The Role of Oestradiol in the Uterine Peristalsis in the Perfused Swine Uterus

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This study was designed to examine the effects of oestradiol (E2) on sperm transport in the swine uterus. The bicornuate swine uterus is optimal for the study of the uterine transport and peristalsis because the influence of various factors can be examined on each uterine horn independently. Forty
swine uteri (with or without ovarectomy) were perfused for a period of up to 7 h. Two different E2 concentrations (3 or 30 pg/ml) in the perfusion medium were administered for 30 min unilaterally. Through an intracervical catheter 1 ml of a high concentrated dextran blue solution was administered
directly in the upper part of the cervix. After bilateral perfusion of the swine uterus with a bolus of 0.3 IU oxytocin the distribution of coloured particles was assessed macroscopically before and after incision of the uterine horns. Coloration was evaluated by two observers blinded to the site-specific administration of E2. In the 10 ovarectomized uteri with the 3 pg/ml E2 concentration a unilateral distribution towards the side of oestradiol administration was observed in six uteri, in four it was a bilateral distribution. In the 10 non-ovarectomized uteri with the 3 pg/ml E2 concentration a uni- and ipsilateral coloration was observed in five uteri, in five it was a bilateral
distribution. In the 20 uteri with 30 pg/ml E2, a unilateral coloration of the uterus horns was observed in all uteri. Oestradiol is one of the main factors, which influences the direction of the sperm transport in a dose-dependent manner, in the perfused swine uterus.

Formalised review of environmental enrichment for pigs in relation to political decision making

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Environmental enrichment is an important requirement for the welfare of farm animals, which are often kept in barren environments. This is also true for pigs. In 2001, the European Commission adopted a Directive (2001/93/EC) laying down minimum standards for the protection of pigs. In addition to requirements on noise levels, light conditions and water supply Directive 2001/93/EC states 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 or a mixture of such, which does not compromise the health of the animals.’’ A problem with the EC Directive is that its leaves too much room for interpretation. It is not clear, for example, whether metal chains, ropes, rubber toys or hard plastic balls are sufficient materials to enable proper investigation and manipulation activities. Although reviews have been published on the welfare of pigs generally (e.g. SVC, 1997) and on enrichment for captive animals generally (e.g. Young, 2003), no recent review on environmental enrichment for pigs is available, despite much scientific activity on the subject. In addition, a method is lacking to translate results of research into a specified directive. The aim of this paper, therefore, was to review the literature on environmental enrichment in pigs using a formalised procedure to start disclosing the scientific basis for the EC Directive as part of a larger project aimed at constructing a science-based model for assessing enrichment value in pigs. In order to help determine what is sufficient material for weaned and growing pigs, a literature review was conducted in a transparent and formalised way, systematically collecting relevant information in a database and translating this information into welfare-relevance. In total, 54 experiments reported in 47 references were selected for analysis. These references contained 200 statistically significant and welfare-relevant findings. A cross-table was constructed showing how classes of enrichment materials significantly affect classes of measured parameters. The classes of enrichment materials were metal objects, rubber, rope, wood, mineral blocks, roughage, substrates, straw and compound materials. The classes of welfare parameters were object-directed behaviour, pen-directed behaviour, tail and ear biting, aggression, (other) harmful social behaviour, activity (including play), fear (of humans), production and ‘health and hygiene’. With a number of important caveats described in the paper the cross-table allows the tentative conclusion that the available scientific evidence indicates that metal objects are not suitable enrichment materials for pigs, that rubber, rope, wood, roughage and substrates may be sufficient and that straw and compound materials are best. The methodology developed here for reviewing the available scientific evidence is recommended for other areas of application. It provided an important first step towards making transparent the scientific basis for legal requirements on enrichment materials for pigs and supporting political decision making in this area.

