Effects of transport conditions and vehicle design on the welfare and meat quality of pigs in Western and Eastern Canada

Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on July 4, 2010 | No Comments

This study examined transport conditions and behavioural and physiological responses of pigs transported in summer and winter, in both Eastern and Western Canada. Data were collected during all stages of transport, including loading, transport, unloading and lairage (waiting) at the abattoir. Measures included truck temperature, pig behaviour, core body temperature, heart rate, blood measures of stress and meat quality.  The presence of steep internal ramps in pot belly trailers had a significant impact on the handling behaviour and heart rate of pigs at loading and unloading. Significant variation in temperatures was found between compartments within pot belly trailers during transport, both in summer and winter. The combination of handling conditions and truck temperatures had a significant impact on pork quality. In the winter trials a higher incidence of dark firm and dry (DFD) or moderate DFD pork was found, especially in the west where pigs experienced longer transport times. In the summer trials, a higher incidence of pale, soft and exudative (PSE) or moderate PSE pork was found.

The interaction of group size and alley width on the movement of near market pigs

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The objective of this study was to examine the interaction between group size and alley width on the ease and speed of movement of near-market pigs. Pigs were moved in different group sizes through a three-sided simulated handling course, in which alley width could be changed. Data were collected on heart rate, duration, handling and behavioural measures. Moving a group of 4 or 8 animals is preferred for minimizing stress and alley width of 0.9m appears to be most conducive to easy handling.

Comparison of performance of radiant and forced-convection heaters in swine grow-finish rooms

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The goal of this study was to conduct a comparative evaluation of two heating systems in terms of energy efficiency as well as effect on barn environmental conditions and hog performance. An infrared radiant heater and a forced-air convection heater were installed separately in two grow-finish rooms at the Prairie Swine Centre Inc (PSCI) research facility. Consumption of natural gas and electrical energy were monitored in each room, as well as air temperature, relative humidity, and ventilation rate. Additionally, gas sensors were installed to monitor hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), ammonia (NH₃), carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations in the rooms. The results from three completed trials showed that the room with infrared radiant heating system consumed more natural gas but less electrical energy compared to the room with forced-air convection heater. Mean air temperature was higher in the room with forced-convection heater than in the room with radiant heater, but air temperature distribution at various locations within each room was similar. Generally, the relative humidity, ventilation rate, gas concentrations (NH₃, H₂S, CO and CO₂), and pig performance were relatively similar between the rooms, indicating no significant impact of the type of heater on these parameters.

Application of computer simulation to evaluate potential measures for improving energy efficiency in hog production

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Results from previous work of Navia (2008) showed that many of the barns currently in use are not optimized for using energy as efficiently as possible, mainly because the cost of energy in the past has been very minimal. In view of emerging concern regarding the increasing trends in global energy prices, there is a need to re-examine existing barn building design and management to use less energy and more efficiently.  As part of the on-going effort to reduce the cost of production in swine operations, this study aims to optimize energy efficiency and reduce overall energy use in swine barns. Computer simulation is being utilized to examine various energy conservation strategies that can be applied in a barn. Preliminary results show that the use of air to air heat exchangers and lighting modifications have high potential in reducing the annual energy consumption in the barn. From the simulation results, the most promising measures will be retro-fitted into the barn to enable collection of actual barn data that will serve as basis for the development of a decision software tool.

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Evaluation of methods for controlling and monitoring occupational exposure of workers in swine facilities

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This study was aimed to assess the effectiveness of selected engineering and management measures, namely, oil sprinkling, low protein diet, high level of cleaning and manure pH manipulation, in reducing ammonia (NH₃) and respirable dust concentration in swine production rooms. Six grow-finish rooms at PSCI research facility were used with two as control and four as experimental rooms each employing one of the measures being investigated. Sampling equipment was installed in each room for measurement of ammonia and respirable dust concentrations within the room airspace. Worker exposure to ammonia and dust from the rooms was also assessed by equipping workers with a personal monitoring gear similar to those installed in the rooms. Ammonia levels were monitored using both the standard method and using commercial gas sensors. Results from completed trials so far showed that low-protein diet, pH manipulation of manure and employing high level of cleanliness could potentially reduce ammonia concentrations in swine production rooms. Among these various measures, only spraying of canola oil reduced dust levels inside the rooms. Moreover, average daily gain of pigs was relatively similar between control and experimental rooms. A benefit-cost analysis will be conducted after all trials are completed.

Effect of pain relief at piglet castration and farrowing on welfare and performance of piglets

Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles, Welfare by admin on June 14, 2010 | No Comments

This study tests the effects of analgesia on piglets to see if it reduces pain and has any impact on growth performance. Two trials were carried out, the first was done on piglets, where some would receive analgesia before castration and some wouldn’t. Then the were tracked to see how they differed in mortality rate and average daily weight gain to weaning. The second trail involved giving the analgesia to the sow before and during farrowing and then stillbirths, growth rate to weaning and pre weaning mortality was recorded. For trial one there was no difference in ADG or mortality between the groups, and a subjective evaluation of the piglets pain during castration found no variation between groups. For the second trial there was no significant difference between groups for pre weaning mortality, number of piglets crushed, ADG or stillbirths. The use of analgesia increases the time of castration and has costs associated with purchasing the drugs. There was no difference found between pigs who were on the drugs and those that were not, the use of analgesia was found to have no benefit to producers.

