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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:
Classifying sows’ activity types from acceleration patterns An application of the Multi-Process Kalman Filter
Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2008 | No Comments
This article suggests a method of classifying five types of activity exhibited by group-housed sows. The method
involves the measurement of acceleration in three dimensions. The five activities are: feeding, walking, rooting, lying laterally and lying sternally. The results show that feeding and lateral/sternal lying activities are best recognized;
walking and rooting activities are mostly recognized by a specific axis corresponding to the direction of the
sow’s movement while performing the activity (horizontal sidewise and vertical). Various possible
improvements of the suggested approach are discussed.
Do labour productivity and preferences about work load distribution affect reproduction management and performance in pig farms
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This paper deals with the changes of work in pig farms, either the research of increased labour productivity or the control of work load distribution within the week. We hypothesise that the increase in labour productivity might have induced a simplification of
reproduction management or have consequences on the
herd productivity.We also hypothesise that, as in the other
production systems, the pig farmers have various
preferences when considering the work in odd hours and
in weekends. These various preferences may be related to
different reproduction managements and may affect the
herd productivity. To test these hypotheses, we have
carried out a survey with stockbreeders who had various
batch farrowing systems and herd size, so presumably a
large variety of management practices and labour
effectiveness. This study suggests that labour productivity was
linked to the size of the farrowing batches through a
scale economy. But this paper describes more the
diversity in the operational achievement of reproduction
management. It suggests that this management can be a
critical point to consider when changes in preferences as
to work load distribution occur and confirms the
relationship with sow productivity.
Characteristic of duodenal myoelectric activity in relation to food in piglets during the 3rd and 4th week of life
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The aim of the present study was to evaluate the characteristic of the intestinal motility in relation to the dry matter and volume of ingested milk formula in piglets during the 3rd and 4th week of life. The results showed that in piglets
during their 3rd and 4th week of life the duodenal myoelectric activity response to consumed feed was similar to that observed in adult animals.
Do electronic sow feeders affect productivity?
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Electronic sow feeders (ESF) provide a feeding station
which allows one animal at a time to enter and be fed its
specific amount of feed. We examined two social management
options within an ESF system to determine their
effects on productivity. Within the ESF system, we considered small groups of
approximately 35 sows which were all added to the pen at
the same time (static) versus larger groups (120 sows) that
were dynamic. That is, groups of approximately 35 sows
were removed for farrowing and others added at five-week
intervals.
We also considered two stages of gestation at which to
place the animals. Animals were either moved to the ESF
eight to 10 days after breeding, or approximately 45 days
after breeding, by which time embryonic implantation
should have occurred. We also collected
data from animals kept in stalls for their
entire gestation. Our conclusion was that productivity equal to that
obtained in stalls can be achieved in an ESF system, but this
was only possible in our study if animals were already past
implantation when the group was formed. Other studies
using only pre-implant grouping tend to report lower productivity
in groups.
Static and dynamic systems did not differ, but it should
be pointed out that our dynamic system involved adding
new animals at five-week intervals, not weekly as in several
other studies. It is important to note the management methods
used in group housing studies, as these can affect the
outcome of the comparison.
Evaluation of NutriDense low-phytate corn and added fat in growing and finishing swine diets
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This study evaluates the effects of NutriDense low phytate corn in conjunction with increasing added dietary fat on growing and finishing pig performance. The results indicate that increasing added fat improved growth performance regardless of the corn source. In addition, growth performance was similar for pigs fed NutriDense low-phytate or yellow dent corn.
Effects of neonatal iron status, iron injections at birth, and weaning in young pigs from sows fed either organic or inorganic trace minerals
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In this study second-partiy sows were fed diets containing organic or inorganic trace minerals, and their progeny were used to determine the iron (Fe) status of pigs at birth and nursing and postweaning phases. The results indicated a reduced Fe bioavailability when sows were fed the organic fe source, but this could also been because of a greater Fe need, lowered Fe status, or both, for the sow because of the greater number of pigs farrowed and heavier litter weights at parturition and weaning. It is also concludeed that Fe injection at birth may be critical to achieving maximum pig growth response to weaning. There was no apparent advantage to injecting fe at weaning when neonatal pigs received Fe injections.
