Use of mannanoligosaccharides and zinc chelate as growth promoters and diarrhea preventative in weaning pigs: Effects on microbiota and gut function

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The efficacy of a commercial source of mannan-oligosacharides (BM), organic zinc (BP), or their combination to enhance performance, gastrointestinal health, and immune response in weaned pigs was evaluated. A total of 128 piglets, weaned at 20 ± 2 d, were housed in 32 pens.

Animals received 1 of 4 dietary treatments: a control diet (CT) to which 0.2% of BM, 80 mg/kg of Zn as BP, or both additives (BMP) were added. The experiment lasted for 5 wk including a prestarter period of 2 wk and a starter period of 3 wk. Body weight was recorded and daily feed intake was calculated.

Fecal consistency was monitored for the first 21 d. After 2 wk, 32 animals were killed, digesta samples from the stomach, ileum, and cecum were collected, and pH and the short-chain fatty acid profile were determined.

Microbiological counts for enterobacteria and lactobacilli were evaluated using quantitative PCR. Histological parameters in the jejunum and immunoglobulin concentrations in serum and ileal digesta were
also measured.

Both additives improved G:F during the starter period (0.63, 0.69, 0.67, and 0.68 for CT, BM, BP, and BMP, respectively; P < 0.04). Mean fecal score values for the first 21 d were improved by BM and BP, showing decreased values compared with the CT diet (1.22, 0.89, 0.87, and 1.06 for CT, BM, BP, and BMP, respectively; P = 0.002). The addition of BM decreased enterobacteria counts in the jejunum (9.13, 8.05, 8.87, and 7.89 log 16S rRNA gene copies/g of matter for CT, BM, BP, and BMP, respectively; P = 0.05). Empty ileal weight, defined as the segment including the continuous Peyer’s patch, tended (P = 0.08) to increase with BP treatment (8.9, 9.6, 11.9, and 10.3 g/kg of BW for CT, BM, BP, and BMP, respectively). Crypt depths in the jejunum were lower in animals fed the combination of the additives (BPM) compared with those fed the control diet (281 vs. 235; P < 0.03). No significant differences were registered in pH, short-chain fatty acids, or serum and ileal immunoglobulin concentrations. The results suggest that the use of BM or BP can improve the efficiency of gain during the starter period.

Evaluation of alternatives to antibiotics using an Escherichia coli K88+ model of piglet diarrhea: Effects on gut microbial ecology

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Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli is a major problem in the swine industry and results in scouring, increased mortality, and poor performance in the period immediately postweaning. The traditional way to control this problem is to include subtherapeutic antibiotics in the feed, but this is no longer acceptable to consumers; thus, alternatives to antibiotics are needed. In this research, we investigated the effects of spray-dried porcine plasma(SDPP), a Bacillus subtilis direct-fed microbial (DFM), a blend of organic acids, and sweeteners on E. coli induced scouring. It was concluded that when SDPP and DFM were included in the diet, the incidence of Bacteroidetes was greater when there was no antibiotics in the diet.

Virucidal efficacy of nine commercial disinfectants against porcine circovirus type 2

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The virucidal efficacy of nine disinfectants was evaluated by testing a suspension of PCV2 isolated in France. For five disinfectants, namely a product composed of potassium monopersulfate, two products comprising a quaternary ammonium with one or three aldehyde(s), sodium hypochlorite, and sodium hydroxide, the concentration that significantly reduced the PCV2 titre was equal or 1.5–4 times lower than the authorised use concentration. Only two disinfectants, one composed of potassium monopersulfate, the other containing peracetic acid with hydrogen peroxide, reduced the PCV2 titre with a product concentration at best equal or two times higher than the authorised use concentration.

Changes in the spleen and liver of pregnant sows and full-term piglets after feeding diets naturally contaminated with deoxynivalenol and zearalenone

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Wheat contaminated naturally with the Fusarium toxins deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZON) was fed to pregnant Landrace sows for 35 days. On day 110, caesarean section was carried out, the offspring were killed immediately after birth, and their livers and spleens examined. It was found that there are no adverse effects on the liver and spleen of full-term piglets when their mothers consumed diets containing up to 9570 and 358 lg DON/ZON per kg diet.

Health of non-ambulatory, non-injured pigs at processing

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Number of services and the reservice intervals in relation to suboptimal reproductive performance in female pigs on commercial farms

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The objectives of this study were to characterize a reservice occurrence and reservice intervals (RI) on commercial farms; and to investigate associations of the number of services, RI, parity, lactation length, and weaning-to-first-mating intervals (WMI) with farrowing rate and pigs born alive (PBA). It was found that reservice decreased farrowing rate in both gilts and sows, but no influence on PBA was found. Increasing farrowing rate in non-returned females and minimizing RI in reserviced females at low parity improved herd productivity.

