Biosecurity in Swine Production: Widespread concerns?

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

Biosecurity can be defined as procedures, efforts and programmes established to reduce the risk of disease introduction into pig populations (Conner, 2001). Moreover, it can slow down the transmission of endemic pathogens (viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi) thus limiting the spread of disease at the herd, region or country level. Good herd biosecurity is therefore essential to protect herd health status but it is also important when implementing a program for control or eradication of diseases at a regional level.

Feed ingredients differing in fermentable fibre content affect nitrogen excretion and fermentation metabolites in weaned pigs

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An experiment was conducted with 64 weaned pigs (24 kg) to evaluate the
effect of different fibre sources on N excretion and the fermentation
metabolites produced in the gastrointestinal tract. The diets were balanced in
energy and amino acids with soy protein isolate, pea starch, sucrose and a
premix and supplemented with wheat bran, cellulose, peas, pea hulls, pea
inner fibre, sugar beet pulp, flaxseed meal (FSM) or corn DDGS, as fibre
sources. Fecal samples were collected for 3 consecutive days from d10 and
pigs were slaughtered on d16. Digesta from ileum and colon were collected
and analyzed for their short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and ammonia content.
When wheat bran was the reference ingredient, the total tract N digestibility
was lower with FSM and DDGS (72 and 74% respectively) and higher in pea
hulls (81%) and pea inner fibre (79%). This, in turn affected the amount of
faecal N excreted, the latter being higher with FSM and DDGS (280 and 262
g/kg N intake respectively). The pea- and pea hull-based diets had higher
SCFA at the ileum level, while no difference in SCFA concentration was observed among diets in the
colon. Higher ammonia concentration was also found in the colon of pigs fed
with peas, pea hulls, FSM and DDGS, which might adversely affect the pig’s
gut environment.

A Dose of the The New Reality

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As the week comes to a close, anyone who works in the pork industry likely feels a bit run down, and it has nothing to do with contracting an actual viral infection, but it has everything to do with H1N1 influenza and its unfolding story.
For an agricultural industry that has often been on the leading edge of new developments, technology and change, the pork industry can add another one to its portfolio. It has now been thrown into the limelight as a new media guinea pig. By that I mean, it’s the first industry, certainly agricultural or food industry, to face the influence and fallout from today’s new media and the public’s instant-messaging obsessions and short attention spans. The “old media” outlets are not immune to some finger-pointing as television, radio, newspapers quickly labeled the new influenza virus and
outbreak as “swine flu,” which then spread like wildfire. The 24/7-news-media cycle in which we all live with today requires cable news and others to constantly fill the air waves, and that means talking and talking and talking about everything and anything you can think of related to a particular topic. However, its the “new media” of bloggers, text messages and Twitter where the inaccuracies, rumor and misinformation flourished and trumped patience, clarity and facts. Anti-animal agriculture groups even took advantage of the situation and used the new media vehicles to
campaign deeper and harder against modern agriculture that they so lovely like to label “factory farms.”

Characterization of Lesions in U.S. Cull Sows

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Physical and reproductive conditions of 3,158 cull sows from 2 U.S. Midwestern
harvest facilities were assessed. Body condition, feet, shoulders, teeth, lungs, and
reproductive tracts were visually evaluated for gross lesions at harvest. Based
on the observations of this study, body condition score (BCS) was associated
with several abnormal conditions of sows. Foot-related lesions (overgrown toes,
foot pad lesions) represented the most frequently documented lesions.
Temporal associations of the interactions between lesions and BCS are un-
known. Even though causal relations were not established by this study, the
strong associations observed suggest that sows who do not respond to increased
feeding with improved BCS could reasonably be expected to have additional
lesions that may impact performance and welfare. On-farm management prac-
tices may be related to 1 or more lesions (including foot lesions) that had a high
prevalence in this study.
Farm management practices and nonhuman animal welfare could not be
evaluated with this study so no extrapolation can be given to the type of animal
housing or the antemortem behavior of these sows.

