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Applied Sciences
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Livestock and Poultry Production：Technologies and Prospects
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Livestock and Poultry Production：Technologies and Prospects

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 July 2023) | Viewed by 9214

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Thobela Nkukwana

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Animal & Wildlife Sciences, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, 0028 Hatfield, South Africa
Interests: poultry nutrition; dietary supplements; poultry science; animal nutrition
Dr. Cletos Mapiye

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of AgriSciences, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
Interests: animal production

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The livestock industry plays an essential role in the sustainable development of our planet. Interest in this research is continuously growing, as the production of livestock is a key factor to meet the ever-increasing demand for quality eggs, meat, milk and fibre. Current breeds of farmed animals have the capacity for high efficiency; however, continuous revisions on the regulatory framework pertaining to housing, feeding and health management require rapid changes, informed by innovations in applied science. Similarly, consumer confidence on product quality and safety, the emergence and re-emergence of diseases will continue to pose challenges to the strategic future of the animal production industry. Animal welfare is closely related to the quality of livestock products and the health of consumers. Much research has been conducted in this field and remains relevant as the animal industries seek alternative applications that incorporate technology towards the goal of precision livestock farming (PLF). Applied science in PLF has been shown to improve farm profitability, quality of products, livestock welfare and sustainability of the farm environment. This Special Issue aims to highlight the emerging research trends, novel developments, current challenges and future perspectives in precision livestock farming. Researchers are welcome to contribute high-quality original research or review papers. The topics of interest include but are not limited to:

  • Precision livestock farming.
  • Automatic cow brushes and milking robots.
  • Precision feeding technologies and quality control.
  • Cameras and drone technology to monitor behaviour and activity.
  • Sensor technology in detection of physiological processes in live animals

Dr. Thobela Nkukwana
Dr. Cletos Mapiye
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • precision livestock farming
  • automatic cow brushes and milking robots
  • precision feeding technologies and quality control
  • cameras and drone technology to monitor behaviour and activity
  • sensor technology in detection of physiological processes in live animals

