Trailer compartments and density

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Research Watch by admin on October 11, 2011 | No Comments

Brad White and others conducted research to find if the location a cow is placed on a trailer has an effect on its performance or health. The trailer location was found to have a short lasting effect on the cattle. White als0 states that cattle in the front required less treatment then cattle in the middle but more research is required to find out why.

Weaning at 28 days. Is creep feeding beneficial?

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Production by admin on October 5, 2011 | No Comments

Providing supplemental feed to the piglets in the farrowing room, or creep feeding, is practised to ensure a smooth transition onto solid feed at weaning. It is assumed that even a limited intake of the creep feed will familiarize the piglet with solid feed and lessen a post-weaning growth lag by 1) increasing the body weight of piglets at
weaning, 2) encouraging consumption of solid feed following weaning and, 3) adapting the gastro-intestinal tract to solid feed. This study was initiated when the Prairie Swine Centre moved to a later weaning age (28 days). We hypothesized that the benefits of creep feeding would be more evident with later weaning. Additionally, we examined if the response to creep feeding would differ between light and heavy birth-weight pigs.

It was found that allowing piglets access to a Phase 1 diet (creep feed) in the farrowing room for the final 7 days prior to weaning on  day 28 provided no sustained performance benefit, regardless of weaning weight.

Comparative evaluation of the use of heat exchanger, ground source heat pump and conventional heating systems in grow-finish rooms

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The use of the heat recovery ventilator with a forced-convection heater and the ground source heat pump system resulted in 52% to 39% reduction in energy consumption for heating and ventilation, respectively, relative to the conventional forced-convection heater after one heating season. However, data collection from multiple heating and cooling seasons is still needed to be able to fully compare the performance and feasibility of these three systems. Reduced energy costs will translate to reduced production cost and will help improve the profitability or minimize losses in swine operations.

A comprehensive approach to animal welfare science

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The following article was adapted from presentations given by Harold Gonyou this spring at producer meetings in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. It gives a brief discussion of the emerging field of animal welfare science and
how this science can be used in evaluating management practices and identifying production systems that optimize animal health, economic factors and consumer satisfaction.

Evaluation of temperature conditions in trucks during transport of market pigs to slaughter in four seasons

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Previous research at PSC has shown there is significant variation in conditions (temperature and humidity) among
different compartments in trucks transporting market pigs. This study examined conditions in truck compartments in greater depth by measuring temperature and humidity variation during transport of market pigs throughout the year.Pigs were transported from a commercial farm in Saskatchewan to a packing plant on a weekly basis, involving approximately 7.5 hours of travel.

This report describes the variable conditions observed during transport in different seasons, with pigs transported in the ‘belly’, upper-front and middle-front compartments encountering the least favourable conditions.

It was found that pigs are exposed to variable temperatures during transport, with pigs transported in ‘belly’ compartments encountering lower than average temperatures, and those in upper-front and middle-front compartments encountering elevated temperatures. The effects of different boarding and insulation treatments on transport conditions during winter were examined, but further analysis is needed to determine their effectiveness. The results of these studies will provide important information for improving conditions during transport, and for the direction of future research.

Message From the President 2009

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre by admin on October 4, 2011 | No Comments

If Change is a good thing – 2008/09 may be remembered as having too much of a good thing!

 Change was the watchword of the day in 2008; personnel changes topped the list with the career change of Dr. John Patience, first President/CEO of Prairie Swine Centre, taking a position with Iowa State University. Seeking a replacement became an important function of the Prairie Swine Centre Board of Directors in 2008. I am pleased to be writing this article today as the Centres new President/CEO.