Effects of yeast culture supplementation on growth performance, intestinal health, and immune response of nursery pigs

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The present study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary supplementation of YC on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, intestinal morphology, intestinal ecology, and immune function changes of nursery pigs compared
with an antibiotic growth promoter (AGP). The results this study indicated that supplementation of 5 g/kg of YC improves growth performance of pigs probably by improving villus height, gut immune response, and nutrient digestibility. The results of the study also suggest that YC could be an alternative to AGP in diets for the weaning pigs.

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

Nest-building behaviour in sows and consequences for pig husbandry

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A better understanding of behaviour patterns in general and farrowing behaviour, including nest-building in sows, is essential for an economically successful pig production. Compared to their ancestor, the wild boar, domestic sows perform nest-building as part of maternal behaviour in a nearly unmodifiedway. However, the pre-parturient behaviour is considerably affected by the husbandry system and is only shown to its full extent when environmental circumstances allow it. If the sow cannot follow her natural behavioural need, for instance when no material is available, she redirects her nest-building behaviour towards the pen or crate equipment. This results in stereotypes and stress, followed by a reduced reproduction performance. With regard to animal health and welfare, loose farrowing systems provide a
good alternative while maintaining a high production performance. As long as these systems are not implemented, the
farmers should provide at least suitable nest-building material like straw. Concluding, further research should evaluate and promote alternative enriched systems in order to support the economic use of these systems for the farmers.

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

Will additional straw bedding in buildings housing cattle and pigs reduce ammonia emissions?

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Buildings housing livestock are the second largest source of ammonia (NH3) emissions from UK agriculture. In the UK c. 42% of NH3 emissions from buildings are from those in which cattle and pigs are bedded on straw. Additional straw may reduce NH3 emission by reducing airflow across surfaces soiled by urine, and by immobilization of ammonium–N.

The object of this study was to quantify the effects of increasing straw use on NH3 emission from buildings housing cattle or pigs. The extra straw was applied in increments of up to 100%, either over the entire floor (broadcast) or targeted to the areas where most excreta were deposited. An increase of 33% straw, broadcast over the entire floor, reduced NH3
emission from cattle by 50%, but greater addition did not give any further significant reduction. However, for pigs only the broadcast addition of 100% more straw reduced NH3 emission and then by only c. 20%.

Targeted use of an additional 33% straw reduced emission from cattle by 22%, compared with broadcasting the same quantity of straw, but further additions of targeted straw use did not increase abatement. When the straw was targeted in the pig buildings there was no benefit from using additional straw. Thus optimum results may be obtained from an addition of 33% extra straw, targeted to the soiled areas for cattle, but 100% extra straw broadcast over the whole floor for pigs.

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

Prevalence of Mycoplasma suis in slaughter pigs, with correlation of PCR results to hematological findings

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This study examined the prevalence of M. suis in post-weaning pigs by employing a quantitative real-time LightCycler PCR. The study showed that M. suis infections are often under-diagnosed in pig husbandry and can therefore lead to considerable economic profit losses in pig husbandry. Furthermore, our study has shown that the LightCycler PCR could be an appropriate tool for a sufficiently coherent identification of M. suis in latent carrier animals in view of introducing effective treatment and disease control measures.

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

Breeding programme for Piétrain pigs in Bavaria with an estimation of genetic trends and effective population size

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The objective of this paper is to analyze the current population structure, performance testing and breeding scheme of the Bavarian Piétrain as a basis for further optimization studies of the breeding programme. Also current breeding programme, genetic trends and effective population size were estimated. It was found that the Bavarian Piétrain population, its effective population size and the performance testing capacity on station are large. Thus, there is great potential to achieve substantial and sustained breeding progress in the future. The breeding scheme and performance testing leave, however, room for improvement.

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

Genetic correlations and expected response for intramuscular fat content in a Duroc pig line

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The aims of this study were to estimate the genetic correlation of intramuscular fat (IMF) content with economic traits in a Duroc line used for producing high valued cured retail cuts and also to experimentally assess whether selection for body weight at restrained backfat depth is a good strategy for improving IMF content in this line. The opportunity was taken to examine the consistency of the model used for predicting the IMF breeding values and the expected selection response for IMF under different scenarios. The results from this study indicate that IMF can only be efficiently selected if it is systematically recorded. The pig lines aimed at producing elite cured products are the best candidates where investments in this kind of recording systems may pay off.

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