Swine Lagoon Effluent as a Source of Nitrogen and Phosphorus for Summer Forage Grasses

Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 2001 | No Comments

In-Crop Application of Liquid Hog Manure in Irrigated Potato Production

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Manitoba produced over 4 million hogs in 1998, up 15% from the previous year, with the trend toward larger hog barns. Strategies for waste disposal need to be an integral part of management of hog operations. The high volume of liquid waste associated with hog operations, combined with the high costs of liquid waste transport highlight the need to identify approaches to waste disposal that maximize efficiency both of nutrient use and transport.
Application of swine manure on potatoes affords distinct advantages to both the hog and potato producer. Potatoes are a high value crop that require large nutrient inputs to achieve maximum production. To the hog producer, manure is the cost of doing business. A heavy user of the waste product of the hog industry would be of considerable benefit. And unlike cattle manure, swine manure does not appear to cause scab lesions.
Fall manure application raises serious concerns related to odour production, and volatile and leaching losses. Nitrate leaching could be particularly serious on the light-textured soils that are ideal for potato production. There are, as yet, no adequately explored alternatives to fall swine manure application on potato soils.
In this study we explored the use of in-crop soil injection of swine manure on potatoes prior to canopy closure as an alternative to fall manure application. The advantages to this approach are 1) it provides the crop with nutrients at a time when nutrient demand is rapidly increasing, 2) it reduces the losses of N due to volatilization and leaching, 3) it minimizes the spread of the odour to at or near ground level, and below the canopy.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Is that an Issue for Canadian Pork Producers

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

Sequential Belly Nosing of Early Weaned Pigs

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

Nutritional value of high-oil oat groats

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High-oil germplasm should increase the DE content of feed ingredients. The nutritional value of high oil oat groats was analyzed using grower and weaned pigs. Using grower pigs, DE content of high oil oat groats was 5% higher than regular oat groats. A subsequent performance trial with weaned pigs indicated that high oil oat groats resulted in a similar performance as regular oat groats if replaced on an equal weight basis.

A note on the effect of isolation during testing and length of previous confinement on locomotor behaviour furing open-field test in dairy calves.

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Open-field test is used to measure the effect of housing and handling on emotional reactivity. This study investigated firstly if confined calves perform more locomotor behaviour when open-field tested in pairs than when tested individually, and secondly if length of confinement affects the build-up of motivation to perform locomotor behaviour. In the first experiment, 14 calves were open-field tested on two successive days either individually or as a pair. Calves walked more and performed more locomotor play when tested in pairs, suggesting that it may be appropriate to avoid isolation when aiming to measure the effects of confinement on locomotor behaviour. In the second experiment, in each of three successive weeks, 24 calves had access to an exercise arena for 45 min daily on three successive days either: 1) the first 3 days, 2) the third, fourth and fifth day, or 3) the fourth, fifth and sixth day. On the seventh day the calves were released into the arena for 10 min of open-field test. Calves performed more locomotor play, and they trotted more after 3 days without access to the arena than after 1 or 0 days, suggesting that in calves the motivation to perform locomotor play and trotting increases with length of confinement.

Cattle vocalizations are associated with handling and equipment problems at beef slaughter plants

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In the majority (42 %) of plants assessed, 0-1 % of cattle vocalized, while over 10 % of the cattle vocalized in only 8 % of the plants. Repeated use of an electric prod was responsible for as high as 17 % of the vocalizations. Reducing the voltage on an electric prod was able to reduce vocalizations by 5 % in one plant. Addition of illumination to a dark entrance and addition of a false floor to a conveyor restrainer was sufficient to reduce the number of cattle who backed up or balked by 8-15 %. Because the number of cattle who balked was reduced, electric prod use was also be reduced. In one plant, reduction in the pressure exerted by a neck restraint reduced the percentage of cattle vocalizing from 23 to 0 %. The mean percentage of cattle who vocalized in the plants initially was 12.8 %. After all of the modifications were made in the plants, the mean percentage of cattle who vocalized was reduced to 0.8 %. Thus, vocalization scoring was proven to be an efficient method for identifying handling and equipment problems that had the potential to compromise animal welfare.

Effect of stage of lactation and breed on dairy cows' acceptance of foster calves.

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The objective of this study was to determine when a cow would accept a foster calf after being separated from her own calf. Two different breeds were studied: 24 Swedish Red and White (SRW) and 24 Swedish Holstein-Friesian (SHF). Four different times of separation from their own calf were studied: 1) immediately 2) four day 3) 26 days 4) 178 days. There was no significant of the four different times after separation. Calves were sniffed more by SRW than by SHF cows during both observation periods. Some cows showed aggressive behaviour, but there were no significant differences between the two breeds. Cows that had been separated for 178 days had less calves suckling than those that had been separated immediately or for four days from their own calf. Cows were suckled more by SRW calves than SHF calves. In conclusion, alien foster calves are accepted by both breeds of dairy cows and from different stages or lactation equally well.

Stress and nutritional quality of broilers

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At the beginning of this study, broiler chicks experienced ideal conditions (30.6C, 35% RH), while reared in environmental chambers. Half the chicks were then housed at 24C and 35% RH, while the other half were exposed to cyclical temperature/RH management. The cyclical regime was a heat treatment and was used to simulate August in Mississippi. Within each group, half the birds were implanted with an osmotic pump that released adrenocorticotropin (ACTH). The other birds were implanted with placebo pumps. The ACTH and heat treatments caused decreased body weight, carcass weight, carcass protein and muscle calorie content. The ACTH treatment reduced carcass moisture. After a one-week recovery period, these changes did not reverse. The results indicated that both heat and hormonal induced stress caused severe losses similar to those associated with PSE found in commercial conditions.

Antigenic and genetic diversity among swine influenza viruses in Europe

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