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Prairie Swine Centre is an affiliate of the University of Saskatchewan
Prairie Swine Centre is grateful for the assistance of the George Morris Centre in developing the economics portion of Pork Insight.
Financial support for the Enterprise Model Project and Pork Insight has been provided by:
Relationship between Prenatal Survival Rate at 70 days of Gestation and Morphometric Parameters of Vagina, Uterus and Placenta in Gilts
Posted in: Welfare by admin on January 1, 2004 | No Comments
Swine uterine capacity affects litter size, and it could be used as a selection parameter of reproductive performance. Although there are some controversial results, evidences show that the catheter penetration length is positively correlated with litter size, and it could be used as a tool for predicting selection methods. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is any association between the prenatal survival rate and placental size at 70 days of gestation, the vaginal length [catheter penetration length during artificial insemination (AI)] and the uterine capacity in a homogeneous group of gilts. Sixty-six commercial-line gilts in pre-pubertal phase had their oestrus induced by hormonal treatment [600 UI of Equine Chorionic Gonadtrophin (eCG) i.m. and after a 72-h period 5 mg of luteinizing hormone (LH) i.m.], but only 40 gilts showed cyclicity after induction. The AI catheter penetration length was tested on these 40 gilts at the moment of AI using a
calibrated AI catheter. Four gilts returned to oestrus and the other 36 were killed at around day 69 of pregnancy. The uterine length and weight showed a significant and positive correlation with the prenatal survival rate (p < 0.05). The catheter penetration length was unable to predict the
conceptus survival rate on 70 days of gestation; however, the uterine size influenced the survival rate positively. The mean placental area was positively correlated with the mean placental weight (p < 0.0001), and both with the mean foetal weight (p < 0.0001 and p < 0.001, respectively). The
analysis of the results obtained showed that neither did the catheter penetration length measurement during AI, nor the prenatal survival rate on day 70 of pregnancy predict the uterine capacity, but the uterine and placental size had a significant influence on the prenatal survival and foetus
weight, respectively.
Weaning Litters from Hyper-prolific Sows
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A hyper-prolific sow can produce 60+ piglets in her lifetime. It requires good management practice to obtain the 27+ weaned pigs per sow per year. New gilts brought into the herd must be managed to obtain maximum reproduction. Proper estrus stimulation should be performed with a mature boar for a minimum of 10 minutes per day. Gilts should be bred at 16 mm back fat at 210 days of age and no less than 125 kg. This prevents breakdown of body reserves for energy. These gilts should be kept on a gilt developer diet rather than a regular gestating sow diet. Regular techniques can be followed for service timing and management of wean to estrus interval. Movement and mixing of gilts should be minimized, and back fat should be measured at breeding, 60 days into gestation, and 110 days into gestation. The sow should have 19 mm at breeding, and if not the sows feeding should be changed to alter body condition. Targets at lactation should be no more than a 3 mm loss of back fat and for the piglets to gain 240 g/day for 21 days. Gilts and sows should be grouped by farrowing history and/or body condition. There should be a hygienic farrowing kit kept on hand with lube, a cord, hibitane, a dish, and O.B. sleeves. Oxytocin wrapped in ice packs and needles/syringes should also be included. At entrance into the farrowing room they should not be overfed so that feed intake during lactation can be maximized. Heat lamps should be provided in the rooms to avoid chilled piglets, but adequate fresh airflow is necessary. Individual sow cards help to monitor each sow in the room. Farrowing assistance should be given to sows that are having difficulties to avoid a lot of stillbirths (hygienic procedures should be adhered to). Fresh born piglets should be dried, put on a dry mat underneath a heat lamp, and fed colostrum immediately. If a sow or gilt appears to be nervous and unease, place the piglets in a ring under the lamp and only release them once the sow has calmed down. After farrowing, oxytocin should be given to clear the sow of any more debris. Hyper-prolific sows require a great deal of attention to reach maximum potential. Cross fostering should be done within the first 24 hours. Split suckling can help the smaller piglets to catch up if they are in a large litter. Nurse sows should have adequate body condition to support the fall-behind piglets.
Dealing with Variation in Market Weight
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Variation in market weight is a major concern for swine production systems. Canadian Processors have a relatively narrow weight window and very few packers, making targets very specific. Methods of dealing with variation can be divided into artificial reduction in variation, methods to reduce variation, and managing variation without reducing it. Artificial reduction involves sorting by size in the nursery or finisher and aggressive cross fostering in farrowing.
Livestock Pathogens: A Natural Occurrence
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All animals including pets, livestock and humans are hosts to various micro-organisms some of which may cause disease. Producers can manage germs and minimize their introduction into the food chain and environment by using good care and sound manure management practices. However, there are no animal production systems that can guarantee zero risk to both the environment and the public. Animal germs that are a natural occurrence that tends to stay within livestock populations. Most of the germs carried by animals are harmless to people. To minimize the transfer of pathogens from animals to people, proper food handling, sound manure management practices and good personal hygiene should be followed and observed.
Increasing Manure's Value Using a VRF Program
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From an engineering standpoint, site-specific manure application equipment is very similar to that used for variable rate application (VRA) of liquid fertilizer, but from a management standpoint, variable rate manure (VRM) is quite different from VRA of fertilizer. The goal of this article is to summarize the results of a recent study of the economics of site-specific manure application.
Using the site-specific crop responses to manure, the maximum net present value (NPV) of $607/acre is achieved with the VRM strategy, combined with a variable rate fertilizer (VRF) strategy. The next highest NPV, $605/acre, was achieved by the strategy which applies manure at a field specific optimal rate (WFM), combined with a VRF program, followed by the strategy which applies a uniform rate of manure at the extension recommendation rate of 3,500 gal./acre combined with VRF ($597/acre). Profit maximizing manure rates by zone vary from about 2,500 gal/acre to 8,000 gal/acre. Optimal manure rates are usually lower when some fertilizer is applied to complement the nutrients in manure.
Given the variability of the nutrient content of manure, it is difficult to argue that the VRM-VRF strategy is a better strategy than the WFM strategy combined with the VRF program. The WFM-VRF strategy results in an NPV that is only about $2/acre lower than the VRM-VRF approach. With good agitation and careful calibration, a uniform application of manure is a reasonable goal. With current technology, accurate VRA of manure quantity is possible, but it is difficult to control actual soil nutrients applied. VRF can be used to more economically and accurately manage soil variability.
Fate of veterinary antibiotics in a macroporous tile drained clay soil
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