Nitrate Movement in Shallow Ground Water from Swine-Lagoon-Effluent Spray Fields Managed under Current Application Regulations

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Influence of Phytase on Water-Soluble Phosphorus in Poultry and Swine Manure

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Site Characterization Manual – For the development of Intensive livestock Operations and Earthen Manure Storage

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The purpose of this document is to describe the prairie geologic and hydrogeologic setting and to introduce the reader to the physical systems typically found in the agricultural regions of the Canadian Prairies; to describe the information required to characterize specific sites for manure storage; to describe a process which should be followed to collect the required information; to define geologically secure conditions for storing liquid manure; and establish geologic thresholds at which enhanced design is necessary for storing liquid manure. This document focuses on the storage of liquid manure. Although many principles of this document may relate to solid manure storage, or even manure application and use, the primary application of this information is for the storage of liquid manure or contaminated runoff. This document concentrates on aspects of environmental protection, rather than on structural engineering criteria. The primary audience for this document is consulting or design engineers, along with livestock developers. The document will also assist other parties and agencies, such as municipal governments and local stakeholders, to understand how manure storage design decisions are made. Although this document describes a process for characterizing sites, and establishes thresholds requiring enhanced design, this document should not be taken as exhaustive or comprehensive. Developers, operators, design engineers and regulatory agencies share a responsibility to see that all reasonable steps are taken to ensure the environmental suitability of sites for specific intensive livestock operations.

The Effects of Crowding on the Performance of Grower and Finisher Pigs on Fully and Partially Slatted Floors.

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Summary

Crowding affects the productivity of grow/finish pigs and it is generally believed that floor types differ in required space. This study was designed to determine if there is a significant interaction between the two factors. Crowding resulted in a reduction in ADG, but the type of flooring did not make a difference.

Introduction

Floor space allowance remains one of the more contentious issues in the debate on modern farm practices and animal welfare. It is generally believed that space requirements for maximum growth will vary with housing conditions. The Code of Practice recommends that pigs on partially slatted floors be provided with more total floor area than those on fully slatted floors. However, some research has suggested that there are no differences in the effect of crowding on these two floor types. This study was conducted to gain a better understanding of space required for pigs housed on either fully or partially slatted floors.

Economic impact of research in the pork industry

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Pork producers are continually looking for areas in which they can gain a competitive advantage. One of these areas is through early adoption of research results. The possibility of lowering production costs and increasing revenues through successful implementation and use of new technologies is of great interest in the pork industry. However, the financial risks and rewards perceived may limit the extent of technological adoption. Prairie Swine Centre together with George Morris Centre have developed an analytical tool to help provide more detail on the economic impact of research results. This model can simulate the economic impact by applying Prairie Swine Centre research results to various sizes of commercial farms. This information allows the producer to assess current technologies that would best fit their operation.
Estimating economic impact on an operation is very important when implementing new technologies. Twenty-two Prairie Swine Centre experiments between 1999-2004 were selected for a detailed financial analysis in order to value the economic impact of research on the pork industry. These experiments were then prioritized in terms of net benefit per hog marketed and ease of adoption. It was found that the specific research projects selected between 1999-2004 generated net benefits to producers of $0.11-$8.84 per hog marketed. Of these projects analyzed, 25% generated at least $2.00/hog marketed and another 25% generated more than $1.00/hog marketed. Overall, the main objective was to assist pork producers in identifying ways to minimize costs and maximize revenues by 1) identifying technologies, 2) prioritizing actions in terms of ease of application and 3) implementing them in a strategic manner.
Ease of adoption of experiments was divided into categories of Easy, Moderate and Difficult. It was estimated that 80% of the Easy category experiments were adopted by pork industry producers, 40% of the Moderate level experiments and 10% of the category deemed Difficult. Annual benefit to the pork industry is $160 million with two thirds generated from adopted Easy and Moderate categories of projects. Research pays big dividends! The continued provision of applied near market research done at Prairie Swine Centre benefit both pork producers and the industry. Even if not all producers are able to implement all research results they would still realize a significant improvement to their bottom line through incorporation of any number of research results. If 10% of the benefit was adopted it would improve net return over $3.00/hog marketed.

The effect of two teeth resection procedures on the welfare of piglets in farrowing crates. Part 1.