Learning how to control porcine circovirus

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Dr. John Harding, associate professor
in swine production medicine at the
University of Saskatchewan, and his team
have been studying various aspects of porcine
circovirus (PCVD) to learn more about
controlling the virus.
In an on-going trial funded by Ontario Pork,
Manitoba Pork, Alberta Pork, Federation des Producteurs de
Porc du Quebec (FPPQ) and the Alberta Livestock Industry
Development Fund, the researchers have been evaluating
on-farm risk factors to determine why some animals develop
disease and others do not.
The main aim of the study is to determine if common
production practices have an impact on disease development
and if there is a genetic component that makes the
pigs more or less susceptible to developing clinical signs of
the disease. The team is in the midst of collecting samples to
be analysed through the summer of 2008.

Technical efficiency and impact of environmental regulations in farrow-to-finish swine production in Taiwan

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This article demonstrates how technical efficiency and the impact of environmental regulations of Taiwanese farrow-to-finish swine production can be estimated in the presence of undesirable outputs. The issue of measuring technical efficiencies while considering undesirable outputs has been addressed by past studies. But the proper method of including undesirable outputs has always been a subject of debate. This article develops a data envelopment analysis (DEA)-based model that includes undesirable outputs. The technologies of desirable output production and undesirable
output control are considered simultaneously. This allows one to transform undesirable output into desirable output, whereby a traditional Shephard distance function can be used to measure technical efficiencies. An approach to measuring the impacts due to environmental regulations is then derived. Empirical results show that larger farms are more technically efficient than small-sized farms, but no clear conclusions can be reached for the measures of regulatory impact among farms with different sizes. On average, the sample farms incurred an opportunity cost due to  evironmental regulations equivalent to 9.8% of market value. Opportunity costs rise with efficiency.

For more information the full article can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1574-0862/issues

Best Management Practices to Improve the Productivity and Environmental Sustainability of Grassland Pasture Systems

