Odor-Reduction Performance of Constructed Wetland Treating Diluted Swine Manure

Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 2007 | No Comments

The objective of this study was to determine the long‐term, odor‐reduction performance of a vegetated, sub‐surface flow wetland system on a swine farm. It was found that the wetlands did treat a wide range of dilute manure ammonium and solids levels while providing significant odor reduction.

Water Requirements for Swine

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

Constipated Barns: Where Has All of the Space Gone?

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

Throughout North America we are experiencing a shortage of nursery and finisher space. The industry has expanded, and we have export markets to take our extra pork, but shortages of capital and environmental restrictions have limited our ability to meet the demand for new buildings. However, even well designed facilities of only a decade ago are finding themselves short on space as pigs back up in these ‘constipated’ barns. Why do we have this shortage of space? How can barns that accommodated the farm’s pigs when they were built find themselves inadequate today? There are at least three contributing factors, each of which adds to the problems created by the others. Increased sow productivity, increased days to market, and increased pig size; have all led to an increase in space needs by 13.8, 12.5 and 10.4%, respectively over the last decade. But what is the overall effect? If we were building a barn to accommodate the production of this unit how much more space would we need? The previous barn had 16 finishing rooms, each of which accommodated 253 pigs, at a floor space allowance of 0.67 m2. That resulted in 2,712 m2 of pig space in the finisher barn (excluding alleys etc.). Building today we would need 18 finishing rooms, accommodating 288 pigs, with a space allowance of 0.74 m2/pig. The total finishing pig area would be 3,836 m2. The combined effect of the three factors identified would be to increase finishing space requirements by 41.4%. Building more finishing space is an obvious means to correct the problem, but how would you do it? Adding two new rooms would address the issue of two extra weeks to market, but the existing rooms would remain overcrowded due to number of pigs and increased pig size. A change in pig flow is needed to accommodate the new standards of productivity the farm is achieving. I was recently asked to look at the plans for a new farrow-to-finish operation. Although productivity in the herd was about what I have described for our example barn, the producer had designed the barn to accommodate 30 pigs/sow/year and market weights of 140 kg. That decision will likely be best appreciated in 15 years time. Our example also shows that typical farrow-to-finish barns, with weekly finishing rooms, are not very flexible when it comes to coping with increased sow productivity or market weights. Alternative, more flexible pig flows, should be considered when setting up a new operation.

Assessment of a biological treatment process to reduce gaseous emissions from swine manure

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

A recent survey conducted by PSCI showed that 83% of barn workers may be exposed to potentially hazardous levels of gases, especially hydrogen sulphide (H2S), generated during in-barn manure handling tasks. A biological treatment approach developed for the containment of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) in oil reservoirs has been shown to reduce the emission of H2S from swine manure. The combined application of metabolic inhibitors such as nitrite and molybdate tended to reduce the odour concentration from gas samples in semi-pilot scale tests, but the impact on ammonia levels was not evident during the length of the treatment test considered. Preliminary work on isolation and enrichment of sulphide-oxidizing bacteria from manure showed promising results, but further study is needed to verify the possibility of enriching a sulphide-oxidizing culture from swine manure and to assess the activity of the enriched culture in reducing the emission of sulphides from manure slurries. An on-going study is currently underway to examine various factors affecting the microbial culture aspects of this treatment approach and to implement the treatment in controlled room-scale tests in the barn. It is anticipated that further development and successful application of this treatment process in swine barns will reduce worker exposure to potential gaseous hazards (especially hydrogen sulphide) and improve the overall work environment in swine barns, thereby leading to better health and productivity of workers and animals.

Effect of dietary fat type on meat quality and fatty acid composition of various tissues in growing–finishing swine

Posted in: Meat Quality by admin on | No Comments

Energy use efficiency of specialised dairy, arable and pig farms in Flanders

Posted in: Energy by admin on | No Comments

A source-differentiated analysis of U.S. meat demand

Posted in: Economics by admin on | No Comments

Continuous Vagus Nerve Stimulation Effects on the Gut-Brain Axis in Swine

Posted in: Welfare by admin on | No Comments

Influence of different types of environmental enrichment on the behaviour of finishing pigs in two different housing systems 2. Ratio of pigs to enrichment

