Nitrate Source Identification Using 15N in a Ground Water Plume Near an Intensive Swine Operation

Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 2002 | No Comments

Dietary manipulation to reduce nutrient excretion

Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments

Nutrient management is becoming increasingly important for sustainability of the swine industry. Nitrogen excretion in the form of ammonia is a concern for workers both within the barn and outside. Phosphorous is excreted in urine and faeces and could have a major environmental impact if not managed properly. The two projects discussed in this article focussed on specific dietary manipulations to alter nutrient excretions. The first project investigated two nutritional strategies, dietary particle size reduction and enzyme supplementation as means to increase nutrient digestibility and thereby reduce nitrogen and phosphorous excretion. The second project investigated reducing dietary protein and fermentable fibre as means to alter nitrogen excretion.
Reducing particle size below 700 mm proved effective in altering nitrogen excretion patterns, while phytase proved very effective in improving digestibility of dietary phosphorus. The addition of carbohydrase showed little evidence of reducing total nitrogen or phosphorus excretion. A reduction of dietary protein content while balancing for digestible amino acids will especially reduce nitrogen excretion in urine. With dietary fermentable fibre, part of urinary nitrogen excretion can be shifted toward nitrogen excretion in faeces, and thus reduces volatile nitrogen that contributes to bad air quality. The reduction in excess nutrients and odour emissions while sustaining high levels of pork production is critical for long-term survival of a globally competitive pork industry. Together, results indicate that nitrogen and phosphorus excretion patterns can indeed be altered by diet manipulation

New Technologies for Pork Production In the 21st Century

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There are certain factors that can be looked at in order to determine what may be impacting the industry in the future. Global competitiveness must be maintained for Canada’s industry. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of pathogens (such as E. coli), which leads to more concern (even though food is most likely safer today than ever before!). This will probably lead to technologies that allow for safer or better guarantees. Expectations of environmental soundness are also increasing, so technologies will emerge to address these issues. Animal welfare will be addressed to ease the minds of worried consumers. New technologies that help to achieve enhanced market access are likely to be desired. For any technology to be adopted, the farmer must first accept it. However, access to technology may be limited because farmers see it as providing a competitive edge, so therefore technology will likely be kept secretive.

The effect of food deprivation prior to slaughter on performance, behaviour and meat quality.

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Research has demonstrated that the quality of the carcass and the meat that is ultimately produced is influenced by the type of management a pig receives during the period immediately prior to slaughter. This study was conducted to determine the effects of repeated food deprivation prior to slaughter on performance, feeding behaviour and meat quality of pigs. Three experimental treatments were compared. In the treatment 1 pigs had ad libitum access to feed up to the point of loading on the day of slaughter. Treatment 2 involved a 12-h fast prior to slaughter and treatment 3 involved a 20-h fast prior to slaughter. Pigs were slaughtered on a weight basis therefore each pen was emptied over a period of weeks. This meant some pigs experienced repeated food deprivation. The feeding pattern of pigs, which were deprived of food for 12 h, was very similar to that observed before feed restriction. Pigs which were deprived of food for 20 h spent significantly more time at the feeder post fasting. This was particularly marked during the first 2-3 h when access to feed was restored. Feed deprivation for 12 h prior to slaughter did not adversely affect performance, carcass weight, meat quality or welfare of pigs in the present study. This is beneficial to producers by saving approximately 1.5 kg feed per pig, processors by reducing waste and consumers by improving food safety. Fasting for 20 h reduced carcass weight by 1 kg, which was not statistically significant but could result in financial losses related to carcass weight. The negative effects on meat quality, of repeated feed deprivation, resulted from slower growth rates than feed deprivation per se.

Decision support system for overall welfare assessment in pregnant sows B: Validation by expert opinion.

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This paper attempts to validate the computer based welfare assessment model for gestating sows SOWEL (SOw WELfare). This model was designed based on the needs of the sows. An overall welfare score can be calculated based on the strengths and weaknesses of specific housing system in terms of welfare. The model predicted welfare scores for 15 different housing systems (based on 20 different weighted factors) was compared with expert opinion generated via a written questionnaire. According to the scientific community tethered and stall housing systems are ‘low welfare’ housing systems. Mid-ranking housing systems were indoor group-housing systems and individual housing system when additional space and substrate was provided. The top five ranked housing systems all provided the sows access to the outdoors and provided them with some form of substrate (ie: straw). When the scientists’ ranking were compared with those generated by the model, the model’s rankings were quite similar to the scientists’. Some of the most important attributes identified by the scientists were: social contact, health and hygiene status, water availability, space per pen, foraging and bulk, food-related anxiety, rooting substrate, social stability and movement comfort. There tended to be a moderate amount of discrepancy between scientists on the relative importance each of these attributes has. Even so, the weighted factors in the model were similar to the factors listed above. Therefore, this illustrates the model’s capabilities and it is in agreement with the opinion of those in the scientific community.

