Eating Behaviour in Large Groups: Learning How Pigs Perceive Their Environment

Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on January 1, 2008 | No Comments

In order to determine how finisher pigs perceive their environment and the impact that could have on our management we looked at their eating behaviour in both large, small and crowded group situations. Our studies on eating behaviour of pigs in large groups have demonstrated that pigs make use of the entire pen, visiting most if not all feeders regularly. The inquisitiveness leading to this extensive use of the pen is evident in a large number of feeder visits during the first week, and may contribute to poor initial growth in the system. When feeders are concentrated in one area of the pen, making it more difficult to get to a feeder, pigs in large groups reduce their number of meals, but compensate by having longer meals. Crowded pigs also reduced their number of meals, but they did not increase the length of feeding or maintain their total eating time and feed intake. The crowded pigs demonstrated a loss of appetite compared to the pigs in large groups, even though both conditions resulted in fewer meals. Therefore, the adaptability of pigs in large groups allows us to broaden the scope of our management options to include not only large groups, but also concentrated feeding areas within the pen.

Carcass, meat quality, and sensory characteristics of heavy body weight pigs fed ractopamine hydrochloride (Paylean)

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Carcass characteristics, meat quality
traits, and sensory attributes were evaluated in latefinishing
barrows and gilts, weighing between 100 to
130 kg of BW, fed 0, 5, or 7.4 mg/kg of ractopamine
hydrochloride (RAC) for the final 21 to 28 d before
slaughter. Carcass data were collected from carcasses
from barrows and gilts (n = 168), and all primal cuts
from the right sides of these carcasses were fabricated
to calculate primal yields as a percentage of the HCW.
Subjective (National Pork Producers Council and Japanese)
color, firmness, and marbling scores were determined
on the LM of each loin and the semimembranosus
muscle (SM) of the ham, whereas the moisture,
extractable lipid, Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF),
and trained sensory evaluations (juiciness, tenderness,
and pork flavor) were measured on the LM samples
only. Gilts produced heavier (P < 0.05) HCW than barrows, whereas feeding RAC increased (P < 0.05) HCW over pigs fed diets devoid of RAC. Carcasses from gilts also had greater (P < 0.02) primal cut and lean cut (P < 0.01) yields than barrows, and dietary inclusion of 5 mg/kg of RAC increased (P < 0.05) total boneless cut and lean cut yields when compared with carcass from pigs fed 0 or 7.4 mg/kg of RAC. Warner-Bratzler shear forces values were greater (P < 0.05) in the LM of gilts than barrows, but only juiciness scores were greater (P < 0.03) in LM chops from barrows than gilts. The LM from barrows had greater intramuscular lipid (P < 0.001) than the LM from gilts, and even though the LM from pigs fed 5 mg/kg of RAC had greater (P < 0.04) WBSF values than the LM from pigs fed 0 or 7.4 mg/kg of RAC, including RAC in the late-finishing diets for 21 or 28 d did not affect sensory panel rating or percentages of moisture and intramuscular lipid. In summary, addition of RAC in the late-finishing diet improved carcass and primal cut yields when it was fed at 5 and 7.4 mg/kg without altering pork quality traits regardless of whether RAC was fed for 21 or 28 d.

The effect of incubation conditions on the laboratory measurement of the methane producing capacity of livestock wastes

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Information Sharing in Food Supply Chains

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Vertical information sharing has posed a sensitive strategic challenge among retail firms who, by their location at the end of the supply chain, possess the most valuable segment of the information real estate and one that is valuable to all members of the supply chain. The challenge is this: on one hand information sharing increases the efficiency of the retailers by better coordinating supplies and orders, and on the other hand, it may compromise the bargaining power of the retailers, opening them to opportunistic behavior on the part of suppliers. Nowhere is this dilemma more apparent than in the food sector. Basing its analysis onthe Supermarket Panel Data conducted by the University of Minnesota’s Food Industry Center, this paper examines this issue. It was found that there appears to be a “digital divide in information sharing” between the two types of market structures. This divide, however, is distinct from the issue of cost of IT adoption and the question of its affordability. Rather, it is based on the concept of incomplete markets, as it relates to the incompleteness of the information flow.

