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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:
POSTER – Development of new genomic tools to improve meat quality traits and production efficiency in pigs
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Swine Innovation by admin on July 24, 2012 | No Comments
Recently the Canadian pork industry has had made available many high-density SNP’s. This has led to opportunities to improve meat quality and other characteristics in pig herds. The new technology will allow producers to genetically select pigs that have desireable traits like good feed efficiency, which is expensive to measure, and meat quality, which is something that now can only be assessed after a pig has be slaughtered. This has potential to let producers select pigs that are better suited for the market they are in, improve accuracy in selecting econmically beneficail pigs and help differentiate Canadain pork.
Assessment of Lameness, Productivity and Longevity in Group and Individually Housed Gestating Sows
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Swine Innovation, Welfare by admin on July 23, 2012 | No Comments
Sow housing is the dominant issue when discussing animal welfare in pig production. Converting away from gestation crates carries several factors that must be considered, such as sow welfare and longevity in the herd, as well as their economic sustainability. Lameness sows is one of the main reasons for culling otherwise productive sows and will be important to gauge properly when considering alternative housing methods. The objective of this study is to determine the relationship among variables such as body weight, age, social rank, body condition and health status, and degree of lameness on success within the different systems based on relative productivity, culling rate, health changes, aggression and injuries. To asses lameness four methods will be used: Complex gait scoring, kinematics, accelerometers, and a forced plate weight scale. Sow temperament will be measured by 4 tests: the Open Door Test, Pig Approaching Human , Human Approaching Pig and Novel Object Test. To measure sow longevity sows will be assessed on lameness and sow condition on the 7th, 16th, and 20th week post breeding. The need to monitor and assess animal welfare standards on commercial farms is becoming an increasingly important issue as quality assurance schemes are expanded in response to consumer demands.
Determining the NE Content of Diets and Ingredients
Posted in: Nutrition, Pork Insight Articles by admin on | No Comments
In the pork industry feed is consistently the largest input cost. Within feed, energy is the most expensive ingredient.Therefore it is important to have a consistent and accurate measurement of feed energy for any diet. NE is agreed to be the most accurate measure of dietary energy but complicated to evaluate. NE is defined as the metabolizable energy minus the heat increment. Essentially it is the efficiency of the utilization of metabolizable energy. Since NE measure the amount of energy an animal uses for productive functions (movement, lactation, growth, and gestation) it is considered the ideal energy measure. The paper proposes three ways to determeine NE 1)Comparative slaughter technique measures the energy gained in a carcass over a period of time. 2) Prediction equations are used to estimate NE, this requires specific knowledge of ingredients or digestible nutrients. Most of these equations have been made using a calorimeter, and require that measurements of nutrients be done in similar way (lab analysis) that the equation was developed. 3) Indirect calorimeter is another way to measure NE which involves using an individual pig air chamber. It is important for producers and feed formulators to have a basic understanding of the derivation of the methods used and why these values may vary depending on the system used.
Reducing Water Consumption in Swine Barns: Alternatives for Animal Drinking and Barn Cleaning
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles by admin on July 12, 2012 | No Comments
More efficient use of water has both economical and environmental implication. Through surveys and reviewing literature it was found that washing pens and drinking nipples were two areas that could see improvements in water usage. Two studies were carried out at the Prairie Swine Centre to see potential improvements in water usage. The first study involved testing two new types of drinkers compared to a conventional water nipple. Tested was a water nipple with side panels, and a water nipple with side panels and a trough that kept water constant. Results showed that the side panels with a trough was by far the most effective method for not wasting water and it was able to keep water consumption at the ideal levels while not effecting average daily gain and feed intake. The washing study looked at different water nipples on pressure washers and the effectiveness of pre-soaking pens before washing them. As expected pre-soaking pens increased water usage but also reduced washing time. A Y-nozzle achieved the lowest microbial level on plastic while the conventional nozzle was the most effective at cleaning concrete.
Evaluation of Heat Exchanger, Ground Source Heat Pump, and Conventional Heating Systems
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles by admin on | No Comments
Reducing energy costs is one way profitability can be improved. A study was carried out to find out if there are different energy requirements for different heating sources. Three different heating methods were set up in conventional hog barn rooms. A ground source heat pump, a heat exchanger and a conventional heating system. The heaters were used for3-4 months and energy usage was tracked and compared. The study found no difference in average daily gain of the pigs and only slight differences in average daily feed intake and feed efficiency. The heat exchanger and the conventional heater were measured in gas usage and the ground source heat pump was measured in electricity. Results showed that using a ground source heat pump can reduce energy use by 45% and a heat exchanger can reduce energy use by 54% compared to a conventional heating system.