Understanding Feeders and Drinkers for Grow-Finish Pigs

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Production by admin on June 13, 2010 | No Comments

Feeder and drinker design and placement can have a large impact on production and performance in all areas of a swine barn. This paper gives a summary of various aspects to take into account when choosing a design and placing feeders and drinkers. When placing feeders some of the things to consider include the number of feeding spaces, the quality of the feeder spaces, feeder design and its impact on feed wastage, and whether dry or wet/dry feeders are going to be used. For drinkers the considerations include the type of drinker, number of drinkers, and flow rate. Also more complex issues like the unique demands of nursery or grow-finish pigs, the contribution to manure amount and composition, water administered medications, water supply, and using it as an indicator of health.

Development of rapid immunoassays for the detection of ractopamine in swine urine

Posted in: Production by admin on June 2, 2010 | No Comments

The monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against ractopamine (Rac) were prepared and their properties identified by indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunoabsorbant assay (ELISA). The IC50 of mAbs was 2.7 ng ml_1 towards Rac or 9.3 ng ml_1 towards Rac-glucuronides and no cross-reactivity (CR) towards other competitors except dobutamine (CR: 3.76%). Based on the mAbs, the Rac-kit (kit) and Rac-strip (strip) were developed to detect Rac residues in swine urine. The strip and kit assay could be performed within 5–10 min and 2 h, respectively, allowing the analysis of urine samples without the need for sample clean-up. The detection limits were 1 ngml_1 for kit and 3 ngml_1 with the unaided eye, and 0.2 ng ml_1 with the Strip Reader for strip. The correlation coefficients (R2) were 0.988 for kit in the range 0–128.0 ng ml_1, and 0.987 for strip in the range 0–10.8 ng ml_1. Comparing the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with the kit or strip in swine urine spiked with Rac standards, the differences ranged from 1.4% to 4.5% for kit and 1.0% to 4.7% for strip. However, the differences were greater than 54% for the kit and 55% for the strip test for the analysis of urine from swine treated with Rac. The results obtained from GC-MS using hydrolysed urine samples were generally in good agreement with those obtained from strip or kit using non-hydrolysed urine samples.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tfac19

Prevalence of Salmonella infecting bacteriophages associated with Ontario pig farms and the holding area of a high capacity pork processing facility

Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles by admin on April 27, 2010 | No Comments

There is interest in applying bacteriophages to control Salmonella in pig production and pork processing. The following reports on the prevalence of Salmonella infecting bacteriophages within Ontario pig farms and associated with the holding area of a pork slaughterhouse. Salmonella infecting bacteriophages were present in 30 and 28 of the effluent manure samples collected from 36 farms using S. Typhimurium DT104 or S. Heidelberg as host cell respectively. Bacteriophages were recovered in 95–100% of the 48 samples taken from holding pens within a high capacity slaughterhouse over a 12 month period. Bacteriophages isolated from farms exhibited similar host ranges which differed to that of slaughterhouse isolates. Salmonella (n = 21) from the slaughterhousewere susceptible to the endogenous bacteriophages. Despite being susceptible to the resident phages, the Salmonella populations were found to be genetically stable with the same genotypes being recovered over successive visits. Salmonella isolated from the farms were frequently resistant to the endogenous phages. Bacteriophages are prevalent in the pig slaughterhouse environment although they do not have a significant impact on the genetic structure of Salmonella populations. However, there was evidence that the Salmonella population structure on farms is influenced by the presence of infecting phages.

Effect of plasmid pTENT2 on severity of porcine post-weaning diarrhoea induced by an O149 enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli

Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles, Welfare by admin on April 10, 2010 | No Comments

A particularly virulent O149:H10 enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli clone harbours a newly characterized plasmid pTENT2 carrying the tetracycline-resistance tetA and the virulence genes estA, paa, and sepA that were not present in less virulent clones. The objectives of this study were to assess whether the additional genes on pTENT2 played a role in the increased severity of post-weaning diarrhoea and if they provided any potential advantage for the emergence of the highly virulent clone. Groups of pigs were dosed orally with isogenic pTENT2-positive and pTENT2-negative ETEC strains, and the clinical and pathological changes were compared between the groups. Two additional groups were given the pTENT2-positive strains and maintained on feed with or without chlortetracycline to assess the effect of subtherapeutic levels of tetracycline on the short-term persistence of the ETEC O149:H10 clone. The severity of diarrhoea within the first few hours post-inoculation was significantly increased ( p = 0.0408) in animals receiving pTENT2-positive strains as compared to animals receiving pTENT2-negative strains. There were no consistent or significant histopathological differences between any of the groups and no significant difference in the persistence of ETEC between groups.