The influence of age on the use of potential enrichment objects and synchronisation of behaviour of pigs

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The provision of environmental enrichment for pigs, in the form of objects or substrates, is a legal requirement throughout the EU. Environmental enrichment may be defined as an improvement in the welfare of an animal, as measured by psychological and physiological means, as a direct result of alterations in the animal’s environment (Newberry, 1995). Previous studies investigating the use of enrichment objects have tended to focus either on one age group or on the provision of one object throughout the animals’ lifetime (e.g. Beattie et al., 1995; Durrell et al., 1997; Hill et al., 1998; Lyons et al., 1995). This experiment therefore addressed the question of whether pigs of different ages require different types of enrichment objects in order to promote and maintain exploratory behaviour. Straw is generally recommended as suitable enrichment for pigs. However, over 85% of pigs in the EU are housed in slatted systems where it is impossible to use these materials spread over a wide area of solid floor. In these systems it is more typical to use alternatives such as hanging objects and, in such situations, enrichment becomes a single point within the pen rather than a diffuse source. This experiment aimed to identify how a pig’s age affected the extent and synchrony of use of different environmental enrichment materials, and how this use changed over time. In order to measure synchrony it is necessary to determine if more than one animal is performing the same behaviour at the same time, and also to determine whether or not this has simply occurred by chance (Engel and Lamprecht, 1997). Animals behaving independently of each other may still be performing the same behaviour, at the same time, and such chance occurrences need to be factored into calculations to determine the extent of true synchrony (Rook and Penning, 1991; Engel and Lamprecht, 1997). Ten diverse novel objects were each presented to three replicate litters of 3 weeks of age (sucklers) and three replicate groups of three animals of 5 (weaners) weeks and 13 (growers) weeks of age. Video recordings were made of the pigs’ behaviour over a period of 5 days and subsequently analysed for activity, inactivity and object directed behaviour of three animals per group on days 1 and 5. The observed performance of any given behaviour, when at least one other member of the group was also performing that behaviour, was compared with the probability that such concurrence occurred by chance and these results were used to calculate the degree of synchronisation. Gender had no effect on the duration of object use or approach latency. Growers displayed a shorter latency to approach the objects initially compared to sucklers and weaners. Sucklers used the objects to a much lesser extent than either the weaners or growers. Overall object use decreased between days 1 and 5. All of the age groups synchronised their behaviour to a much greater extent than expected by chance. The sucklers showed a higher degree of synchrony of activity and inactivity, but lower degree of synchrony for object directed behaviour, than the weaners and growers. The degree of synchronisation of object directed behaviour decreased over the 5-day period, irrespective of age. Significant correlations were found between the degree of synchrony and extent of object interaction only for the sucklers. Since pigs showed behavioural synchronisation, object availability should be considered when providing desirable enrichment in order to avoid excessive competition in larger commercial groups.

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

Music during play-time: Using context conditioning as a tool to improve welfare in piglets

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In this experiment, we investigated whether music can facilitate play behaviour in piglets after weaning, when that music had been presented preweaning as a contextual cue associated with access to a playroom. It was found that music replay post weaning does facilitate play behaviour in the Playroom group. The results also showed that playroom exposure preweaning reduced the number of injuries post weaning (W1, W2 and W3). In contrast with our expectations, music replay also facilitated play behaviour in the control group, although significantly less so than in the Playroom group.

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

Automatic detection of oestrus and health disorders using data from electronic sow feeders

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Eating behaviour is influenced by the onset of oestrus and diseases. For gilts, Friend (1973) reported a reduced
feed intake from 23.56±0.39 kg in weeks between successive oestrus to 19.90±0.38 kg in weeks when oestrus occurred. It is suggested that the effect of oestrus on appetite is caused by oestrogens. Furthermore, sows presenting health disorders will also modify their eating behaviour: a reduced feed intake is considered to be one of the first signs that an animal is ill. Therefore this study was designed to evaluate the potential of electronic sow feeder (ESF) measurements in detecting oestrus, lameness and other health disorders for group housed sows. The detection method suggested in this article shows a sensitivity that ranges from 39 to 75% according to the condition detected, i.e. oestrus, lameness or other health disorders. Results indicate that the detection method performs generally better than when the list of sows that have not eaten (provided by the ESF and only current tool available to the farmer) is used as alarms. The major
drawback of the detection method for the three conditions is a too high number of false alarms. Measurement of the
individual eating rank appears a relevant response variable, since it includes information on the group size.

