Foot-and-mouth disease: Measurements of aerosol emission from pigs as a function of virus strain and initial dose

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Measurements of airborne foot-and-mouth disease virus have been made using 20 pigs that had either O UKG or C Noville injected into their heel-pads to determine if the kinetics of virus emission are related to the virus strain and dose administered in the challenge inoculum. The results suggest that care should be taken when extrapolating from laboratory derived data to the field; this is particularly the case in the early days of an outbreak when the aerosol characteristics of the virus involved may be unknown and the amount of virus that an individual animal has been challenged with remains uncertain.

The effect of dietary protein content on calcium and phosphorus retention in the growing Iberian pig

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The results of this study suggests that the average net requirements of Ca and P for the Iberian pig growing
from 15 to 50 kg BWat the maximum rate of 0.555 kg/d, corresponding to a pig fed at 0.95× ad libitum, calculated
as the sum of mineral retained with growth and total endogenous losses, would be 5.25 [(7.43×0.555)+1.13]
and 3.10 [(4.08×0.555)+0.84] g/d respectively. These estimations are considerably lower than those which can
be extrapolated from corresponding values reported by ARC (1981) for conventional and high-performance pig
genotypes. Further studies to examine the effect on growth, bone mineral content and other bone-related variables,
such as bone density or breaking strength, of Ca and P dietary levels based on the net requirements calculated in
the present work are needed to confirm the adequacy of our present estimates for the growing Iberian pig.

Erhualian and Pietrain pigs exhibit distinct behavioral, endocrine and biochemical responses during transport

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Erhualian (EHL) pigs are well-known for their high fertility and superior meat quality with high intramuscular
fat content. The growth rate, body size and lean mass rate are significantly smaller compared with the
Pietrain (PIE) pigs. Moreover, EHL pigs are regarded as mild-tempered despite the fact that the behavioral, endocrine
and biochemical responses to stress have never been investigated objectively in this breed. Therefore, this study describes the breed-specific coping characteristics of EHL pigs in response to transport stress, as reflected by the dynamic changes of behavior and plasma concentrations of ACTH, cortisol, insulin, T3 and T4, as well as the activities of CK and LDH during 2 h road transportation, in comparison with PIE pigs. It was found that EHL and PIE pigs exhibit istinct behavioral, endocrine and biochemical responses during transport. EHL pigs display more flexible behavioral pattern under stress which is characterized by more fit behavior at the beginning followed by relaxed sitting/lying till the end of transport, in comparison with PIE pigs demonstrating ONF at the beginning proceeded with fear-related freezing/standing throughout the journey. The coping style of EHL pigs was accompanied with decreased CK and LDH activities, higher cortisol levels, together with blunted responses of ACTH and CK to transport stress, as compared with the PIE pigs. Further studies are required to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the breed-specific patterns of behavioral, endocrine and biochemical responses during transport.

Setting up a custom separator

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Once a custom separator system is installed at the Craig farm, liquids exiting the separator will flow down to the lagoon. The lagoon, in effect, will become more of a finishing pond. The solids will be lifted out and placed on an impervious clay layer and used to produce compost. The compost product that was produced on a trial basis moved
quickly. “I can’t keep it. I’ll sell someone one load and then it’s
‘Bring me all you’ve got.’”
Interestingly, their compost customers have included some familiar
faces from their days in court. “The same people who fussed about
us growing the hogs have turned right around and want this
composted topsoil. They may not like where it comes from, but
they sure like what it does to their roses and their tomatoes.”

Effects of dried distillers grains with solubles on growing and finishing pig performance in a commercial environment

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This study was conducted to determine the optimal level of dried distiller grains with solubles (DDGS) from a common ethanol manufacturing facility and to determine the potential interactions between dietary DDGS and added fat on performance and carcass characteristics of growing and finishing pigs. It was found that pigs fed diets containing DDGS had a tendency for decreased average daily gain (ADG) and Average daily feed intake (ADFI) decreased linearly with DDGS level. However, the greatest reduction occurred between pigs fed 15 and 20% DDGS. Eficiency in gain improved when DDGS were included in the diet. There was no effect on loin depth and carcass weight and percentage yield decreased with increasing DDGS levels. Backfat and fat free lean index tended to decrease with increasing levels of DDGS in the diet. Therefore it is concluded that finishing pigs raised under commercial production conditions can be fed 10 to 15% DDGS before growth rate is compromised.