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 2425 KiB  
Article
Mitigating Carbon Emissions: The Impact of Peat Moss Feeding on CH4 and CO2 Emissions during Pig Slurry Storage
by Joonhee Lee and Heekwon Ahn
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(18), 10492; https://doi.org/10.3390/app131810492 - 20 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1102
Abstract
The present study investigated the impact of peat moss as a feed additive on the emission of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) from piggery slurry stored in slurry pits. There is no well-known study on the relationship between [...] Read more.
The present study investigated the impact of peat moss as a feed additive on the emission of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) from piggery slurry stored in slurry pits. There is no well-known study on the relationship between pig manure generated after feeding peat moss as a feed additive and CH4 and CO2 released during the storage period. A lab-scale experiment was conducted for two months using a slurry pit simulator composed of six vessels—three for pig slurry collected after feeding 3.0% peat moss as a feed additive (PFS) and three for pig slurry without feeding peat moss (CTL). PFS reduced CO2 and CH4 emissions (p < 0.05) from stored pig slurry by approximately 23% and 44%, respectively. PFS exhibits substantially elevated concentrations of humic substance (HS) such as humic acid, fulvic acid, and humin compared with CTL, with fold differences of 2.3, 1.8, and 1.1, respectively. Elevated HS levels in the PFS seemed to limit hydrolysis, resulting in lower total volatile fatty acid concentrations compared with CTL. A dominance of CH4 in total carbon emissions was observed (p < 0.05), with CH4 accounting for approximately 93% and 95% of total carbon emissions in PFS and CTL, respectively. PFS had a roughly 43% lower impact on cumulative carbon emissions than CTL, primarily due to decreased CH4 emissions. These findings suggest that PFS may be a promising approach for mitigating carbon emissions and potentially impacting environmental sustainability and climate change mitigation efforts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Livestock and Poultry Production：Technologies and Prospects)
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15 pages, 1776 KiB  
Article
Pilot Study of Diet Supplemented with Sold-Out Substrate of Pleurotus ostreatus in the Feeding of Backyard Broilers
by Omar Romero-Arenas, Maribel Martínez Carrera, Gerardo Landeta-Cortés, Victor Rodríguez-Hernández, Nemesio Villa-Ruano and Antonio Rivera
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(13), 7428; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13137428 - 22 Jun 2023
Viewed by 1204
Abstract
There are several by-products obtained in agricultural systems that can contribute to small-scale production systems within backyards, in this sense, the production of oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) has been integrated into the rural family economy in Mexico. After harvesting the fruiting [...] Read more.
There are several by-products obtained in agricultural systems that can contribute to small-scale production systems within backyards, in this sense, the production of oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) has been integrated into the rural family economy in Mexico. After harvesting the fruiting bodies, the remainder is known as sold-out substrate, this by-product has been destined for other agricultural uses such as: medium for seedlings, vermiculture or fertilizer; however, there are studies where it has been used in the diet of bovine cattle. In this study, the effects of sold-out substrate (corn stubble) of P. ostreatus in the diet of broilers with different percentages of protein, on feed conversion ratio, carcass yield, and broiler meat quality were evaluated. A total of 120 broilers Ross 308 were randomly assigned in 12 pens with concrete floor and curly shaving with an area of 3 m2. During the initial period (1 to 28 days), all broilers were fed commercial feed® mixture. On day 29, the broilers were weighed and divided into four treatment groups and fed diets with different percentages of protein until the end of the experiment. Feed conversion ratio was significantly higher in treatment control (TC) compared to the other treatments; however, the performance parameters were not affected by the diet supplemented with sold-out substrate, likewise, the color and quality of the meat were in a normal range (48 < L* < 51) and with a good amount of crude protein. Sold-out substrate of P. ostreatus from corn stubble presented a high mineral content of Mg, Na, K, Fe, Cu, and Mn suitable to be considered in diets for feeding backyard broilers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Livestock and Poultry Production：Technologies and Prospects)
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14 pages, 5058 KiB  
Article
A Real-Time Automated System for Monitoring Individual Feed Intake and Body Weight of Group-Housed Young Chickens
by Yuping Peng, Zhixiong Zeng, Enli Lv, Xinyuan He, Boyang Zeng, Fan Wu, Jiaming Guo and Ziwei Li
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(23), 12339; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122312339 - 2 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3464
Abstract
The feeding behavior of poultry at a young age is very likely to determine the final growth of the chicken, and can also reflect the feeding status and the health status. It is also of great significance for breeding. This paper describes the [...] Read more.
The feeding behavior of poultry at a young age is very likely to determine the final growth of the chicken, and can also reflect the feeding status and the health status. It is also of great significance for breeding. This paper describes the development and testing of a real-time automated system and a single passage for monitoring the individual feed intake and body weight of poultry. This system integrates an automatic feeding mechanism, an RFID reading module, a weight scale, a feed scale, and a drop weighting scale. The system uses analog circuits and digital filtering to improve the weighing accuracy, and directly measures the amount of feed falling to the ground using a high-precision weighing scale. Through the sequential opening and closing of a sliding door, group-housed chickens are separated so that the young ones are fed individually. As a result of the experiment, we learned that a young chicken grows at a rate of about 8.88 g/day, and the food conversion rate (FCR) is about 4.4, which proves that this system matches the single passage and can accurately monitor the body weight change and feeding behavior of young chickens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Livestock and Poultry Production：Technologies and Prospects)
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Review

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14 pages, 2558 KiB  
Review
Research Progress and Effects of Light on Poultry Circadian Rhythm Regulation Based on CiteSpace
by Yue Yu and Zhanming Li
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(5), 3157; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13053157 - 1 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2613
Abstract
Light is not only an important environmental regulation factor in poultry growth and development, but it is also a key factor affecting circadian rhythm. To explore research frontiers between light and circadian rhythm, this study analyzes related literature in the field of light [...] Read more.
Light is not only an important environmental regulation factor in poultry growth and development, but it is also a key factor affecting circadian rhythm. To explore research frontiers between light and circadian rhythm, this study analyzes related literature in the field of light and circadian rhythm from the Web of Science core database and draws a knowledge graph using CiteSpace, presenting the subject distribution and research frontiers. This study also focuses on the regulation of light in the circadian rhythm of poultry, explores the effects of light on the growth and immunity of poultry, and analyzes the regulatory effect of light on melatonin levels. In summary, the current research frontiers of light and circadian rhythm are lighting, hepatocytes, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), blue light, and immune function. Light regimes played important roles in poultry welfare, yield, growth and development and affected the circadian rhythm in poultry by regulating melatonin levels. The exploration of the relationships between clock genes and circadian rhythm was important for the application of light regulation in poultry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Livestock and Poultry Production：Technologies and Prospects)
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