SEARCH
Industry Partners
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:
Lower Protein Diets and Nitrate Vulnerable Zones
Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 2003 | No Comments
The Pig Farmer Survey 2003 found that one in three farmers was unaware that reduced protein diets can reduce slurry production from pigs by 10% while nearly two in three were unaware that it can also reduce water consumption. About 2/3 of protein fed to pigs is lost, half of which escapes into the air as ammonia gas while the other half is spread in slurry or manure. When managed properly, ‘precision protein feeds’ can reduce nitrogen in slurry by 14-22%. Other research has found that as slurry is reduced by 10%, so is the ammonia that is emitted into the air.
The survey found that one in three pig farmers estimated the cost of complying with Nitrate Vulnerable Zone regulations to be more than ₤5,000/year. Research has shown however, that a slightly higher feed cost was balanced by significant savings on slurry, storage and transport together with the reduction in water costs.
Under pollution controls (PPC) for intensive pig farms this method represents the ‘best available technique’ (BAT) because it brings benefit to the farmers and the environment. Guidance to farmers on PPC is available on the Environmental Agency’s website. The Pollution Prevention and Control (Wales and England) Regulations 2000 are designed to prevent and eliminate pollution at the source through the efficient use of natural resources. They apply to all farms with 40,000 birds, 750 sows or 2,000 production pigs. PPC covers most aspects of farming activity including the handling of raw materials and waste, intensive rearing of pigs, manure management planning, the spreading of solid manure and slurry, energy use, accident management as well as monitoring and reporting.
EVALUATION OF A PERMEABLE, 5 CM THICK, POLYETHYLENE FOAM LAGOON COVER
Posted in: Environment by admin on | No Comments
The effect of starter feeding regimen on variability in bodyweight and performance in the nursery
Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments
Variability in growth and performance is a concern to pork producers due to the associated negative impact on revenues and expenditures. This experiment was designed to determine the effect of starter program on the variability in animal weights at nursery exit. Treatments consisted of 4 starter programs, formulated and fed according to manufacturers’ specifications from weaning (d 0) to nursery exit (d 50). Overall ADG was similar between programs, however, the ADFI differed thus, feed efficiency was affected by the program used. Variability in pig growth, determined as the coefficient of variation, was not affected by starter program. This was true regardless of the starting weight of the group of pigs. Therefore, although performance may be affected slightly by the use of a specific starter program, the change in performance is uniform across a group; and the variability in body weight at nursery exit will not be affected.
Sorting Pigs: Why We Do It, and Why We Shouldn’t
Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments
In swine management we have the opportunity to determine the social groupings of our animals. We determine which pigs are in the same pen, and which pigs are not. This process will be referred to as sorting. With increasing farm size, more pigs may be selected from in order to form a group, allowing the implementation of very effective sorting strategies. Within the industry there is a general consensus that sorting is important in order to achieve maximum productivity. However, in a more intensive production system there are many situations where a sorting strategy may not apply. Historical systems in which pigs were limit fed on the floor were subject to dominance related problems. Sorting by weight is a means of reducing dominance related variation in production. This practice will be effective if resources (such as feed) are limited and easily defendable. Such conditions exist in groups of gestating sows if they are not individually fed. Grower-finisher pigs are generally fed ad libitum and do not benefit from sorting by weight. Restricted space allowances do not lend themselves to defence, and so all pigs experience a reduction in growth within crowded pens. Sorting on the basis of nutritional needs can be effective, and leads to sorting grower-finisher pigs by sex, and newly-weaned pigs by size in order to provide the best diets to each group.
Nursery Management: Hygiene and Feeding Management Practices to Ensure Healthy Pigs
Posted in: Welfare by admin on | No Comments
Intestinal diseases are still a problem with nursery-aged pigs. Good hygiene practices are essential for minimizing disease, and this includes running all-in-all-out and washing/sanitization. Barns should be built with materials that are easy to clean. This involves smooth surfaces because of the fact that more infectious organic matter can be lodged in crevices in rough surfaced materials. Dampening the room before high-powered washing can sustain the fecal matter and make removal easier. Proper disinfection should follow immediately after washing to help minimize such diseases as PCV2. Dipping in boot baths along is not suffice; boots need to be scrubbed and cleaned prior to disinfecting in the boot bath.
Three basic rules for a nursery pigs nutritional program include: 1) Start with as heavy a pig as possible. Due to the industry weaning early, the heavier and older pigs tend to grow faster and do better health-wise. 2) Feed as simple diets as possible. This includes lowest-cost feed (to an extent), which can include soybean and grains. The pigs energy feed intake must be maximized (by use of ingredients such as fats) and we make sure that the ingredients used are digestible by the piglets. Supplementing nursery diets with 3000 ppm Zinc Oxide post-weaning has also been observed to have beneficial effects in helping control post-weaning E. coli infections. 3) Focus on nursery feeding management. Adding fiber or restricting feed intake are not viable options for controlling intestinal disease. Feeders need to be adjusted properly as to not allow too much or too little, both of which cases can increase the chance of intestinal disease. Approximately 25 to 50% of the feeding pan should be visible in the first few days after weaning.
Cattle discriminate between individual familiar herd members ion a learning experiment
Posted in: Welfare by admin on | No Comments
This study was conducted to determine if cattle could discriminate between two familiar herdmates. The ability to discriminate is necessary for animals to form affiliative relationships (friendships) with other cattle in their herd. It is also helpful, although perhaps not essential, for the formation of stable social structures or hierarchies within the herd. Six heifers were used and trained to distinguish between two herdmates in a Y-maze. Approaching one herdmates resulted in a reward, while approaching the other did not. All of the cattle quickly learned which animal was linked to the reward, indicating that some form of discrimination occurred. When animals were given a second task, of learning the discriminate between two additional herdmates, they were slower to learn the task. There appeared to be some carryover effect that caused confusion in the animals. This is a fairly basic study examining the basis for social behaviour in herds of cattle, but nonetheless produced some unexpected results in that the second test took longer than the first.