia coli is part of the normal gastrointestinal microbiota of many animals, especially cattle. While most strains are commensal, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) can cause severe human illness. Pathogenicity of STEC is associated with genes such as those encoding Shiga toxins, enterohemolysin, and intimin. By targeting these genes, highly sensitive molecular-based techniques help detect potentially harmful STEC. Persistent carriers and environmental contamination may be responsible for maintenance of STEC in cattle farms. Prevalence may be further influenced by diet, distance to contaminated water-sources, wildlife contact, slurry application to pasture, and population density. Relevance in environmental contamination is expected proportional to the amount of STEC shed in feces, but there is no consensus as to which production stage/age is most important. Distribution and transmission of STEC O157 are widely studied, but risk factors for non-O157 STEC are not as well defined. Understanding what contributes for contamination of animals prior to concentration in high-density feedlots may reveal opportunities for upstream control of shedding and transmission. Our purpose was to: (a) determine prevalence of STEC in fecal samples from animals in a cow-calf pasture-based production system; (b) describe effects of age class (dam, calf), spatial distribution of cattle, and time-point of sampling on distribution of strains positive for virulence genes stx1, stx2, eaeA, and hlyA; (c) isolate and identify serotypes present in stx-positive samples; and (d) assess genetic similarity of isolates. Understanding factors that influence distribution of STEC strains may help support on-farm management strategies with potential to yield safer beef products. / Master of Science

The rise of Anglo-Saxon kingship has many influences, yet current scholarly discussion tends to focus on a select few. This thesis aims to analyze an oft-ignored factor in the development of kingship in Anglo-Saxon England. By discussing the influences of domestic production, international trade, food-based tribute, and royal feasting on Anglo-Saxon kingship from the fifth to the eleventh centuries, the role of food consumption in the development of kingship can be articulated. This thesis begins with a discussion of the practices of Anglo-Saxon domestic food production. Systems of agriculture and animal husbandry are analyzed, along with the various methods used to procure domestic prestige foods. This chapter explores the links between conceptions of land ownership and the legitimacy of kingly rule. A discussion of international trade in prestige food follows, analyzing the ways in which the developing relationship between Anglo-Saxon England and the European Continent shaped internal and external conceptions of kingship. Following this chapter, a discussion of the variant chronological forms of Anglo-Saxon kingship is pursued. This discussion culminates in a case study of the collection of food-rents throughout the Anglo-Saxon occupation of England, revealing the connections among land ownership, status goods, and long-distance organization in the rise of kingship. An analysis of the development of Anglo-Saxon feasting follows, displaying the links between the use of prestige foods and relationships based on systems of obligations in solidifying Anglo-Saxon kingship. A general discussion follows, during which the combined influences of production, trade, tribute, and feasting on Anglo-Saxon kingship are made manifest. Finally, an overview of this thesis' findings is presented, along with suggestions for further study.

