Earliest spread of millet agriculture outside China linked to herding livestock
5000 years before the modern rise of millet as a popular grain, this Chinese crop was spread far and wide by ancient food aficionados,...

Pirbright scientists use ground-breaking techniques to identify how a ruminant virus can adapt to infect human cells
Scientists from The Pirbright Institute have used a ground-breaking approach to identify that a morbillivirus that causes disease in...

Toxic Plants and Small Ruminants – Wild Cherry
To wrap up Animal Sciences undergraduate student Ag-notes, Ohio State students Autum Ballard, Madison Findley, Emily Gaglione, and...

Minerals and Vitamins for Sheep
Proper animal nutrition means giving the animals the proper amount of all nutrients necessary for optimum production. This involves...

RVC breakthrough in the global effort to eradicate PPR virus
Researchers have made a significant breakthrough in examining the spread of Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR), an animal disease targeted...

Pirbright scientists show re-emerged bluetongue strain still poses a threat
Scientists at The Pirbright Institute have shown that the strain of bluetongue virus (BTV) currently circulating in France poses a...

Researchers determine bluetongue strain, origin in 2016 Cyprus outbreak
In a new study, published in the journal Viruses, scientists in the Non-Vesicular Reference Laboratory (NVRL) at the BBSRC-funded Pirbright...

The simple truth behind sheepdog behaviour
Puzzled as to how one sheepdog can herd dozens of sheep, scientists investigated this remarkable feat using both computer models and...

Mastitis in Sheep and Goats
Mastitis in sheep and goats is important because it can reduce productivity of the animals and farm profitability....

Understanding the socioeconomic impact of Foot and Mouth Disease control in Kenya
Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a viral disease of cloven-hooved animals that causes lesions in the mouth and on the feet, alongside...

Scientists Estimate Impact of Pox Viruses on Nigerian Farms
Scientists from The Pirbright Institute have shown that outbreaks of lumpy skin disease (LSD), sheeppox and goatpox (SGP) have an immediate...

Ancient DNA is revealing the origins of livestock herding in Africa
Visitors to East Africa are often amazed by massive herds of cattle with a gorgeous array of horn, hump and coat patterns. Pastoralism...

Efforts to Control PPRV in Sheep and Goats Should Focus on Herd Management, Not Age
The risk of transmitting the virus peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV), which produces a highly infectious and often fatal disease...

Study: Goat Milk Formula Could Benefit Infant Gut Health
A new laboratory study by RMIT, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, analysed two types of commercial goat milk formula,...

Ecologists report sighting rare wild goat species in Afghanistan
Based on field surveys in northern Afghanistan, Zalmai Moheb, an ecologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society's Afghanistan Program,...