Residual Effects of Composted and Fresh Solid Swine (Sus scrofa L.) Manure on Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] Growth and Yield

Posted in: Welfare by admin on January 1, 2006 | No Comments

Preference of Growing Pigs for Illuminance

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Inappropriate lighting has a negative impact on the welfare of many captive animals; photoperiod, illuminance and spectrum all influence the suitability of a light source or regime. The lighting under which a pig is raised can influence an animal’s ocular, physical and neural development, as well as its behaviour. Although there are no published data for the UK pig industry, photoperiod and illuminance are thought to vary widely within pig housing. In England, the legal requirements for pigs housed under artificial lighting are: (i) that lighting with an intensity of at least 40 lx must be provided for a minimum period of 8 h per day (The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2003; S.I. 2003 No. 299; following EC regulation: Council Directive 2001/88/EC) and (ii) that animals kept in buildings must have an appropriate period of rest from artificial lighting (TheWelfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2000; S.I. 2000 No. 1870; DEFRA, 2003), though the duration of this period is not specified. Additionally, adequate lighting (whether fixed or portable) must be available to enable the animals to be thoroughly inspected at any time (ibid). One UK farm assurance scheme (Freedom Food, 2003) further requires that housed pigs must have access to an area that provides a minimum illuminance of 50 lx for a continuous period of at least 8 h and a continuous dark period of at least 6 h; either of these temporal minima may be reduced to correspond with seasonal changes in daylength. The research described in this paper stresses the importance of identifying the needs and preferences of domestic animals rather than imposing conditions based on human perception and preference. The preferences of growing pigs for different illuminances and indirectly for photoperiod were determined experimentally. This experiment investigated the preference of juvenile pigs for illuminance, and indirectly photoperiod, at two ages. The animals were equally familiar with all illuminances prior to testing. Four groups, each of four pigs, occupied a four-compartment preference chamber in which a different illuminance was applied to each compartment: minimum (2.4), 4, 40 and 400 lx. Illuminances were rearranged every 2 days to avoid positional bias. The pigs significantly preferred the dimmest illuminance (mean occupancy 7 h 20 min per 24 h, backtransformed data) and spent the least time in the brightest (4 h 49 min per 24 h), with an intermediate and similar length of time spent in the other illuminances (6 h 25 min and 5 h 25 min in 4 and 40 lx, respectively, F3, 127 = 8.93, P < 0.001). The most common behaviours of the pigs when in the darkest compartment were resting and sleeping. The EU directive 2001/88 requires a minimum illuminance of 40 lx for pig production; this illuminance was neither aversive nor strongly preferred by the pigs. Our findings also suggest that pigs should be provided with an appropriate period of rest at an illuminance of 2.4 lx for at least 6 h per day. The only active behaviour affected by illuminance was defecation; the pigs preferred to defecate in the brighter illuminances. Spatial provision of minimal illuminance could potentially improve pig welfare by providing a preferred light environment for resting and also by creating a resting area distinct from dunging areas, thus improving hygiene.

Value Added Opportunities Based on Animal Care

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Fifty years ago, most consumers still had grandparents or relatives that lived on farms and were involved in production agriculture. The average consumer still had a direct “connection” to agriculture. That is not the case today, customers and consumers are asking questions about environmental performance, animal welfare, food safety and security and worker care issues. Animal agriculture is facing increased pressure and growing questions about the production systems and practices. Activist groups opposed to contemporary production practices are pressuring customers and initiating legislation and litigation to change the way things operate. Today, there is little understanding of livestock production and a general lack of trust in our practices. Animal agriculture is challenged by anthropomorphism, affluence, and agricultural alienation. This list of socially responsible attributes is growing and becoming more embraced by the supply chain each day. To be successful today, animal agriculture must understand and address the consumers’ questions of trust and their values. When customers and consumers ask questions about animal welfare and the industry responds only with science and data, they perceive this as uncaring and non-responsive. Even though animal welfare today is not a top-of the mind concern for those who purchase meat, there is a societal expectation that animals used for meat will be treated humanely (USDA, 2004). Those who do not believe animals are being treated humanely or have other additional agendas are seeking changes by pressuring consumers, initiating legislation, and litigating against certain production practices. The demand for socially responsible production practices such as animal welfare will continue to increase. These demands will eventually become industry standards as the practices initiated by the innovators and early adaptors are adopted. As time passes, socially responsible production will become a requirement for doing business. As we increase both the distance most consumers have from the farm and the level of technology we implement in food production, consumers will become more interested in social responsibility. That means producers will have to become more and more concerned about non-product specific attributes like animal welfare, environmental stewardship, the use of health products and worker care issues. Science alone will not prevail. It is not persuasive in a value-based culture. The list of socially responsible production attributes is growing and being embraced by more of the supply chain every day. Trust must be built between the consumer, processor, and the producer. Building trust will require transparency, professionalism, and third-party certification and verification at all levels of production and processing. The biggest trend in the food system in the next two to three years will involve increased focus by food marketers and others on how producers operate their farms. Specifically, outside sources will want to know a lot more detail about how producers care for their animals, how they care for the land, how they care for their workers, and how they produce a safe product.

