A 79-day rotational grazing experiment was conducted over the summer and autumn of 2007 to compare effects of grazing willow (Salix spp.) fodder blocks, a combination of small trees (i.e., 1.0m) and herbage, or perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne)/white clover (Trifolium repens) control pasture on breath methane (CH4) emissions, concentrations and solubility of CH4 and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer gas in blood, and haematology variables in young growing female sheep (i.e., hoggets). Measurements of gases in blood followed a double equilibration technique with two (n=20) replicate per treatment. Ten ewe hoggets in each replicate were dosed on day 22 with intraruminal slow release SF6 capsules, an inorganic tracer gas used to calculate CH4 emissions. Breath samples were collected over 5-day periods in weeks 5 (period 1) and 11 (period 2). Total condensed tannin (CT) concentrations calculated in the diet selected by the willow fodder block sheep was 12g CT kg/dry matter intake, with negligible amounts in control pasture hoggets. Compared to control pasture, grazing willow fodder blocks reduced CH4 emission/kg metabolic body weight (BW0.75) by 20% in period 1 (P<0.01), but not in period 2. Blood CH4 concentrations (ng/mL blood) were similar for both groups on day 36, but higher (P<0.001) on day 76 for hoggets grazing willow fodder blocks, while a different trend was observed for SF6 blood concentration being higher (P<0.01) on day 36 in hoggets grazing willow fodder blocks, but similar in both groups on day 76. Repeatability of blood CH4 concentration was 75% in period versus 84% in period 2. Methane and SF6 Ostwald solubility coefficients in blood were similar in both periods for sheep grazing willow fodder blocks and the control pasture. Hoggets grazing willow fodder blocks had lower BW gain (65g/day), carcass weight (16.1kg) and carcass fatness (9.2mm) than hoggets grazing control pasture (102g; 18.3kg; 11mm). Hoggets dosed with SF6 capsules had lower (P<0.05) red blood cells, haemoglobin and haematocrit concentrations when grazing either willow fodder blocks or control pasture, while neutrophil (P=0.063), platelet (P=0.073) and monocyte (P=0.072), white blood cell and total lymphocyte counts (P<0.05) were higher for willow fodder block-fed hoggets than those fed the control pasture. Differences in the reduction in CH4 emission between periods from grazing willow fodder blocks may be due to more willow leaf being eaten during the CH4 measurement period in period 1 than in period 2.

A grazing experiment was conducted in the East Coast region of the North Island of New Zealand with 180 weaned ram lambs grazing typical dryland summer pasture versus grazing willow (Salix spp.) fodder blocks. The experiment was conducted over a 14-week period with three forage treatments, comprising control pasture, restricted access to willow fodder blocks and full access to willow fodder blocks, with each treatment further divided into undrenched and regularly anthelmintic drenched groups. Live weight (LW) and dag score (DS) were recorded at 14-day intervals. Fifteen lambs in both drenched and undrenched groups were regularly monitored for faecal nematode egg counts (FEC) and nematode larval cultures (LC). Carcase weight (CW; kg) and LW (kg) data was collected from 12 additional lambs slaughtered at the beginning of the experiment to predict initial CW of the experimental lambs from their initial LW. At the end of the grazing experiment, all lambs were slaughtered in a commercial abattoir; CW and GR (fatness) was recorded. The abomasum and small and large intestines were collected from 10 lambs from each undrenched group for estimation of total worm nematode numbers. Organic matter digestibility (OMD; 0.65) and metabolisable energy (ME; 9.7MJ/kgDM) content were similar for fodder block pasture and control pasture; the selected tree fodder had a higher OMD (0.71) and ME concentration (10.7MJ/kgDM). Herbage condensed tannin (CT) concentration in willow fodder blocks was consistently higher than the trace CT levels detected in control pasture (14.5g/kgDM versus 6.2g/kgDM); tree fodder contained higher concentrations of CT (45.5g/kgDM). Undrenched lambs grazing either control pasture or willow fodder blocks had lower LW gain (LWG) and CW gain (CWG) than lambs regularly drenched with anthelmintic (P<0.0001). Lambs grazing fodder blocks had consistently lower DS and carcase GR and undrenched lambs grazing fodder blocks had reduced worm burdens of economically important internal parasites compared with undrenched lambs grazing control pasture. Lamb growth rates were reduced by restricted access to willow fodder blocks (P<0.01), but not by full access. Undrenched lambs grazing fodder blocks with full access had similar LWG, final DS and carcase GR to regularly drenched lambs grazing control pasture (the conventional farming system), but had reduced rates of CWG. It was concluded that willow fodder blocks could have a place in integrated systems for the control of internal parasites in grazing lambs, leading to a reduction in anthelmintic drench use, but that this would probably result in lower CW relative to regularly drenched lambs.

