Milk feeding systems for dairy calves in groups: effects on feed intake, growth and health.

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

The rearing of dairy calves in groups is rapidly replacing the once common practice of raising the calves individually. Some farms have chosen to raise the calves in small groups. Group housed calves are fed by bucket or a small container that may or may not have teats. In larger groups (25-30 calves) the easiest way to feed the calves in ad libitum from a container with a teat or from automatic feeders, as computerized feeding systems are becoming quite popular. There are some negative consequences associated with feeding the calves ad libitum. One problem is the decreased growth performance after weaning, as giving the calves ad libitum access to milk tend to decrease the amount of concentrate they eat, thus the conversion from a liquid to solid diet after weaning is much more difficult. Also when feeding the calves ad libitum there is an increase in the cost of feeding due to the higher amounts of milk consumption. Another problem associated with the group housing of calves is the increased chance of contacting an infectious agent, thus promoting infection in these calves. According to a survey of farms, respiratory disease in becoming an increasingly common problem in calves housed in groups, fed from a computerized feeding system. Little research has been conducted on the housing of calves in large groups, so there are many questions that are yet to be answered. Producers are wondering how to prevent larger calves from disturbing the smaller calves in the group when they are at the feeder. Another area in which more research needs to be conducted is at what age and by what method should the calves be introduced to the feeding system. Finally producers want to know how to detect if an animal is ill based on the feed intake records generated from a computerized feeding system. Thus, there is a need for more research to be done in this novel form of dairy calf management.

Individual differences in behaviour and in adrenocortical activity in beef-suckler cows.

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A stable herd of beef-suckler cows was studied to learn more about individual behavioural strategies. Furthermore, these strategies were studied in relation to basic activities, adrenocortical activity, and degree of consistency during social competition. For three months, the social interactions of 19 beef-suckler cows were recorded. The cows were classified as either agonistic dominant (AD), non-agonistic (NA), or agonistic challenging (AC). Lying, standing, feeding and walking (basic activities) and the concentration of faecal cortisol metabolites were compared between groups. Increased social competition was created by reducing the number of feeding places, such that consistency in social strategies could be evaluated. In undisturbed social situations, the most agonistic interactions were initiated by AD animals. Social licking was received the most, and performed the least by AC animals. Agonistic interactions were initiated the least by NA animals, but they performed more social licking than AC animals and the most head play. The dominance values were highest for AD animals, but did not differ between NA and AC animals. The highest frequency of walking, standing, feeding and drinking and the lowest frequency of lying was recorded for AC animals. NA animals had higher concentrations of faecal cortisol metabolites than AC animals. The social competition test confirmed the social strategies that were initially identified. The authors concluded that the identified social strategies were consistent in situations of low and high social competition. The three strategies differed in social behaviour, basic activities, and adrenocorticol activity. The NA and AC animals both have a low ranking status, but use different coping strategies to deal with being subordinate.

The effect of a gradual separation from the mother on later behavioural, immune an dendocrine alterations in artificially reared lambs.

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Lambs were assigned to one of four treatment groups: DS (control dam-suckled), GRAD (gradually separated from their dams to reduced the time spent with the mother over ten days), SUB (abruptly removed from the dam 24 to 30 hours post-partum and provided with a milk substitute), and EM (abruptly removed from the dam 24 to 30 hours post-partum and subjected to a gradual transition from ewe milk to milk substitute over ten days) in order to compare lamb welfare and weight gains. The lambs’ behavioral response to isolation and to an inanimate stimulus (a hobby-horse) was measured at 12 and 32 days of age. Blood samples were collected immediately before, 10 minutes after, and 60 minutes after the isolation test to evaluate cortisol concentrations. The weight gain of the lambs was recorded weekly, and cell-mediated immune response and antibody titers were also determined at set points. The GRAD lambs performed less frequent climbing attempts than the DS lambs when isolated in a novel environment. After introduction of the hobby-horse, GRAD labs took longer to move than the DS, SUB, and EM lambs, and they had quicker movements than the DS lambs. A higher cortisol release was exhibited from the GRAD lambs. They also showed a lower cell-mediated immune response than the other three groups. The GRAD lambs had lower antibody titers than the EM and SUB lambs. A lower growth rate was exhibited among the GRAD lambs than among the other treatment groups. The results of the study indicate that gradual separation of a lamb from its mother negatively affects behavioral, immune, and endocrine responses of artificially reared lambs.

Influence of dietary ß-glucan on growth performance, lymphocyte proliferation, specific immune response and haptoglobin plasma concentrations in pigs

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Immunomodulatory feed additives might offer alternatives to anti-microbial growth
promoters in swine production. The present study was conducted to assess the effects of
b-1,3 ⁄ 1,6 glucans, i.e. of specific yeast cell wall components, on immune function and
growth performance in pigs. After weaning at 4 weeks of age, 75 piglets were allocated to 3
different groups for 4 weeks, the diet was supplemented with 0, 0.015 or 0.03% of
b-glucan, respectively. All animals were vaccinated against porcine reproductive and
respiratory syndrome (PRRS). After 4 weeks, average daily gains (ADG) of b-glucan
treated pigs were not different from the controls. Feed intake was tendentiously (p < 0.1) increased at 0.03% b-glucan, without alteration of feed efficiency. Serum haptoglobin concentrations at the end of the 4 week treatment were increased in all groups when compared to the initial levels (p < 0.001), without differences between the groups (p > 0.05). Haptoglobin levels were inversely related to ADG. Lymphocyte proliferation
indices were not different in control and treatment groups. Specific vaccination responses,
as quantified by the PRRS antibody titres occurred in all animals, but no relation with
b-glucan feeding was observed. Our results indicate marginal benefits of b-glucan
supplements for growth performance and no effect on the immune parameters tested. The
observed trend towards increased feed intake needs further elucidation.