L’augmentation présumée de la consommation de viande en Inde, pays parfois décrit comme étant principalement végétarien, nourrit de nombreuses spéculations. Cette thèse vise à étudier les recompositions du statut de la viande en Inde, notamment dans l’Etat du Tamil Nadu, en accordant une attention particulière à la dimension spatiale de cet aliment. En Inde, la viande reste marginale : sa consommation est régulée par des logiques religieuses, morales, médicales ou économiques. Ses réseaux d’approvisionnement sont structurés par des contraintes écologiques et techniques mais aussi sociales et symboliques. Les abattoirs sont des lieux de conflit sur les usages et les significations des produits carnés. La visibilité des boucheries dans l’espace public est fortement contrôlée. Ainsi, la viande, notamment celle de bœuf, devient un aliment politique, support de revendications identitaires. Mais l’urbanisation, l’industrialisation et la connexion à l’espace-Monde modifient progressivement le rapport des Indiens à la viande. La massification des circuits carnés ne peut être niée. Les exportations de viande de buffle s’envolent. Au restaurant, la consommation de viande, notamment de poulet produit de façon intensive, devient pour la classe moyenne de Chennai une pratique statutaire. Pour autant, la transition alimentaire parfois prophétisée apparaît être une hypothèse erronée. La banalisation de la viande, circonscrite dans l’espace, va de pair avec une extrême différenciation des pratiques, en fonction des types de viandes, des individus, des contextes. En Inde, le rapport à la viande, véritable « substance biomorale », contribue à dessiner des géographies matérielles et idéelles, façonnant des territoires et des circuits, définissant des distances réelles ou symboliques entre les hommes et les animaux ou entre les groupes sociaux. / The fact that meat consumption is allegedly on the rise in India, a country often depicted as primarily vegetarian, feeds speculation. By paying special attention to the spatial dimensions of this foodstuff, this thesis aims at investigating the recasting of the meanings of meat in this country, particularly in the State of Tamil Nadu. In India, meat consumption is still marginal. Its consumption is religiously, morally, medically and economically regulated. Ecological, technical, social and symbolic constraints shape its networks of provision. The uses and significations of the different meats are contested in slaughterhouses. In the public space, the visibility of butcheries is under strict control. Thus, the issue of meat, and especially of beef, is highly negotiated within the political arena, being leveraged by identity claims. But dynamics of urbanization, industrialization and globalization appear to be gradually reconfiguring the relation that Indians maintain with meat. Undeniably, meat is becoming commoditized, mass-produced. Buffalo meat exports are soaring. At the restaurant, the consumption of meat, especially of intensively reared chickens, becomes a marker of social status for the middle classes of Chennai. Yet, the assumed food transition turns out to be a flawed assumption. The secularization and growing acceptance of meat is restricted to peculiar places. Practices are highly differentiated by types of meat, by individuals and by contexts. In India, the way people interact with meat, an actual “biomoral substance”, contributes to drawing material and immaterial geographies, to shaping territories and circuits, to fixing real and symbolic distances between people and animals and between social groups.

This thesis set out to examine the effect of maternal undernutrition and exposure to stressors between pregnancy day 50 to 100 and 100 to 147 of pregnancy on the ewe and her lamb. The long-term effects of these stressors during pregnancy on lamb growth, plasma cortisol response to a stressor, metabolism, behaviour and future reproductive success were examined. Mid-pregnancy shearing The component of mid-pregnancy shearing that causes the increase in lamb birth weight is unknown. It was hypothesised that the increase in lamb birth weight was due to the stress response of the ewe to shearing. This work examined the effect of a range of stressors at approximately day 80 of pregnancy. These stressors included yarding, crutching and sham-shearing that may be components of the shearing procedure that produce a stress response. In addition, repeated stressors between day 74 and 106 of pregnancy including isolation, sham-shearing and exogenous cortisol injection were used to examine the role of a longer-term stress response on lamb birth weight. Mid-pregnancy shearing has consistently resulted in an increase in lamb birth weight, however all the other stressors investigated had no effect. Therefore, the hormonal stress response of ewes to shearing was unlikely to be the cause of the increase in lamb birth weight. Mid-pregnancy shearing also resulted in minor changes in ewe and lamb behaviour 12 to 24 h after birth. Shearing during pregnancy had no effect on the cortisol response of ram lambs to handling or castration however differences were observed between singleton- and twin-born lambs. Ewe nutrition during pregnancy Ewes mildly undernourished in between days 70 and 107 of pregnancy that were then provided with adequate nutrition between days 108-145 of pregnancy gave birth to lambs with similar birth weights as ewes well-fed during both periods. Therefore the effects of undernutrition on lamb birth weight can be minimised if undernutrition can be limited to the earlier period (day 70-107 and 108-147 of pregnancy). Mild undernutrition in both periods (day 70 – 145 of pregnancy), resulted in lambs that were lighter and that exhibited behaviours associated with a greater ‘drive’ to maintain contact with their dam than lambs born to ewes well-fed during the same period. This suggests that even mild undernutrition in both mid- and late- pregnancy should be avoided. The effect of maternal nutrition and lamb litter size on the behaviour of female offspring was examined at 1 and 2 years of age. Litter size had no effect on ewe behaviour at 1 year of age however at 2 years of age twin-born ewes had higher maternal behaviour scores than triplet-born ewe lambs. Nutrition of the maternal grand dam during pregnancy had only a minor effect on the behaviour of female offspring at 1 year of age and no effect on maternal behaviour at 2 years of age.

