Effects of neonatal iron status, iron injections at birth, and weaning in young pigs from sows fed either organic or inorganic trace minerals

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In this study second-partiy sows were fed diets containing organic or inorganic trace minerals, and their progeny were used to determine the iron (Fe) status of pigs at birth and nursing and postweaning phases. The results indicated a reduced Fe bioavailability when sows were fed the organic fe source, but this could also been because of a greater Fe need, lowered Fe status, or both, for the sow because of the greater number of pigs farrowed and heavier litter weights at parturition and weaning. It is also concludeed that Fe injection at birth may be critical to achieving maximum pig growth response to weaning. There was no apparent advantage to injecting fe at weaning when neonatal pigs received Fe injections.

The effects of R-salbutamol on behavior and physiology of finishing pigs

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Salbutamol has potential for use as a
repartioning agent in swine. The aims of this experiment
were to determine effects of salbutamol on behavior
and physiology of finishing pigs. The study used
192 pigs (88.8 ± 0.9 kg of BW) housed in groups of 6
in 32 pens and assigned to 1 of 4 treatments: 1) control—
0 mg/kg of salbutamol, 2) 2R—control diet with
2 mg/kg of the pure R-enantiomer of salbutamol, 3)
4R—control diet with 4 mg/kg of pure R-salbutamol, or
4) 8RS—control diet with 8 mg/kg of a 50:50 mixture
of the R- and S-enantiomers. All diets were offered ad
libitum for 4 wk. Salbutamol diets were replaced with
control diets 24 to 48 h before slaughter. Behavioral
responses to handling during weighing were recorded
immediately before assignment to the treatments (wk
0) and at weekly intervals over the next 4-wk period.
Behavioral and heart rate (HR) responses to a 10-min
human presence test in the home pen were measured
during wk 0, wk 1, and wk 3. Heart rate responses to
a 36-min transportation were recorded. One pig from
each pen had blood collected 4 times: during wk 0, 2, 4,
and at exsanguination. Blood was analyzed for NEFA,
creatine kinase, glucose, lactate, blood urea nitrogen,
ammonia, insulin, cortisol, norepinephrine, and epinephrine.
Data were analyzed using PROC GLM of
SAS, with pen as the experimental unit. Treatment
had no effect on time spent lying laterally, overall activity,
or time spent alert. Treatment had no effect on
handling measures (P > 0.05) or on behavioral responses
to human presence (P > 0.05), with all pigs willing
to spend similar amounts of time close to and touching
the human. However, during the human presence
test in wk 1 and wk 3, control pigs had HR around 10
peats per minute less (P < 0.05) than pigs in the other 3 treatments. During transport, overall HR were similar across treatments (P > 0.05). However, at certain 1-min
time points, control pigs had greater HR than salbutamol-
treated pigs (P < 0.05). There were no treatment differences in lactate, epinephrine, or norepinephrine concentrations at any point. During wk 4, control pigs had less creatine kinase (P < 0.02) and greater blood urea nitrogen (P < 0.005) compared with pigs fed all the salbutamol treatments. The home pen behavior, handling, human presence test, and transport results indicate that salbutamol-treated pigs do not show marked differences in home pen time budgets and behavioral and HR responses to handling and transportation compared with control pigs. Thus, salbutamol did not have a negative effect on finishing pig well-being during this study.

The effect of feeding crude glycerol on growth performance and nutrient digestibility in weaned pigs

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The effects of substituting wheat with
crude glycerol as a dietary energy source were evaluated. Seventy-two weaned pigs were fed for 4 wk one of three pelleted
wheat-based diets containing 0, 4, or 8% glycerol and formulated to 2.28 Mcal kg1 net energy (NE) and 5.02 g
standardized ileal digestible lysine Mcal NE. For day 0 to 28, body weight increased linearly (P=0.04); pigs fed 8%
glycerol were 1.11 kg heavier than pigs fed 0% glycerol. Glycerol inclusion tended to increase average daily gain linearly
(P=0.066) and increased average daily feed intake quadratically (P=0.037) without affecting feed efficiency (P=0.10).
Feeding up to 8% dietary crude glycerol by substituting wheat can enhance the growth performance of weaned pigs.

Nutrient digestibility and performance responses of growing pigs fed phytase- and xylanase-supplemented wheat-based diets

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The objective of this paper is to evaluate the effects of supplementing phytase and xylanase on nutrient digestibility and performance of growing pigs fed wheat-based diets. It was concluded that the supplements (phytase and xylanase) improved phosphorus and amino acid digestibilities.

Foot-and-mouth disease: A review of intranasal infection of cattle, sheep and pigs

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This paper reviews the results of investigations for animals which have been infected by instillation or spraying a virus suspension into the nostrils or by exposure to affected animals through a mask or by indirect contact. The results indicate that pigs are not readily infected by the intranasal route. Also, the nature of the aerosol droplets needs to be analyzed to determine how the respective amounts of infective and non-infective virus particles, host components and the presence of antibody affect the survival in air and the ability to infect the respiratory tract.

