Individual differences in responses of piglets to weaning at different ages.

Posted in: Welfare by admin on January 1, 2003 | No Comments

Eight litters were studied from birth to 37 days of age. The effects of weaning on the physiological responses of each piglet within the litter were examined, with focus being on the effects of relative weight and weaning age on piglet responses. Four litters were weaned at 21 days of age, while the other four litters were weaned at 35 days of age. On the day of weaning, the piglets were moved to a separate weaning room and placed in straw-bedded pens with a heated creep box, a water bowl, and a 3-space feeder. They were allowed ad libitum access to both feed and water. Data on weight gain, behaviour, and salivary cortisol levels (as an indicator of stress) were collected throughout the study. In general, during the pre-weaning period, heavier pigs were more likely to occupy the sow’s front teats during suckling, they were more likely to make low-pitched vocalizations, they carried out less nosing behaviour, and they were more aggressive than lighter pigs. Similar results were found at weaning for the heavier pigs. Those pigs having heavier weaning weights had occupied the sow’s front teats most during suckling (pre-weaning). Heavier pigs made less high-pitched and more low-pitched vocalizations after weaning, and they continued to be more aggressive. As a result, heavier piglets experienced higher cortisol levels. During the first two days after weaning, there was an increase in high-pitched vocalizations for pigs weaned at 21 days. Frequency of low-pitched vocalizations increased for both treatments on the first day after weaning. Aggression, nosing and chewing behaviours, and cortisol levels were highest on the first day after weaning. Aggression and cortisol levels among pigs weaned earlier decreased faster than for pigs weaned later. Earlier weaning was more stressful than later weaning for both small and large pigs. However, the challenges they have to endure appear to differ. Larger pigs seemed to have more difficulty adapting to their nutritional demands. Smaller pigs may have more difficulty adapting to maternal separation, as they had received less milk during lactation.

Human-animal interactions in livestock production

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Human-animal interactions are inevitable in intensive production systems. Understanding the effects of this relationship has improved over the past 20 years, but there are still questions to be answered. Handling studies have indicated that fear of humans negatively affects productivity and welfare parameters in most livestock species. Stress responses that result from fear of humans have been implicated in limiting performance. The fear of humans may also result because of the attitude and behaviour of stockpeople. Fear of humans can make animals more prone to injuries, more likely to experience acute and chronic stress (which could lead to immunosuppression, possibly compromising the animal’s health). Also, if the stockperson has a poor attitude, they could be less diligent in ensuring the needs of the animals are met. Therefore, it seems logical that if the attitudes and behaviour of stockpeople could be improved, then the animal’s fear would decrease and welfare and productivity would increase. But, attitudes that have been developed and instilled over many years are difficult to change. However, research has shown that there are modification techniques (for behaviour and attitude) that do result in improvement. Perhaps there are better selection criteria that could be used when hiring stockpeople. For example, it has been found that attitudes towards some job-related variables (apart from the animal work) are related to attitudes towards pigs. Certain personality characteristics have been found to be correlated with job productivity. There are many areas of research that still require investigation. There is some evidence suggesting that the negative effects of some housing conditions and husbandry procedures are improved through positive handling procedures. This provides further support for the importance of human factors on animal welfare. Most research has focused on the effects of physical interactions. Less attention has focused on more subtle visual (eg. stockperson’s posture and movement) and auditory (eg. shouting or clanging metal) interactions. However, some research has shown these factors to strongly influence the animal’s behaviour. Some research has suggested that exposing animals to positive human interactions or a rewarding experience (eg. food) during negative husbandry procedures can decrease the severity of the pain or fear experienced. Also, animals can make associations between a negative procedure and where and by whom it is performed. Therefore, if the regular stockperson wore a different color while performing the procedure, the animal might not associate the procedure with the person, thereby decreasing the fear of the regular handler. Stockpeople have a significant impact on the welfare and productivity of livestock. Training programs can aid in improving the attitudes and behaviour of stockpeople towards animals. More research is needed to understand not only the effect of tactile interactions, but also auditory and visual interactions. The effects of rewarding human-animal interactions also requires more research.

