This chapter describes how standards implemented by major meat buyers can be used to improve welfare, how different marketing systems can either improve welfare or make it worse, how to use incentive payments to improve welfare, the negative effects of biological overload of an animal on its...

In this chapter, the author discussed the Panksepp basic emotional systems and suggests based on studies that it is the best way to explain the many conflicting results in scientific studies of farm animal temperament. From the different studies he presented he then concludes that the Jaak Panksepp ...

This chapter discusses the animal welfare requirements for organic farms; how to select genetic lines of animals that are suitable for organic farming; grazing more than one species on a pasture; understand the differences between EU, US and Canadian organic programmes and the importance of using...

Plants provide a unique ecological niche for diverse communities of fungal endophytes that vary in their impact, positive to negative, on the host plant. Fungal endophytes colonize plants without any visible disease symptoms for at least part of their life history. These symbionts are critical...

Symbiotic interactions are very extended in nature and their multiple co-occurrence among plants, fungi and bacteria is highly likely within a community. Thus, a single plant can harbour different strains, species or types of symbionts. Furthermore, at the neighbourhood level, the co-occurrence of...

This third edition contains 18 chapters which discussed topics on the digestive physiology, feed formulation and product quality, as well as feeding strategies, feed processing, feed management around weaning and the relationship between nutrition and intestinal health of rabbits. Brand new to this ...

Classical biological control attempts from 1921 to 1944 were not effective. During the 1960s, an important success was obtained by controlling the rhodesgrass scale in thousands of hectares of pastures with an introduced parasitoid. Also biocontrol of wheat aphids by introduction of parasitoids and ...

Unlike traditional successional theory, Alternate Stable Equilibrium (ASE) theory posits that more than one community state is possible in a single environment, depending on the order that species arrive. ASE theory is often invoked in management situations where initial stressors have been...

This chapter discussed the five components in poultry diet namely: energy, protein, minerals, vitamins and water. Highlights focused on the effect of nutrient shortage or imbalance in relation to other nutrients on the performance of the animals particularly on production of eggs and meat.

This chapter discusses management of grazing systems; particularly, planning of stocking density, measuring grassland production and utilization, grazing systems, youngstock grazing, pasture supplementation, legume swards, and maintaining grassland productivity. It is established that grazing...