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Osorio-Avalos J, Garza-Camargo DM, Robles-Jimenez LE, Plaza J, Abecia JA, Palacios C, Gonzalez-Ronquillo M. Influence of Mediterranean climate and lunar calendar on milk production in Lacaune breed ewes. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOMETEOROLOGY 2022; 66:1191-1197. [PMID: 35301590 DOI: 10.1007/s00484-022-02268-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2021] [Revised: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Environmental factors affect daily milk production in dairy animals. The aim of this study was to quantify the effects of environmental factors, specifically mean temperature (°C), relative humidity (%), temperature-humidity index (THI), solar radiation (°), pluvial precipitation (mm) and lunar calendar (full moon, waxing quarter, waning quarter, new moon), on milk production (kg/d). The analysis was based on 96,195 morning and evening milking records documented on 109 consecutive days, from 869 Lacaune ewes. Ewes were housed in groups of 174 individuals. The analysis was performed in two independent procedures, a Pearson correlation analysis and a multivariate analysis of the ewe's interrelationships, which was based on the total variance estimate and a Varimax-rotated factorial analysis. Milk yield (kg/d) was significantly (p < 0.05) negatively correlated with mean temperature (-0.24), relative humidity (-0.16), THI (-0.24), and radiation (-0.18), which suggests that the higher these environmental factors, the lower the milk yield. Lunar calendar had a significant (p < 0.01) effect on milk production yield; specifically, yields were higher on the full moon and new moon (2.25 ± 0.05 kg/day) than they were on the crescent or waning moon (2.17 ± 0.05 kg/day). In conclusion, ewes that had been exposed to higher mean temperature, relative humidity, THI and solar radiation had the lowest milk yield, and milk yields are highest on full and new moons. The results of this work may be helpful in making predictions for milk production in Lacaune ewes in the Mediterranean region throughout the year.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jorge Osorio-Avalos
- Departamento de Produccion Animal, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zoortecnia, Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico. Campus El Cerrillo, Instituto Literario 100, Toluca, 50000, México
| | - Daniela M Garza-Camargo
- Departamento de Produccion Animal, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zoortecnia, Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico. Campus El Cerrillo, Instituto Literario 100, Toluca, 50000, México
| | - Lizbeth E Robles-Jimenez
- Departamento de Produccion Animal, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zoortecnia, Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico. Campus El Cerrillo, Instituto Literario 100, Toluca, 50000, México
| | - Javier Plaza
- Animal Production Group, Faculty of Environmental and Agricultural Sciences, University of Salamanca, Av. De Filiberto Villalobos 199, 37007, Salamanca, Spain
| | - José A Abecia
- Institute of Research in Environmental Sciences of Aragón, University of Zaragoza, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Carlos Palacios
- Animal Production Group, Faculty of Environmental and Agricultural Sciences, University of Salamanca, Av. De Filiberto Villalobos 199, 37007, Salamanca, Spain.
| | - Manuel Gonzalez-Ronquillo
- Departamento de Produccion Animal, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zoortecnia, Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico. Campus El Cerrillo, Instituto Literario 100, Toluca, 50000, México.
- Animal Production Group, Faculty of Environmental and Agricultural Sciences, University of Salamanca, Av. De Filiberto Villalobos 199, 37007, Salamanca, Spain.
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Alberghina D, Gioè M, Quartuccio M, Liotta L. The influence of lunar cycle at the time of conception on sex offspring distribution in dogs. Chronobiol Int 2021; 38:1517-1521. [PMID: 34082624 DOI: 10.1080/07420528.2021.1933001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The effect of seasonal variation and lunar cycles on reproductive parameters in dogs is unknown. Lunar cycles have important effects on several biological events. Controversy exists about the influence of lunar cycles on offspring sex ratio. This study examined the sex offspring distribution of 973 puppies (48% females and 52% males) from 150 bitches in Italy between 2015 and 2020. A two-way ANOVA followed by post-hoc t-test (Bonferroni correction) was used to analyze the influence of season and lunar phase on offspring sex ratio at conception. Sex offspring distribution was not affected by season, whereas lunar phase had a significant effect (p< .05). During the new moon, the proportion of male puppies born was significantly lower than during the full moon phase (p < .05). We conclude that season had no effect on sex offspring distribution. The new moon phase at conception appeared to be related to a lower male sex ratio at birth. Further studies assessing additional factors will help provide a better understanding of the lunar cycle differences observed in the sex ratio distribution of dogs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Alberghina
- Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Mauro Gioè
- Dipartimento di Scienze del Sistema Nervoso e del Comportamento, Università di Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Marco Quartuccio
- Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Luigi Liotta
- Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy
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Sasaki Y, Kitai N, Uematsu M, Kitahara G, Osawa T. Daily calving frequency and preterm calving is not associated with lunar cycle but preterm calving is associated with weather conditions in Japanese Black cows. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0220255. [PMID: 31335883 PMCID: PMC6650079 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2019] [Accepted: 07/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Several external factors including lunar cycle and weather conditions might be associated with calving conditions. Our objective here was to determine the effects of lunar cycle and weather conditions on calving frequency and the occurrence of preterm calving in Japanese Black cows. Calving records were obtained from 905 farms in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. Data were collected from 41,116 calvings. We conducted two studies: Study 1 investigated the effects of lunar cycle and weather conditions on daily calving frequency (DCF) with the observational unit of each day and Study 2 investigated those effects on the occurrence of preterm calving with the observational unit for each calving. Preterm calving was defined by whether or not a cow calving before 280 days of gestation, lower 10th percentile of gestation length of the collected data, and by whether or not a cow calving before 289 days of gestation, median of the gestation length. For Study 1, lunar cycle was not associated with DCF in all cows, in only primiparous cows and in only multiparous cows. As well as lunar cycle, weather conditions such as temperature, diurnal temperature variation, the temperature-humidity index, precipitation amount, barometric pressure, relative humidity and solar radiation, were also not associated with DCF. For Study 2, lunar cycle phases were not associated with the occurrence of preterm calving. However, preterm calving was associated with all of the weather conditions (P < 0.05) except for precipitation amounts and solar radiation. Temperature, the temperature-humidity index and relative humidity were positively associated with the occurrence of preterm calving. In contrast, diurnal temperature variations and barometric pressure were negatively associated with the occurrence of preterm calving. In conclusion, the lunar cycle was not associated with DCF and preterm calving, but the weather conditions were associated with preterm calving.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yosuke Sasaki
- Department of Animal and Grassland Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan
- Center for Animal Disease Control, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan
| | - Narumi Kitai
- Department of Animal and Grassland Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan
| | - Mizuho Uematsu
- Miyazaki Agricultural Mutual Aid Association, Miyazaki, Japan
| | - Go Kitahara
- Center for Animal Disease Control, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan
- Department of Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan
| | - Takeshi Osawa
- Center for Animal Disease Control, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan
- Department of Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan
- * E-mail:
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Abecia JA, Arrébola F, Palacios C. Offspring sex ratio in sheep, cattle, goats and pigs: influence of season and lunar phase at conception. BIOL RHYTHM RES 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/09291016.2016.1268325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- José-Alfonso Abecia
- Facultad de Veterinaria, Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ciencias Ambientales (IUCA), Zaragoza, Spain
| | | | - Carlos Palacios
- Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Ambientales, Dept. Construcción y Agronomía, Salamanca, Spain
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