Using Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles to Control Emissions – Pig Performance, Manure Properties, and Production Cost
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Since proving that zinc oxide nanoparticles can reduce H2S emissions, ammonia, and odour in pig slurry, a study was carried out to find if adding zinc oxide had any impact on pig performance, manure properties and production costs. The study was carried out using two environmental chambers one being a control set to represent normal conditions and the other was the treatment room. Results showed that there was no significant difference in manure composition or pig performance (measured by average daily feed intake and average daily gain). The costs analysis portion of the study found that mixing the particles in the slurry costs $67.2/pig while using a filtration method would cost $6.3/pig. The filtration system was more economically feasible amounting to 3.8% of total production costs.
Banff Pork Seminar 2012
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles by admin on June 17, 2012 | No Comments
The proceedings for the 2012 Banff Pork Seminar, published as Advances in Pork Production, Volume 23. Individual articles are also available through Pork Insight.
Towards management of entire male pigs for commercial pork production
Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles by admin on June 14, 2012 | No Comments
When piglets are born it is recommended that they be castrated in their first 2-14 days. Pigs that are not castrated have better growth performance and more lean meat, but they are also more more aggressive which increases the chances of fighting with pen mates, causing carcass damage, and they are more susceptible to having boar taint in the meat which reduces its quality. This project looks at immunization against gonadotropin-releasing (GnRF) factor as an alternative to castration. The objective is to determine the impact immunization against GnRF, using Pfizer’s boar taint vaccine on the dynamics and control of whole body protein deposition, dynamics of plasma levels of androgens, estrogens and growth regulating hormones, mean body lipid and body protein deposition, and carcass and meat quality. Thirty six pigs were used on four different trials: conventional castration, no castration, no castration with immunization ( at 30 and 70 kgs body weight), and late castration at 25-40kgs body weight. The study noted that there was a dramatic change in feed intake and nutrient metabolism after the pigs became immunized, after immunization pigs were able to attain the same levels as castrated pigs. The study also showed the close relationship between changes in nutrient metabolism and hormones that are involved in regulating growth and nutrient metabolism in growing pigs. It was confirmed that immunization of male pigs against GnRF is effective at controlling boar taint from male pigs at high slaughter weights. These finding allow producers to avoid castration and raise “entire” male pigs with improved meat quality and consistency.
Expression of Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF) Family Members in Porcine Pregnancy
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Production by admin on June 13, 2012 | No Comments
Conceptuse loss in early and mid gestation is thought to be at least partially due to decreased vascularization at the attachment site. Angiogenesis is influenced by VEGF, its two receptors, and PIGF, and IGF factors influence the expression of VEGF. IGFs are paracrine or autocrine and stimulate DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis. IGF-I is most important in the peri-implantation stage of gestation, and IGF-II in mid-gestation. Both IFNs decrease when feed is restricted, and result in small fetuses. IGF-I preferentially binds receptor IGF-IR, and it is found in higher amounts in small fetuses. IGF-II preferentially binds IGF-RII, and it is found in maternal and embryo cells, and varies regardless of size. This study tested uterine tissue for IGF-I, IGF-II, binding proteins (IGFBP), and receptors in non-preganant, gd20, and gd50 gilts. IGF-I was found in all tissues and corresponded with β actin, but declined in gd20 endometrium cells in healthy attachment sites. IGF-II was consistently higher than IGF-I, showed variaion, and declined in endometrium and trophoblasts beteen gd20 and gd50. IGF-RI declined between gd20 and gd50 in trophoblasts. IGFBP1 and IGFBP3 were higher in arresting conceptuses at gd50, levels of IGFBP4 varied, and IGFBP5 and IGFBP6 levels decreased as pregnancy progressed. IGF-I and IGF-II in endometrial and trophoblasts showed no difference in level of transcription between healthy and arresting conceptuses at gd20. IGFBPs were fairly stable throughout pregnancy. Overall, IGF-I, IGF-II and receptor transcription levels varied throughout pregnancy, but seem to show no clear pattern for expression in arresting or healthy conceptuse cells.
Detection of airborne swine influenza A under field conditions
Posted in: Air Filtration, Pork Insight Articles by admin on June 12, 2012 | No Comments
Influenza A is a virus that can be transmitted through the air from infected pigs and by pigs rubbing their noses together. Although there have been cases where outbreaks have been documented without any new pigs being introduced, implying that the disease has alternate routes of infection. Studies have found a relation between effected farms in a dense area. The objective of this study is to find out if aerosol transfer of influenza A was possible by testing aerosol from highly infected farms. The study was done in two parts, part one consisted of taking air samples at the hog farm that was infected, and the second phase was done taking samples at varying distances down wind from the farm. In phase one 15 air samples were taken for 30 minutes each. For phase two samples were taken in from the exhaust from the barns, and half a mile and a mile down the road for a total of sixty samples. During the first visit all of the air samples tested positive, the second visit found 6 of 15 samples from inside the barn tested positive while 2 of 15 samples from outside the barn tested positive. This research shows that it is possible for infected farms to spread influenza A throughout the air and that the aerosol spreading of the disease may be the route of infection for barns that never came into contact with outside pigs.