 The year saw the opening of the new Sow Research Unit at our Floral, Saskatchewan location.  Every part of the 300 sow F-F operation facility has now been completely rebuilt over the past 17 years, providing very good quality, flexible research facilities and at the same time emulating typical commercial barns in Canada. Production staff are very pleased with the loose-housing system selected and both behaviour and nutrition studies currently have nearly 100% of the sows on trial in the new Sow Research Unit. The year was also marked with the disappointment of closing the PSC Elstow Research Farm. The 600 sow F-F farm had been operated since 2000 and contributed greatly to the development of knowledge in nutrition, engineering and behaviour through its ability to provide large numbers of pigs for experiments. The ability to simulate a typical larger production operation was essential in work such as sow management with electronic sow feeders, the use of alternative strategies in auto-sort grow-finish management and investigation of variability in piglet growth rate across thousands of piglets. This facility is certainly missed and alternative arrangements have been made to locate these larger group-size related trials at commercial pig farms. We recently completed a sale of this farm to JSR Genetics of the United Kingdom. This Arrangement will allow PSC Researchers some access to the barn and JSR Genetics has generously offered to have the Pork Interpretive Gallery remain open for industry and public tours.

 In fall 2008 we embarked on a revision to our strategic plan. So many changes had overtaken the industry in the past 5 years that certain aspects of how and what was needed, and whom we served were all up for discussion. In all the books on the subject of strategic planning one quote bears repeating here:

 “In today’s marketplace it is organizational capability to adapt that is the only sustainable competitive advantage” Willie Pietersen, in Reinventing Strategy Change is invigorating Where to start? Prairie Swine Centre had a business and research funding model that worked well for 17 years. That success of course affects your thinking and colours your outlook to the future, as does the success enjoyed by the Centre locally and internationally in recognition of its contribution to the various members of the pork value chain. Our emphasis on the pork producer has allowed our technology transfer and research efforts to succeed in speeding adoption of change at the farm. For example, the selection of feeder types, to the level of feed in the pan to maximize intake and reduce waste and the Net Energy value of that feed – all of these developments over the past decade and a half can be traced to a study, a report and countless producer and supplier meetings initiate by Prairie Swine Centre. There is no question the old formula worked to instil a competitive advantage for the Canadian pork producer. But times have changed and the current income crisis within the industry challenges us all first to survive an secondly to predict what the new industry that rises from this period will look like.

The ‘future’ makes a mockery of our attempt to predict its coming, but we are obliged to try. So this coming year we are on a path to reinvent our company, and its service to our stakeholders. Firstly, by broadening the definition of stakeholders to aggressively seek solutions for the many players within the pork value chain. This is a natural extension of the base of knowledge and expertise PSC personnel have within the barn and extend that up the value chain to include the transportation and packer components and down the chain in the opposite direction to the cereal breeder and genetics supplier for example. What about something more novel? How can we demonstrate a greater value to the broader Canadian population? The pig as a model for human or pet health and nutrition for example is an area where our in-depth knowledge of the pig would allow us to provide greater value to a greater portion of society.

At Prairie Swine Centre we believe in the Canadian pork producer’s ability to be internationally competitive and we will do our part to ensure that you have the research expertise needed to sustain your competitive edge in the future.

Lee Whittington

Selecting for better nest acceptance

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This article discusses how the new EU directive for laying hens has changed the selective characteristics for laying hens. Now producers must consider nest acceptance, oviposition time and duration of stay in the nest to avoid floor eggs.  A new testing system is able to track individual bird behaviour which helps make selections based on nesting behaviour.

Breeder chickens show different behaviors

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Researchers believe that because chickens have been raised in cages for so long, and from an elite bloodline that does not factor in behavioral traits, that there has been a failure in mating habits and increased aggression in the flocks. Looking at different blood lines and time periods researchers found some differences in aggression and mating habits.

Accelerated Colostrum Feeding to Dairy Calves

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Research Watch by admin on October 1, 2011 | No Comments

This article explores the role of accelerated colostrum feeding as a potential cause of various diseases among dairy calves. The article questions the common practice of feeding 4L of colostrum to a calf in one meal. Also discussed is the negitive side effects that occur from using a esophageal feeder.

Refusal to Suckle after Colostrum Feeding

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This article discusses why dairy calves refuse meals after receiving colostrum. A study of 244 cows found that about half refused their next meal after being fed colostrum. The study found that their was a difference in meal refusal based on how the cow was fed the colostrum and how much colostrum the received.