Navigational ability in the domestic fowl (Gallus gallus domesticus).

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There is little information available about domestic fowls’ ability to navigate, therefore, it is also unknown how chicks orient themselves and represent space in non-cage systems. By using the sun as the chicks’ only visual cue, as that is what they typically would base movement on in the wild, the chicks ability to locate food was used to investigate their spatial memory abilities. Outdoors, an octagon test arena was used. At the end of each arm was a pot and one was randomly chosen to hold a food reward each test. The majority of the chicks moved towards the arm that contained the food reward, and it did appear that they used the sun to position themselves within the octagon. Thus, the chicks did use spatial memory maneuver around the octagon to obtain the hidden food reward, by using the sun as a cue.

The effects of immuno- and surgical castration on the behaviour and consequently growth of group-housed, male finisher pigs.

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The objectives of this experiment were to record the behaviour of group housed, male pigs over towards the end of the growth phase to examine the effect of castration. Three treatments were created: surgical castration (at 14 days of age), immuno-castration (2 doses at recommended age of 14 and 18 weeks old), and entire (un-castrated) males. Each treatment had 60 pigs. Average feed intake was highest for surgically castrated males at 17 weeks of age. Average feed intake was highest for immuno-castrated pigs at 21 weeks of age. At both 17 and 21 weeks of age, entire males had lowest feed intakes. Entire males appeared more easily distracted from feeding, thus reducing feed intake. At 21 weeks of age, immuno-castrated males had the highest live weight gains, followed by surgically castrated males. At 23 weeks of age, gains were similar to those found at 21 weeks. Entire males were more social at both 17 and 21 weeks of age. Aggression was the most predominant social behaviour observed (90 % of social behaviour), followed by mounting behaviours (10 % of social behaviour). It was presumed that live weights were higher for immuno-castrated pigs compared to entire pigs because of the effects of the immuno-castration drug, which removed certain hormones normally influencing aggression and sexual activity. Therefore, immuno-castrated pigs spent less time carrying out active aggressive and sexual behaviours, and spent more time feeding. Immuno-castrated pigs and surgically castrated pigs showed a similar reduction in social (aggressive and mounting) behaviours, and had a similar increase in feeding behaviour over entire males. Immuno-castrated pigs tended to grow faster to slaughter weight than entire males.

Antimicrobials: Can we continue using them? U.S. Checkoff Programs and Perspectives

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The National Pork Board was established by an act of the US Congress in 1985 and is responsible for the collection, distribution, and program accountability for the money generated by the US pork producers’ checkoff. Areas of responsibility include pork quality, production research, food safety, swine health, animal welfare, and public health/worker health and safety. The National Pork Board has 7 statements regarding their position on antimicrobial use: 1) To preserve the availability and effectiveness of antimicrobials, a coordinated and appropriate response to the issue of antimicrobial resistance is necessary; 2) Producers and their veterinarians must have the flexibility to responsibly address animal health and production in a timely, cost-effective manner; 3) Producers continue in their science-based commitment to ensure the safety of pork and to maintain consumer confidence; 4) The National Pork Board and the nation’s pork producers are supportive of educational efforts to ensure that antimicrobial use does not compromise food safety; 5) The National Pork Board supports a rigorous US Food and Drug Administration process that reviews the scientific data, that evaluates product safety and efficacy and that approves antimicrobials for use in animals; 6) If, based on sound science, additional oversight of antimicrobial use and distribution is considered necessary, stakeholders should discuss the best implementation strategies to achieve the desired result; and 7) The National Pork Board supports the development of effective and affordable alternatives to the use of antimicrobials for enhancing production. They support the use of antimicrobials only when they provide demonstrable benefits and urge producers to take appropriate steps to decrease the need for application, adhere to guidelines, assess benefits and costs, and complete the Pork Quality Assurance Program.

