The effect of dietary energy concentration and lysine: Energy ratio on the growth performance of weaned pigs

Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on January 1, 2002 | No Comments

Amino acids should be included in the diet in proportion to energy content to ensure adequate intake. The results of this experiment indicate the optimum ratio for pigs growing from 7.5 to 22 kg is 4.65g total lysine/Mcal DE. This is higher than most previous recommendations. Increasing dietary energy did not improve pig performance. The most economical diet for weanling pigs will change as market prices and ingredient costs change.

Alternative housing for sows and litters Part 3. Effects of piglet diet quality and sow-controlled housing on performance and behaviour.

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Fifty-four sows and their litters were used to determine the effects that piglet diet and the ability of the sow to control contact with her litter would have on sow and piglet performance. Sows were either assigned to a confined or sow-controlled housing system. The piglets were fed either a standard diet or a high-complexity diet, which resulted in four possible treatment combinations. Confined housing kept the sow and her litter together, while sow-controlled housing allowed the sow to leave her piglets whenever she wanted. The two diet treatments were a standard diet, which is similar to what is typically fed to weanlings, and the high-complexity diet was divided into three phases throughout the experiment and was higher in protein and fat content. The sows’ and piglets’ were weighed, as were their feeders, to determine gains and feed consumption. The weaning-to-oestrus interval was recorded for the sows. The piglets were weaned from the sow at 28 days of age and the study concluded at 49 days of age. Prior to weaning piglets that were fed the high-complexity diet consumed more creep feed than did piglets on the standard diet. By day 41, the piglets on the standard diet weighed the same as those fed the high-complexity diet, which is likely due to the piglets fed high-complexity diet being switched to the standard diet 10 days before the completion of the experiment. Sows housed in the sow-controlled pens had a 10% decrease in nursing frequency, which resulted in the piglets assigned to this treatment consuming 69% more solid feed. Despite the increase in creep feed consumption by the piglets on the sow-controlled system, they still gained less weight than piglets in the confined housing treatment. After weaning, piglets from the sow-controlled housing system ate more feed and showed a reduction in the amount of weight they lost. This was not enough to compensate for the lower weight gains seen before weaning, thus piglets in the confined housing treatment weighed more at the end of the study. There was a strong linear correlation between the amount of time the sow spent away from here piglets with nursing frequency, and piglet feed consumption prior to weaning. There was also a weak linear relationship with sow feed intake and weight loss and piglet weight gains during the week following weaning. The housing treatments did not have an affect on the weaning-to-oestrus interval.

Feeding small quantities of grain in the parlour facilitates pre-milking handling of dairy cows: a note.

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The idea that a food reward can be used to train animals to submit voluntary to management procedures is becoming well developed in the literature on animal welfare. Grain feeding has been studied a way to induce cows to use automatic milking machines on a regular basis. The aim of the present study was to determine how the amount of concentrate fed affects the cows’ behaviour in entering the parlour, and the likelihood that cows will defecate or urinate in the parlour. Cows within one milking group received 0, 0.3 or 0.6 kg of concentrate per milking in the parlour using a computer controlled feeding system. Cows were observed before and after the treatment began, recording order of entry, latency (s) to fully enter the parlour, if the cow needed to be pushed into the parlour and if the cow defecated or urinated while in the milking parlour. Cows receiving feed moved up in the milking order by 7.6 positions once the treatment period began. The latency for these cows to entered the parlour reduced during the treatment, and these cows were 59% less likely to require being pushed. This latter effect carried over to the control cows that were not fed in the parlour: these control cows were less likely to be pushed during the treatment period. There was no effect of feeding on the proportion of animals that defecated or urinated while in the milking parlour. Although feeding had a positive effect on entry into the parlour, the amount of food provided had no effect. Therefore the results of this study indicate that even small quantities of concentrate can act to motivate parlour entry, reducing the need for pushing and other interventions that may have negative effects on the cows.

Out-wintering pads for finishing beef cattle : animal production and welfare.

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Any sustainable alternative system of animal accommodation should optimize animal performance and welfare, and while having an acceptable level of construction costs, it should not compromise the surrounding environment. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the performance and well being of animals accommodated outdoors over the winter period on out-wintering pads (OWPs), relative to animals housed indoors in conventional slatted floor sheds. The cows were provided with 3 different space allowances (6, 12 and 18 m2 per head) and were also either given a wind shelter or exposed to wind. The control group was housed indoors in a slatted-floor shed at a space allowance of 3 m2 per head. Animal production and indices (climatic energy demand (CED), behaviour cleanliness, hoof condition and immune function) of animal welfare were evaluated. There was no significant effect of stocking density outdoors or sheltering on live weight gain, carcass gain, fat score, fat score per 100 kg carcass, carcass conformation score, killing-out proportion, food intake or food efficiency. Relative to animals housed indoors on slats, animal accommodated outdoors on OWPs had higher live-weight gain, carcass gain, and food intake. However, animals on the OWPs had less lower fat scores per 100 kg carcass. Animals housed on slats were cleaner than animals housed at 6 or 12 m2 per head but not 18 m2 per head. There was no effect of treatment on physiological measures. Animals confined on the OWP with or without shelter, had a greater number of lying bouts per 24 h, had a greater synchronized lying frequency and displayed less hesitation prior to lying when compared with animals housed on slats. Indoor animals had more white line disease and under-run on their front hoof, when compared with outdoor animals. There was no evidence to suggest that out-wintering compromised animal welfare.

