Circovirus Vaccines Excel But Issues Persist

Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2009 | No Comments

Research trials reflect the integral role that vaccines continue to play.

Forms of P in Different Manures and Their Impact on P Runoff and Leaching Losses from Manure Amended Soils

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Final Report submitted to the Manitoba Livetock and Manure Management Initiative. Continuous application of manure P above crop removal results in a buildup of soil phosphorus (P), which increases the risk of P runoff loss from agricultural land, leading to environmental problems such as eutrophication of surface waters. There is little or no information about the forms of manure P that are correlated with risk of P loss after manure interacts with soil, especially for prairie soils. The objectives of this study were to quantify and compare P losses from liquid swine- and solid cattle- manure treated soils after incubating for 6 weeks, and to relate P losses to manure P forms and soil test P after incubation.

Application of Air Filtration Systems in Swine Operations

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There is a significant economic advantage to maintaining a PRRS negative herd, whether it is a boar stud, sow farm, or nursery-grow-finish. As the reality of aerosol transmission of PRRS, Swine Influenza, and Mycoplasma are being more accepted, any means to prevent aerosol transmission of these agents is of great interest. Our practice has taken an aggressive approach with our producers on air filtration systems. Six farms implemented filtration in 2005, five in 2006, eleven in 2007, and eleven in 2008. An important consideration for us from the start has been that we shouldn’t expect to never have a PRRS break just because we installed air filtration. However, if we can reduce the incidence of PRRS breaks significantly, it would be good return on the investment.

Influence of Pre-Slaughter Process on Pork Quality: An Overview

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The current review outlines the present knowledge of significant pre-slaughter factors affecting technological meat quality. It was found that in general, the recommendations would include feed withdrawal about 12–18 h
before transport and lairage to prevent dead losses and improve meat quality. Electric goads should not be used to make pigs move more rapidly and the load process onto the lorry deck should be facilitated within 1 h, for example by using collecting pens near to the lorry, hydraulic lifts, and reduced groups of pigs without mixing. The stress of animals during transport can be reduced by limiting the length of journey (around 1 h), guaranteeing an adequate preparation of animals (prior access to feed and water), a sufficient loading density (a maximum of 0.425 m2/100 kg) and adequate environmental conditions in the lorry (temperature, humidity, ventilation), and by ensuring good transport conditions (i.e., avoiding excess stops or waiting periods) that reduce stress to the animals. Prior to slaughtering, rest periods should minimize aggressive behavior and relax the animals. For that, recommendations include a lairage of 2–4 h, spraying pigs with cold water, adequate ventilation, supplying water ad libitum and no mixing pigs of unfamiliar groups. Special care must be taken during the transfer of pigs to the stunning system. These operations represent the main source of stress for pigs, especially when bad conditions are practiced. Here, sticks or electric prods to guide animals should be avoided and the animals should be guided in reduced groups along double corridors in order to have the best results in terms of carcass and meat quality.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/lfri20

Rethinking, Retrenching

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There were a few wisps of optimism — a fractionalized resiliency that often accompanies pork producers attending trade
shows. Clearly, many were on the lookout for new ways of squeezing a little more efficiency out of their already tightened down production units. The more seasoned in the crowd reassured others that the pork industry had been through tough times hefore — perhaps not this tough — hut tough nonetheless. Pork producers and allied industry representatives often spoke in somber tones as economists delivered less than- good news about the prospects
for a return to profitability. One universal point gained consensus — the U.S. sow herd is too big
and too productive for the current domestic and global economic conditions and per capita pork consumption
trends. As feed costs climbed, pressure to save more pigs increased. A move to later weaning nudged the pigs weaned per litter average upward, those pigs were finished at heavier weights, and the percentage of pork exported to
foreign customers climbed. The march toward greater productivity and efficiency has been steady, but this lockstep advancement has bumped into a wall made up of a global economic downturn, a wrongly named influenza virus, and a backlash that will likely be felt well into the New Year. Those committed to staying in the pork industry must look for strategic partners who will help develop a risk management/survival plan that will help carry them through this year and into the next. Those who step forward to stand with business-minded pork producers will build trust and loyalty that will serve them well when profitability returns — and it will. Many difficult decisions will be
made in the coming months. Some will be made slowly, deliberately. Some will be made out of necessity.
All will likely carry emotional and economic price tags that will linger.