Influence of increased environmental complexity on leg condition, performance, and level of fearfulness in broilers.

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The hypothesis was that increased distance between resources and stimulation of foraging behavior would improve physical activity of broiler chickens, even though the degree of environmental complexity was altered with the use of moving lights and scattered whole wheat in the litter. It was also thought that leg condition and performance would improve, and level of fearfulness would decrease with increased activity. One-day old males in groups of 45 were allocated to one of four treatments: 1) the barrier treatment, containing three barriers placed between the drinker line and the feeder, 2) the light treatment, consisting of brightly colored moving lights projected on the pen floor for four 1-hour periods per day throughout rearing, 3) the wheat treatment, in which wheat was dispersed on the floor from days 8 to 17 and 4) the control treatment, in which the birds were maintained under standard management. Mortality, body weight, feed conversion, and the duration of tonic immobility did not differ significantly among birds in any of the treatments. Fluctuating asymmetry, bone ash, tibial dyschondroplasia and bone breaking strength, which are all measures of bone quality, did not differ among birds in any of the treatments either. Higher gait scores, which are indicative of the presence or degree of lameness a bird is experiencing, were higher among birds in the light treatment than birds in the control and barrier treatments. Birds in the wheat treatment had higher gait scores than birds in the control treatment. The diameter of the tibia diaphysis was significantly increased with the provision of barriers, which is a promising result for further studies to improve leg condition.

Biotechnology – The Consumer’s Viewpoint

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Although the quantity of contamination can often be harmless, it is still a contamination, which bothers consumers. Some reasons that technologies fail is when a “risk-free” (any new technology has its share of risks), hiding negatives about the product (instead, offer problems and what is being done to correct it), providing no choice, and bashing of competition. Biotechnology needs to have limits, needs to be adapted slowly (not rushed), and it needs to be proven safe.

A behavioural study of scrapie-affected sheep.

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Scrapie is one of a group of slow neurodegenerative diseases known as the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE’s). In the present study, the behaviour of 12 sheep, suspected having scrapie, and 12 clinically normal animals was observed over a 6-day period. Scrapie and control sheep were each divided into three groups of four animals. The sheep were housed in separate solid-walled pens in the same building. Behaviour was observed over 30 minute observation periods conducted from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Seven of the scrapie animals were confirmed to have the disease following post-mortem examination and only their data were used for the analysis of scrapie group. Scrapie sheep spent significantly more time ingesting concentrate feed but less time feeding on hay than the controls. The frequency of mastication and bolus regurgitation were lower in scrapie than control sheep. Scrapie-affected animals spent less time standing than control sheep and were more likely to adopt an abnormal posture. Furthermore, Scrapie-affected animals spent more time in pruritic activities such as rubbing and self-biting than control animals. Social interaction was also reduced in scrapie-affected sheep. In conclusion, this study has shown that there are distinct behavioural differences between scrapie and non-scrapie sheep.

Factors associated with the prevalence of stereotypic behaviour amongst Thoroughbred horses passing through auctioneer sales

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The study attempted to determine if there was a relationship between stereotypy performance and sex, age and/or coat colour. It was also assessed whether the occurrence of one stereotypy was associated with the performance of another specific type of stereotypy. The performance of locomotor (boxwalking and weaving) and oral stereotypies were recorded from the sales declaration and information on returns from Thoroughbred horses that passed through five auctions. Overall, the stereotypies occurred at a rate of 5.1%. Stereotypies were more frequently observed in females, geldings and 2 a

Effect of nest design, passages, and hybrid on use of nest and production performance of layers in furnished cages

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The number of eggs laid and egg quality was compared between Hy-line White and Lohmann Select Leghorns that were housed in either furnished cages (equipped with nests, litter baths and perches) vs. conventional cages. In addition, 30, 50 or 100% of the bottom of the nest boxes were covered with Astro trufA