Confinement respiration chambers for gaseous exchange measurements are expensive and the aim of this work was to develop a small chamber system using material easily available in warehouse to measure methane (CH 4 ) released by sheep.The chambers (four) were adapted from metabolism cages commonly found in animal nutrition laboratories.Each chamber was 157 by 71 by 167 cm (volume 1.9 m 3 ) and they were covered on its sides except the bottom with 7.7 m 2 polyethylene plastic, 0.3 mm thick.The chamber had one in-let opening (5 cm diameter) in the front and one out-let opening in the rear (5 cm diameter) in which an exhaust pump was connected to remove the inside air at a flow rate of 168 L/min (measured using an anemometer).The outgoing air was sampled into a balloon (coated with aluminium film) at 100 mL/min by using a peristaltic pump.Inside each chamber, a house-hold fan was fixed for circulating air so as to keep temperature and carbon dioxide at levels comfortable to the animal.Temperature and humidity was measured at regular interval using digital meters.The outflow air was also sampled at hourly interval with a 50 mL syringe and transferred to vacuntainer tubes to check if the balloons were able to hold the CH 4 and the values obtained by two methods are same.Methane was measured using a GC.Methane output measured from the CH 4 levels in vacuntainers in which the gas was collected manually, when added up for 24 h, did not statistically differ from the CH 4 output using balloon samples (43.3 and 52.7 (s.e.= 7.88) ppm respectively).In this chamber set up, a known amount of CH 4 was released and recovery of 107 ± 9.8 % was obtained suggesting that the chamber could be used to measure CH 4 from small ruminant animals (sheep and goats).These chambers were used to measure the effect of coconut oil and a tannin-rich browse (72 g/kg condensed tannin; leucocyanidin equivalent) supplementation on CH 4 production.Twelve Santa Ines sheep were allocated into three groups (liveweight = 47 ± 11.9 kg).All animals were fed a basal diet (Tifton-85 hay-Cynodon sp, corn grain, soybean meal, cottonseed meal and mineral mixture).The control group (C) received only the basal diet and the other groups received on top of that 22 g/kg.day of coconut oil (T-OIL group) in the concentrate (2% in total diet) or 127 g/kg.day of Mimosa caesalpineaefolia (T-MIM group) replacing the forage (24 % in total diet).The forage to concentrate ratio of diets were 69:31; 43:57 and 66:34 (C, T-OIL and T-MIM respectively) and dry matter intake differ (P<0.05)among treatments (1.2, 0.8 and 1.3 (s.e.= 0.06) kg/day respectively for C, T-OIL and T-MIM).After 30 days of feeding the diets, the animals were individually kept in the chambers for measuring CH 4 production.The gas collections were done on two occasions (each of 18 to 22 h) for each sheep.Rumen fluid samples were collected at day 0 and day 28 and kept in a freezer.Methane released by C group was significantly (P<0.023)higher (31 mL kg/DMI) than T-OIL (20 mL kg/DMI) or T-MIM (20 mL kg/DMI) (s.e.= 4.4).Protozoa numbers (x 10 5 ) were lower (P=0.07) in T-OIL and T-MIM than in C group (7.5, 8.5 and 10.7 mL -1 , respectively).It is concluded that the small chamber system could identify the differences in CH4 production in vivo and that coconut oil can reduce CH 4 release although its addition compromises animal performance.This preliminary study also shows that M. caesalpineaefolia may have potential for reducing CH 4 emission from ruminants.