China Low on a Strategic Reserve: Pork

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Last year, the world’s largest hog producer was forced to look abroad to feed its increasing appetite for pork. China imported nearly 2 million tons of pig meat in 2008, up from only 700,000 tons in 2007. A leading contributor to this was a blue-eared pig disease, a virus that spread to 25 of China’s 33 provinces and regions in 2007-2008. Meat production is projected to nearly double by 2050 and pork currently constitutes 39 percent of global meat production.

Behavior and performance of pigs previously housed in large groups

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This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of social familiarity and initial BW variation at mixing on performance and welfare of pigs born to group-housed lactating sows. The results indicated that grouping unacquainted
pigs derived from large groups induced overt aggression, associated injuries and initial reduction in performance, which causes welfare concerns on mixing pigs born to group-housed lactating sows.

For more information the full article can be found at http://jas.fass.org/

Experimental infection of SPF pigs with Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serotype 9 alone or in association with Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae

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The purpose of this study was to compare in SPF pigs, the pathogenicity of an Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serotype 9 strain 21 (isolated from the palatine tonsils of a healthy gilt on a French nucleus pig farm). The results show that the presence of A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 9 in a pig herd may be clinically unnoticed and that M. hyopneumoniae may potentiate A. pleuropneumoniae infection.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03781135

Influence of straw length, sow behaviour and room temperature on the incidence of dangerous situations for piglets in a loose farrowing system

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Crushing of piglets can be a major problem in loose-housing farrowing systems. In this study, we investigated the influence of straw of different lengths provided as nest-building material, sow behaviour and room temperature on the incidence of dangerous situations for the piglets. Piglets were defined as in danger of being crushed if they were trapped by the sow’s body or if they jumped aside in response to the lying down or rolling behaviour of the sow.

The behaviour of 22 Large White sows and their piglets was video-recorded from 10 h before farrowing until 72 h afterwards. The sows were kept in loose farrowing pens equipped with a creep area and a heating lamp. For a period of 5 days (48 h before the expected farrowing until 72 h after farrowing) 11 sows each had access to either 2 kg of long-stemmed straw or 2 kg of short-cut straw provided on the floor.

Sows in pens with short-cut straw manipulated the pen equipment more frequently during the 10 h before farrowing than sows in pens with long-stemmed straw (P = 0.02). The number of dangerous situationswas associated positively with the time the sow spent nest-building during farrowing (P < 0.01) and with the occurrence of events in which she
laid down laterally without leaning against a wall and with more than two piglets present during the first 3 days after farrowing (P = 0.04). The incidence of dangerous situations also decreased over the first days after farrowing (P < 0.001), increased with the time the sow spent moving around before lying down (P = 0.04), and was inversely related to the duration of the lying-down movement (P = 0.05). Moreover, the more piglets there were present during a lying-down movement the higher was the incidence (P = 0.02), especially if they were not grouped on only one side of the sow’s body (P = 0.03). Room temperature was associated positively with the time it took the piglets to get to the creep area after birth (P = 0.01) and negatively with the time they spent there (P = 0.02) but did not affect the incidence of dangerous situations. Straw length had no significant influence on the total pre-weaning piglet mortality or the proportion of piglets crushed.

In conclusion, we found that sow behaviour was hardly affected by straw length but had a major influence on the occurrence of situations with a risk of crushing piglets.

Supplementation of sow diets with oil during gestation: Sow body condition, milk yield and milk composition

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The role of dietary fat during early pregnancy on milk composition and yield in sows has not yet been fully established. To enable the importance of type and timing of oil supplementation to be evaluated this study aimed to determine the consequences of altering the fatty acid profile of sow diets during either the first or second half of gestation; oils of different fatty acid composition were chosen as energy supplements to provide diets with different fatty acid profiles. Consideration was given to sow condition, milk yield and milk composition. It was found that the fatty acid profile of sow diets, during either the first or second half of gestation, appears to be of more importance
than the energy content of the diet per se, also the type and timing of dietary supplementation had a large influence on the backfat deposition during pregnancy and fat mobilization during the lactation period. The provision of extra energy during G1, and to a lesser extent in G2, resulted in increased fat deposition during the period of supplementation. This study shows the important role of maternal adipose tissue as a store of biologically important
fatty acids, for mobilization during late gestation and lactation when they will be of most benefit to their offspring.
The study also shows that oil supplements during G1 also had a profound effect on immunoglobulin secretion during lactation.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/livsci