Willingness to Approach Behavior and Feed Disappearance of Weaned Pigs Following Vaccination With Mycoplasma Vaccines

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

An adaptation of the nonhuman animal observation section of the 2003 Swine
Welfare Assurance program (SWAP) was utilized to evaluate the behavior of
weaned pigs following vaccination with Ingelvac MycoFLEX® (Boehringer
Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., St. Joseph, MO) and Respisure®-One (Pfizer Animal
Health, Exton, PA). The objective was to determine if field observations of
markedly reduced pig activity following vaccination with certain Mycoplasma
hyopneumoniae vaccines could be confirmed and quantified by observing postvaccinal
pig behavior and feed disappearance. A total of 1,832 weaned pigs
17–23 days of age were allocated across 72 nursery pens (36 pens per treatment
group), resulting in approximately 25 pigs/pen with pen as the experimental
unit.
Pigs were evaluated to determine willingness to approach and feed disappearance
behavior pre- and postvaccination with each population of pigs serving as
its own prevaccination baseline for postvaccination behavior observations. After
entering and crouching down in a pen, the blinded observer counted all pigs who
approached him during a 15-s period. The pigs approaching the observer were
designated as willing to approach. The difference in pre- and postvaccination
values is reported here as a decrease in percentage approachability.
A significant decrease in postvaccination willingness to approach was observed
within both groups of pigs (p < .0001). However, the decrease in
willingness to approach was significantly less for the Ingelvac MycoFLEX®
vaccinated pigs compared with the Respisure-One vaccinated pigs (11.38% vs.
27.05%, p < .0001). The Ingelvac MycoFLEX® vaccinated pigs consumed
significantly more feed through 24 and 48 hr postvaccination (p < .0001 and
p D .0001, respectively). These findings suggest that willingness to approach and feed consumption may be useful parameters for assessing vaccine reactivity
(side effects) in pigs.

Amino acid digestibility of distillers dried grains with solubles, produced from sorghum, a sorghum-corn blend, and corn fed to growing pigs

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Since there are no data on the apparent ileal digestibility (AID) or the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of amino acids (AA) in sorghum (S-DDGS) or in blends of sorghum and corn DDGS (SC-DDGS). Therefore, the objective of this experiment was to measure the AID and SID of AA in S-DDGS and SC-DDGS and compare these values to the SID of AA in C-DDGS. It was found that the digestibility of CP and Lys in S-DDGS and SC-DDGS is similar to values obtained for
C-DDGS, but many of the remaining AA are less digestible in S-DDGS and SC-DDGS than in C-DDGS. The concentration and digestibility of AA in C-DDGS varies among ethanol plants, which impedes the prediction of the concentration of digestible AA from the concentration of total AA.

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Holistic Method Turns The Tide on PRRS

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Research compiled over the years has given pork producers better “tools in their toolbox” to combat porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), says Scott Dee, DVM, director of the Swine Disease Eradication Center at the University of Minnesota. “Today more than ever before, producers can take a holistic, systematic approach to managing PRRS with greater success. Our improved understanding of the dynamics of the virus; transmission, infection, diagnosis and monitoring; and vaccination protocols has helped us provide producers with highly effective tools to turn the tide on PRRS infections,” Dee says. “The most effective and successful PRRS control and prevention within
an area requires a high degree of cooperation, coordination and collaboration within and among production
systems in a region,” Dee concludes. “Fortunately, producers have a number of effective tools available to better
help them determine current status, assess PRRS risk, measure and monitor infection status and improve their disease-
management decision making.”

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

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Extension Report Submitted to the Manitoba Livestock and Manure Management Initiative.

Continuous application of manure P at rates that exceed the rate of P removal by crops results in a buildup of soil phosphorus (P). High concentrations of soil P increase the risk of P runoff loss from agricultural land and lead to problems with surface water quality, such as excess algae growth. However, there is little or no information about the effect of applying different sources or types of manure P on the risk of P loss after manure interacts with soil, especially for Prairie soils. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to quantify and compare P losses from soil treated with four sources of liquid swine manure and four sources of solid cattle manure and to relate P runoff and leaching losses to manure P forms and soil test P measurements.

