The relationship between muscle fiber characteristics, postmortem metabolic rate, and meat quality of pig longissimus dorsi muscle

Posted in: Meat Quality by admin on January 1, 2005 | No Comments

La qualité microbiale du ruissellement suivant l’application au sol de fumier de bovins et de lisier de porcs.

Posted in: French Articles by admin on | No Comments

Les concentrations de micro-organismes reliés à la santé humaine dans le ruissellement de parcelles agricoles (0,75m x 2m) traitées avec du fumier de bovin âgé et frais, du lisier de porcs et sans fumier/lisier (contrôle) ont été déterminés. Trois évènements d’averse simulée consécutifs, produisant 35 mm de précipitation et espacés de 24 heures, ont été effectués pour chaque parcelle. Des indicateurs fécaux (Escherichia coli, enterococci, Clostidium perfringens et coliphage) de charges relâchées dans le ruissellement provenant des précipitations des parcelles traitées avec du fumier de bovin frais, du fumier de bovins âgé et du lisier de porc variaient de 5,52 x 10(5) à 4,36 x 10(9), de 3,92 x 10(4) à 4,86 x 10(8) et de 9,63 x 10(5) à 3,05 x 10(8), respectivement. Les concentrations de protozoaires du ruissellement (Cryptospridium oocytes et Giardia cysts) variaient de 1,65 x 10(5) à 1,04 x 10(6), de 2,93 x 10(3) à 2,75 x 10(5) et de 9,12 x 10(4) à 3,58 x 10(6) pour les traitements de fumier de bovins frais, de fumier de bovins âgé et de lisier de porcs, respectivement. Ces résultats suggèrent que lors de grandes précipitations qui produisent du ruissellement, de grandes quantités de microbes pourraient être répandues à partir des champs agricoles où du fumier de bétail a été épandu, même en quantités modestes, et ceci pourrait avoir un impact important sur les cours d’eau à l’intérieur d’un bassin versant. Dû au manque de multiplication dans l’environnement, des concentrations très élevées dans le ruissellement provenant de champs où du fumier/lisier a été épandu et de la corrélation avec la présence de parasites protozoaires, le Clostridium pourrait être un indicateur alternatif de contamination par fumier/lisier du bétail.

Pig Trucking & Handling – Stress and Fatigued Pig

Posted in: Welfare by admin on | No Comments

Stress in the period during transport and around slaughter is known to influence the physiological and biochemical processes in pigs. Pigs that become unable to walk without obvious injury, trauma or disease are considered fatigued. Fatigued pigs tend to be of heavy muscled, high lean genetic types. Visual indicators of a stressed pig include open mouth breathing, muscle tremors, downed pigs, reddened areas of the skin, and increased body temperature. Within North America, normal appearing market-ready swine continue to die in transit or in a pen. Animal factors that could influence stress include the social environment (crowding, aggression, hierarchy, etc.), genetics, fear (characterized by a high pitched vocalization), exposure to handling (more exposure to handling by humans will result in less stress), nutrition (fasting prior to shipment will increase aggression and stress), health, facilities (pigs can wedge themselves in narrow corridors), and goading methods (do NOT use a prod). Human factors that could influence stress include the role of the handler (attitude of the handler and behaviour of the handler in regards to moving pigs) and role of training (be sure to not move more than 5 or 6 at a time and do not panic a fall-behind pig).

A review of the behavioural and physiological adaptations of hill and lowland breeds of sheep that favour lamb survival

Posted in: Welfare by admin on | No Comments

Survivability in harsh and unfavourable environments is especially critical during parturition and during the neonatal period, when there is a greater chance of ewe and lamb mortality. This is especially true for extensively managed animals such as hill compared to lowland (intensively managed) breeds of sheep. The extensively managed sheep have to have different behavioural and physiological adaptations that enable them to survive. Some of the differences between hill and lowland sheep are as follows: hill sheep have smaller average litter sizes than lowland sheep, but their litters are significantly heavier. Maternal experience and knowledge of the environment will affect isolation seeking at parturition. Domestication seems to have had an effect on isolation seeking. This behaviour has decreased in intensively managed breeds. The extensively managed breeds have a shorter labour, and an easier delivery than intensively managed breeds. The hill (extensive) breeds also lick their lambs more after birth and perform more low-pitched bleating than lowland ewes. These differences in behaviour result in hill breeds having better ewe-lamb recognition and closer spatial relationships. The hill ewes are also more aware of their during lactation, which could also be a useful protective measure against predators. Hill lambs stand and suck faster after birth and show greater maternal recognition than lowland lambs. Hill lambs are more tolerant of cold temperatures, due to birthcoat characteristics, higher thyroid concentrations and possibly due to the higher lipid content in the colostrum. Compared to lowland sheep, the behavioural and physiological mechanisms of hill sheep have evolved to ensure lamb survivability in harsh environments.