Respiratory Protection Provided by N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators Against Airborne Dust and Microorganisms in Agricultural Farms

Posted in: Air Filtration, Pork Insight Articles by admin on November 28, 2005 | No Comments

A new system has been developed to determine the workplace protection factors (WPF) for dust and bioaerosols in agricultural work places. The study was performed with a person wearing an N95 filtering facepeice respirator while doing typical farm tasks such as feeding animals, harvesting grain, unloading grain, and facility investigations. Results showed that the particle size increased along with the geometric means. The WPF for total cultural fungi was greater than for total culturable bacteria. Among the different microorganism groups, the WPFs of Cladosporium, culturable fungi, and total fungi were significantly correlated with the WPFs of particles of the same sizes. When the WPFs for dust particles was compared to the WPFs for bioaerosols it was found that the bioaerosols were below 10 more frequently, which is a recommended assigned protection factor (APF). Over half of the WPFs for microorganisms were below the proposed APF of 10. The APF of 10 for an N95 filtering facepeice respirators seems inadequate against microorganisms. This study provides preliminary data to establish guidelines for respiratory protection against airborne dust and microorganisms on typical farms.

Defining the impact of transportation and handling practices used for Ontario Market pigs

Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles by admin on September 14, 2005 | No Comments

In-transit pigs deaths are rare  but they do happen at a rate of about 15-17 pigs per 10 000 shipped. The reasons for these deaths can come from a number of factors such as loading and unloading, the trip itself or the time spent at the slaughter house. A recent study has identified that most of these deaths are a result of on farm actions rather than on the truck or at the slaughter house. This study attempts to identify what on farm practices are resulting in in-transit death losses because there is great variability in farms that suffer from in-transit death. Farms who produced over 500 pigs per year and suffered high in-transit death losses were observed during load outs and paired with a farm that produced similar numbers but had low to no in transit death losses. Farms with high losses were more likely to use a assembly yard and also to use there own truck if they had a assembly yard. High loss farms tended to allow pigs to crowd more often than low loss farms. Prods were more commonly used for the high death farms. The high loss farms were more likely to have steeper ramps with less cleats. There are many factors that influence the amount of death loss pigs, some major factors are the ones that increase the heart rate of the pigs before shipping (steep ramps and prod use). Also changing light and floor patterns deter pigs from moving which increases human interaction which has potential to raise stress and heart rate of the pigs.

Leptin Enhances Porcine Preimplantation Embryo Development in Vitro

Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles by admin on August 23, 2005 | No Comments

Recent studies have suggested that leptin plays an important role in reproduction. Ob-R is expressed in the murine embryo, and is suggested to play a role in embryo development, although contradictory results have been reported. In the present study, Ob-R expression was observed both at themRNAand protein levels in porcine early embryos.We have also demonstrated that leptin is produced in the porcine oviduct, making it spatially available to interact with its receptor during preimplantation development. When included at 10 ng/ml in embryo culture medium, leptin significantly increased the proportion of cleaved embryos (P < 0.01). At day 7 of in vitro culture, leptin at 10 and 100 ng/ml increased the proportion of embryos reaching the blastocyst stage (P < 0.01). We have previously observed that leptin increases oocyte maturation in vitro, and here we report that inclusion of leptin in both IVM and embryo culture medium further increased blastocyst development (P <0.05), compared to when leptin was included in the embryo culture alone, suggesting leptin has a synergistic role on both oocyte maturation and preimplantation embryo development.  The study suggest that leptin plays a positive role in the development of porcine preimplantation embryos. In addition to adding to knowledge on regulation of early embryo development, these results may also have clinical applications. In the pig, the current success rate of IVF and nuclear transfer techniques remains low. The finding that the inclusion of leptin in IVM and embryo culture mediums enhances early development suggests that leptin may aid in the optimization of these techniques, possibly leading to improved success rates.