FARM SPECIFIC CONTROL OF THE INTRODUCTION AND SPREAD OF SALMONELLA AT FINISHING PIG FARMS

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Nursery Management Strategies

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Successful nutrition of the nursery pig should begin with as heavy a pig as possible, feed as simple diets as possible, and focus on nursery feeding management. Pigs at a lighter weight at weaning are at a higher risk of death and disease. Weaning weight is important with all ages of pigs but is not as important as the weaning age of pigs. Younger pigs gain less than older pigs at the start of the nursery phase. The newly weaned piglet needs a lot of energy so thus needs low-cost, high energy, highly digestible diets. Two feeding options for soybean meal are: 1) Use a low amount and steadily increase it over time and 2) Use soybean meal as a partial replacement for more expensive specialty proteins. Adding fibre and/or restricting feed intake are not good for controlling diseases. Ingredient selection should be based on lowest cost, maximizing intake, and digestibility. The piglets digestive system is undeveloped right after weaning so ingredients must be used that can be digested and that help the digestive system grow and develop. After weaning, 25 to 50% of the feeding pan should be visible for the first few days. As the piglets discover this and begin to adjust to it, the level should be rapidly reduced to 25%. This does not reduce the average daily gain and feed efficiency/daily gain both improve because of decreased wastage and the continuous access to fresh feed.

“The Mexican Hog Industry: Moving Beyond 2003”

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For many years, Mexican hog producers benefited from favorable prices.
Being among the highest in the world and certainly the highest among the
NAFTA countries, prices usually were large enough to compensate for the
very high costs of hog production in Mexico as well as certain institutional
barriers. Today, however, the Mexican hog industry is facing a diverse set
of economic challenges that threaten the very survival of many producers.
These challenges include:
Competition with cheaper meat alternatives, such as chicken;
Changes in consumer preferences due to public perceptions that health
problems are associated with pork;
Delayed implementation of sound eradication campaigns for Classical
Swine Fever, Aujeszky’s Disease, and other swine diseases; and
The lasting consequences of the recurrent financial crises that Mexico
has suffered over the past 25 years.
Despite the many benefits that NAFTA is bringing to the Mexican economy,
the agreement’s impact on hog prices is leading some Mexican producers to
treat NAFTA as a scapegoat for all the problems that the industry faces. The
purpose of this paper is to show how Mexican hog producers can take
advantage of NAFTA in order to increase their competitiveness. In
particular, lowering feed costs, improving transportation facilities, and
establishing greater control over swine diseases would go a long way
towards increasing the competitiveness of Mexican producers.

Interstate Livestock Movements

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Pork Policies in Japan

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Dietary Effects on the Compostion of Pig Slurry and on the Plant Urilization of Pig Slurry Nitrogen

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The composition of animal manure is influenced by the diet fed. Efforts are made to decrease nitrogen emission from pig production by optimizing diet composition. This normally results in a lower proportion of N excreted in urine relative to faeces, and may also influence the turnover and utilization of manure N after field application. The effects of pig feed composition on the excretion of urinary and faecal N, on the dynamics of manure N in soil and on the potential utilization of manure N in the field was studied. Growing pigs and sows were fed 12 different diets with variable contents of fibre and protein (with or without synthetic amino acids). Slurries consisting of a mixture of faeces and urine were stored according to common agricultural practice in Northern Europe. The plant availability of N in the resultant slurries originating from animals fed known diets was tested in small field plots with barley, under conditions with minimal N losses. Separate plots were fertilized with increasing amounts of mineral N. Nitrogen uptake in barley was determined and the utilization of slurry N was compared with that of mineral fertilizer N. The net release of mineral N and C from the slurries in soil was also measured in a parallel incubation study. The mineral fertilizer equivalent of pig slurry N was 72-100% and significantly influenced by feed fibre composition, but not significantly influenced by the protein content. There was a significant positive correlation between enzyme-digestible organic matter in the pig diet (measurement used for feed evaluation) and the plant availability of pig slurry N (R2 = 0.90). The ammonium content of stored pig slurry could not be used.
for prediction of the N availability since the net mineralization of pig slurry N was variable, but there was a significant negative correlation between the pig slurry C/N ratio and the plant availability of slurry N (R2 = 0.86). Increased dietary concentration of fermentable structural carbohydrates (e.g. by including sugar beet pulp in the diet) reduces the excretion of N in urine without affecting the availability of slurry total N, whereas an increased concentration of dietary fibre with a low fermentability (straw) results in less urinary N, but also a lower plant availability of slurry N.