Porcine Circovirus Associated Diseases (PCVAD) in Canada – Prevalence, Co- Factors, and Risk Factors

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Since the discovery and characterization of PMWS in western Canada in 1995, the significance and dissemination of post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) has grown. For the purpose of this presentation I will use Porcine Circovirus- Associated Disease (PCVAD) instead of PMWS because the name PMWS does not include the variety of clinical presentations associated with the disease. This syndrome is characterized by respiratory, digestive, hemolymphatic, vascular, and renal lesions associated with Porcine circovirus-2 (PCV-2) infection. Clinical signs and lesions are observed in late nursery (8-10 weeks of age), and finisher pigs, 2–3 wks after placement. Affected pigs present all or some of the following: cough, diarrhea, anemia, icterus, poor body condition, generalized lymphadenopathy and skin lesions. In 2004, 2005 and part of 2006 PCV-2-associated disease showed a dramatic increase in the Eastern provinces of Canada. It should be noted that the PCV-2 isolated from these new cases presented significant changes in its genome. Due to the sudden appearance of these genetic changes and the severity of clinical disease and mortality seen in the Eastern provinces swine production, it has been proposed that these outbreaks were caused by the dissemination of a new strain of higher virulence. As of today, this hypothesis has not been proven experimentally or by field studies. However, Dr. Carl Gagnon from the University of Montreal is performing studies in order to prove this hypothesis. Up until the summer of 2006 in the Western Provinces, PCVAD was a sporadic finding. However the picture has changed from the sporadic form to the epizootic form on several farms. Veterinarians in the West report 3 different manifestations of PCVAD: Type I: Sporadic occurrence, minimal effect on long term mortality, mainly wasting presentation fitting with the PMWS case definition. Type II: Persistent PCVAD signs. Mortality is elevated, maybe doubled in the affected age group and there is an increase in the number of cull pigs sold. Type III: Epizootic, severity varies with presence of concurrent disease, especially PRRS. Mortality ranges around 8 to 25% in 8- to 13-week-old pigs. Management, immune stimulation or vaccination also seem to play an important role in the presentation of this syndrome. Harding (2006) posed a very interesting hypothesis where “the key to controlling and preventing PMWS in any herd regardless of PMWS status, location, strain or co-factors involved is to reduce and maintain PCV2 viral load below this biologically critical “threshold”. As mentioned before PMWS was first described in 1995, however, retrospective studies have shown that both PCV2 infection and clinical cases of PMWS were present as early as 1985 indicating that PCV2 is not a new virus. These findings, together with the fact that PCV2 infection is present in almost 98 % of the swine farms around the world clearly suggest that PCVAD is a multifactorial disease. Remember that if herd evidence suggests an association between vaccination practices and PCV2- associated disease, re-evaluation of use and timing of certain vaccines is important. Good management practices should be exercised, i.e. strict and true all-in-all-out, early removal of runt pigs and of those that don’t respond to treatment, and reduction of mixing and moving of pigs; reduction of viral load by using disinfectants both in buildings and transport vehicles have been demonstrated to be efficacious against PCV2, and if it is an option, consider changing pig genetics if there is enough evidence that there is a predisposition at the farm. Finally, as commercial vaccines have become available in North America, reports generally seem to agree that vaccines are an effective tool in the control of PCVAD; therefore a combination of the above measures and vaccine might provide the control strategy for this interesting, complex but devastating syndrome.

Farrowing Room: The Ultimate Feeding Program

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The reproductive demands placed on sows today requires that feed intake be maximized during lactation. This will help to prevent mastitis, reduce farrowing difficulties, increase milk yield, prevent pig scours, maximize weaning weight, minimize sow body weight loss, and minimize wean to estrus interval. To maximize lactation feed intake, overfeeding should be avoided in gestation and pre-farrowing, water intake should be maximized, the room temperature should not be too warm, and feeder hygiene/feed freshness should be monitored. Sows need to eat 8.0 to 8.5 kg/day during lactation in order to avoid using their bodily reserves. To help achieve this, feed can be steadily increased from farrowing to 14 days, and kept on as much as possible up until weaning. Gilts require more lysine than sows, because they need the protein to continue individual growth.

