The aim of the current research was to investigate the effects of betaine (Bet) supplementation on the production performance, rumen fermentation, digestibility, and serum indexes of dairy cows. Thirty healthy Holstein cows with the same parity (milk production = 22 ± 2.5 kg) were randomly selected and divided into three groups. One group served as a control group (CON; no betaine); the other two groups were Bet1 (15 g/d per cow) and Bet2 (30 g/d per cow). All cows were fed regularly three times a day at 06:00, 14:00, and 22:00 h. Cows received the formulate diet, and water was provided ad libitum. The experiment lasted for 60 days during the summer season. Results showed that the dry matter intake, milk protein, and fat of Bet1 cows was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that in other groups. The content of volatile fatty acid (VFA) in Bet1 was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than CON. Consistent with VFA, a similar trend was found in acetate, while propionate exhibited an opposite trend. Compared to other groups, the microbial protein (MCP) concentrations of Bet1 increased (p < 0.05). The apparent digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF) of Bet1 was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than CON. The serum concentration of total antioxygenic capacity (T-AOC) in Bet1 and Bet2 was significantly increased (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the contents of malonaldehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in Bet2 were higher (p < 0.05) than that in other groups. Compared to CON and Bet2, Bet1 significantly increased (p < 0.05) the serum concentrations of glucose. Therefore, it is practicable to feed betaine to lactating cows to improve their performance in heat stress.

The intensity and specialization of beef cattle production make off-site fattening, and introduce new breeds need transportation to achieve the goals. The present study was aimed to investigate effects of land transport stress on hormones levels, microbial fermentation, microbial composition, immunity and correlation among them among Simmental Crossbred Cattle (SC), Native Yellow Cattle (NY), and Cattle Yak (CY). High-throughput sequencing was used to investigate the rumen microbial diversity. After transport stress cortisol (COR), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1β were increased (p < 0.05) in all groups. Rumen lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was increased (p < 0.05) in SC and CY groups. Total volatile fatty acids were increased (p < 0.05) in all groups. The ruminal microbiota about OTUs, Chao1, and Shannon in SC and CY groups were higher than before transport. Prevotella1 in NY group was higher (p < 0.05) than other groups before transport; after transport Firmicutes and Lactobacillus were increased (p < 0.05) than other groups in CY. Lactobacillus was positively correlated with IL-6 and IL-4. Under transport stress, cattle may suffer from inflammatory response through modulating HPA axis and microbiota metabolite affects the secretion of hormone levels and immune function and breeds factor affect the performance of stress resistance.

Yak suffers severe starvation and body weight reduction in the cold season and recovers relatively rapid growth in the warm season every year. Herein, we investigated the effects of starvation and refeeding on the growth, feed efficiency, blood biochemistry and rumen microbial community as well as functions of yaks. The results showed that starvation significantly reduced the body weight of yaks. Serum glucose and triglyceride concentrations significantly decreased, and β-hydroxybutyric acid and non-esterified fatty acid levels were significantly increased during the starvation period. Starvation also dramatically inhibited rumen microbial fermentations. Whereas, refeeding with the same diet significantly increased the feed efficiency, nutrient digestibility together with rumen acetate, propionate and microbial protein productions compared with those before starvation. The 16S rDNA sequencing results showed that starvation mainly decreased the ruminal protein-degrading bacteria Prevotella and propionate-producing bacteria Succiniclasticum populations and dramatically increased the denitrifying bacteria Thauera populations. Refeeding reduced the Euryarchaeota population and increased propionate-producing bacteria Succinivibrionaceae UCG-002 and starch-degrading bacteria Ruminobacter populations when compared with those before starvation. The predicted microbial metabolic pathways, related to amino acid and starch metabolisms, were also significantly altered during the starvation and refeeding. The results indicated that the rumen microorganisms and their metabolism pathways changed with feed supply, and these alterations in part contributed to yak adaption to starvation and re-alimentation. This study is helpful for enhancing the understanding and utilization of this natural character of yaks to explore and improve their growth potential.

