Social Factors that Affect Injury Levels and the Behaviour of Sows Regrouped into an Electronic Sow Feeder System

Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on January 1, 2004 | No Comments

Summary
The total number of injuries detectable on sows increased until 28 days after regrouping before declining. First parity sows and post-implantation sows ate later in the feeding cycle, while first parity sows and unfamiliar sows rested in the less optimal areas of the pens. Thus, the behaviour of older, familiar and pre-implantation sows indicates that they are experiencing less stress during regrouping.

Introduction
Regrouping is a stressful time for pigs. When sows are regrouped shortly after breeding, stress may alter behaviours and result in a decrease in farrowing rate. The severity of the stress the sows are experiencing can be reflected in injuries, eating order and resting locations. The goal of this study was to determine the effect that stage of implantation, familiarity with penmates, and parity have on the behaviour.

Effects of wheat quality and xylanase supplementation on weaned pigs

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The feed processing procedure xylanase supplementation was tested to reduce the existing variability in wheat quality. Xylanase enzyme supplementation partially reduced the variation in performance of weaned pigs caused by wheat sample.

Managing Welfare: On-Farm Animal Care Assessment for Pigs

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Consumers are becoming increasingly more concerned about animal welfare and want assurances that animals raised for food are handled in appropriate ways. In 2002 the Canadian Pork Council (CPC) formed an animal care working group to consider this issue and develop an on-farm welfare assessment program. This program will help identify areas on the farm which compromise welfare and will most likely be incorporated into the on-farm food safety program as a HACCP-type approach. The control points are based on measurable components of animal based and environmental and management based parameters. The current on-farm assessment consists of general sections (training, euthanasia, mortalities, etc.), sows and piglets, weaned pigs, and grow-finish pigs. Animal welfare assessments must be based on information from several different sources within a given facility. The records generated through the completion of the on-farm animal welfare assessment should provide the producer with a valuable tool for evaluating animal welfare on the farm.

On-farm euthanasia of broiler chickens: effects of different gas mixtures on behavior and brain activity.

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This study examined the effects of increasing the percentage of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere of group-housed broilers as a method of euthanasia. Measuring the level of discomfort before loss of consciousness, and measuring the killing rate, assessed the suitability of the methods used for 2- and 6-week old broilers. The gas mixtures used in the trial for injection into the air were 1) 100 % CO2, 2) 50 % N2 + 50 % CO2, and 3) 30 % O2 + 40 % CO2 + 30 % N2, followed by 100 % CO2. At the time of injection of the gas mixture into the housing, 2 birds per trial that were equipped with brain electrodes were observed for behavior and brain activity. Of the 2-week old birds, 10 % survived the increasing CO2 percentage due to the use of mixture 3. Therefore, that particular mixture was not used in further tests on 6-week old birds. Thirty percent of the 6-week old birds survived the 50-50 mixture of CO2 and N2. Using the 100 % CO2 injection into the air, the highest percentage (42 %) of CO2 in the breathing air was reached. Only 25 % of CO2 in the breathing air was reached using the other two methods. When using each of the three mixtures, head shaking, gasping, and convulsions were observed before loss of posture. Suppression of electrical activity in the brain occurred almost simultaneously with loss of posture. The results of this study indicated that euthanasia of groups of 2- and 6-week old broilers by gradually increasing the percentage of CO2 in the breathing air up to 40 % was possible.

Effects of haloperidol, a dopamine D2 receptor antagonist, on feather pecking behaviour in laying hens.

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Feather pecking is quite similar to a stereotypy, and dopamine may have a role in the performance of stereotypies in fowl. Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of the administration of a dopamine D2 receptor antagonist (haloperidol) on the general and feather pecking behaviours of laying hens. In the first experiment the birds were either injected with various concentrations haloperidol or saline (control) and their behaviour 30 minutes before and after the injection were recorded. A dosage of 1.0mg/kg of body weight sedated the hens, while dosages less than or equal to 0.50 mg/kg were ineffective. Therefore, the proper dosage is ranges between 0.50 to 1.0 mg/kg of haloperidol. In a second experiment, feather pecking and aggressive pecking were recorded for the 50-minute period before and after the injection of 0.50mg/kg of haloperidol or saline. Only feather pecking was significantly reduced with the administration of 0.50mg/kg of haloperidol, while it was ineffective at reducing aggressive pecking. Overall, the study verifies that feather pecking is influenced by the dopamine system.

Influence of replacement rate on the welfare of sows introduced to a large dynamic group.