A grazing experiment, conducted for 116 days from 19 January to 15 May in the late summer/autumn of 2006 at Massey University's Riverside dry-land Farm, near Masterton (New Zealand), compared effects of grazing willow (Salix spp.) fodder blocks or perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne)/white clover (Trifolium repens) pasture, during the pre-mating and mating periods, on gastrointestinal nematode parasite control and reproductive rates in 7-month old ewe hoggets. A rotational grazing system with 348 weaned Romney ewe hoggets was used, with 116 hoggets per treatment (control pasture with regular anthelmintic drenching, control pasture with trigger drenching and willow fodder blocks with trigger drenching). Hogget live weights (LW), dag scores (DS), faecal nematode egg counts (FEC) and reproductive rates at foetal ultrasound scanning, lambing, tail docking and weaning were measured. Total N concentration (35g/kg dry matter; DM), organic matter digestibility (OMD; 0.68) and metabolisable energy (ME; 10MJ/kgDM) were similar for fodder block pasture and control pasture; the selected tree fodder had lower concentrations of N (24g/kgDM) and was higher in OMD (0.74) and ME (10.4MJ/kgDM). Tree fodder contained higher concentrations of condensed tannins (CT; 22.9g/kg versus 1.6g/kgDM) than control pasture and herbage in willow fodder blocks. Grazing willow fodder blocks increased LW gain (approximately 97g/day versus 86g/day) and increased reproductive rate corrected to equal LW by approximately 17lambs/100 hoggets mated, due to increases in both oestrus activity and conception rates (hoggets pregnant/100 mated). Calculated daily DM (1.41kg) and ME (14MJ) intakes were similar in all groups. Calculated daily CT intake (6.0g versus 2.1g) and CT intake/100g CP intake (2.2g versus 0.7g) were higher for willow fodder block hoggets than for the control pasture groups, and this may have increased the flow of undegraded dietary protein to the small intestine leading to increases in reproductive rates of this group. Grazing willow fodder blocks failed to reduce the number of anthelmintic drenches (3) needed to maintain FEC below 1000eggs/g wet faeces, but was successful in reducing DS compared to grazing conventional ryegrass/white clover pastures. Grazing willow fodder blocks can be beneficial in sustainable farming systems since tree fodder can sustain growth rates, increase reproductive rates and reduce dag formation in parasitized hoggets.

Browse blocks were developed on wet rush-infested areas of Riverside Farm, near Masterton, by planting 6,000 willow stakes/ha over the winter periods of 2000, 2001 and 2002. This was followed by light grazing in the first year after planting and then more intensive grazing in later years. After 18 months the areas dried out, due to evapotranspiration from the trees, and a herbage sward developed from volunteer species. The quality of the herbage progressively improved over a 4 year period and the browse blocks now support year-round grazing by sheep. In Experiment 1, ewes that grazed willow browse blocks for 86 days in 2004 (including mating) had higher reproductive performance than ewes that were mated on short, drought affected pasture. However, reproductive performance was lower than that from ewes mated on a sole diet of long herbage similar to that growing in the browse blocks. It was calculated that 15 and 65% of the metabolisable energy and condensed tannins consumed by ewes grazing browse blocks was provided by willow trees. In Experiment 2, undrenched lambs grazing either control pasture or browse blocks for 98 days in 2005 had lower liveweight and carcass gains than lambs regularly drenched with anthelmintic. Lambs grazing browse blocks consistently had lower dag scores and undrenched lambs grazing on browse blocks had reduced worm burdens of some economically important internal parasites compared with undrenched lambs grazing pasture. It was concluded that the benefits of browse blocks could be due to both direct and indirect effects and that any benefits in internal parasite management may be accompanied by reduced rates of carcass growth. Guidelines are presented for the grazing management of willow browse blocks over a complete 12 month period. Keywords: willow (Salix), fodder tree, drought, internal parasites.

