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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:
PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT AND MODEL DEVELOPMENT OF A VARIABLEa
Posted in: Environment by admin on January 1, 2001 | No Comments
Evolving H3N2 and emerging H1N2 swine inf luenza viruses in the United States
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Determining the Threonine Requirements of the High-Producing Lactating Sow
Posted in: Prairie Swine Centre by admin on | No Comments
There are 2 steps in defining a feeding strategy. The first is to set reproductive targets including the amount of weight gain for sows during different parities and the number of piglets a sow should nurse during lactation. The second step is to set nutritional requirements to meet these specific targets. Models developed for sow nutrition requirements in gestation, attempt to partition nutrient requirements into three components: maintenance, growth of the conceptus and reproductive tissue. These models have led to the factorial approach to defining nutrient requirements in gestating sows.
PSC Elstow Feed Mill Opens
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Fibre and Enzymes
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Fibre content of cereal grains can be quite variable and are related to changes in digestible energy (DE) content. Because fibre content and DE are related, DE can be predicted using fibre analyses. Pigs, especially young pigs, have a limited capacity to digest fibre as they do not produce the proper enzymes. Therefore, pigs are entirely dependant on the large intestine for fibre digestion by intestinal bacteria. This process produces volatile fatty acids which are available for use as energy sources. This system is not nearly as efficient a use of energy compared to glucose absorption. Improvement of efficiency of overall energy utilization can be achieved through dietary enzyme supplementation. The supplemental enzymes are able to digest part of the fibre complex and may improve digestion of energy and amino acids for diets high in wheat or barley. A lack of response to these enzymes may be due to lower than average dietary fibre content. This study used two qualities of barely, low and high. Supplemental enzymes improved the low quality barley more than the high quality barley. However, the amount of energy digested by the small intestine was improved for both samples. It is essential that fibre analyses be apart of grain sample evaluation as the effect of enzyme supplementation depends on the sample. Overall, enzyme supplementation can be used to reduce the negative effects of fibre on nutrient digestibility.
Dietary particle size and nutrient supply affect nitrogen excretion
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Diets based on barley and peas ground to two particle sizes and with one of two diet formulations (either limiting in energy or amino acids) were fed to cannulated grower pigs. Energy digestibility was affected by particle size but not diet formulation. Total nitrogen excretion was affected by diet formulation, but not by particle size.
The effect of duration and temperature of simulated transport on the performance of early-weaned piglets.
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The response and tolerance of early-weaned piglets to transport are not well documented. It is believed that the additive stress incurred by transporting early-weaned pigs predisposes them to increased disease risk and compromised performance. The objective of this work was to investigate the relationship between two primary transportation stressors, duration and temperature, and their effects on piglet performance. Prior to housing on flatdecks at 30 oC, transport was simulated by placing 17-d old weaned piglets into wooden boxes of dimensions 1.2 x 1.2 x 1.0 m (space allowance range 0.18 to 0.36 m2 / pig) with straw bedding. Tow trials were conducted. In each trial, 96 piglets were randomly mixed in groups of four and assigned to the following simulated transport duration: no transport (control), 6 h, 12 h and 24 h. Piglets undergoing transport simulation were kept at one of the following temperatures 20, 25, 30 and 35 oC. There was a significant interactive effect between transport duration and transport temperature upon live weight change in the first 24 h. The animals that incurred the greatest weight deficit after weaning relative to untransported control groups were predominantly either those that had been transported for 24 h at high temperature (35 and 30 oC) or those transported for 6 h at 20 oC and 35 oC. The effect of simulated transport was measurable for up to 5 d post transport. However, by 14 d post transport there was no detectable influence of transport treatment on feed consumption or weight gain. The study found pigs are able to recover and perform adequately in the early post-weaning period if extremes of transport duration and temperature are avoided.