Test Manure After Feed Ingredient Change

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

In recent research at Iowa State University, including lysine, alone, in swine diets resulted in a reduction of dietary crude protein from 17.4% to 17%. Adding lysine, methionine, threonin and tryptophan to the diet reduced crude protein content even further, to 14.5%. Incorporation of lysine and methionine, though not tested in this study, would have resulted in a dietary crude protein content of approximately 16.2%. The reduced diet content does translate into less manure excretion. Urine nitrogen, where most of the nitrogen is excreted, decreased by 15% by adding the four amino acids. In addition, ammonia emissions were reduced by half. Others have demonstrated similar results. Similar results would be expected following feeding to poultry. However, data that addresses the combined use of lysine and methionine for poultry or swine is somewhat limited.
Nutrient excretion reductions will be site-specific based on how the amino acids are formulated in the diet and which amino acids are used. Producers who want to see how such practices affect their manure values should plan to test their manure before and after implementing such a change. If the change in diet formulation has already taken place, producers should still test their manure to see how composition in their manure storage facility compares to values used by a producer in his/her manure management plan. The change in nitrogen content may have a positive effect on manure management planning.

Short-term effects of manure application on soil leachates in a mountain catchment

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Fluctuations in Manure Nutrient Concentration during Storage Pump-out

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This study was initiated to better understand the changing composition of manure samples within a storage and between different liquid swine manure storages used in Manitoba. In a recent study done by Fitzgerald and Racz, 2001, various storages across Manitoba were sampled and analyzed. This study found large variations between hog type (finisher, nursery, sow) and at different levels in the storage. (top, middle, or bottom) It is well known that stratification, settling of solids, occurs in all types of storages and when agitated the solids are mixed back into the liquids. This project will look at a single-cell, two-cell, and a circular storage system during a typical application and characterize the nutrient composition.

The effect of temperature fluctuations on psychrophilic anaerobic sequencing batch reactors treating swine manure

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Harvesting Winter Forages to Extract Manure Soil Nutrients

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Composting Hog Manure – Is it Right for Your Farm?

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While not completely odour-free, composting does not generate the same kind of manure odours typical of manure collected and stored in pits or earthen storages under anaerobic conditions. Although liquid manure handling systems can be managed in ways that satisfy the rules against liquid manure runoff, they are inherently riskier systems, and many farmers will undoubtedly want to avoid those risks. Composting fits easily into manure handling systems that generate manure with low levels of added water. When managed properly, composting improves the handling characteristics of any organic residue by reducing its moisture content, volume and weight. The process increases the value of raw manures by destroying pathogens and weed seeds and creating a media for the production and proliferation of beneficial organisms. The rate of composting, like the rate of plant or animal growth, can be affected by a number of factors such as: nutrient balance, moisture content, temperature, and aeration. The compost pile must also be turned to restore its porosity and reduce the particle size to increase the surface area of bulking material like straw. Restoring porosity enhances the passive movement of air into the pile and accelerates decomposition. There are a variety of compost turners available for small farm operations and larger self-propelled turners for custom composting operation. Although compost can be turned using a loader, production of quality compost requires the proper equipment. The improper sizing of equipment to perform the function can result in higher cost per tonne of finished compost. The location of the composting site is also important. The site should allow for easy access, a minimum of travel and materials handling and a firm surface to support vehicles under varying weather conditions. The convenience of a particular site must be weighed against factors such as area, proximity to neighbours, visibility, and drainage and runoff control. Good drainage is very important. Poor site drainage leads to ponding of water saturated composting materials, muddy site conditions and excessive run-off and leachate from the site. A muddy composting pad is perhaps the most common site related complaint of composting operators. It is important that the composting operation not be interrupted by rainfall. Consult a soil scientist and an agricultural engineer for a site investigation before establishing a composting site. Run-off control beyond planting a grassed infiltration strip may be necessary to avoid polluting surface or ground water.