Effect of leg conformation on survivability of Duroc, Landrace, and Large White sows

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Longevity data was analyzed from 587 Duroc and 239 Landrace pigs, with special emphasis on the effect of leg conformation. It was confirmed that leg conformation does have substantial effect on sow longevity, where an accurate removal of poorly leg-conformed candidate gilts before first mating could improve sow survival and reduce culling costs.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in several porcine cathepsin genes are associated with growth, carcass, and production traits in Italian Large White pigs

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To identify DNA markers associated
with performance, carcass, and meat production traits
including muscle postmortem cathepsin activity, several
porcine genes encoding for lysosomal proteinases
(cathepsin B, CTSB; cathepsin D, CTSD; cathepsin F,
CTSF; cathepsin H, CTSH; cathepsin L, CTSL; and
cathepsin Z, CTSZ) and for a cathepsin inhibitor (cystatin
B) were investigated. Single nucleotide polymorphisms
were identified in CTSD, CTSH, CTSL, and
CTSZ genes with a combination of in silico expressed
sequence tag database mining and single-strand conformation
polymorphism analysis. Sequencing and PCRRFLP
protocols were used to validate the identified
polymorphisms. Allele frequencies at these loci were
investigated in Italian Large White, Landrace, Duroc,
Piétrain, Belgian Landrace, Hampshire, and Meishan
breeds. Genotyping CTSD and CTSH markers made it
possible to genetically map these genes to SSC 2 and
7, respectively. Markers in CTSD, CTSH, CTSL, and
CTSZ genes, together with mutations we previously reported
in cystatin B, CTSB, and CTSF genes, were
genotyped in an Italian Large White sib-tested population
(272 or 482 animals). For these animals, meat
quality traits (cathepsin B activity, pH measured at 2 h
postmortem, pH measured at 24 h postmortem, glycogen,
lactate, and glycolytic potential of semimembranosus
muscle) and EBV for ADG, lean cuts (LC), backfat
thickness (BFT), ham weight (HW), and feed:gain ratio
(FGR) were determined. Analyzed markers did not
show any association with muscle cathepsin B activity.
Thus, it could be possible that different genes, other
than these investigated candidates, affect this trait,
which is correlated with the excessive softness defect
of dry-cured hams. The results of association analysis
confirmed the effects we already reported in another
study for CTSF on ADG (P = 0.008), LC (P = 0.001),
and BFT (P = 0.02). Moreover, CTSD was associated
with ADG, LC (P < 0.0001), BFT, HW, and FGR (P < 0.001); CTSH was associated with FGR (P = 0.026); and CTSZ was associated with ADG (P = 0.006), LC (P = 0.01), HW (P = 0.024), and FGR (P = 0.029). The biochemical and physiological functions of the lysosomal proteinases, together with the results obtained in our investigation, suggest that the cathepsin gene family might play important roles affecting economic traits in pigs.

Evaluating Finishing Pig Growth During Summer and Winter in Bedded Hoop and Confinement Buildings

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Finishing pig growth in hoop and confinement buildings during summer and winter was evaluated using serial
ultrasound measurements of backfat (BF) thickness, loin muscle area (LMA), and serial weighing. It was found that in summer, BF accretion rates were greater for hoop pigs than confinement pigs 80 to 90 kg (P < 0.05), but did not differ 95 to 115 kg. In winter, BF accretion rates were similar 80 to 105 kg, but hoop pigs had less BF accretion 110 and 115 kg (P < 0.05). In summer, LMA accretion rates were similar 80, 85, and 100 to 115 kg, but were less for hoop pigs 90 and 95 kg (P < 0.001). In winter, the hoop pigs had greater LMA accretion rates 80 to 115 kg (P < 0.05). In summer, bodyweight gain was similar 80 to 95 kg, and was greater for hoop pigs 100 to 115 kg (P < 0.05). In winter, bodyweight gain was similar 100 to 115 kg, but was less for hoop pigs 80 to 95 kg (P < 0.05). Finishing pig growth is dependent on thermal environment. It is concluded that hoop‐reared pigs (particularly in winter) may compensate for an early lag with faster muscle growth and slower fat deposition later in finishing.

Relationship between myosin heavy chain isoform expression and muscling in several diverse pig breeds

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The objective of this study was to examine the relationship of the relative abundance of transcripts of myosin heavy chain (MyHC) isoforms and muscling in 3 pure breeds (Pietrain, Duroc, and Mongcai) and 2 crosses [Duroc × Pietrain (DUPI) and Duroc × Berlin Miniature pigs (DUMI)]. The results of this study are that MyHC IIb fibers are the most prominent in pigs having large LM area and implies that MyHC IIb is the determining fiber contributing to the differentiation of large and small loin eye muscle area in the pig.

Genetic variation at the alpha-1-fucosyltransferase (FUT1) gene in Asian wild boar and Chinese and Western commercial pig breeds

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