Distribution of hepatitis E virus infection and its prevalence in pigs on commercial farms in Spain

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A survey to detect antibodies against hepatitis E virus (HEV) was undertaken on 41 Spanish pig farms using an indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The study confirmed that HEV is spread in pigs in Spain and is probably endemic in many farms.

Maternal behaviour and performance in first-parity outdoor sows

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Our aim was to describe nursing behaviour, sow
activity, sow use of body reserves and piglet growth and
the relationship between these traits in gilts kept
outdoors. We conclude that in outdoor production, sow
appetite in early lactation affects piglet growth until
weaning at seven weeks. Sow nursing behaviour is not
important for piglet growth when sows and piglets are
held outdoors in groups, piglets have access to sow feed
and piglets are weaned as late as at seven weeks of age.
Sow nursing behaviour and activity are individual
characteristics repeatable within sow’s late lactation.
Sow nursing behaviour is related with sow activity,
indicating that less active sows are more available for
suckling. Sow backfat depth and sow body weight are
related to nursing behaviour in late lactation, indicating
that light, thin sows have an earlier and more progressed
weaning process.
Sows seem to balance between their and their litters’
needs by changing nursing behaviour during lactation.
In order to investigate how conventionally bred sows
kept outdoors manage to handle this act of balance,
maternal traits and reproduction traits need to be studied
over several parities.

Genetic parameters for maternal behaviour traits in sows

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The aims of this study were first to define five behaviour traits which characterise the mothering abilities
of sows and subsequently to obtain estimates of variance components and breeding values for these traits in order to assess the suitability of the traits as selection criteria. Finally, genetic correlations between litter size at birth and the behaviour traits were estimated in order to test if selection for improved maternal behaviour is associated
with number of piglets born alive. It was found that including maternal behaviour in breeding programmes requires appropriate traits. These must be precisely defined, as objectively as possible, easy to record on a large scale and sufficiently genetically determined. From the five defined and analysed traits in the present study crushing seems to be themost promising trait for selection. Even though the estimated heritability was low, it shows a high incidence and is relatively easy to record objectively on a large scale.

Exploring ways by to improve the availability of nutrients while following sound conservation techniques

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Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and University
of Guelph researchers are exploring ways to apply liquid
manure to create the least amount of environmental impact.
For Dr. Bonnie Ball-Coelho, a research scientist with AAFC,
the focus over the past five years has been on how to combine
manure applications with minimum till. She and her
team have found that combining conservation techniques
with manure applications is not only possible but can also
achieve corn yields equivalent to conventional tillage and
inorganic fertilizer combinations. What type of equipment you use can also make a difference
with the spring application, she adds. The tine type of tilling
system used in the studies resulted in less of a negative impact
on growth or germination when the manure was highly concentrated
than the two other knife-type systems used. The main push of this and other studies is to improve the
agronomic availability of nutrients – improve the bottom
line for the farmer – and keep nutrients and bacteria
from places we don’t want them to be.

N2O emission in maize-crops fertilized with pig slurry, matured pig manure or ammonium nitrate in Brittany

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N2O is a potent greenhouse gas and solutions have to be sought to reduce its emission from agriculture. This work evaluates N2O emission from maize-crop (Zea mays) fields submitted to different organic or mineral fertilizers (pig slurry, matured pig manure or ammonium nitrate) in Brittany (France). N2O emission was evaluated along a year in two experimental sites receiving 110 or 180 kg N ha1 as ammonium nitrate or pig slurry and 180 or 132 kg N ha1 as ammonium nitrate or matured pig manure at Champ Noel and Le Rheu experimental plots, respectively. N2O emission was evaluated by interpolation method of periodic fluxes on the field scale and by simulation with NOE algorithm using measured soil characteristics such as N content and gravimetric moisture and other soil biological properties determined in a previous study (potential denitrifying activity, N2O/[N2O + N2] ratio during denitrification) or drawn from literature. On the whole N2O emissions vary between 0.3 kg N ha1 year1 in an unfertilized plot and 2–4 kg N ha1 year1 under ammonium nitrate fertilization. They were higher under N fertilizer application than without N fertilizer but no significant effect of type of N fertilizer was observed on either site. However, N2O losses immediately after fertilizer application were higher under pig slurry and matured pig manure, while measured and predicted fluxes showed that greater N2O losses occurred from summer to winter under ammonium nitrate application. This could be mainly explained by higher mineral N contents at Le Rheu and higher N2O/(N2O + N2) ratio at both sites. The NOE model predicted higher annual N2O emission and emission factor with ammonium nitrate at Champ Noe¨l only and similar emissions for both treatments at Le Rheu. These results suggest that in this climate and soil context the use of pig slurry or matured pig manure did not have a stimulating impact on N2O emissions in comparison with a plot receiving a mineral fertilization.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01678809