The effect of flooring type and social grouping on the rest and growth of dairy calves.

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The effect of housing calves and pairs and flooring on growth and rest behaviours of one week old calves was examined. The calves were housed individually or in pairs on concrete floors or were housed individually with rubber mats on the floors for 20 weeks. All treatments were provided with wood shavings for bedding. The total daily duration, bout frequency and mean duration of total resting, resting on the side or resting on the stomach were noted through video recordings taken at 2, 4, 6, 7, 11, 14 and 21 weeks of age. The effect of time of day was analyzed on week 4, 7, 14 and 21. Mean daily growth was positively correlated with the total time the calves spent resting over the 20-week experimental period. As the calves grew older, the amount of time they spent resting remained the same, however the amount of time they spent resting on their side decreased. The time spent resting around feeding decreased after solid feed was introduced. Housing didn’t affect daily growth or resting behaviour. The daily duration and bout frequency for resting on the side was higher in pairs than individuals (both housed on concrete). There was also no difference in growth or resting behaviour between calves housed on concrete or on rubber mats. However, the provision of wood shavings may have made the concrete flooring comfortable. Adequate rest is needed to maximize growth and the longer a calf rests, the better it will grow. Housing calves in pairs provided them with more space, and they were observed resting on their side more often and for longer.

A note on reaction to novel stimulus and restraint by therapeutic riding horses.

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In this study, therapeutic riding horses (TRH) and jumping horses (JH) were exposed to acute, novel stressors to objectively measure individual reactivity and chronic stress. The responses of TRH and JH were compared when exposed to a restraint and startling stimulus. The restraint involved covering the horse’s head with a hood for one hour, and the startling stimulus (40 cm long red and white synthetic holiday garland shaken with a rustling noise inside the box). During the challenges, horses spent most of their time immobile. During the challenges, a higher average basal HR was found in TRHs compared to JH. During the restraint, average heart rate during pawing was higher than during other behaviours. Lymphocytes decreased in samples taken after the removal of the hood. Overall, there were no differences between TRHs and JHs in their reactions to novel stimuli.

Repeated handling of pigs during rearing. I. Refusal of contact by the handler and reactivity to familiar and unfamiliar humans.

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Pigs housed in groups received different handling treatments for 40 d until slaughter age. Pigs of the human interaction (HI) and refusal of contact (RC) groups were individually introduced into a pen each day, where they remained for 3 min in the presence of a squatted handler. The handler tried to increase progressively physical reciprocal interactions with the HI pigs using eye and body contact and voice. The handler remained immobile and avoided eye contact and used of voice with RC pigs. These pigs were pushed away when they touched the handler. Control pigs remained in their home pens. Over seasons, HI pigs progressively increased physical interactions with the handler, up to 35% of their time. The RC pigs were motivated to interact with the handler as they tried to establish physical contact with the handler throughout the experiment. They increased levels of locomotion, rubbing, immobility, and snout contact with the wall, suggesting that they were frustrated by the refusal of contact. At the end of the experimental period, all pigs were subjected to three human exposure tests, where pigs were exposed to the handler and two other persons, one of which was unfamiliar, in a Latin square design. During this test, behavior of the humans was the same as for the RC treatment. The HI pigs discriminated between the handler and the other persons as indicated by their increased approach behavior toward the handler. Part of the prior handling experience was generalized to other humans as indicated by higher levels of proximity of HI and RC pigs with the different persons compared with controls. Physical contact with the human was associated with increased heart rates. Two possibilities are that these two characteristics are part of a general behavioral/physiological reactive profile or that contact with humans provokes an arousal or emotional response. Despite this, behavioral data show that pigs are motivated to be in physical contact with a handler, even when the handler consistently refuses contact.

Inference in disease transmission experiments by using stochastic epidemic models

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The paper extends the susceptible–exposed–infective–removed model to handle
heterogeneity introduced by spatially arranged populations, biologically plausible distributional
assumptions and incorporation of observations from additional diagnostic tests. These extensions
are motivated by a desire to analyse disease transmission experiments in a more detailed
fashion than before. Such experiments are performed by veterinarians to gain knowledge about
the dynamics of an infectious disease. By fitting our spatial susceptible–exposed–infective–
removed with diagnostic testing model to data for a specific disease and production environment
a valuable decision support tool is obtained, e.g. when evaluating on-farm control measures.
Partial observability of the epidemic process is an inherent problem when trying to estimate
model parameters from experimental data.We therefore extend existing work on Markov chain
Monte Carlo estimation in partially observable epidemics to the multitype epidemic set-up of
our model. Throughout the paper, data from a Belgian classical swine fever virus transmission
experiment are used as a motivating example.

ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF BIOLOGICAL VARIATION: THE CASE OF MYCOPLASMA IN SWINE HERDS

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Problem Solving Feed Outages: Do we really know how often they occur and what impact they have?

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One of the problems with feed processing today is that small particles do not flow through feed mills, while larger particles reduce feed conversion efficiency. In order to assess the impact of feed outages, Kurt Stoess of Hytek analyzed the problem and determined to move the proximity switch and attach a binwhacker to whack the boot of the bin as the auger runs. This worked for a week until alarm calls began again. Plans of action need to be done for each individual farm. The first step is to record data in order to have a quantitative evaluation of the problem. From here, you can investigate problem areas, and implement strategies to overcome (or at least reduce!) the amount of problems.

Management interventions to help keep piglets alive in large litters

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The bulk of pre-weaning piglet deaths occur in the first 48 hours after birth. Therefore, close supervision and provision of optimum environmental conditions at this time can be very rewarding. Birth weight has a major influence on piglet survival and this can be maximized by optimizing parity profile and increasing feed levels to sows in late gestation. Overlying and crushings are major contributors to pre-weaning mortality. Closing piglets into the creep area for an hour each time the sow is fed in the first two days of life can help. When the rearing capacity of the sow cannot cope with excessively large litters, cross fostering should be carried out, where possible. Quality colostrum and a high milk yield by the sow are essential for piglet survival. Sow feeding during gestation and in lactation can influence the yield and quality of sows’ milk.

Equipment Considerations for On-Farm Feed Milling

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In the past 35 years, on-farm feed processing technology has progressed from portable mixer grinders and proportioner mills to very sophisticated, computerized, weight-based batching systems controlled by automation that rivals anything available on the commercial market. However, regardless of the type of mill you use for particle reduction, or the type of mixer or distribution system you incorporate, the results will reflect the level of management that is applied to the feed milling system. Proper maintenance, monitoring, and record keeping are critical. An on-farm feed mill, properly sized to your operation and feed demands, could be key in your ability to survive and remain competitive in the hog industry in the 21st century.

Statistical Evaluation of Classical Swine Fever Surveillance Plans in Italy (1995–2003)

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Surveillance plans were carried out in Italy from 1995 to 2003, with the main aim of controlling the possible circulation of low-virulence classical swine fever viral strains. The repetition
of a serological monitoring programme over several years, with constantly negative results, can prove the absence of the infection while increasing the degree of confidence. In our case, in 2003, after eight repetitions of the surveillance plan, the probability that there was at least one infected farm reached 0.006%. Therefore, on the basis of the results of the sampling carried out from 1995 to 2003, we may state that there is no endemic infection, even because of a low virulence virus, in
continental Italy.

Product quality attributes associated with outdoor pig production

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