Castration at 3 days of age temporarily slows growth of pigs.

Posted in: Welfare by admin on January 1, 1999 | No Comments

Welfare implications of sheep ear tags.

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The influence of feeding and handling on the development of the human-animal interactions in young cattle.

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The way in which an animal responds to humans and handling has important welfare and production consequences for both the animals and the stockperson. The aim of this study was to determine the relative importance of physical contact (gentle handling) and the provision of food on the development of the positive associations between young cattle and humans. A total of 40 Danish Friesian calves were used. From day 3 to 17 of age the calves were either: fed by humans and handled (stroke); fed by humans but not handled; fed without visual contact with humans and handled; or fed without visual contact with humans and not handled. Observations during the handing and feeding treatments revealed that calves fed with a human present performed more bunting behaviour but less play behaviour than those handled but not fed. The approach behaviour of each calf to an unknown person was assessed at day 3, 17, 32, and 62 in both their home pen and in an arena. In the home pen, handling had no effect on latency to interact with the person, but at days 17, 32, and 62 calves fed by humans were quicker to interact with the person than those fed without a human present. When tested in the arena, no consistent significant treatment effects were found at any age in latencies to approach or interact with the person. In a third test, the approach behaviour towards a person when social companions were present was assessed. With the human present only, time spent within 1 m of the person did not differ with age or treatment. But when two other calves were present, latency to approach the person increased and the time spent near the person decreased with age. It is concluded that feeding has a greater influence on the responses of young calves towards humans than handling. However, this appears to be limited to the location in which the feeding took place. Despite receiving no additional handling, calves hat were fed without a human present readily approached and interacted with an unknown person and spent a large proportion of time near the person in the arena tests, suggesting that handling in the first 2 days after birth may be very important in the development of the subsequent interactions between humans and cattle.

Economic values for meat quality traits in pigs

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The objectives for the research reported here were to
collect information on possible future developments of
the pork market and to estimate economic values based
on this information. These economic values for meat
quality traits could then be used in the aggregate genotype
of the Swiss pig breeding program to replace the
currently used weights determined by desired gains. It was found that the economic values for meat quality traits using results from interviews can be estimated. This may allow one to incorporate possible future development
of the pork market into a breeding program to develop an aggregate genotype. For pig breeders, this means that the definition of the breeding objective reflects possible future developments of the pork market using systematically gathered market information. Through the process of such surveys, the pork industry has a possibility to express its economic preferences for traits that cannot yet be measured on the slaughter chain and, therefore, are not yet included in the payment system.

Multiple Trait Selection for Pork Improvement

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One of the most important decisions breeders make is choosing which traits to improve in their herds. Breeders must decide among numerous traits of economic importance and determine whether to improve performance a small amount in several traits or make larger amounts of improvement in fewer traits.

Chemical Additions to Swine Manure to Reduce Hydrogen Sulfide Losses – A Laboratory Study

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Odours generated from intensive swine operations are growing in public concern. Some regulatory agencies are defining set back distances from intensive operations, and in some cases outlawing outside storage containers. As a result certain states are re-implementing manure storage beneath slatted floors in oder to reduce odour emission.. Increased in barn storage can create a harmful potential, especially during agitation and removeal of manure from pits.

Seven chemicals were found to be effective in reducing H2S levels: Calcium hydroxide, Ferric chloride, Ferrous chloride, Ferrous sulfate, hydorgen peroxide, Potassium permangante and Sodium chloride.. These additves effectiveness were compared using 60:L of swine manure collected in three batches, and at the time of collection the manure pH was adjusted to 8.5 to prevent any H2S loss. The air sample was ranked for H2S concentration using a Jerome metre. The doage needed to reduce emissions by 50% was calculated for each chemical using the total solids of 1.6%. Based on cost at the time of the study, hydrogen peroxide was potassium permanganate appear to be the most cost effective.

Realizing Composting Opportunities in the Western Canadian Hog Industry

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The benefits of composting have been well documented. Reduced volumes up to 60%, lower handling costs, reduction in odour, destruction of weed seeds, destruction of pathogens and a greater degree of public acceptance potentally make it a viable alternative. However, many large previously established operations are based on liquid manure handling systems, therefore would require retrofitting of their current operation. Before considering composting considerations for composting hog manure should be taken into account alog with the specific compost standard that one is trying to achieve.

Spring Applied Organic Manures as a Sources of Nitrogen for Cereal Crops: Experiments Using Field Scale Equipment

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The effects of spring top-dressed applications of broiler litter, pig slurry and cattle slurry on winter wheat and winter barley yield and quality were investigated on a field scale at three UK sites between 1992 and 1994, using commercially available application equipment. Broiler litter was applied at rates ranging from 5.3 to 8.8 t/ha, and slurries from 54 to 89 m3/ha. Few practical problems were encountered when spreading broiler litter, but when spreading cattle slurry there was some crop damage and soil compaction from the tanker wheelings adjacent to tramlines. Coefficients of variation for manure spreading using commercial spreaders ranged from 20 to 32%. Spring applied manures increased yields of winter wheat and winter barley, and lowered optimum inorganic fertilizer nitrogen (N) rates. When the N efficiency of the manures was compared to that of inorganic fertilizer N, broiler litter N efficiencies ranged from 10 to 49%, cattle slurry was c. 30% and pig slurry c. 50%. The experiments demonstrated that poultry litters and slurries can be applied successfully to growing cereal crops in spring as part of an integrated policy for N supply.

Development and Implementation of the National Pork Producers Council On-Farm/Environmental Assistance Program

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The On-Farm Odor Assistance Program (ONOAP) was developed by the National Pork Producer’s Council (NPPC) in order to address odour and environmental concerns related to pork production. The OFOAP is a voluntary, non-regulatory program, that received Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) endorsement; it provides swine producers an opportunity to be involved with an environmental assessment of their operation. The developed program would provide consistent assessments of swine operations irrespective of location, and environmental control practices that can be developed. Assesors achieve certification upon the completion of an intensive training course and completion of verification assessments supervised by certified assessors. “Experience has shown that assessments by trained professionals will reveal challenges that can reduce odor potentials and improve environmental efforts in most swine production operations.”

A Method for Evaluating Manure Pit Additives in Manure Channels and Simulated Outdoor Lagoons

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