Observations on microbial activity in acidified pig slurry

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Acidification of pig slurry to pH 5.5 is used as a measure to reduce ammonia emission from pits and storages. The slurry is acidified with sulphuric acid in a process tank and pumped back to the slurry pits or to a storage tank. We investigated the effect of acidification on microbial activity. Oxygen consumption rate, methanogenesis and sulphate reduction were all reduced by more than 98% in the stored acidified slurry compared to untreated slurry. Despite higher sulphate concentration, the microbial metabolism was greatly compromised or absent in the acidified slurry. This could be explained by the high concentration of protonized short-chained volatile fatty acids in the acidified slurry (approximately 25 mM, compared to untreated slurry <0.1 mM), which act as an uncoupling agent of the cell membrane potential and thereby arrest microbial metabolism. In total the consequences of slurry acidification are greatly reduced production rates and loss of sulphide and methane, and eliminated loss of ammonia. On the other hand, increased volatilization and loss of smelly fatty acids is to be expected.

For more information the full article can be found at  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/15375110

High bacterial contamination of pig tonsils at slaughter

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The objectives of this work were to (1) study the isolation rate of enteropathogenic Y. enterocolitica, Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp. and L. monocytogenes in the tonsils and feces and (2) determine the number of mesophilic aerobic bacteria (MAB) and Escherichia coli in the tonsils of fattening pigs at slaughter. This is because food-borne zoonoses are infectious diseases of major health and economic significance in developed countries. They are most
often acquired through ingestion of contaminated foods but they can also be acquired directly from animals. The two most frequently reported zoonotic diseases in humans in the EU in 2007 were Campylobacter and Salmonella infections with incidences of 120 and 31 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, respectively (EFSA, 2009). The reason this study uses pig tonsils is because pigs are mostly asymptomatic carriers of Salmonella enterica, Campylobacter spp., Yersinia enterocolitica and L. monocytogenes. All these bacterial pathogens have been isolated from the intestinal
tract of pigs (Fosse et al., in press). However, pathogenic Y. enterocolitica has shown to be a more frequent inhabitant in pig tonsils (Bucher et al., 2008). In the present study, almost all (98%) fattening pigs at slaughter were carriers for at least one of these foodborne pathogens in their tonsils (76%) or were shedding them in feces (72%). Pathogenic Y. enterocolitica and L. monocytogenes were frequently isolated from tonsils while Campylobacter spp. were rarely found. The main reason was because of contamination during slaughter and this study recommends that the contamination in the slaughterhouse could be effectively reduced by changing the slaughter technique by not splitting the head and by leaving the tongue and tonsils in the oral cavity.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03091740

Changes in Debt Patterns and Financial Structure of Farm Businesses: A Double Hurdle Approach

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The objective of this paper is to help explain one aspect of the changing capital structure of U.S. production agriculture – the increase in the number of debt free farms. It is considered that the farm operator’s decision to borrow outside funds as a “two-step” process. Credit decisions are inherently joint decisions between the lender and the borrowers. Our findings suggest that nonfinancial factors, such as operator age, region, risk aversion, and financial factors such as debt service ability and the cost of capital play significant roles in distinguishing borrowers from non-borrowers. Future research will consider other potentially key explanatory variables and explore alternative econometric methods of modeling farm household credit use.

United States-Animal Rights target Spam.