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Dynamic social groups are common in sow management. In these groups new animals are added to a resident group at regular intervals, from weekly to every 3-5 weeks. The newly introduced animals are subject to aggression from the resident animals and other newcomers. A question that arises is to what extent does the proportion of animals that are added to the dynamic group affect the aggression and social interaction of the new sows. This study compared the post-grouping injury levels and social integration of sows when 10, 20, 30 or 40% of a dynamic group was replaced. The dynamic groups were comprised of 40 sows. Replacements took place at three-week intervals. Three days prior to new sows being added to the group, 10-40% of the sows were removed. Replacement animals had been housed in groups of 4 for 5 weeks prior to being added to the dynamic group. This is a common procedure that is used for breeding weaned animals. One to four of these groups of 4 sows were added to the dynamic group, representing 10, 20, 30 and 40% replacement rates. Newly introduced animals were exposed to similar amounts of aggression regardless of the replacement rate. However, as replacement rate increased the proportion of aggression derived from other newly introduced sows increased as well. Injuries after one week were similar for all replacement rates. Sows introduced in the 10% replacement treatment spent more time lying outside the kennels (prime sleeping areas) during the first week than did the newly introduced sows in the higher replacement rate treatments. All introduced sows gradually increased their contact time with resident sows over the first week. It would appear that replacing less than 10% of the sows in a dynamic group is quite stressful for those newcomers. Increasing replacement rate beyond 20% does not further reduce the stress on new sows.

Dustbathing by broiler chickens: a comparison of preference for four different substrates.

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A common welfare concern with broiler chickens is leg abnormalities. However, recent research has shown that allowing broiler chickens to exercise in the form of performing natural behaviour such as perching, walking on inclines and dustbathing can improve a chicken’s ability to walk. The hope is to improve leg condition of broiler chickens by increasing the amount of dustbathing that the perform, and to increase the performance this study examined the preferences that chickens had for certain substrates to use for dustbathing. The dustbathing substrates compared were pine wood shavings, rice hulls, construction grade sand and recycled paper animal bedding. Testing began at one week of age and ended at seven weeks of age, each week four new chickens were tested. Prior to testing, the broilers were housed on wood shavings, but during testing they were not given bedding. During testing each corner of the pen was filled with one of the test substrates. The dustbathing behaviour of the birds was measured by counting the number of vertical wing shakes. Significantly more wing shakes were performed, more visits were made and more time was spent in the sand than the other three substrates. Before dustbathing, the chickens typically ground peck which was perform more frequently and more often in sand. The preference to use sand to dustbathe was observed at one week of age and remained consistent throughout the remainder of the trial. This study found that sand is a very attractive substance for dustbathing and also stimulates dustbathing. The next step is to determine if the provision of sand increases dustbathing to a point that helps to improve the leg condition of broiler chickens.

Reassortment of influenza A virus genes linked to PB1 polymerase gene

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The Role of Genetics in Traceability and Quality

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Aside from simple hog improvement, genetics is now being used for DNA traceability. Traceability is important for tracking drug residue, food safety, and marking our pork worldwide as Canadian. The goal of traceability is to trace meat through retail, distribution, processing, slaughter, production, breeding and genetics. DNA tracking could be useful for the slaughter and processing, where tags and tattoos fail to be effective. There is research going on to identify efficient methods of DNA tracing with the goal to make it cost effective and reduce error.

To put this method into practice, replacement gilts will be blood sampled and the sample placed in a bar coded tube. The gilts ID is written next to the bar code and sent to a lab. Although this system is aimed towards quality control and proof of origin, this system can also be used for genetic improvement of the pigs because the carcasses of course will be examined at slaughter.

Limitations to Improvements in AI Efficiency

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The limitation to improvement in AI efficiency is not in the technology, but in the implementation of the technologies. One of the problems is placing too much confidence in new equipment or techniques and abandoning basic principles. Performance optimums must be defined so they can be achieved with the new technology. This will benefit operations by reducing costs, reducing labour, or improving the use of genetically superior animals. If these cannot be defined it will be hard to sell that technology. Problems with adoption of new technologies include lack of training and information, lack of focus on detail, lack of success and fear of failure, and increased costs and labour (rather cancelling out the benefits of the new technology). Principles behind adopting new technologies for employees include participation in learning, repetition of task, relevance (what it means to do what they do), transference (training in relevance to the actual job), and feedback. Make sure that the employees know that this new technology does not replace the basics! Educate employees about every step from every perspective to help them understand what and why the technique is performed. Never assume information is known or understood.