Swine Slurry Characterization and Prediction Equations for Nutrients on South Korean Farms

Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 2008 | No Comments

Slurry samples, collected from 23 commercial swine farms in South Korea during January to May 2008, were
characterized in terms of various physiochemical parameters: pH, specific gravity, electrical conductivity, total solids, volatile solids, fixed solids, total suspended solids, total dissolved solids, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, macronutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Na, and Mg), micronutrients (Zn, Fe, Al, Mn, Cu, and Co), heavy metals (Ni, Cr, As, Cd, and Pb), and microbes (total heterotrophic bacteria, coliforms, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella).

Effects of housing finishing pigs in two group sizes and at two floor space allocations on production, health, behavior, and physiological variables

Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments

With the shift in hog operations to housing pigs in large groups of over 100 per pen, questions have arisen as to how these pigs should be managed. Pigs in large groups have been suggested to more efficiently use space in crowded conditions, because the free space available to all pigs is greater (McGlone and Newby, 1994). McGlone and Newby (1994) also hypothesized that space could be reduced in large groups without negatively affecting production. However, a study in a strawed system did not find such an interaction (Turner et al., 2000), and studies in nonbedded systems have not provided identical space allowances to both large and small groups (McGlone and Newby, 1994; Wolter et al., 2000). Space recommendations put forth by AAFC (1993) have been based on traditional group sizes, which tend to range from 10 to 40 pigs per pen. Therefore, this study examined effects of small (18 pigs) vs. large (108 pigs) group sizes provided 0.52 m2/ pig (crowded) or 0.78 m2/pig (uncrowded) of space on production, health, behavior, and physiological variables. Eight 7-to 8-wk-long blocks, each involving 288 pigs, were completed. The average birth weight at the beginning of the study was 37.4 ± 0.26 kg. Overall, average daily gain was 1.032 kg/d and 1.077 (±0.015) kg/d for crowded and uncrowded pigs, respectively (P = 0.018). Differences between the space allowance treatments were most evident during the final week of study. Overall gain to feed ratio was also reduced (P = 0.002) in the crowded treatment. Pigs in the crowded groups spent less (P = 0.003) time eating over the 8-wk study than did pigs in noncrowded groups, but average daily feed intake did not differ (P = 0.34) between treatments. Overall, average daily gain of large-group pigs was 1.035 kg/d, whereas small group pigs gained 1.073 kg/d (±0.015; P = 0.039). Average daily gain differences between the group sizes were most evident during the first 2 wk of the study. Over the entire study, gain to feed ratio also differed, with large groups being less efficient (P = 0.005) than small groups. Although large-group pigs had poorer scores for lameness (P = 0.012) and leg scores (P = 0.02) throughout the 8-wk period, morbidity levels did not differ (P = 0.32) between the group sizes. Minimal changes in postural behavior and feeding patterns were noted in large groups. An interaction (P = 0.04) of group size and space allowance for lameness indicated that pigs housed in large groups at restricted space allowances were more susceptible to lameness. Although some behavioral variables, such as lying postures, suggest that pigs in large groups were able to use space more efficiently, overall productivity and health variables indicate that pigs in large and small groups were similarly affected by the crowding imposed in this study. Broken-line analysis of average daily gain indicated no difference in the response to crowding by pigs in large and small groups. Little support was found for reducing space allowances for pigs in large groups.

Effects of feeding distillers dried grains with solubles, high-protein distillers dried grains, and corn germ to growing-finishing pigs on pig performance, carcass quality, and the palatability of pork

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Pig performance, carcass quality and palatiability of pork from pigs fed distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), high-protein distillers dried grains (HPDDG), and corn germ was investigated. 84 pigs were allotted to 7 dietary treatments. Diets were fed for 114 days in a 3-phase program. The control treatment was based on corn and soybean meal. It was concluded that feeding 20% DDGS or high levels of HPDDG to growing-finishing pigs did not have a negative effect overall. However, it may decrease fat quality. Feeding up to 10% corn germ did not have a negative affect but increased the final weight of the pigs and reduced the iodine value of belly fat.

The relationship within and between production performance and meat quality characteristics in pigs from three different genetic lines

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The objective of this study was to investigate with data from three pig genetic lines, the existing relationship within production performance parameters, within meat quality characteristics and between these two types of variables. It was found that the differences among the studied genotypes are much higher in terms of performance than in terms of meat quality traits.

Farm Animal Welfare and Quality Verification

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Existing empirical evidence suggests that farm animal welfare may not be a top-of-mind issue for many consumers in North America. Nevertheless, there is pressure from animal welfare groups on food retailers and processors to implement more stringent requirements for their suppliers. Is the demand for more stringent animal welfare protocols primarily determined by a subset of consumers with very strong preferences or by an underlying change in consumer and societal preferences? Who do consumers trust for credible quality assurances with respect to farm animal welfare attributes? This paper provides a basis for further analysis of these issues. The roles of different stakeholders in delivering farm animal welfare quality assurances to consumers are first discussed. Then a social welfare analysis of the Canadian market for animal friendly pork is presented under different scenarios with respect to the strength of consumer preferences and the existence of voluntary standards versus mandatory standards. The analysis suggests that a situation of voluntary labelling that is reasonably credible is desirable as it maximizes the welfare that accrues to all players on the market. Furthermore, this scenario allows heterogeneous consumers to choose between different combinations of price and quality according to their preferences. The paper concludes with suggestions for further research.