Soluble and insoluble non-starch polysaccharides on nutrient digestibility and ileal bacteria populations in grower pigs

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Soluble (SOL) and insoluble (INSOL) NSP may influence gut bacteria populations, reflecting changes in fermentable material in the gut. Effects of purified (SOL, guar gum; INSOL, cellulose) NSP fractions on ileal bacteria populations and energy digestibility were studied. Pigs surgically fitted with an ileal T-cannula were fed four experimental diets (14% cornstarch basal [control]; 7% SOL +7% INSOL NSP [SOL + INSOL]). Diets were fed for 13 d, ileal digesta was collected under CO2, and bacteria were cultured on selective bacteria counts except for Bifidobacteria. Compared to control, addition of soluble and insoluble NSP reduced energy digestibility from 73 to 39% in the ileum, but only marginally across the total tract. Increasing dietary purified soluble and insoluble NSP reduces nutrient digestibility and subsequently, increases the amount of fermentable dry matter in the small intestine, thereby providing further substrate fro ileal bacteria proliferation in grower pigs.

Aggression, fearfulness and coping styles in female pigs.

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The coping styles hypothesis in animals has recently received much attention in studies investigating individual differences in personality characteristics partly because of its apparent success in describing the coping strategies used by mice and other species. Pigs, also have large inter-individual variation in behaviour, and show similar reactions to challenging events over time and across related situations. This study evaluates the validity of this hypothesis for predicting the coping responses of pigs by testing for predicted correlations between responses to a variety of challenges. Animals were exposed to an immobility test at 3 weeks of age. At 8 and 24 weeks, animals were exposed to an unknown pig in the test animal’s home cage, a human in the home cage, and a novel object (bucket) in a novel arena. Many of the behavioural measures had some repeatability between the ages of 8 and 24 weeks, despite significant changes in the observed level of responses, but there were few correlations between responses to social and non-social situations. The results indicate that the coping styles hypothesis has very limited value in predicting the coping responses of pigs representing the population as a whole. It is suggested that future research on pig personality should investigate the possibility that specific coping behaviours for example, those mediated by fear and anxiety, may have consequences for different elements of coping ability related to welfare and productivity.

Meeting Future Demands for Animal Care

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Animal welfare is becoming a growing concern in agriculture. Welfare programs are being developed with no way of knowing if farms actually practice guidelines for animal welfare. Increasingly, animal welfare standards are being included in quality assurance schemes. In lab settings, measures are used to identify biological responses to evaluate welfare (including stress hormones, immune function, behaviour, etc.). Two broad measures can be used for on-farm assessment. One of these standards is housing and management systems (environmental parameters). This assesses space allowance, feeder space, number and flow of drinkers, floor types, etc. This is relatively inexpensive to audit because they are clearly defined. The second measure is the animal reaction or response to the production system. This would include records of veterinary treatments, deaths, culls, and more. Temple Grandin has created a welfare audit for slaughter plants that measures slipping/falling, vocalizing, and correct first-attempt stunning. These are more the direct assessments of welfare. The National Pork Board in the US has developed a Swine Welfare Assurance Program, a voluntary program for producers to audit welfare. Australia has developed The Welfare Audit for the Chicken Meat Industry in 2001 and the Pork Welfare Audit in 2003. As of 2003, it is unclear as to what Canada will do for audits (how they will be administered or what types of measures will be made on farm). Some program will more than likely be put into place in the near future.

Discrimination learning based on relative size concepts in horses (Equus caballus)

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This study explored whether or not horses could respond to stimuli using a concept based on relative size. In experiment 1, after learning to respond to the larger of the two stimuli for six sets of two-dimensional (2D) training exemplars, one horse was tested for size transposition that used novel larger an smaller stimuli as well as three-dimensional (3D) objects (5 2D sets and 5 3D sets with large, medium, small, and tiny sizes). The horse correctly chose the larger of two stimuli regardless of novelty or dimension or combination. In Experiment 2, two additional horses were tested using a subset of the stimuli from Experiment 1. One horse was required to select the larger stimuli as in Experiment 1 and the other the smaller stimuli. After learning the task, both horses responded correctly to new stimuli and showed size transposition. These results suggest that at least some horses are capable of solving problems based on relative size concepts. Moreover, they are capable to generalize across situations that vary from flat, black shapes to objects of different materials and colors including balls, flowers pots, and PVC connectors. These findings support earlier research that showed that horses could categorize certain stimuli, and provide new evidence that they are capable of using some form of concept for problem solving. Understanding that horses have more advanced learning abilities than was previously believed should help improve training methods and management.