FOUCAULDIAN HOG FUTURES: The Birth of Mega-Hog Farms

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THE ROLE OF SEROLOGY IN PRRS CONTROL

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First outbreak of PRRS was reported in the United States in 1987, in Europe it started to spread in 1990 in Germany (1). Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infection is world-wide distributed. PRRSV is plague in swine industry and cause economically important reproductive and respiratory problems. Serologically positive herds without economically significant losses complicates PRRS control (2, 6).
Immuno Peroxidase Machrophage Assay (IPMA) and ELISA are used for serological diagnosis for PRRS (5).
Pig production in Slovenia is under systematic monitoring and control for many important diseases. One of it is also porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome. The monitoring and control are part of annual Order of Ministry of Agriculture, forestry and food of Slovenia. Testing for PRRS is obligatory and free of charge for pig producers (3). Important measure in PRRS control is quarantine. Pigs with antibodies against PRRSV can not be imported in Slovenia (4).
In our laboratory we used commercial ELISA for detection of antibodies against PRRSV. Monitoring has started 1995 and include representative sample of breeding pigs from large and small farms in Slovenia. Typical outbreak of PRRS was never observed in Slovenia.

The use of ensiled cassava leaves in diets for growing pigs. 3. The effect of graded levels of palm oil on performance traits

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Animal Waste Management Technologies: An Explorative Study of Farmers' Knowledge and Perceptions

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This report presents the results of a survey of 66 farmers in North Carolina to assess their perception of waste management technologies. The main objective of the project was to investigate farmers’ knowledge and their perception of these new technologies in comparison with the traditional lagoon/sprayfield system.

Introduction

Swine waste in North Carolina is managed predominantly through anaerobic lagoons and sprayfields. This waste management practice poses potential risks to human health and the environment through transport of pollutants via surface water, groundwater and the air. Recognizing these risks, in April 1999, a state plan was issued to identify and evaluate the need to convert lagoons and sprayfields to alternative technologies and it is expected that the lagoon-sprayfield technology will be phased out in due term. At the same time new federal regulation has been proposed focusing on the land application of animal waste at agronomic rates, which at present is largely unregulated. These proposed federal rules further undermine the future of the lagoon/sprayfield practice in North Carolina.

Work is currently underway in designing and assessing new technologies to replace the lagoon-sprayfield system but none are yet operational. Specifically, in July 2000 an Agreement was made between Smithfield Foods, Inc. and the Attorney General of North Carolina to provide $15 million for the development of ‘environmentally superior technologies’. Since then, research, development, and demonstration efforts have been initiated for several alternative technologies.

In this report we present the results of an exploratory study of farmers’ knowledge and perceptions of a series of alternative waste management systems. Farmers’ attitudes and perception are of crucial importance to successful R&D strategies. Many promising agricultural innovations and supporting policies have failed because they were inappropriate to farmers’ needs. To prevent such failures, a good understanding of the behavioral and operational constraints at the farm level is required. The contribution of economic analysis in addressing this state of affairs is that it can identify the behavioral factors and farm level constraints determining adoption. Lack of information, organizational characteristics (labor requirements) and management skills can be decisive in the adoption decision. Insights in these constraints can support developing ways to overcome them. Interview techniques are very useful in this respect as it enables an ex-ante assessment of the impact of farmers’ subjective perceptions and (lack of) knowledge on their choices among management practices.

Biofilter Reduces Odorous Gas Emissions by 80%

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Studies conducted by the University of Manitoba show biofiltration can reduce swine barn emissions of hydrogen sulfide, one of the major odor causing gases, by about 80%. The University, in partnership with the Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative, has unveiled a new odour reducing biofilter technology. The technology uses a combination of woodchips and compost to harbor a natural population of microorganisms, which use the odorous molecules as a food source. Evaluations are still forthcoming but they appear to be effective at reducing hydrogen sulfide, which would typically suggest similar types of reductions would be obtained on the other odour causing compounds.