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An animal-rights group unsuccessfully tried Tuesday to get Hormel Foods Corp. to label all of its meat packages with information on the greenhouse-gas emissions “footprint” caused by making the products. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals representative Stephanie Downs read a statement in support of PETA’s resolution during Hormel
Foods’ annual stockholders meeting Tuesday night at Austin High School. Downs urged shareholders to pass the labeling resolution to “bring transparency about Hormel’s environmental impact.” Hormel chief executive officer Jeffrey M. Ettinger said the company has stated publicly its goal to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from the production and delivery of its products. “We are unable to provide accurate, reliable information on the impact of greenhouse gases per food product due to the lack of universally accepted standards,” Ettinger said. “If meat is on the menu, so is a hefty serving of greenhouse gases,” PETA senior vice president Tracy Reiman said in the release. “Consumers have a right to know how much Hormel’s conversion of animals into meat is contributing to climate change.”

The Voodoo Economics of the US National Pork Producers Council: A Commentary

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Canada recently introduced a program to assist its hog industry. Based on a recommendation
from the Canadian Pork Council, the program has two components that can provide direct
economic benefits to hog producers. One component will pay producers to exit the industry. The
second component provides partial loan guarantees under commercial terms to potentially viable
producers who elect to remain in production and restructure their operations.
The US National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) opposes the program and cites a study from
Iowa State University that estimates a 7.5% reduction in North American hog prices as a result
of the program.
The study is not publically available, so it is not possible to analyze it. However, the claim is
astounding. The aim of the first part of the Canadian program is to reduce the Canadian breeding
herd by 5%, which would eventually reduce the number of market hogs from Canada
accordingly. Assuming price flexibility for pork between -1.0 and -2.0, the loan guarantee
program would need to result in 6.75 million to 13.5 million more hogs from Canada than would
have been the case. This is based on 2008 production levels. If the first component results in a
5% reduction, the loan component would need to result in a 27.5 – 52% increase in Canadian
production in order to suppress prices by 7.5%.
It’s extremely hard to imagine how a program that reduces sow inventories, provides marginal
loan benefits to a relatively small portion of Canada’s industry, and that, at best, guarantees loans
at levels equal to about half of variable costs could ever have any negative impact on North
American prices, let alone one as large as is claimed. Several potential issues that must be
addressed in a proper analysis of the supply response to this program have been identified in this
paper.
Nevertheless, an official of the NPPC, quoted today (August 26), says that the program will put
the onus on poor American producers to adjust and relieve the responsibility from Canadian
producers. No one should have any sympathy for this type of woeful spin. The fact is that
Canada has already reduced its herd by 14.5% from its peak in 2004, and total inventories of
hogs in Canada the second quarter of this year were down 19.4% since mid-2004. During the
same period, US mid-year inventories of hogs grew every year until 2008 before dropping
slightly by 1.4% this year. Meanwhile, US producers have added to this summer’s poor prices
by loading another 4-5 lbs of weight on each hog they ship to market. The market expects that
August 2009 pork production in the US will set a record.
I don’t know whether this Canadian program is good policy or not from a Canadian perspective.
I do know it is responsible from an international trade perspective. It appears inevitable that
there will be threats and the potential reality of yet another trade action by the NPPC. One can
only hope that, when it occurs, the US industry will be held responsible for its failure to adjust to
an ugly market situation, and that proper economic analysis is used in the argument.
One of the major reasons for the current situation in the hog industry is domestic and
international reaction to the outbreak earlier this year of the new H1N1 virus, which is daily
misnamed swine flu in North American media. It has scared domestic consumers and
international customers away from pork and has reduced demand. The NPPC might better use
its resources and influence to fight that real battle than to blame its trading partner for nonexistent
negative effects of a benevolent program.

Postnatal piglet husbandry practices and well-being: The effects of alternative techniques delivered separately

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The aim of this study was to evaluate stress responses evoked by 2 alternative methods for performing the following processing procedures: 1) teeth resection—clipping vs. grinding; 2) tail docking— cold vs. hot clipping; 3) identification—ear notch vs. tag; 4) iron administration—injection vs. oral; 5) castration— cords cut vs. torn. When measures of behavior, physiology, and productivity were used, the responses to teeth resection, tail docking, and identification were shown to be altered by the procedural method, whereas responses to iron administration and
castration did not differ. The time taken to carry out the procedure would appear to be an important factor in the strength of the stress response.

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