The effects of R-salbutamol on behavior and physiology of finishing pigs
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Salbutamol has potential for use as a
repartioning agent in swine. The aims of this experiment
were to determine effects of salbutamol on behavior
and physiology of finishing pigs. The study used
192 pigs (88.8 ± 0.9 kg of BW) housed in groups of 6
in 32 pens and assigned to 1 of 4 treatments: 1) control—
0 mg/kg of salbutamol, 2) 2R—control diet with
2 mg/kg of the pure R-enantiomer of salbutamol, 3)
4R—control diet with 4 mg/kg of pure R-salbutamol, or
4) 8RS—control diet with 8 mg/kg of a 50:50 mixture
of the R- and S-enantiomers. All diets were offered ad
libitum for 4 wk. Salbutamol diets were replaced with
control diets 24 to 48 h before slaughter. Behavioral
responses to handling during weighing were recorded
immediately before assignment to the treatments (wk
0) and at weekly intervals over the next 4-wk period.
Behavioral and heart rate (HR) responses to a 10-min
human presence test in the home pen were measured
during wk 0, wk 1, and wk 3. Heart rate responses to
a 36-min transportation were recorded. One pig from
each pen had blood collected 4 times: during wk 0, 2, 4,
and at exsanguination. Blood was analyzed for NEFA,
creatine kinase, glucose, lactate, blood urea nitrogen,
ammonia, insulin, cortisol, norepinephrine, and epinephrine.
Data were analyzed using PROC GLM of
SAS, with pen as the experimental unit. Treatment
had no effect on time spent lying laterally, overall activity,
or time spent alert. Treatment had no effect on
handling measures (P > 0.05) or on behavioral responses
to human presence (P > 0.05), with all pigs willing
to spend similar amounts of time close to and touching
the human. However, during the human presence
test in wk 1 and wk 3, control pigs had HR around 10
peats per minute less (P < 0.05) than pigs in the other 3
treatments. During transport, overall HR were similar
across treatments (P > 0.05). However, at certain 1-min
time points, control pigs had greater HR than salbutamol-
treated pigs (P < 0.05). There were no treatment
differences in lactate, epinephrine, or norepinephrine
concentrations at any point. During wk 4, control pigs
had less creatine kinase (P < 0.02) and greater blood
urea nitrogen (P < 0.005) compared with pigs fed all the
salbutamol treatments. The home pen behavior, handling,
human presence test, and transport results indicate
that salbutamol-treated pigs do not show marked
differences in home pen time budgets and behavioral
and HR responses to handling and transportation compared
with control pigs. Thus, salbutamol did not have
a negative effect on finishing pig well-being during this
study.
The effect of feeding crude glycerol on growth performance and nutrient digestibility in weaned pigs
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The effects of substituting wheat with
crude glycerol as a dietary energy source were evaluated. Seventy-two weaned pigs were fed for 4 wk one of three pelleted
wheat-based diets containing 0, 4, or 8% glycerol and formulated to 2.28 Mcal kg1 net energy (NE) and 5.02 g
standardized ileal digestible lysine Mcal NE. For day 0 to 28, body weight increased linearly (P=0.04); pigs fed 8%
glycerol were 1.11 kg heavier than pigs fed 0% glycerol. Glycerol inclusion tended to increase average daily gain linearly
(P=0.066) and increased average daily feed intake quadratically (P=0.037) without affecting feed efficiency (P=0.10).
Feeding up to 8% dietary crude glycerol by substituting wheat can enhance the growth performance of weaned pigs.
Nutrient digestibility and performance responses of growing pigs fed phytase- and xylanase-supplemented wheat-based diets
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The objective of this paper is to evaluate the effects of supplementing phytase and xylanase on nutrient digestibility and performance of growing pigs fed wheat-based diets. It was concluded that the supplements (phytase and xylanase) improved phosphorus and amino acid digestibilities.
Foot-and-mouth disease: A review of intranasal infection of cattle, sheep and pigs
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This paper reviews the results of investigations for animals which have been infected by instillation or spraying a virus suspension into the nostrils or by exposure to affected animals through a mask or by indirect contact. The results indicate that pigs are not readily infected by the intranasal route. Also, the nature of the aerosol droplets needs to be analyzed to determine how the respective amounts of infective and non-infective virus particles, host components and the presence of antibody affect the survival in air and the ability to infect the respiratory tract.