Early feather pecking as a form of social exploration: the effect of group stability on feather pecking and tonic immobility in domestic chicks.

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The feather pecking behaviour from the day of hatching was compared in lines of chicks that were prone to feather peck with those that were not likely to feather peck. Feather pecking was present the day after hatching and by the third day after hatching there was a marked difference between the two different lines that remained for the following weeks. Feather pecking appeared to be socially oriented rather than being related to ground pecking, as when a group of feathers was present the chicks did not peck at them as there was not a social link with the feathers. Therefore, feather pecking may be a result of social exploration rather than the hens redirecting foraging behaviours.

Estimating the Prevalence of Salmonella spp. in Swine Herds a

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Information about the proportion of truly Salmonella-free herds is required for an evaluation of the epidemiological situation, the development of control strategies and their implementation. Findings regarding the presence of salmonellas in faeces and intestinal lymph nodes as well as the presence of Salmonella antibodies in meat juice from slaughtered pigs were obtained in the context of a study conducted by a number of institutes. These data were used for an analysis of the validity of data on the prevalence of infected animals within herds and on the prevalence of infected herds. The proportion of batches or herds with exclusively negative individual findings was found to depend not only on the true proportion of truly Salmonella-free animals within herds but quite essentially also on the distribution of the proportion of infected animals within herds, the sensitivity of the methods of examination and sample sizes. When taking into account the existing dependencies, it was found that among the swine, the real numbers of Salmonella carriers were much higher than shown by bacteriological and serological examination. Regarding salmonellosis in swine, also a number of contaminated herds must be expected which is far higher than that shown by the number of herds with positive findings in at least one animal. Even a low contamination of all or almost all herds would result in the numbers of negative batches observed, i.e. batches with exclusively negative individual findings. A rating of the salmonella exposure of herds as high, low, or very low is possible and may, and should be, used for measures of consumer protection, irrespective of the proportion of truly Salmonella-free herds.

On farm AI – The Pitfalls

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Over the past 50 years AI has become extremely common, but there are some pitfalls to avoid in order for it to be effective. The key to achieving high levels of performance with AI is to ensure the delivery of “good quality semen into the right place at the right time”. There are many problems that can occur with management and even physiological problems that can only be realized 21 days after.

At the boar stud make sure that there are enough staffed people who are able to run the system in case of an illness or something to that effect. If there are specialized people assigned to different steps of the process, ensure they can all work as a team. Keeping the staff focused and interested will prevent boredom and therefore keep the quality of work up. The size of the boar stud should match the requirements of the operation. Semen wastage cannot be over looked, as it is simple to do. People tend to think that because semen is constantly produced it is not a big deal to waste some. Make sure that everyone understands the costs involved.

Staff should follow a manual or “AI Blueprint”, in which each step is detailed to ensure standardization and consistency. AI supplies should be as clean as possible. Items that come into direct or indirect contact with the ejaculates must be guaranteed “non-spermicidal”. Backup plans should also be made in case of a semen outage, which is a reality in any operation.

Specialized Pigs for Specialized Markets

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The market for pork has led to a variety of products available in food stores to satisfy consumers. Export to Asian countries is very important to Canadian markets, as is producing a carcass that is economically valuable and usable by packers. Pigs produced can be made to target a differentiated market. Genetics, nutrition, slaughter and pre-slaughter conditions can help to manipulate the product to give the packers what they desire. Genetics provides some tools to fulfill different requirements. Some breeds have certain characteristics that are genetically available from the get-go, and through good selection these traits can be enhanced. PIC is one of many companies that offer a wide range of products for domestic or export targets.

Gleaning Information From Mandatory Livestock Price Reporting

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Across-Herd Genetic Evaluation of Swine

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One way to improve performance in a herd is through selection of genetically superior animals, with the selection based on an estimate of the genetic merit of the animals. How well this genetic merit is estimated (accuracy) is important, because accuracy predicts the potential rate of genetic progress. The higher the accuracy, the more genetic progress is possible, assuming that the
genetically superior animals have been selected.
Across-herd genetic evaluation programs are used to predict the genetic merit of animals for specific traits. These programs combine records on the individual with information on relatives in an in-depth analysis, resulting in very accurate estimates of genetic merit. The programs typically express the genetic merit of an individual for a trait as an Expected Progeny Difference (EPD), or half of the animal’s breeding value. Across-herd genetic evaluation is the comparison of sires, dams, and pigs
based on the analysis of performance information collected on pigs of the same breed in different herds at many different times. This may include onfarm records, national breed test information, and progeny test data.
Across-herd evaluations can be used to accurately compare animals in different herds. Across-herd evaluations are used routinely by the dairy and beef industries in the U.S. to identify the very best
genetic material in each breed. Canadian pork producers use an across-herd program to select breeding stock. In the U.S., the STAGES program began using an across-herd evaluation in 1991, and has done nightly across-herd evaluations for Yorkshire, Hampshire, Duroc, and Landrace breeds since 1998. There are separate evaluations for each breed.