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Industry Partners
Prairie Swine Centre is an affiliate of the University of Saskatchewan
Prairie Swine Centre is grateful for the assistance of the George Morris Centre in developing the economics portion of Pork Insight.
Financial support for the Enterprise Model Project and Pork Insight has been provided by:
Dynamics of odour release: Application methods for olfactometry and the electronic nose
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For prognostic calculation of odour pollution,
exact knowledge of odour emissions
is necessary. For this, odour concentration
in exhaust air and exhaust volume flow
have to be measured with odour emission
calculated from the product [1, 2]. Olfactometry
is applied as standard method for determining
odour concentration. However,
despite all standardisation, this has shown
to have a few important disadvantages.
Through the non-continuous sampling involved
in individual sampling, only momentary
samples are possible in odour situations
where output is mainly variable. The subjectivity
of human testers plus the relatively
high costs per odour sample are further disadvantages
of olfactometry. In comparison,
the new a
Description of the Pork Industry Interpretive Centre
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The pork industry interpretive centre and viewing gallery is a communications project initiated by the Centre to address a growing need to provide public access t pork production facilities. The industry interpretive Centre will provide factual information on all aspects of pork production; combined with the associated Viewing Gallery, the general public will be able to see the inner workings of a modern pork production facility and how livestock production works with other aspects of the rural economy.
CIBC Announces Contribution to Interpretive Centre
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Savaging of Piglets: A Puzzle of Maternal Behaviour
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Infanticide, a
Effects of nipple drinker height and flow rate on water wastage in grower and finisher pigs
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An experiment was conducted to study the effects of height and flow rate of nipple drinkers on water wastage in pigs. Results show water wastage in pigs. Results show water wastage can be reduced by up to 20% by adjusting nipple height. High flow rate resulted in higher water wastage.
http://prairieswine.com/rsc/pdf/1941.pdf
Effects of group selection for productivity and longevity on blood concentrations of serotonin, catecholamines, and corticosterone of laying hens.
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In order to place an emphasis on how well hens perform in a group, the authors initiated a program of selecting groups of hens that performed well rather than individuals from groups. By selecting groups of birds the authors previously reported a reduction in cannibalism and flightiness that accompanied the improved productivity. In this study they examined various physiological measures to determine if there was an associated physiological change in the birds. They compared lines that had been selected for high and low productivity in groups. The low productivity line (also higher cannibalism and flightiness) had higher blood levels of dopamine and epinephrine and serotonin, and a higher epinephrine/norepinephrine ratio. The birds from the high production line tended to have higher cortisol levels. The differences suggest that the low productivity line were more likely to show the flight or fright reaction to stress (epinephrine etc) indicative of active copers, while the high production line appeared to be more passive. Group selection, which emphasizes the ability to get along in a group, affects various physiological measures in the birds.
Effects of two stall flooring systems on the behaviour of tied dairy cows.
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This study examined two types of flooring for dairy tie stalls. Cattle may be kept in tie stalls for several months of the year. In this study, 42 cows were housed in stalls having either conventional solid floors (concrete with a rubber mat and a small amount of bedding) or a newly developed slatted floor (matted front by rear third consisted of rubber slats). Animals were able to stand and lie down easily on both floors, without slipping. Cows on the rubber mats spent less time in the preparation stage of lying down, which the authors suggest indicates a greater degree of comfort in the new stalls.