Sequencing technology allows us tosee how the gene expression of each genechanges under different treatment conditions. In this study, chicks of two inbred lines were challenged with Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV), a pathogen with devastating impacts on poultry throughout the world. At each of the three time points post-infection, one-third of the chicks were sacraficed and their lungs were harvested. When comparing males and females infected with NDV, differences in gene expression that were predicted to impact growth and apoptosis were identified. Differences between the response of males and females to viral challenges could be useful information for production operations. The interaction between production traits and immune related traits require further study.

The decline in fed cattle prices from the summer of 2015 has continued now through the summer of 2016. Feed and feeder calf prices have also declined as reflected in the breakeven values. Market weights have declined slightly through the year, but are still fairly large when compared back to weights of three years ago. Feeding losses were not as extreme as they were a year ago, but they are still not favorable.

The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of dietary xylanase and an enzyme blend (EB:cellulase, ß-glucanase, and xylanase) on nutrient digestibilityand growth performance inweaned pigletsfed a low energy diet. A total of 460 pigsweighing about 6.43 kg were randomly blocked by weight and assigned to 4 treatments, in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement.There were 12 blocks and 48 pens with 9 or 10 pigs/pen. The diets were based on corn, soybean meal, corn DDGS, andwheat middlings(5 and 10% each fiber ingredientfor wk 1-2 and 3-4, respectively)with or without enzyme supplementation(Huvepharma Inc., St. Louis, MO),with 0.40% titanium dioxide as an indigestible marker. Body weight and feed intake were recorded weekly. Performance data wereanalyzedas repeated measurementsusing the PROC MIXED procedure of SAS (9.4) with pen as the experimental unit. Xylanase (0 or 0.01%), EB(0 or 0.01%), andtheir interactionswereconsidered fixed effects.The EB addition (12.45 vs. 12.08kg; P= 0.044), but not xylanase (12.27 vs. 12.26 kg; P> 0.05), increased body weight. Neither enzymetreatmenthad an impact on ADFI or G:F ratio (P> 0.05). The EB treatmentimproved ADG (482 vs. 466 g; P= 0.024) from wk1-4. There was noenzymeimpact on ATTDof DM, GE, and CP(P> 0.05). Xylanase supplementation tended to reduceATTD of EE (61.05 vs. 62.82%; P= 0.073)and reducedthe ATTD of NDF(46.10 vs. 48.95%), ADF(27.30 vs. 31.71%), and hemicellulose(52.77 vs. 55.23%; P< 0.01). Supplementation of EB improved ATTD of ADF by 22% (32.45 vs. 26.57%; P= 0.001). In conclusion, EB but not xylanaseimproved growth rate in nursery pigsfed a low energy diet, which may not be completelydue tothe improvement in ADF digestibility.

This study aimed to characterize the postures and movements of the lying down sequence in multiparous sows,and to identify possible differences between lame and non-lamesows. Eighty-five multiparous sows were moved from their gestation housingto a gestation stall where they were video recorded for one lying down–standing up event on days 30, 60 and 90 of gestation. The digital video camera was positioned on the adjacent stall so the sows’ profile was visible while recording. Observations ceasedwhen the sow successfully lied down and stood up or if 2.5 hours elapsed since recording began. Prior to recording, sows were scored for lameness on a 3-point scale, (1 = normal to 3 =severely lame).From thevideo,postures and movements that occurred during the lying-standing sequence were identified. Lameness was not associated with any of the traits studied. However, a tendency to spend less time standing was observed in lame sows suggesting that lameness recorded in thisstudy was notsevere enough to affect the sequence.

Animal microbiomeshavegainedattentionin recent years because oftheirrolesin avariety of physiological responses to disease and environment challenges. In this study, we subjected production white egg layers to a 4-week heatstress challenge to measure changes in the cecal microbiome. We found that heat stress altersthe cecal microbial compositionafter 2 weeks of cyclic heat exposure. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate changes in microbiome in heat-stressed layers, and provides an approximatetime course for the microbiome alterations.