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Background Mastitis–metritis–agalactia (MMA) syndrome occurs in the first days post-partum and causes piglet losses mainly due to malnutrition. One possibility for prophylaxis of MMA is via homeopathy. In this veterinary study, the effectiveness of a prophylactic administration of homeopathic remedies for the prevention of the occurrence of MMA in swine was evaluated. Methods In a randomised and blinded study, 60 sows were examined. Sows were randomly distributed in two groups: the experimental group (CL/LL) received a prophylactic administration of the complex homeopathic remedies Caulophyllum Logoplex and Lachesis Logoplex , and the placebo group was administered a sodium chloride (NaCl) solution in the same injection scheme as the experimental group. Clinical signs of MMA, behavioural changes, as well as production parameters, were recorded beginning with the day of farrowing until 5 days post-partum. Results The treatment group showed no significant effect on the occurrence of MMA in sows (CL/LL: 56.67% MMA positive sows; NaCl: 53.53% MMA positive sows). Treatment group had also no significant effect on health parameters (vaginal discharge, raised rectal temperature, shortage of milk) or behavioural parameters (impaired feeding behaviour and impaired general condition). For the production parameter average weight gain, statistically significant effects in the treatment group were detected. Conclusions Prophylaxis with the homeopathic remedies Caulophyllum Logoplex and Lachesis Logoplex showed neither an improvement in MMA prevention nor an improvement in health parameters or behavioural traits in the present herd of sows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Züchtungskunde is the property of Verlag Eugen Ulmer and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Züchtungskunde is the property of Verlag Eugen Ulmer and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A pre-purchase examination (PPE) serves to show the potential buyer the horses' health status and what effect this has on current and future use. At the same time, the PPE or its results are often the subject of disputes in court. This study is dedicated to the comparability of PPE results. Therefore, two trained observers examined 30 horses according to a standard PPE protocol. The data was compared at individual level and evaluated using SAS. Cohens kappa (κ), weighted kappa (κw), prevalence-adjusted, bias-adjusted kappa (PABAK) were used for calculation for data with a two- or three-point scale and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), limits of agreement (LoA) and Spearman rank correlation coefficient (RS) for all indicators based on continuous data. 23 of 46 indicators showed acceptable (κ, κw = 0.4; PABAK = 0.4) to good (κ, κw = 0.6; PABAK = 0.75) interobserver reliability at binary indicators. An acceptable (RS = 0.4; ICC = 0.4) to good (RS = 0.7; ICC = 0.7) interobserver reliability was found for all indicators based on continuous data. Nutritional status, scars or status of the hooves showed poor values for κ and PABAK. This study indicated acceptable to good interobserver reliability of a PPE protocol. Nevertheless, clearer instructions should partly be established to reduce the scope for interpretation and to improve comparability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Tail biting is one of the major animal welfare issues in pig farming and can be avoided or reduced by early detection using various indicators. The aim of the study was to identify the most important variables from a set of pen-level (tail posture, daily health control, treatment index, weight, water consumption and activity time) and environmental variables (temperature, humidity, NH3 and CO2 concentration, exhaust air rate and outdoor temperature). In rearing and fattening, variables were collected either by direct observation or by using sensors. Variables were selected mainly from the pen-level variables in rearing. In fattening, environmental and pen-level variables were selected. This indicates that in rearing the environmental aspects have less influence on the development of tail lesions than in fattening. Nevertheless, the most relevant variable in both rearing and fattening is tail posture. The selected variables have contributed to the explanation of the variance of tail lesions; thus, these can be used as predictor variables for the early detection of tail biting in further investigations. This study examined relevant variables for predicting the prevalence of pigs with a tail lesion in rearing (REA) and fattening (FAT). Tail lesions were recorded at two scoring days a week in six pens in both REA (10 batches, 840 scoring days) and FAT (5 batches, 624 scoring days). To select the variables that best explain the variation within the prevalence of pigs with a tail lesion, partial least squares regression models were used with the variable importance in projection (VIP) and regression coefficients (β) as selection criteria. In REA, five factors were extracted explaining 60.6% of the dependent variable's variance, whereas in FAT five extracted factors explained 62.4% of the dependent variable's variance. According to VIP and β, seven variables were selected in REA and six in FAT with the tail posture being the most important variable. In addition, skin lesions, treatment index in the suckling phase, water consumption (mean), activity time (mean; CV) and exhaust air rate (CV) were selected in REA. In FAT, additional musculoskeletal system issues, activity time (mean; CV) and exhaust air rate (mean; CV) were selected according to VIP and β. The selected variables indicate which variables should be collected in the stable to e.g., predict tail biting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]