EFFECT OF FLOOR COOLING ON FARROWING SOW AND LITTER PERFORMANCE: FIELD EXPERIMENT UNDER DUTCH CONDITIONS

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Nutritional value of wheat and corn distiller’s dried grain with solubles: Digestibility and digestible contents of energy, amino acids and phosphorus, nutrient excretion and growth performance of grower-finisher pigs

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Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the nutritional value of distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) samples derived from corn, wheat and a wheat/corn blend (4:1). Specifically, the digestibility and digestible contents of energy, amino acids (AA) and P, N and P excretion, and growth performance were determined in grower-finisher pigs. In exp. 1, 12 ileal cannulated barrows (64.6 ± 6.4 kg) had restricted access (2.6 × maintenance) to
a wheat-control diet or one of three diets containing 40% DDGS sample of corn, wheat or wheat/corn origin that replaced wheat. For energy, apparent total tract digestibility was highest for wheat (85%; P < 0.05) and did not differ among the DDGS samples (77 to 79%; P > 0.10). Total tract digestible energy (DE) was higher for corn DDGS (4292 kcal kg–1 DM; P < 0.05) than wheat/corn DDGS, wheat DDGS and wheat samples (4038, 4019 and 3807). For lysine, apparent ileal digestibility (AID) was highest for wheat (71%; P < 0.05) and did not differ among DDGS samples (59 to 63%; P > 0.10). The AID lysine content was highest for corn DDGS (0.51% DM; P < 0.05), intermediate for wheat/corn DDGS and wheat DDGS (0.45 and 0.42), and lowest for wheat (0.37%). For P, total tract digestibility was lowest for wheat (15%; P < 0.05) and did not differ among DDGS samples (53 to 56%; P > 0.10). Total N excretion was highest for wheat/corn DDGS and wheat DDGS (55 and 58 g d–1; P < 0.05), intermediate for corn DDGS (44) and lowest for wheat (36). Total P excretion did not differ among DDGS (11 g d–1) and was lowest for wheat (8; P < 0.05). In exp. 2, 100 pigs (52.0 ± 3.3 kg) were fed a wheat-pea control diet or one of three diets containing 25% of the three DDGS samples (3.375 Mcal DE kg–1; 2.50 g SID lysine Mcal–1 DE) for 5 wk. Overall, average daily feed intake (ADFI) and daily gain (ADG) were higher for pigs fed the wheat control diet than the DDGS-containing diets (P < 0.05), but feed efficiency did not differ (P > 0.10). In summary, the digestible nutrient content of wheat DDGS is lower than corn DDGS and higher than wheat. Following pre-characterization of digestible nutrient profile, feeding DDGS reduced growth performance indicating that further research is required to improve the nutritional value of DDGS.