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The objective of this study was to assess piglet welfare following either clipping or grinding of their needle teeth, or leaving the teeth intact. Thus, at birth litters were assigned to treatments of either clipped (C), ground (G), or intact (I) teeth. Grinding the teeth was the longest procedure to perform, which may have increased piglet stress due to being restrained. I piglets had the highest facial lesion scores, but the lowest mouth lesion scores. It was C piglets that had the highest mouth lesion scores due to leftover tooth splinters, and C piglets spent more time chewing when their mouth was empty during the 5 minutes after the teeth clipping procedure. I piglets were more active during many of the observation periods, while G piglets were more inactive (standing/sitting with eyes open or sleeping) during those times and C piglets were sleeping more during those times. A larger number of I piglets than C piglets died due to overlying (being crushed by the sow). In conclusion, findings indicated that all procedures were associated with some welfare problems, but grinding was recommended in preference to clipping or leaving the needle teeth intact.

Effects of age and method of castration on performance and stress response of beef male cattle: A review.

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The effects of the method of castration and the age at which it was performed were evaluated. Weight loss increased quadratically as the age at which castration was carried out increased. This indicated that castration by any method (surgical or rubber banding), at birth or close to birth, drastically reduces weight loss. A detrimental effect on performance extending beyond the first 30 days after castration was caused when surgical castration was the method used. Average daily gain was not affected by the method of castration. The stress response of cattle = 6 months of age tended to be lower than cattle that were over 6 months of age. Rubber banding and surgical castration data was not significantly different. The fact that there was an insignificantly lower stress response of intact cattle compared with banded cattle suggests that rubber banding castration is less stressful than surgical castration.

Impact of science and management on the welfare of egg laying strains of hens.

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Due to research in behaviour and welfare science, the welfare and health of egg laying flocks of chickens have improved. Genetic improvement has the ability to select birds that are healthier, have fewer metabolic and cannibalistic tendencies. The development of vaccines, improved biosecurity and training workers has also improved health and welfare. Less crowded conditions are in the future with industry making adjustments in space allocations. Other options for molting are being studied, so feed withdrawal may become a method of the past. Beak trimming, by trained personnel, should be used when non-aggressive strains are not used and / or when light intensity cannot be controlled. Information on proper euthanasia is provided by extension specialists and veterinarians. Egg producers are implementing new systems for euthanasia of spent hens. Environmental enrichment may be used in production facilities to improve environmental complexity. More research is required to determine how sound and odours affect birds.

Effects of obstructed take-off and landing perches on the flight accuracy of laying hens.

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In non-cage systems for housing laying hens, perches are an important feature of the environment. However, there is evidence of risks to hens’ welfare from collisions as they move between perches. In this experiment studies were conducted to determine the space required by laying hens to move between obstructed perches. Eighty Lohmann Brown layer hens were reared in floor pens fitted with perches from 1 day of age. After the peak of lay (25 weeks of age), their ability to jump to and from perches obstructed either by inanimate objects or by live hens was assessed in four experiments. The results of this study indicated that, while laying hens are often able to jump from or into a 15 cm space between obstructions, this requires changes in take-off and landing behaviour which incur costs in terms of energy expenditure and the risk of collision.

Foraging enrichment for individually housed horses: Practicality and effects on behaviour

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The stabled or stalled horse is commonly fed a restricted-forage diet in contrast to the varied ad libitum high-fibre diet it evolved to consume and this has been linked to the performance of stereotypical behaviour and health problems. This trial aimed to establish whether the behavioural effects observed in short-term trials when stabled horses were provided with a multiple forage diet persist over longer periods. Nine horses participated in an 18-day, cross-over, trial. Two dietary treatments were used [a Single Forage (SF, hay) diet and a Multiple Forage (MF) diet (three long-chop and three short-chop commercially available forages]. Following a 2-day acclimatization, horses were maintained on the forage treatment for 7 days. Horses on the MF treatment performed foraging behaviour significantly more frequently and for significantly longer periods than horses on the SF treatment. There were significant differences in the frequency and duration of foraging on individual forages, indicating that horses demonstrated individual preferences for particular forage. Stereotypic weaving behaviour only occurred on the SF treatment. The results of this study indicate that the potentially beneficial behavioural effects of short-term multiple forage provision do persist when horses are managed on a MF diet for a 7-day period. The results suggest that a MF diet provides a means of enriching the stable horse’s environment, by offering variety and enabling patch foraging behaviour.