Pork Farm Odour Modelling Using Multiple-Component Multiple-Factor Analysis and Neural Networks

Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles by admin on August 20, 2005 | No Comments

It is proposed that the multiple-component neural network model be extended to make use of multiple-component multiple-factor analysis. First, a neural network model and a linear multiple regression model are developed and compared using multiple-component analysis to demonstrate the better modelling technique for pork farm odour. The odour samples were collected using a vacuum box fitted with a pump to draw air into 10 L Tedlar bags. The odour dilution threshold was determined within 48 h of sampling using trained human assessors and a dynamic olfactometer. Approximately 20% of the samples, or 26 data points, were randomly selected for model testing and the remaining 80% of the samples, or 105 data points, were used for model development. The neural network model of the pork farm odour yielded more accurate and precise odour intensity predictions than the linear multiple regression models, indicating that neural networks are the better modelling technique for this application. Subsequently, a multiple-component multiple-factor neural network model was developed and compared with the multiple-component neural network. The multiple-component multiple-factor neural network model generated performance gains, indicating that this approach is relevant to modelling pork farm odour. The multiplecomponent neural network model provided better performance than the corresponding linear multiple regression model. This demonstrated that multiple component farm odour models benefit from the use of contemporary intelligent modelling techniques, specifically neural networks.

Evaluation of the aerosol transmission of a mixed infection of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus

Posted in: Air Filtration, Pork Insight Articles by admin on July 23, 2005 | No Comments

The objective of this study was to evaluate the transmission of M. hyopnemoniae and PRRS by aerosol as either a single or mixed infection. 28 pis were inoculated with M. hyopnemoniae and with PRRS 35 days later. These pigs were all held together in the same barn. To test for single infection (before day 35) a group of 10 five week old pigs were put outside the barn in a trailer one meter away from the fan. To test for mixed infection two groups of 10 week-old pigs were placed on the side of the barn after the pigs had been infected with PRRS. The pigs in the first trailer did not test positive for M hyopneumoniae infections. In the other two trailers pigs tested positive for a M hyopneumoniae but none tested positive for PRRS.

Assessment of a group-housing system for gestating sows: Effects of space allowance and pen size on the incidence of superficial skin lesions, changes in body condition, and farrowing performance

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Welfare by admin on May 25, 2005 | No Comments

This study looks at the short term effects of converting a gestation style barn into a group housing barn and how the change in pen size and sow mixing causes or impacts skin lesions, body condition and reproductive performance. 285 sows were put into groups of 11 to 31 sows and held in either large or small pens. Also 98 sows were held in gestation crates. The bodies of the pigs were assessed before  they entered the specific housing unit and after they left. Also recorded was piglet birth weights, liveborn piglets and stillborn piglets. Body condition was not effected by group housing in any pen size or space allowance. Group housed sows initially had more skin lesions but it did not depend of size of the pen or space allowance, and the occurrence of lesions decreased over time. Group housed sows had slightly heavier piglets and larger litter sizes. Switching to sow housing did not effect body condition or effect reproductive performance, skin lesions were a temporary side effect of mixing.

Laboratory model to evaluate the role of aerosols in the transport of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus

Posted in: Air Filtration, Pork Insight Articles by admin on April 16, 2005 | No Comments

This study attempts to develop a model to evaluate the aerosol transmission of the PRRS virus. The PRRS virus traveled by aerosol as far as 150m. A portable air sampler was used to collect air samples at 1, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150m. The process was repeated 5 times at each distance and then the air samples were tested by TaqMan PCR and virus isolation. PRRSV RNA was detected in all five replicate air samples collected at 1, 30, 60 and 90 m, in four of the five collected at 120 m, and in three of the five collected at 150 m. Further testing involved exposing PRRS negative pigs to the aerosolised PRRS virus after it had traveled 150m. Half of the pigs in the experiment became infected with PRRS, and swab samples taken from the interior of the housing chambers were PRRS positive.