Pre-natal Programming of Variation

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To begin this review, the overall production advantages that might result from segregated production management will be briefly considered, and from a number of perspectives may have little to do with any inherent differences in the growth potential in individual pigs, or sub-populations of pigs. However, there appears to be a substantial area of conceptual overlap, in which the advantages of adopting segregated management of sows and their off-spring may be intimately linked to growing evidence for pre-natal programming of post-natal development. The origins of these programming effects may be very different and in the second part of this review we will address this topic from a biological perspective. Finally, we will return to a consideration of segregated management systems that takes full account of recent information on the biology of pre-natal programming effects. As reviewed by Moore (2005), the origins of segregated parity management systems vary, and have initially been directed to improving the management of the gilt and first litter sow. However, this trend has also simultaneously recognized the problems of co-mingling the progeny of different parity sows, and the advantages to be gained from adopting segregated nursery systems for at least the progeny of parity 1 sows, compared to the progeny of higher parity females. Therefore, there is good reason to think that segregated management of these offspring at the nursery level will bring overall improvements to a production system. Collectively, the aspects of segregated parity management may open a Pandora’s box of functional nutrients that will be cost-effective when applied to sows at specific stages in their reproductive life cycle. However, there should be as much focus on the quality, as on the quantity, of pigs produced per sow lifetime. This review hopefully provides the reader with an understanding of the very complex interactions that determine the development of a market pig from conception to consumption. In the new era of epigenetic regulation of pre-natal development, and expanding information on the mechanisms controlling various levels of IUGR, the profound influence that the environment of the sow can have on the phenotypic characteristics of her offspring are becoming evident. Clearly, simple selection of genetically superior sows and terminal line boars will determine the potential to produce a desired genotype in their terminal line off-spring. However, inappropriate management may interact with this genetic potential to produce a very different outcome. In this review, the profound effects of sow maturity, nutritional management, and their interaction have been considered. Observations from controlled experiments and from the analysis of the reproductive and developmental characteristics of existing commercial dam-line sows indicate the diversity of possible interactions. However, these studies start to provide a better understanding of the reported benefits of segregated parity management. Innovative approaches to addressing the problems, as well as the opportunities, presented by pre-natal fetal programming of post-natal performance will likely be the benchmark of the most profitable pork production systems in the next decade.

New Cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) leaves as partial replacement for soya bean meal in sugar cane juice diets for growing pigs

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Ammonia and Mineral Losses on Dutch Organic Farms with Pregnant Sows

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The main objective of this study was to quantify ammonia emissions from organically raised pregnant sows and to compare them with emissions from conventional pig production. A second objective was to quantify the nutrients deposited in the paddock in organic pig grazing systems. Measurements were carried out on three Dutch farms on 1 day in each of two measuring seasons (spring/summer and autumn). Ammonia emissions were measured by the ventilated chamber technique at different locations inside the building and on the paved outside yard. The nutrient loads of N, P and K were calculated according to their content in urine and faeces, average weight of urine and faeces per excretion, and number of urinations and defecations in the paddock. Ammonia emission per m2 did not differ statistically significantly between seasons and between inside and outside the building. Fouling of the floor with urine and faeces had a strong effect on ammonia emission (probability Po0
001). Emissions varied greatly between farms. When emissions were calculated per kg per pig place per year, on one farm they far exceeded the Dutch standard for regular pig farming. On the other two farms they slightly exceeded the standard. The main reason seems to be that pregnant sows on organic farms have outside yards, which are an additional source of ammonia emission. The nitrogen and phosphorus loads on the paddock varied greatly between the farms, statistically significant for N ðPo0
01Þ; not significant for P and significant for K ðPo0
05Þ: The total amount of nutrients on one of the farms (407
5kg ha1 yr1 for N and 113 kg ha1 yr1 for P) far exceeded the permitted levels (170 kg ha1 yr1 for N and 44 kg ha1 yr1 for P)

Benefits of Long-Term Application of Manure

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Repeated applications of manure to agricultural lands can significantly influence the quality of the soil as a medium for plant growth and as an environmental filter or buffer. There are many soil chemical, biological, and physical properties that can be measured as indicators of soil quality and its potential impact on plant production and the environment. The simple soil properties that are measured in field research trials and reported on in this paper can also be employed by producers as tools for monitoring the effects of manure application on their own land base. Additions of manure nutrient to soil at an agronomic rate that matches the crop nutrient requirement and removal over time is expected to have a positive impact on soil and environmental quality. This approach will maintain or improve soil fertility while avoiding nutrient overloading. The benefit of increased soil organic matter is perhaps the most significant factor, as organic matter plays a major role as a long-term storehouse of carbon and nutrients, and promotes microbial activity, soil structure, water relations and chemical buffering. However, salinity impacts and overloading of both functional and non-functional elements can negate these benefits when hog manure is over applied or applied to soils with limitations in drainage and buffering capabilities.