Development of a maze test and its application to assess spatial learning and memory in Merino sheep

Posted in: Welfare by admin on | No Comments

There is increasing interest in the concept that cognitive abilities of animals can provide clues to the types of situations that might cause suffering or distress. In the present experiment a maze test was developed to assess spatial memory and learning in Merino sheep. Total time to traverse the maze and times spent in cul de sacs (errors) were used to assess performance. Both total time and errors decreased when the performance of sheep was assessed on three consecutive days, indicating that sheep learnt to traverse the maze. Scopolamine hydrobromide, a drug known to impair memory, was administered to sheep to validate whether the maze could be used to assess deficits in learning and spatial memory. Sheep receiving scopolamine hydrobromide 30 min before maze testing on each of three successive days were significantly slower to complete the maze on day 3 compared to control sheep receiving saline. The results of this experiment suggested that the maze was measuring spatial memory and therefore might be useful to assess neurological deficits related to spatial memory and learning in sheep in neurological conditions such as Annual Ryegrass Toxicity.

Effects of resource density on spatial memory and learning by foraging sheep.

Posted in: Welfare by admin on | No Comments

Grazing animals are often confronted with spatially heterogeneous food resources in which preferred food types are distributed in patches. In this study the hypothesis that spatial memory is used less as the resource density increases was tested. Individual sheep foraged for 20 minutes in an arena containing a grid of 100 bowls of which 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 contained 25 g of concentrate food. Amount eaten increased linearly over days indicating that learning occurred. There was an increase in the amount eaten per full bowl visited, an increase in the cumulative number of different bowls visited by the sheep and a reduction in the path length needed to find a given number of bowls leading to improved encounter rate with full bowls. Therefore, intake improved during the trial due to, at least in part, the use of spatial memory to learn full bowl locations and optimize the route taken to those locations. Length of the shortest possible path required to find five full bowls and expected path length from a random walk on the grid decreased exponentially as resource density increased. Actual path length to find five full bowls also decreased exponentially as the number of full bowls increased. Number of full bowls visited by the sheep (excluding revisits) within a day did not differ significantly between treatments. However, number of days on which any individual food bowl was visited (including 0 visits) decreased linearly as resource density increased. The proportion of full bowls visited that were revisited on the same day was significantly higher for the 10 bowl treatments. In summary, the results of this study suggest that sheep used spatial memory to optimize their route to food bowls more effectively at lower resource density.

Increasing registration precision for liver movement with respiration using electromagnetic tracking

Posted in: Welfare by admin on | No Comments

Gestion de la mortalité du bétail

Posted in: Welfare by admin on | No Comments

Dans le domaine de la production animale, il est inévitable qu’un certain nombre d’animaux meurent ou aient besoin d’être abbatus. On parle alors d’animaux morts ou de cadavres d’animaux. La mortalité peut etre due a une cause naturelle, a un accident ou à un acte délibéré. La mère ou sa progéniture peut mourir pendant la mise bas. Parfois des animaux grandissant ou admeurent à la suite d’une maladie ou d’une blessure. Beaucoup d’animaux peuvent mourir lors d’un incendie d’étable ou à cause d’une défaillance du système de ventilation. Ce genre de tragédie s’appelle alors une mortalité massive. S’il s’agit d’une maladie extrêmement contagieuse, on pourra devoir abattre tout le troupeau d’animaux ou d’oiseaux. Tous ces cadavres d’animaux doivent alors être conservés de manière appropriée, puis détruits sans que cela pose un danger pour l’environnement, conformément aux normes du Règlement sur la gestion des animaux morts et des déjections du bétail.

Crop Management to Reduce Fusarium Head Blight and Associated Toxins

Posted in: Production by admin on | No Comments

The Fusarium head blight (FHB) epidemic in 1993 continues to have negative effects on the entire agriculture sector. The impact on swine is the toxin (called DON) produced by the fungi that is incredibly bad for pigs. Implications put into place to reduce the risk of FHB include genetically disease-resistant cultivars, rotation with non-cereal crops, and doubling the standard seeding rate in order to reduce the amount of tillering.

FHB intervention cannot wait until visual symptoms occur. This can be done with a risk forecast map that takes into account meteorology, pathology, and geographical information systems. Fungicides have a less than satisfying effect. A visual assessment 2-3 weeks after flowering will give an idea of what might be expected in the harvested grain. Leaving the crop standing longer when there are shrunken, lightweight kernels, preferably for straight combining, will lead to more complete deterioration of infected grain.

Panel Presentation – OH&S

Posted in: Production by admin on | No Comments

Producer compliance with OH&S helps to reduce accidents and illness in the workplace. Don Kolla at CPIG has made an employer-employee committee to ensure a pro-active approach to problems and stop them before they happen. Employee compliance is the producers responsibility, and therefore should be enforced rather than a your own fault mentality. Blocked access to electrical panels and lack of fire alarms and/or drills are undesirable. In conclusion, a producer must understand risks, communicate risks with others, and provide information and training to ensure safety.