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Expansion of the hog sector in Manitoba from less than 2 million head in 1980 to more that 8 million head in 2006 (Knowledge Management, Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural initiatives); has created opportunities for the beef and dairy cattle industries to improve forage productivity through the application of hog manure. Although the use of hog manure as a fertility source in grassland pasture systems may be mutually beneficial to hog and cattle producers, there are still many aspects of this practice that require further study in the Manitoba production environment including both productivity and environmental sustainability as measured by greenhouse gas production (including enteric methane emissions and soil nitrous oxide/methane emissions), as well as the potential for nutrient accumulation/ movement within the soil and movement of pathogens from hog manure to soil, forage and cattle. To accomplish these objectives, a research/demonstration site was established in September 2003. Treatments examined were i) manure application and ii) method of forage removal. Three strategies for manure application were used: i) no manure; ii) manure applied as a single application of 110 lbs of available N delivered in the spring; iii) manure applied as a split application with 55 lbs available N applied in the spring and 55 lbs of available N applied in the fall. Soil nutrient profiles were examined prior to manure application and in the fall of each study year (prior to the Split manure application) to determine if elements in the applied manure moved through the profile towards groundwater. The elements of interest included available nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as chloride. Nutrient profiles in soil up to 120 cm did not show an accumulation of available nitrogen or phosphorus with manure application. Chloride, which served as a marker to determine if nitrate leaching occurred, tended to be highly variable under manured plots. An increase in Cl- concentration at 60-90 and 90-120 cm depths for replicate 1 of the Control-hayed and replicate 2 of the Control-grazed plots occurred following the very dry summer and fall of 2006. Detailed sampling and analysis of plant available nitrogen and phosphorus clearly showed an increase in phosphorus in the near soil surface (0-5 cm) of manure-treated soil (>44 ppm Olsen-P compared to <12 ppm in Control treatments). It is important to note that these projections are based on a relatively small data set. In contrast to available P, available nitrogen (ammonium and nitrate) did not increase in the near soil surface layer. The influence of cattle on nutrient distribution near watering and mineral supplement sites was also examined. Surface soil nutrient concentrations were much greater for bare earth areas (area of high animal traffic around waterers and supplements) compared to grassed areas in 2005 and in 2006. Phosphorus, nitrate and chloride were all very high in the bare earth areas. In 2006, phosphorus levels were highest in the 0.5 cm depth of the bare earth zone. The results indicate that urine and dung deposition in high traffic areas can create areas within grazed land that have extremely high nutrient levels. Movement of waterers and mineral supplement to a new location is advised to prevent the establishment of nutrient accumulation in bare earth areas. Application of hog manure on hayfields increased forage yield relative to hayfields receiving no fertility. Average standing forage biomass generated in Control, Split and Full hayfields were 2.9, 7.0 and 6.7 ± 0.21 t ha, respectively. In addition to increased yield, nutrient profile of the forage was also significantly improved. Mean standing forage crude protein (CP) was lowest in unmanured standing forage (7.5 ± 0.26 % CP), while Split and Full hayfields had CP concentrations of 10.2 and 11.0%, respectively. Neutral detergent fibre was higher in Split hayfields (61.8 ± 1.05 %) than in Control (57.3%) but not different than Full (59.6%) due to its advanced state of maturity at cutting. Gross energy was highest in manured hayfields (18.3, 18.7 and 18.6 ± 0.06 kJ g-1 DM, in Control, Split and Full hayfields, respectively. Application of hog manure also increased nutrient profile of pasture forages relative to those receiving no fertility. Mean forage CP was almost doubled with manure application. Serum urea nitrogen was measured in the grazing cattle to determine overall protein status of the animals. Steers grazing unmanured pastures had lower serum urea N values compared to steers grazing manured pastures. Animal intake and enteric methane emissions (% GEI) were unaltered by the changes in forage quality as a result of manure application. The addition of hog manure increased pasture carrying capacity over the grazing season by more than three-fold compared to unmanured pastures, which averaged 89 grazing days ha yr. Animal productivity increased from 100 kg gain ha for unfertilized to 319 and 339 kg gain ha for Split and Full pasture treatments, respectively. Nitrogen and phosphorus (P) removal efficiencies based on nutrients applied were significantly greater in the hayed system compared to the pastoral system, in which only 4.9 % of applied N and 5.0 % of the applied P were removed. Greenhouse gas emissions as affected by manure application and timing were also measured from soil. Nitrous oxide from soil was clearly the most important of the greenhouse gases produced in 2004 and 2006 while methane predominated in 2005, a year which was characterized by increased precipitation. Over the three study years, average net N2O and CH4 emissions, expressed as kg CO2 equivalent ha, increased from 63 for the Control treatment to 196 and 250 for the Split and Full hayed treatments, respectively. However, net N2O and CH4 emissions were unaffected by manure treatment when expressed as kg CO2 equivalent kg live weight gain ha over the study period (0.633 Control, 0.613 Split and 0.738 Full kg CO2 eq. kg live weight gain ha). Root mass C in the 0-5 cm depth was 2,695 and 3,588 kg C ha for the Control- and Full-hayed plots in replicate 1 (Figure 19). As such, manure application resulted in 900 kg C ha or about 3,300 CO2 eq. ha; a value significantly higher than the 897 CO2 eq. ha associated with emissions of CH4 from soil, direct N2O emission from soil and indirect emission of N2O from volatilization of ammonia in the Full-hayed plots. Presence of Salmonella, Yersina and E. coli were examined using both standard culture and DNA techniques. Salmonella and E. coli were present in hog manure at the time of application to the experimental plots during both years studied. Yersinia enterocolitica was not detected in hog manure at anytime during the study. Salmonella and E. coli were detected on forage two days after manure application but were not detected on forage before cattle were grazed. Salmonella was not detected in soil at any time before or after manure application during both years of the study. During this study, Salmonella and E. coli present in hog manure did not appear to have been transferred to cattle grazing manure-treated fields. Low numbers of E. coli and Salmonella on vegetation and in soil at the time cattle started to graze may have been the main reason cattle did not acquire organisms from the applied hog manure. Research data gathered from this site has resulted in the submission of three scientific publications, with five others in preparation. The site has also served as an excellent location for student training at both the graduate and undergraduate level. Two students have successfully completed graduate programs with data collected from the site while three more students are in the process of completing their postgraduate degrees. Finally, the site has served as an excellent means of communicating information regarding productivity and environmental sustainability of grassland systems to the agricultural sector and the community at large.

Development and Comparison of Backpropagation and Generalized Regression Neural Network Models to Predict Models to Predict Diurnal and Seasonal Gas and PM10 Concentrations and Emissions From Swine Buildings

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The purpose of this study was to employ backpropagation neural network (BPNN) and generalized regression neural network (GRNN) techniques to model GPCER generated and emitted from swine deep‐pit finishing buildings as affected by time of day, season, ventilation rates, animal growth cycles, in‐house manure storage levels, and weather conditions. Good results were found which indicated that the artificial neural network (ANN) technologies were capable of accurately modeling source air quality within and from the animal operations. However, it was also found that the process of constructing, training, and simulating the BPNN models was very complex. Thus, the GRNN was characterized as a preferred solution for its use in air quality modeling.