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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:
The behaviour of broiler chickens and its modification by lameness.
Posted in: Welfare by admin on January 1, 2000 | No Comments
Behavioural response to humans and the productivity of commercial dairy cows.
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This was a study of cows and stockpersons at 31 commercial dairy cows. Data were collected on the attitude of the stockperson, the actions of the stockpersons towards the cattle, the fear of humans displayed by the cattle, and the milk yield of the cows over one lactation. The variables related to fear of humans, as demonstrated by the cows, were correlated to milk yield, and accounted for about 19% of the variation among farms in milk yield. Fearful herds produced less milk. A number of stockperson attitude and behaviour variables were moderately correlated to milk yield, but not to cow behaviour. This preliminary study demonstrates that human animal relationships on dairy farms affect productivity, in a similar way as they do on pig farms. Additional research is needed to determine the devlopment of these relationships.
Diurnal rhythm of feather pecking behaviour and condition of integument in four strains of loose housed laying hens.
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The feather pecking behaviour of four different genetic strains of hens was examined in an aviary system, starting at 38 weeks of age. The four genetic strains used in this study were Lohmann Selected Leghorns, Norbrid 41, Lohmann Brown and ISA Brown. The feather pecking behaviour was observed via video recording. In addition, the condition of the feathers, keel bone, bumble foot, body weight and length and curve of the beak were also recorded from week 17 until week 69. The medium heavy strains (Browns), especially the ISA Brown, performed the most feather pecking behaviour, especially when compared to the levels seen in the White Leghorn strains. The number of pecks performed during a single feather pecking incident was not significantly different amongst the various strains, however, when pecking was directed towards the back of another bird, the pecking bout lasted significantly longer in White Leghorn Strains. Specifically Lohmann Selected Leghorns pecked significantly longer at the ventral area of the body. For all four strains, a feather-pecking bout tended to last much longer if it was directed towards the tail. Time of day also affects feather pecking, as the number of feather pecks per hour increased as the day progressed, and this increase was more drastic in medium heavy strains. The condition of the skin became poor quite quickly once the hens began to lay, this was similar in all strains. In terms of condition of the feathers at the end of the laying period, Norbrids had the best and Lohmann Browns had the worst.
Effects of heat stress on the welfare of extensively managed domestic ruminants.
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The environmental factors of high ambient temperatures, high direct and indirect solar radiation, and humidity can stress animals. Although ruminants have thermoregulatory mechanisms, maintaining homeothermy under heat stress is difficult. There are negative consequences for productivity when animals experience hyperthermia. As body temperature rises, there is an adaptive depression of metabolic rate associated with reduced appetite. There are physiological (sweating, panting), hormonal (cortisol, thyroid gland activity) and behavioural responses that are activated in an attempt to maintain homeothermy. Heat stress may be aggravated by water deprivation, nutritional imbalance, and nutritional deficiency. This review also discusses how cattle are more sensitive to heat stress than sheep, and how animals of different productive stages are more susceptible to heat stress than animals at maintenance. Methods for alleviating heat stress under extensive conditions (such as providing shade shelter) are also discussed.
Inbreeding in Swine
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Inbreeding is the mating of individuals that are related. In the strict sense, all members of a breed are related. As a result, any seedstock producer is practicing some inbreeding. Therefore, we generally reserve the term inbreeding for the mating of animals that are more closely related than the average of the breed.
Most breeds of livestock went through a phase of inbreeding early in their development. This resulted from the need to establish color patterns and other aspects of physical appearance. Since one of the results of inbreeding is to establish more genetic uniformity, those traits that have simple means of
inheritance can be fixed more easily with the aid of inbreeding.
Baseline Environmental Data Collection for Research and Production Facility
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Introduction
Potential environmental impacts associated with intensive livestock operations are recognized as a major factor limiting the establishment of these
operations in the Prairies. To determine the true environmental impacts of an intensive livestock
operation, one must compare the change in environmental conditions before and after the facility is constructed and in operation. The
PSCI Elstow Research Farm is included in this study.
Objectives
To collect environmental data for a “pre-operationa
Environmental Injustice in North Carolina's Hog Industry
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Concerns have been expressed about the development of North Carolina’s hog industry in poor and non-white communities of the state. Approximately 2,500 North Carolina hog opeations locations were examined in relation to racial, economic and water source and characteristics of census block groups. Poisson regression was used to determine relationships between racial, economic and water supply to intensive hog operations after adjusting for population density.
There were approximately 7.2 more hog operations in areas in the rngae of 21-100% poverty as compared to areas with less than 5% poverty, after making adjustments for population density. Areas with non-white residents between 8.8 – 100% were five times more likely to have a hog operation within 1-2 miles of their residence, as compared to areas with less than 5 % of the population represented by non-white residents after adjusting for population density. Hog operations were reported the greatest in areas of high poverty and a large non-white contingent, as well these operations were more likely to be operated by a corporate organization, opposed to independent producers.
Odor Treatment- Biofiltration
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A biofilter uses moist organic materials to absorb and then biologically degrade odorous compounds. The materials that have been used for biofilter construction include compost, soil, peat, chipped brush and bark and their depth typically ranges from 1 to 1.5 meters. They have been shown to be effective at treating essentially all of the odors associated with composting, including ammonia and a wide range of volatile organic compounds. In many cases biofiltration is both the least expensive and most effective treatment option in controlling odor.