Effect of out-of-feed events and diet particle size on pig performance and welfare

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There appear to be three major causes for out-of-feed events in grower-finisher facilities. Human errors are generally associated with empty bins. This occurs when feed is not ordered, prepared, or delivered in a timely manner. The second cause of out-of-feed events is bridging of ground feed in feed storage devices. In this case, issues associated with flowability prevent feed from flowing out of the storage device into the feed delivery system. The final cause of out-of-feed events is equipment malfunction, this generally increases as facilities age. The consequences to the pig are the same regardless of the cause of an out-of-feed event. Considerable anecdotal evidence suggests that when pigs are given access to feed following a period of deprivation, an increase in fighting and aggressive behaviors occurs, and it is likely that this will adversely affect the welfare of all pigs within that pen. Irregular availability of feed during two daily 2-hour periods has been used as a stressor in a study examining acute-phase protein levels as biomarkers for evaluation of distress in growing pigs. Short-term feed deprivation (24 hours) has been clearly shown to cause ulcers in growing pigs. Periodic feed interruptions would likely create a similar effect in pigs fed ad libitum. While most ulcers had been repaired within 28 days in pigs fed a diet with particle size 750 microns, stomach ulceration continued in pigs either remaining on a finely ground diet (550 microns) or continuing to experience weekly feed deprivations. Interruptions in feeding such as occur with out-of-feed events may be inciting factors for hemorrhagic bowel syndrome. Over-eating, especially after a period of feed deprivation, has been implicated as a cause of porcine intestinal hemorrhage syndrome. The following experiments were designed to examine the impact of repeated out-of-feed events on pig performance, carcass composition, and incidence of tail biting and skin lesions. In each of two experiments, out-of-feed events of 20-hour duration were created by closing the feeder delivery devices from noon until 8:00 am the following morning. In Experiment One, the treatments were never or weekly out-of-feed events for a 16-week period, and 1266-micron versus 1019-micron mash feed-particle size. In Experiment Two, the treatments were zero, one, two, or three out-of-feed events on random days every 2-week period in the 16-week study. In each experiment, there were four pens per treatment combination or treatment and 15 pigs per pen. Weekly events resulted in a 68-g per day lower daily gain for the first 8 weeks, and 35-g per day lower gain over the entire trial, compared to the never out-of-feed treatment, with no impact on feed conversion. Feed conversion was better when feed particle size was 1019 microns versus 1266 microns. In Experiment Two, there was a linear decrease in daily gain with increasing numbers of out-of-feed events during the first 8-week period, with no impact during the second 8-week period. There was no effect of treatments on feed conversion. It was concluded that repeated out-of-feed events had a bigger impact on growing pigs than on finishing pigs, with the impact expressed as lower weight gain with no effect on feed conversion.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.aasv.org/shap/issues/v16n2/v16n2p72.htm

Molecular detection of norovirus in sheep and pigs in New Zealand farms

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Human norovirus (NoV) is reportedly the major cause of non-bacterial gastroenteritis outbreaks worldwide and is commonly associated with water- and food-borne transmission via the faecal–oral route. Aside from humans, norovirus has been detected in pigs, cattle and mice. The close relatedness of some human and animal noroviruses has raised concerns about potential zoonotic transmission. Our laboratory recently reported the development of a multiplex real-time RT-PCR for the detection and genotyping of norovirus of genogroups I–III.  Here we report a study of 56 faecal specimens from pigs and sheep that were collected and screened for noroviruses using this assay. Norovirus was found in 2/23 (9%) of porcine specimens (all were genogroup II) and in 8/33 (24%) of ovine specimens (all were genogroup III). Samples tested positive for norovirus were verified by conventional RT-PCR with different primer sets. Genomes of representative porcine and ovine norovirus strains underwent partial sequence analysis (343 and 2045 bases, respectively). This is the first report describing norovirus in sheep.

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

Isolated weaning technology: Humane benefits and concerns in the production of pork

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The age at which piglets are separated from the sow has been identified as an animal welfare risk in current swine production systems. Animal welfare gains of a minimal disease state must be objectively balanced against the welfare costs of early weaning. Veterinary practitioners should continue to participate in the development and validation of humane animal production methods.

Effects of dietary supplementation of an enzyme blend on the ileal and fecal digestibility of nutrients in growing pigs

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The objective of this experiment was to determine the effect of a ƒÀ-glucanase-protease enzyme blend product (EBP) on fecal digestibility (FD), apparent ileal digestibility (AID), standardized ileal digestibility, and digestibility in the hindgut of growing pigs. The results illustrate that the EBP fed to growing pigs improved the FD of DM, OM, energy, CP, nonfiber carbohydrate, total dietary fiber, acid-hydrolyzed fat, Ca, and P, and the AID of NDF and hemicellulose, but the standardized ileal digestibility of amino acids was not improved by supplying the EBP
in corn-soybean meal-based diets of growing pigs.

Effect of crude glycerol on pellet mill production and nursery pig growth performance

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This study determined the effects of diets containing crude glycerol on pellet mill production efficiency and nursery pig growth performance. It was concluded that adding crude glycerol to the diet before pelleting increased pellet durability and improved feed mill production efficiency.

To see this complete article please visit: http://jas.fass.org/