Appendices removed due to copyright restrictions Appendix 1: Beausoleil, N J, Stafford, KJ, Mellor, DJ. 2005. Sheep show more aversion to a dog than to a human in an arena test. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 91 : 2 1 9-232. Appendix 2: Beausoleil, NJ, Stafford, KJ, MelIor, DJ. Does direct human eye contact function as a warning cue for domestic sheep, Ovis aries? Journal of Comparative Psychology, J 20 (3) : 269-279. Appendix 3:Beausoleil, NJ, Stafford, KJ, MelIor, DJ. 2004. Can we use change in core body temperature to evaluate stress in sheep? Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, 64: 72-76. Appendix 4: Beausoleil, N.J, Mellor, DJ, Stafford, KJ 2004. Methods for marking New Zealand wildlife: amphibians, reptiles and marine mammals. Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand 147p. ISBN 0-478-2263 1-4. Appendix 5: Mellor, DJ, Beausoleil, NJ, Stafford, KJ 2004. Marking amphibians, reptiles and marine mammals: Animal welfare, practicalities and public perceptions in New Zealand. Miscellaneous Publication, Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand 55p. ISBN 0-478-22563-6. / Both humans and dogs are integral in sheep production systems; however, which is more aversive to sheep, or indeed, whether either causes significant stress, has not been shown experimentally. The aim of this thesis was to examine some behavioural and physiological responses of domestic sheep to the presence of humans or dogs. An arena test was used to measure the relative aversion of sheep to the presence of a human or dog, as well as to elucidate differences in the responses of flocks at the University of Western Australia (UWA) which were putatively selected for differences in fearfulness. A Y maze preference test was used to 'ask' sheep whether they preferred a human shaking a rattle or a barking dog. In both tests, adrenocortical responses were measured concurrently to support the interpretation of behaviour. The presence of a human or dog in the arena elicited significantly more avoidance and vigilance behaviour and less exploration than did the presence of a control object. However, the dog elicited significantly more of this fear-related behaviour, and significantly larger adrenocortical responses than did the human. Sheep also expressed a clear preference for a human shaking a rattle over a barking dog in the Y maze test and exhibited larger adrenocortical responses to the dog than to the human in the Y maze facility. The UWA flocks differed in their expression of locomotor and vocal activity; MA sheep were more active/vocal than the other flocks, not only in the presence of the human but also with the box or dog. MA sheep expressed less avoidance and vigilance and more exploration than the other flocks in the presence of the human and exhibited significantly lower plasma cortisol concentrations than LA sheep after exposure to the human (10-min sample). However, there were no inter-flock differences in fear-related behaviour or adrenocortical responses when the flocks were presented with the box or dog. The results do not support the notion that the UWA flocks have been selected for differences in a consistent predisposition to react fearfully. The adrenocortical responses measured in these studies were only moderate in magnitude and duration, with peak plasma cortisol concentrations 2-3 times higher than pre-treatment values, and all concentrations returning to pre-treatment levels within one hour of the start of treatment. If these observations are confirmed in practical situations, the presence of humans and dogs during routine handling should cause little concern on the basis of animal welfare. However, limiting the presence of dogs in certain situations (e.g. before slaughter) may reduce stress in domestic sheep. Significant methodological developments in this research include the use of multivariate statistical techniques to analyze arena behaviour, the concurrent measurement of adrenocortical and behavioural responses in the arena and Y maze tests, and the explicit testing of the effects of individual lateral biases on choice behaviour in a Y maze test. Future studies should measure sheep stress responses to the presence of humans and dogs in practical situations.

