@conference {3672,
	title = {Preliminary investigations into the trait of residual energy intake in sheep},
	booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	volume = {76},
	year = {2016},
	month = {07/2016},
	pages = {34-37},
	address = {Adelaide},
	abstract = {Residual energy intake (REI), also referred to as residual feed intake, is one way of describing feed efficiency, and is an estimate
of whether or not an animal is eating more or less than expected for its weight and growth rate. The REI trait has been investigated
in a number of production-animal species, but only pilot study data exists for New Zealand sheep. This paper investigates phenotypic
variability in the trait of REI for a cohort of 197 growing ewe lambs. The animals were approximately nine months old at
the commencement of the trial. Their daily intake of a lucerne pellet-diet was measured for 56 days using an automated feeder that
recorded weight of feed consumed in real time. The animals were weighed twice weekly. The standard REI model involves fitting
metabolic mid-test live weight and live weight gain to predict energy intake. Both measurements fitted were significant (P<0.001),
with an overall R2 for the model of 0.78. Grouping of the animals in to Low-, Mid- and High-efficiency groups revealed a 24\%
difference in energy intake between the low and high groups which is consistent with studies in other species. The comparison of
attributes of the efficiency groups did reveal differences in fatness with the high-efficiency animals fatter at the start of the data
collection, but they did not lay down as much fat during the trial as the low-efficiency group. Given the phenotypic variability is
consistent with that observed in other production-animal species, additional cohorts will be measured in the coming years to generate
a data set to investigate the genetics of the trait, and further investigate the role of fat within the REI model.},
	issn = {1176-5283},
	author = {PL Johnson and Miller SP and Knowler K}
}
@conference {3672,
	title = {BRIEF COMMUNICATION: Genetic parameters for growth, carcass and meat quality traits in New Zealand sheep},
	booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	volume = {75},
	year = {2015},
	month = {07/2015},
	pages = {94-96},
	address = {Dunedin},
	abstract = { },
	issn = {1176-5283},
	author = {Brito LF and Miller SP and Clarke SM and Dodds KG and Bain WE and Lee MA and Pickering NK and McEwan JC}
}
@conference {3672,
	title = {BRIEF COMMUNICATION: Intake of ewe lambs is influenced by the dry matter percentage of the feed consumed},
	booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	volume = {75},
	year = {2015},
	month = {07/2015},
	address = {Dunedin},
	issn = {1176-5283},
	author = {PL Johnson and Miller SP and Knowler K and Bryson B and Dodds KG}
}
@conference {3672,
	title = {BRIEF COMMUNICATION: Modelling liveweight change to inform residual feed intake models in growing lambs},
	booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	volume = {75},
	year = {2015},
	month = {07/2015},
	pages = {225-227},
	address = {Dunedin},
	abstract = { },
	issn = {1176-5283},
	author = {PL Johnson and Miller SP and Knowler K and Bryson B and Dodds KG}
}
@conference {3672,
	title = {Remote sensing of heart rate and rumen temperature in feedlot beef cattle: associations with feeding and activity patterns},
	booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	volume = {75},
	year = {2015},
	month = {07/2015},
	pages = {29-33},
	address = {Dunedin},
	abstract = { Heart rate (HR; beats/min) rumen temperature (RTMP; {\textordmasculine}C), activity level (ACT; \%) and feeding patterns (feeding event duration;
sec/30 min, feed intake; kg/30 min, visits to the feeder; visits/30 min) have been suggested as feed efficiency (residual feed intake;
RFI; kg/d), distress and health status indicators in cattle holding potential for development into practical on-farm decision making
tools. Our study assessed the associations between these parameters when feedlot cattle (n=22) were eating or not eating (FI
dataset), at differing activity levels (ACT dataset) and between feed efficient and feed inefficient cattle (RFI dataset). Heart rate
was not different between FI, ACT and RFI groups. RTMP was lower in high ACT then low ACT observations (39.64{\textpm}0.15 vs
40.08{\textpm}0.15; P=0.001) and was associated with ACT in positive RFI cattle (r=-0.55; P <0.001). Activity levels in the ACT dataset
were lower when cattle were located in the yard then when located in the pen or abattoir. Associations between RTMP and ACT
across ACT and RFI datasets promote these as potential indicators of feed efficiency and health status in cattle. Changes in ACT
across locations suggest it to be a potential indicator of distress. Future studies assessing RTMP and ACT abilities to determine
performance are warranted.},
	issn = {1176-5283},
	author = {Munro JC and Schenkel FS and Miller SP and Tennessen T and Montanholi YR}
}
@conference {41759,
	title = {Evaluation of a practical weaning weight index for extensively-grazed beef cows},
	booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	volume = {67},
	year = {2007},
	month = {Jan},
	pages = {370-376},
	publisher = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	organization = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	address = {Wanaka},
	abstract = {Little objective culling is practiced in many commercial beef herds in New Zealand possibly due to the absence of a performance recording system that is able to accurately predict the calf rearing ability of cows when calving date is unknown. Data of 1,306 calves from four different herds including birth, marking and weaning weights and dates was used to construct an Extensively Grazed Weaning Index (ECWIndex) to rank cows on their calf rearing ability without the use ofcalving date. Three indicator traits, marking weight, weaning weight and average daily gain (ADG) between marking and weaning (all adjusted for sex of calf and age of dam but not for age of calf) were used in the index as they were the most favourably correlated with 200 day weight of the readily measurable calf traits considered. A number ofeasily obtainable herd variables were used to calculate index weights for the indicator traits. When the model was applied to data from two additional herds the cow ranking based on the index was very similar to that based on 200 d weight (r = 0.95 and 0.92 and R2=91.2\% and 85.4\%). The use of the model will provide commercial herd managers an objective method for culling cows and selecting replacement heifers and may eventually allow the use of data from commercial herds in the calculation of breeding values of stud bulls.},
	issn = {1176-5283},
	author = {Thomas CW and Bywater AC and Miller SP}
}
