CHANGING THE ENVIRONMENT IN SWINE BUILDINGS USING SULFURIC ACID

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

Tracing the Source of E. coli Fecal Contamination of Water Using rep-PCR

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Recently the bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli) has been prominently featured in the news due to sickness caused by E. coli water contamination. Bacterial drinking water contamination may have a detrimental effect on the expansion of the livestock industry. Thus techniques which could trace E. coli water contamination to its source are needed. Genetic fingerprinting is one such technique. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used to amplify fragments of the E. coli DNA. These fragments are visualized on a gel in the form of a series of bands much like a bar code. Each bar code is unique to one particular strain of E. coli. However barcodes from E. coli strains all isolated from one species of animal (pigs or chickens or cows) may be more similar to each other than are barcodes from E. coli which came from different kinds of animals. Thus possible contamination could be traced back to its source. With the support of the MLMMI we isolated and identified 91 E. coli strains from pigs, cattle, and chickens living on Manitoban farms and from humans. Each E. coli strain was fingerprinted using rep-PCR. This is a variation of fingerprinting making use of repeating sequences in the DNA of E. coli to start PCR. The fingerprints were converted into a series of 1 and 0; 1 for the presence of a band and 0 for its absence. This allowed comparison of fingerprints using statistical analysis. We found that the fingerprints of the 91 E. coli strains were quite different from each other. No groups of E. coli fingerprints corresponded to a particular animal. It appears that in Manitoba livestock and in the human population there is a wide variety of E. coli genetic types. We have not yet found genetic types of E. coli specific to any variety of livestock animal. E. coli is ubiquitous in the mammalian intestinal tract and may move from animal to animal and species to species. Further investigation with other methods of determining which animal group a specific E. coli isolate came from is underway.

Atmospheric nitrogen compounds II: emissions, transport, transformation, deposition and assessment

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Economic and environmental threats of alien plant, animal, and microbe invasions

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The Effects of Earthen Manure Storage Covers on Nutrient Conservation and Stabilisation of Manure

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In December of 1999 DGH Engineering Ltd. received a research grant from Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative to evaluate changes in the composition of manure during its storage in covered earthen manure storage basins. The primary purposes of the study were twofold: to determine the impact of covers on the conservation of nutrients in stored manure; and to evaluate the role of covers in the stabilisation of organic matter in manure. This study was conducted at two locations, the van Aert Family Farm near St. Clement, Manitoba and the
Preun Family Farm near St. Andrews, Manitoba.

From the study, it has been found that nitrogen losses can be reduced by as much as 82% through the use of a cover, and that although the extent of stabilisation of organic matter in manure is comparable for both covered and uncovered earthen manure storages during the winter and spring, covered earthen manure storages experience stabilisation of organic matter, as evidenced by reductions in VFA concentrations, at an earlier point in time in the summer than uncovered earthen manure storages.

Effect of Feed Presentation on Eating Behaviour of Grower Pigs

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

Particle Size Reduction and Enzyme Supplementation Reduce Nitrogen Excretion

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Thermoregulation of the nursery by early weaned piglets through operant conditioning

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A study was designed to determine the optimal temperature preferred by early weaned piglets in a standard nursery environment through the use of operant conditioning (pig controlled environment a

Effects of social 'stressors' on belly-nosing behaviour in early-weaned piglets: is belly-nosing an indicator of stress?

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Belly nosing is a behaviour pattern commonly observed in early-weaned piglets. Although, bell-nosing has been referred to as an indicator of stress, the factors involved in its causation are unknown. The objective of this study was to determine whether the social composition (litter mates vs, mixed litters) and density (0.15 m2 per pig vs. 0.4 m2 per pig) at weaning affected belly-nosing. A total of 144 piglets weaned at 12-14 days of age were used in the experiment. Behaviour was observed for 8 h during day 3, 7, 10, 14, 17, and 21 post-weaning. Feed intake, water intake, and growth rate were determined weekly. Blood was collected on sampled piglets pre-weaning and post weaning. The piglets at high density consumed more feed, had lower plasma cortisol, and were less aggressive than the piglets at low density during the period of 3 wk post weaning. Mixed piglets at high density performed less belly nosing at low density at day 10 post weaning. Since belly nosing was not associated with stress of mixing or crowding, it does not appear to be a behavioural indicator of stress.

The effects of selection for lean tissue content on maternal and neonatal lamb behaviours in Scottish Blackface sheep

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British hill sheep play several pivotal roles in the organization of sheep farming in the UK. They are required to give birth to and rear their lambs under harsh extensive conditions. This study investigate whether genetic selection for increased (LEAN) or decreased (FAT) carcass lean content in the Scottish Blackface breed over a 7 years had affected the ability of ewes to rear lambs by altering the expression of maternal and neonatal lamb behaviours. The behaviour of 61 ewes (32 LEAN and 29 FAT) and their 119 lambs were recorded at parturition and over the first 8 weeks of life. Overall there were very few effects of selection on the behaviour of the ewes. LEAN ewes were significantly faster than FAT ewes to start grooming their lambs after birth and FAT ewes tended to withdraw more frequently from their lambs than LEAN ewes. LEAN lambs were significantly quicker than FAT lambs to perform all righting movements (latency to stand), were more likely both to suck, and to play within the first 2 h of birth. The higher rate of sucking in LEAN lambs persisted over the first 3 days after birth, when LEAN lambs were also significantly closer to their mothers than FAT lambs. Thereafter, there were no significant effects of ewe or lamb line on behaviours recorded up to 8 weeks after birth. Overall lamb mortality to 8 weeks was 19.3% and was not significantly affected by lamb line. The results of this study suggest that, although ewe maternal behaviour has not been significantly affected by selection for lean growth, the activity of the neonatal lambs has been affected.