Appendices removed due to copyright restrictions Appendix 1: Beausoleil, N J, Stafford, KJ, Mellor, DJ. 2005. Sheep show more aversion to a dog than to a human in an arena test. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 91 : 2 1 9-232. Appendix 2: Beausoleil, NJ, Stafford, KJ, MelIor, DJ. Does direct human eye contact function as a warning cue for domestic sheep, Ovis aries? Journal of Comparative Psychology, J 20 (3) : 269-279. Appendix 3:Beausoleil, NJ, Stafford, KJ, MelIor, DJ. 2004. Can we use change in core body temperature to evaluate stress in sheep? Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, 64: 72-76. Appendix 4: Beausoleil, N.J, Mellor, DJ, Stafford, KJ 2004. Methods for marking New Zealand wildlife: amphibians, reptiles and marine mammals. Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand 147p. ISBN 0-478-2263 1-4. Appendix 5: Mellor, DJ, Beausoleil, NJ, Stafford, KJ 2004. Marking amphibians, reptiles and marine mammals: Animal welfare, practicalities and public perceptions in New Zealand. Miscellaneous Publication, Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand 55p. ISBN 0-478-22563-6. / Both humans and dogs are integral in sheep production systems; however, which is more aversive to sheep, or indeed, whether either causes significant stress, has not been shown experimentally. The aim of this thesis was to examine some behavioural and physiological responses of domestic sheep to the presence of humans or dogs. An arena test was used to measure the relative aversion of sheep to the presence of a human or dog, as well as to elucidate differences in the responses of flocks at the University of Western Australia (UWA) which were putatively selected for differences in fearfulness. A Y maze preference test was used to 'ask' sheep whether they preferred a human shaking a rattle or a barking dog. In both tests, adrenocortical responses were measured concurrently to support the interpretation of behaviour. The presence of a human or dog in the arena elicited significantly more avoidance and vigilance behaviour and less exploration than did the presence of a control object. However, the dog elicited significantly more of this fear-related behaviour, and significantly larger adrenocortical responses than did the human. Sheep also expressed a clear preference for a human shaking a rattle over a barking dog in the Y maze test and exhibited larger adrenocortical responses to the dog than to the human in the Y maze facility. The UWA flocks differed in their expression of locomotor and vocal activity; MA sheep were more active/vocal than the other flocks, not only in the presence of the human but also with the box or dog. MA sheep expressed less avoidance and vigilance and more exploration than the other flocks in the presence of the human and exhibited significantly lower plasma cortisol concentrations than LA sheep after exposure to the human (10-min sample). However, there were no inter-flock differences in fear-related behaviour or adrenocortical responses when the flocks were presented with the box or dog. The results do not support the notion that the UWA flocks have been selected for differences in a consistent predisposition to react fearfully. The adrenocortical responses measured in these studies were only moderate in magnitude and duration, with peak plasma cortisol concentrations 2-3 times higher than pre-treatment values, and all concentrations returning to pre-treatment levels within one hour of the start of treatment. If these observations are confirmed in practical situations, the presence of humans and dogs during routine handling should cause little concern on the basis of animal welfare. However, limiting the presence of dogs in certain situations (e.g. before slaughter) may reduce stress in domestic sheep. Significant methodological developments in this research include the use of multivariate statistical techniques to analyze arena behaviour, the concurrent measurement of adrenocortical and behavioural responses in the arena and Y maze tests, and the explicit testing of the effects of individual lateral biases on choice behaviour in a Y maze test. Future studies should measure sheep stress responses to the presence of humans and dogs in practical situations.