Cuttings from poplar (Populus) and willow (Salix) trees are used increasingly as supplementary feed for livestock in summer-dry and drought-prone regions of New Zealand. The present experiment aimed to measure in vivo organic matter digestibility and digestibility of organic matter in the dry matter in tree fodder and investigated whether the in vitro system of Roughan and Holland can be used to predict in vivo organic matter digestibility and digestibility of organic matter in the dry matter in poplar and willow tree fodder, which contains high concentrations of secondary compounds, including condensed tannin. In vivo work showed that the digestibility of tree fodder declined from late spring to autumn (p &LT; 0.05) and that this decline was much smaller than the decline in digestibility of grass-based pastures in New Zealand over the same time period. Mean metabolizable energy concentrations and digestibilities were generally higher for willow than for poplar. The in vitro enzymatic system of Roughan and Holland can be used to predict in vivo digestibility of tree fodder. A standard curve using in vivo values determined with animals fed tree fodder would be preferable, owing to the very different chemical compositions of pasture and tree fodder, particularly the greater concentration of secondary compounds in willow and poplar. However, the accuracy and the range of prediction need to be improved. Willow and poplar had similar ME concentrations to high-quality lucerne hay; willow cuttings also had similar ME and CT concentration to vegetative Lotus corniculatus, a high-quality forage legume. &COPY; 2005 Society of Chemical Industry.

A grazing experiment, conducted for 63 d from 12 January 2003, in the late summer/autumn of 2003, at Massey University's Riverside Farm, near Masterton (New Zealand), evaluated the length of feeding necessary (0, 31 and 63 d) to achieve reproduction responses from supplementation with willow tree trimmings in ewes grazing dry summer pastures of low nutritive value during mating. A rotational grazing system with 300 mixed age Romney ewes (54.3 +/- 0.56 kg) was used, with 100 ewes per treatment (control, short supplementation and long supplementation). All ewes were offered 0.70 kg dry matter (DM)/d of low quality pasture, containing 78% dead matter, with pre- and post-grazing pasture masses of 1261 and 821 kg DM/ha, respectively. The effect of short (31 d) and long (63 d) willow supplementation (1.4 kg fresh/ewe/d) on live weight (LW) and body condition score (BCS) change. reproductive rate at pregnancy scanning, lambing, docking and weaning, and wool production was measured. Pasture consumed was typical of drought pasture, very high in neutral detergent fibre (NDF; 603 g/kg), low in organic matter digestibility (49%; OMD), and contained substantial concentrations of the anti-nutritional fungal metabolites zearalenone (Z) and trichothecenes. The willow diet selected was a superior feed to the drought pasture diet selected, with a higher N content, OMD and ME and it contained substantial concentrations of the secondary compounds condensed tannin (CT), salicin and other phenolic glycosides. Willow supplementation for 63 d (long treatment) reduced ewe LW loss (-96 g/d versus - 147 g/d; P < 0.05) and loss in BCS (-0.79 versus - 1.09; P < 0.05), compared to unsupplemented ewes, but these differences disappeared in the post-treatment period. There were no treatment effects on reproductive rate at scanning and lambing, probably due to the toxic concentrations of Z in the pasture consumed by ewes during mating (1.5 mg/kg DM). However, the long treatment weaned 13% more lambs than control ewes, due to a 9% unit reduction in post-natal lamb mortality from 17.1 to 8.4% (P < 0.05). There were no treatment effects on wool production and staple length, only a small treatment effect on the LW of male lambs at birth and no effect on lamb weaning weight. Overall results from 3 years of experimentation showed that supplementing ewes grazing drought pasture during mating with poplar and willow tree fodder consistently reduced LW loss and loss in BCS and substantially increased ultrasound scanning and lambing percentages, provided that the pasture or tree material was not contaminated with fungi that produce oestrogenic mycotoxins. When adjusted to equal birth rank, supplementation with tree fodder during mating also reduced post-natal lamb mortality in all 3 years, with overall means of 17.8 and 11.7% for the control and tree supplemented groups, respectively. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A grazing experiment, conducted for 71 days from 31 January to 12 April in the late summer/autumn of 2001 at Massey University’s Riverside Farm, in Masterton (New Zealand), compared the effect of poplar supplementation (Populus deltoides × nigra, clone Veronese), during mating, on ewe production and reproduction when grazing low quality drought pasture. A rotational grazing system with 300 mixed age Romney ewes (57.1±0.68kg) was used, with 100 ewes per treatment. All ewes were offered 0.70 kg dry matter (DM)/day of low quality pasture, containing 84% dead matter, with pre- and post-grazing pasture masses of 1040 and 531 kg DM/ha. Ewes were randomly allocated to three treatment groups, being: high supplementation, low supplementation and control. The high and low treatment groups were offered 1.50 kg/ewe/day (fresh) and 0.75 kg/ewe/day (fresh) poplar cuttings, respectively. The effect of poplar supplementation on liveweight (LW) and body condition score (BCS) change; reproductive rate at pregnancy scanning, lambing, docking and weaning; and wool production and staple length was measured. The poplar diet selected contained 22 g/kg DM of phenolic glycosides and higher levels of nitrogen (N; 28.4 g/kg DM versus 17.8 g/kg DM) and condensed tannin (CT; 7.0 g/kg DM versus 1.5 g/kg DM) and was of higher organic matter digestibility (0.66 versus 0.52) than the pasture diet selected. Voluntary DM intake of poplar progressively increased with time of supplementary feeding for both treatments (P<0.01), due to increases in both DM content and the diameter of stem consumed. Reproductive rate was low in the control ewes (121 lambs born/100 ewes mated), and poplar supplementation increased ewe reproductive rate by approximately 20 and 30% units for the low and high treatment groups, respectively, compared to the control group, at scanning, lambing, docking and weaning. The increase in reproductive rate in supplemented ewes was due to increases in both conception rate and fecundity, with a higher proportion of pregnant ewes, and a higher proportion of multiple pregnancies, in the supplemented groups. Ewes in the high and low treatments lost slightly less LW (−67 and −71 g/day versus −82 g/day; P<0.05) and BCS (−0.78 and −1.27 units versus −1.31 units; P<0.05) as a result of poplar supplementation, but these differences did not occur in the post-treatment period. There were no treatment effects on wool production or staple length, and only small treatment effects on the LW of single- and twin-born lambs at birth and weaning. Poplar cuttings are a beneficial supplement for increasing the reproductive rate of ewes grazing drought pasture during the pre-mating and mating periods. Poplar supplementation increased intakes of DM, metabolisable energy (ME) and crude protein (CP), and increased the estimated g CP/MJ ME eaten during the mating period. Increased concentrations of total N, CT and water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) in the diet of supplemented ewes would also be likely to increase outputs of undegradable dietary protein and microbial protein from the rumen, per unit of CP consumed. A combination of these mechanisms, especially the likely increased absorption of protein, probably explains the increased ewe reproductive rate from poplar supplementation.

Grazing experiments were conducted in late summer/autumn of 2001 and 2002, at Massey University's Riverside Farm, Masterton, to determine the effects of poplar and willow supplementation during drought on ewe reproductive rate, when grazing low quality drought pasture. Ewes (55-57 kg live weight) grazed drought pasture in a rotational grazing system, with pre- and post-grazing pasture masses of 1040- 940 and 530-550 kg dry matter (DM)/ha. In 2001, poplar trimmings were offered at the rate of 1.50 and 0.75 kg/ewe/day (fresh), to the high and low treatment groups, respectively (n=100 ewes/group). In 2002, 1.40 kg/head/day (fresh) willow and poplar trimmings were offered to the willow or poplar treatment groups (n=95 ewes/group). The poplar trimmings offered to ewes in the 2002 experiment were severely contaminated by poplar leaf rust. Poplar and willow consumed was higher in mean nitrogen content and organic matter digestibility, and lower in average neutral detergent fibre content, than the low quality drought pasture consumed by the control ewes. Control ewes lost live weight (82 and 104 g/day) during the mating periods in both experiments. Supplementation with poplar and willow slightly reduced live weight loss and loss of body condition, however these differences disappeared in the post-treatment period. Reproductive rate was low in the control groups of ewes (121 & 131 lambs born/ 100 ewes mated). In the 2001 experiment, poplar supplementation increased ewe reproductive rate by 20% units (p

The authors interrogate genital examinations as events in which both client and practitioner are `produced' as relational subjects in quite specific ways. This article explores the way one female sex health worker talks about her work as a form of cultural exchange, noting what she requires of her clients and seeks to give of herself. Of particular importance is the way the practitioner produces the client as a social subject amenable to intimate examination, while resisting some traditional means for doing so. The authors use a Foucauldian conceptual framework to signal their departure from feminist analyses which explain such practices in terms of a patriarchal medical system.