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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:
Analysis of Cough Sounds for Diagnosis of Respiratory Infections in Intensive Pig Farmining
Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2008 | No Comments
The aim of this research is to compare the acoustic features of cough sounds originating from the mentioned infections and non‐infectious cough sounds provoked by inhalation of citric acid by means of labeling and sound analysis. The acoustic parameters investigated are peak frequency and duration of the cough signals. The differences resulting from the sound analysis confirm the variability in acoustical parameters according to health status or disease in the animals. In infections, there is a change in the status of the respiratory system; consequently, infectious coughs are different from non‐infectious coughs.
Influence of guanidination on apparent ileal digestibility of amino acids in pigs fed diets with soybean meal, rapeseed meal or peas as a protein source
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The objectives of the present study were to determine
the effect of guanidination on the chemical composition,
AA profile of protein and apparent ileal AA digestibility
values of soybean meal, rapeseed meal and peas in diets
for pigs. The results show that the contents of crude protein and NDF in the protein
sources increased after guanidination and the content of
ash decreased. The effect of guanidination on the
chemical composition was different among the protein sources with larger changes in soybean meal and rapeseed
meal than in peas. Guanidination resulted in minor
changes in the AA profile of the protein sources. The AID
of CP and AA in soybean meal were higher than in
rapeseed meal with intermediate values for peas. The
uniformity and randomness of guanidination of rapeseed
meal may be questioned on the basis that the AIDof lysine
(Pb0.05) was lower in the guanidinated test meal than in
the diet. Further, guanidination increased the AID of CP
and most AA in soybean meal and peas but there was little
effect on the values in rapeseed meal.
Influences of lipopolysaccharide-induced immune challenge on performance and whole-body protein turnover in weanling pigs
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The present study was conducted to determine the effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced immune challenge on performance and whole-body protein turnover in weanling pigs. It was found that the determination of protein turnover in weanling pigs would be useful in defining the effects of metabolic modifiers on protein accretion and refining protein requirements for growing animals. It has been already reported that immune stress alters nutrient requirements
(Williams et al., 1997). This study imply that regulating feed intake and providing sufficient amino acids for acute protein synthesis might be the nutritional strategies to alleviate the potential impacts of stress on animal health and production. But more researches are needed to quantify nutrient requirements for animals under stress.
Taking care of the details
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When it comes to the overall management of their hog
operation—and the manure management aspects in particular
—Henry Moore III says they work to take care of those details,
using Best Management Practices as guiding principles. “It’s a good
benchmark for our operation,” says Moore, president of
family-owned Bobcat Farms.
Along with colleague Alan Williams, Moore oversees a family
partnership consisting of a 5,000 sow-to-wean farm, an
8,800-head gilt development facility, and—just to round things
out—a 150-head Angus cow/calf operation near the town of Clinton, North Carolina. From the start, Moore and Williams have taken to managing
Bobcat Farms with a high degree of professionalism—and
technology. They opt to utilize PDAs and PCs, rather than pad and
pencil, for record keeping. Utilizing the manure is a great fit for them. In addition to the
water aspect of the manure that is beneficial to the land in the
summer, the contents of the manure, especially the nitrogen, are
all beneficial to the forage they grow for their cattle. “And we’re
lucky in that we have plenty of land for applying manure,” adds
Moore. Of their 500 acres, 350 acres of it is used for their cattle
program. What they have in place now is a manure model that
works for them, notes Moore.
The effect of microbial phytase on true and apparent ileal amino acid digestibilities in growing-finishing pigs
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In this study ten 56 day old barrows were surgically fitted with a postvalvular T-cecum cannula to evaluate the effect of microbial phytase on apparent and true ileal amino acid (AA) digestibility and nitrogen (N) utilization. It was found that the addition of phytase to a semipurified soybean meal-based diet did not affect the apparent ileal digestibility of several amino acids. Also, difference between the basal and homoarginine (HA) diets in nitrogen digestibilities indicated that the guanidination may limit the use of the HA method in determining endogenous proten losses
Effect of soluble and insoluble fiber on energy digestibility, nitrogen retention, and fiber digestibility of diets fed to gestating sows
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This research paper determines how soluble (SF) and insoluble fibre (ISF) effects energy digestibility, Nitrogen balance, and digestibility. It was concluded that increased intake of insoluble firbre decreased energy digestibility, whereas increasing soluble fibre improved energy digestibility. The diet had not effect on nitrogen retention. Insoluble fiber digestiblity improved when SF intake increased, which suggests that knowledge of specific dietary fiber components is necessary to predict effeects of dietary firbew on digestibility.
Genetic associations of sow longevity with age at first farrowing, number of piglets weaned, and wean to insemination interval in the Finnish Landrace swine population
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The objective of the study was to estimate
genetic parameters for length of productive life
(LPL), and determine its genetic correlation with age
at first farrowing (AFF), number of piglets weaned at
first farrowing (NW), and first wean-to-insemination
interval (W2I) in the Finnish Landrace swine population.