Posted in: Welfare by admin on | No Comments

Exploration is a biologically important behaviour used to gain information about the surrounding environment and available resources (Wemelsfelder and Birke, 1997). Pigs have developed foraging strategies that depend on high levels of exploratory behaviour involving the mouth and snout (Arey, 1993). Current EU legislation (Directive 2001/93/EC) requires that ‘‘. . . pigs must have permanent access to a sufficient quantity of material to enable proper investigation and manipulation activities, such as straw, hay, wood, sawdust, mushroom compost, peat, . . .’’. Since the use of most particulate rooting materials in slatted systems can cause difficulties for slurry management, it is necessary to identify other forms of enrichment that meet the requirements of both the animal and the producer within the confines of the system as failure to provide adequate enrichment has been implicated in the development of adverse behaviours. In pens without bedding, exploratory behaviour is redirected towards pen-mates (Beattie et al., 2000; Kelly et al., 2000; Lyons et al., 1995) and pen components (Guy et al., 2002; Lyons et al., 1995). Tail-biting behaviour is also more prevalent under these conditions (Van de Weerd et al., 2005; Scott et al., in press). The aims of this experiment were to assess the effects of: (1) environmental enrichment with either straw bedding or a hanging manipulable toy and (2) the ratio of pigs to environmental enrichment when in the form of a hanging toy, on the behavioural responses and synchrony of behaviour in finishing pigs. One thousand and twenty four (Large White x Landrace) x Large White pigs were housed contemporarily, in 32 pen groups of 32 pigs (16 pens in each housing system), in matched straw-bedded (ST) or fully slatted (FS) buildings from 35 kg to slaughter at 104 kg liveweight. In the ST building, only the straw bedding enriched half of the pens and half received additional enrichment in the form of a single hanging ‘toy’. In the FS house, half of the pens were provided with the same hanging toy, whilst the remaining pens were provided with four such toys. Time spent in toy manipulation was <2% in both housing systems, and did not differ in comparison of the same toy in different housing systems, or the different numbers of the toy per pen within the FS house. Manipulation of straw bedding occupied a much higher proportion of time (21%). In the absence of straw, significantly more investigatory behaviours were directed towards pen components, with a similar tendency in behaviours directed at pen-mates. It was concluded that environmental enrichment in the form of a hanging toy failed to provide the same level of occupation as seen with straw bedding. Since the ratio of pigs to enrichment object had no effect on the level of enrichment manipulation, or on pig or pen-directed behaviours, this difference cannot be attributed to spatial limitation. Functional enrichment should occupy animals to a great extent to prevent them from performing adverse behaviours; therefore the reasons behind the difference in occupation time between straw manipulation and enrichment object interaction require further investigation.

Hyper-Prolificacy and Acceptable Post-Natal Development – A Possible Contradiction

Posted in: Welfare by admin on | No Comments

Although the components of litter size (ovulation rate, embryonic survival and uterine capacity) responsive to genetic selection are well established. However, the reality in existing “hyper-prolific” sows is that increased selection pressure for numbers born has led to indirect negative effects of intra-uterine crowding, reprogramming of fetal development, less efficient post-natal growth performance and adverse effects on carcass quality at slaughter. Therefore, a considerable amount of the variation in growth performance after birth may be pre-programmed during fetal development in the uterus (see Foxcroft and Town, 2004). The effects of prenatal programming on postnatal performance are not limited to effects on muscle development and growth. Harding et al. (2006) showed that the organs most notably affected by pre-natal programming in stillborn pigs with low birth weight were the heart, liver and spleen, with obvious implications for post-natal health outcomes generally. Both birth weight of the individual pig and between litter variation in birth weight are of considerable economic interest for pork production, as post-natal growth in the pre-weaning, nursery and grow-finish stages of production is impaired in low, compared with high, birth weight pigs (see review of Foxcroft et al., 2007). Available results indicate that pigs of low birth weight have poorer carcass and meat quality. Unfortunately, although selection for improved prolificacy has resulted in an increase of litter size at birth in most breeding populations, this has been associated with increased within-litter variation in piglet birth weight, as well as an overall decrease in average birth weight of the litter. The proportion of live-born vs. dead-born pigs within the litters of one population of hyper-prolific French sows suggests that the growth potential of the live-born pigs that survive to weaning will be seriously affected by intra-uterine competition with the increasing number of fetuses born dead. A better appreciation of the characteristics of prolific dam-lines is clearly needed. This information, and an increasing focus on the need to maximize total net revenues per sow in terms of the value of saleable pork products relative to the input costs involved per kg of pork sold, should drive the management of appropriate terminal dam-lines in the future. Ultimately, selection of sows with increased uterine capacity offers the best opportunity for increasing the number of pigs born per litter, without compromising the post-natal growth performance of these pigs. A comparison between the largest and smallest pigs within a litter has most frequently been used to study impacts of birth weight on postnatal growth performance. However, limitations in functional uterine capacity in hyper-prolific sows are predicted to result in prenatal programming effects on entire litters (Foxcroft et al., 2007). If this assumption is correct, then the origins of increasing variance in postnatal growth performance needs to be clarified as the basis for developing selection and production strategies that effectively address the problem. Innovative approaches to addressing the problems, as well as the opportunities presented by pre-natal programming of post-natal performance, will likely be the benchmark of the most profitable pork production systems in the next decade. In particular, these approaches will need to address the possible conflict between continued selection for hyper-prolificacy and increased variance in post-natal growth performance.