The yak rumen microflora has more efficient fiber-degrading and energy-harvesting abilities than that of low-altitude cattle; however, few studies have investigated the effects of dietary energy levels on the rumen bacterial populations and the relationship between rumen bacteria and the intramuscular fatty acid profile of fattening yaks. In this study, thirty yaks were randomly assigned to three groups. Each group received one of the three isonitrogenous diets with low (3.72 MJ/kg), medium (4.52 MJ/kg), and high (5.32 MJ/kg) levels of net energy for maintenance and fattening. After 120 days of feeding, results showed that increasing dietary energy significantly increased ruminal propionate fermentation and reduced ammonia concentration. The 16S rDNA sequencing results showed that increasing dietary energy significantly increased the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes and stimulated the relative abundance of Succiniclasticum, Saccharofermentans, Ruminococcus, and Blautia populations. The quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed that high dietary energy increased the abundances of Streptococcus bovis, Prevotella ruminicola, and Ruminobacter amylophilus at the species level. Association analysis showed that ruminal acetate was positively related to some intramuscular saturated fatty acid (SFA) contents, and Prevotella was significantly positively related to intramuscular total polyunsaturated fatty acid content and negatively related to intramuscular total SFA content. This study showed that high dietary energy mainly increased ruminal amylolytic and propionate-producing bacteria populations, which gave insights into how the effects of dietary energy on rumen bacteria are related to intramuscular fat fatty acids of fattening yaks.

In this study, we aimed to classify 7 cow behavior patterns automatically with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) using a fully convolutional network (FCN) algorithm. Behavioral data of 12 cows were collected by attaching an IMU in a waterproof box on the neck behind the head of each cow. Seven behavior patterns were considered: rub scratching (leg), ruminating-lying, lying, feeding, self-licking, rub scratching (neck), and social licking. To simplify the data and compare classification performance with or without magnetometer data, the 9-axis IMU data were reduced using the square root of the sum of squares to develop 2 datasets. Comparing the classification accuracy of the 3 models using a window size of 64 with 6-axis data and a window size of 128 with both 6-axis and 9-axis data, the best overall accuracy (83.75%) was achieved using the FCN model with a window size of 128 (12.8 s) using all IMU data. This model achieved classification accuracies of 83.2, 96.5, 92.8, 98.1, 82.9, 87.2, and 45.2% for ruminating-lying, lying, feeding, rub scratching (leg), self-licking, rub scratching (neck), and social licking, respectively. As a sequence of varied and intensive movement, the classification accuracy of behavior patterns related to skin disease was lower; better classification of these behavior patterns could be achieved with full IMU data and a larger window size. In the future, additional data will take into account different data types, such as audio and video data, to further enhance performance. In addition, an adaptive sliding window size will be used to improve model performance.

The experiment was conducted to compare the growth performance, rumen fermentation, nutrient digestibility, and ruminal and fecal bacterial community between yaks and cattle-yaks. Ten male yaks (36-month-old) were used as the yak (YAK) group and 10 male cattle-yaks with similar age were selected as the cattle-yak (CAY) group. All the animals were fed same ration and the experiment lasted for 60 days. The results showed that the average daily gain and dry matter intake of CAY group were higher (P < 0.05) than those of YAK group. The ruminal concentrations of total volatile fatty acids, acetate, and butyrate were higher (P < 0.05) in CAY group than those in YAK group. However, the neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber digestibility exhibited an opposite between two groups. In the rumen, the relative abundances of Prevotella 1 and Prevotellaceae UCG-001 were higher (P < 0.05) and Succiniclasticum and Butyrivibrio 2 were lower (P < 0.05) in YAK group compared to CAY group. In the feces, the unclassified Lachnospiraceae, Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 group, and Lachnospiraceae AC2044 group were significantly enriched (P < 0.05) in YAK group, whereas the Ruminococcaceae UCG-010, Ruminococcaceae UCG-013, and Succiniclasticum were significantly enriched (P < 0.05) in CAY group. Overall, under the same diet, the yaks have higher fiber utilization and cattle-yaks have higher energy utilization.