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

Effects of dried distillers grains with solubles on growing and finishing pig performance in a commercial environment

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This study was conducted to determine the optimal level of dried distiller grains with solubles (DDGS) from a common ethanol manufacturing facility and to determine the potential interactions between dietary DDGS and added fat on performance and carcass characteristics of growing and finishing pigs. It was found that pigs fed diets containing DDGS had a tendency for decreased average daily gain (ADG) and Average daily feed intake (ADFI) decreased linearly with DDGS level. However, the greatest reduction occurred between pigs fed 15 and 20% DDGS. Eficiency in gain improved when DDGS were included in the diet. There was no effect on loin depth and carcass weight and percentage yield decreased with increasing DDGS levels. Backfat and fat free lean index tended to decrease with increasing levels of DDGS in the diet. Therefore it is concluded that finishing pigs raised under commercial production conditions can be fed 10 to 15% DDGS before growth rate is compromised.

Effect of leg conformation on survivability of Duroc, Landrace, and Large White sows

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Longevity data was analyzed from 587 Duroc and 239 Landrace pigs, with special emphasis on the effect of leg conformation. It was confirmed that leg conformation does have substantial effect on sow longevity, where an accurate removal of poorly leg-conformed candidate gilts before first mating could improve sow survival and reduce culling costs.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in several porcine cathepsin genes are associated with growth, carcass, and production traits in Italian Large White pigs

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To identify DNA markers associated
with performance, carcass, and meat production traits
including muscle postmortem cathepsin activity, several
porcine genes encoding for lysosomal proteinases
(cathepsin B, CTSB; cathepsin D, CTSD; cathepsin F,
CTSF; cathepsin H, CTSH; cathepsin L, CTSL; and
cathepsin Z, CTSZ) and for a cathepsin inhibitor (cystatin
B) were investigated. Single nucleotide polymorphisms
were identified in CTSD, CTSH, CTSL, and
CTSZ genes with a combination of in silico expressed
sequence tag database mining and single-strand conformation
polymorphism analysis. Sequencing and PCRRFLP
protocols were used to validate the identified
polymorphisms. Allele frequencies at these loci were
investigated in Italian Large White, Landrace, Duroc,
Piétrain, Belgian Landrace, Hampshire, and Meishan
breeds. Genotyping CTSD and CTSH markers made it
possible to genetically map these genes to SSC 2 and
7, respectively. Markers in CTSD, CTSH, CTSL, and
CTSZ genes, together with mutations we previously reported
in cystatin B, CTSB, and CTSF genes, were
genotyped in an Italian Large White sib-tested population
(272 or 482 animals). For these animals, meat
quality traits (cathepsin B activity, pH measured at 2 h
postmortem, pH measured at 24 h postmortem, glycogen,
lactate, and glycolytic potential of semimembranosus
muscle) and EBV for ADG, lean cuts (LC), backfat
thickness (BFT), ham weight (HW), and feed:gain ratio
(FGR) were determined. Analyzed markers did not
show any association with muscle cathepsin B activity.
Thus, it could be possible that different genes, other
than these investigated candidates, affect this trait,
which is correlated with the excessive softness defect
of dry-cured hams. The results of association analysis
confirmed the effects we already reported in another
study for CTSF on ADG (P = 0.008), LC (P = 0.001),
and BFT (P = 0.02). Moreover, CTSD was associated
with ADG, LC (P < 0.0001), BFT, HW, and FGR (P < 0.001); CTSH was associated with FGR (P = 0.026); and CTSZ was associated with ADG (P = 0.006), LC (P = 0.01), HW (P = 0.024), and FGR (P = 0.029). The biochemical and physiological functions of the lysosomal proteinases, together with the results obtained in our investigation, suggest that the cathepsin gene family might play important roles affecting economic traits in pigs.