Data from the Finnish national litter recording
scheme were utilized to estimate the genetics of LPL,
and genetic associations between LPL, AFF, NW, and
W2I. Data from the Finnish Landrace sow records were
utilized from farms that farrowed more than 20 gilts
annually from 2000 through 2005. The data set included
information from 11,222 sows, all of which had AFF
and NW information available. The sows producing the
records evaluated were daughters of 1,267 sires, and
there were 3,684 animals in the pedigree when all of
the sires were traced back to founder animals. All data
were obtained from FABA Breeding (Vantaa, Finland).
Multivariate Bayesian analysis of Gaussian, right censored
Gaussian, and categorical traits was utilized to
estimate (co)variance parameters of LPL, AFF, NW,
and W2I of the sow. From these traits, AFF and NW
were treated as Gaussian, LPL as right-censored Gaussian,
and W2I as categorical traits. Estimated posterior
means of heritabilities were 0.22, 0.16, 0.09, and 0.08
for LPL, AFF, NW, and W2I, respectively. A relatively
large proportion of variance due to farm-year interaction
was observed (posterior means of f2 ranged between
0.03 and 0.26). The LPL was moderately genetically
correlated with NW and AFF (posterior means
were –0.20 and 0.36, respectively), whereas no clear
association was found between W2I and LPL. Favorable
genetic correlations between AFF and W2I and
between NW and W2I were also observed. Additionally,
an unfavorable genetic correlation between AFF
and NW was observed in the present data set. Because
LPL is genetically associated with other economically
important prolificacy traits, it should be included in a
multiple trait swine breeding value estimation system.
Use of phytogenic products as feed additives for swine and poultry
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Phytogenic feed additives are plant-derived products used in animal feeding to improve the performance of agricultural livestock. This class of feed additives has recently gained increasing interest, especially for use in swine and poultry, as can be derived from a significant increase in the number of scientific publications since 2000. This appears to be strongly driven by the ban on most of the antibiotic feed additives within the European
Union in 1999, a complete ban enforced in 2006, and ongoing discussions to restrict their use outside the European Union because of speculated risk for generating antibiotic resistance in pathogenic microbiota. In this context, phytogenic feed additives are discussed possibly to add to the set of nonantibiotic growth promoters, such as organic acids and probiotics, which are already well established in animal nutrition. Phytogenics, however, are a relatively new class of feed additives and our knowledge is still rather limited regarding their modes of action and aspects of their application. Further complications arise because phytogenic feed additives may vary widely with respect to botanical origin, processing, and composition. Most studies investigate blends of various active compounds and report the effects on production performance rather than the physiological impacts. This article summarizes the experimental knowledge on efficacy, possible modes of action, and aspects of application of phytogenic products as feed additives for swine and poultry. Phytogenic feed additives comprise a wide variety of herbs, spices, and products derived thereof, and are mainly essential oils. The assumption that phytogenic compounds might improve the palatability of feed has not yet been confirmed by choice-feeding studies. Although numerous studies have demonstrated antioxidative and antimicrobial efficacy in vitro, respective experimental in vitro evidence is still quite limited. The same applies to the supposition that phytogenic compounds may specifically enhance activities of digestive enzymes and nutrient absorption. Nevertheless, a limited number of experimental comparisons of phytogenic feed additives with antibiotics and organic acids have suggested similar effects on the gut, such as reduced bacterial colony counts, fewer fermentation products (including ammonia and biogenic amines), less activity of the gut-associated lymphatic system, and a greater prececal nutrient digestion, probably reflecting an overall improved gut equilibrium. In addition, some phytogenic compounds seem to promote intestinal mucus production. Such effects may explain a considerable number of practical studies with swine and poultry reporting improved production performance after providing phytogenic feed additives. In total, available evidence indicates that phytogenic feed additives may add to the set of nonantibiotic growth promoters for use in livestock, such as organic acids and probiotics. However, a systematic approach toward the efficacy and safety of phytogenic compounds used as feed additives for swine and poultry is still missing.
Effect of common antinutritive factors and fibrous feedstuffs in pig diets on amino acid digestibilities with special emphasis on threonine
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The objective of this experiment was to determine the apparent ileal digestibilities (AID) of ammino acids of 6 ANF-enriched diets to estimate endogenous protein loss associated with these ingredients in diets for young pigs. It was concluded that the data suggested that hemicellulose fiber, at typical concentrations, reduces AID of amino acids by increasing endogenous losses.
Genetic (co)variances and breeding value estimation of Gompertz growth curve parameters in Finnish Yorkshire boars, gilts and barrows
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This paper’s objectives were to estimate the genetic (co)variance components
of the Gompertz growth curve parameters and to evaluate the
relationship of estimated breeding values (EBV) based on average daily
gain (ADG) and Gompertz growth curves. It was found that the growth curves differ significantly between individuals and this information could be used for selection purposes when selecting for improved growth rate.