Better Handling, Better Pork

Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2007 | No Comments

Major factors impacting behavioral and physiological responses of the pig during handling and transport include genetics, slaughter weight, environmental conditions (temperature and humidity), health status, marketing strategy, time off feed, pre-transport experiences, facility design, and the nature of the handling method. (Ritter et al., 2005). Even the “best” handling and transportation conditions will cause significant changes in the pigs’ physiology, their behavior and consequently negatively impact pig performance and the quality of the pork delivered to the consuming public. US Industry statistics report an average Dead on Arrival (DOA) at processing plants for 2004 of 0.23% of pigs marketed. This results in a total lost opportunity of $2.44 US per finisher head per year. However, these direct financial impacts represent only a small fraction of the true cost of marketing and pig transportation stress. There are many other lost efficiencies, increased costs and risks associated with pig transportation. Fatigued and dead pigs disrupt the standard animal flow resulting in reduced processing plant and transportation efficiencies. Therefore many processors are now not only charging the cost of a DOA animal back to the producer, but are also charging the cost for an animal received in a compromised state regardless of whether the animal is processed for consumption or rendered as a byproduct. These costs and losses in efficiencies are all secondary to the ethical obligations and moral responsibilities we have to the animals under our care and to the consumers trusting the pork industry to produce, transport and process our animals in a humane and compassionate manner. In all methods of production, the pig is subjected to many internal and external stressors throughout its life. It is only when the stress level exceeds the body’s capacity to cope that the pigs’ well-being is compromised. The inability to cope will result in loss of efficiency and long term harm with the ultimate extreme being death (Moberg and Mench, 2000). In order to provide a safe and efficient system to market pigs, it is of the utmost importance to have a thorough understanding of their composition and physical attributes. The animal handler’s primary objective is to minimize the animal’s level of fear and therefore their negative stress by maximizing positive interactions while encouraging the animal to move to the target location. This is accomplished by understanding the animal’s point of balance and how to manipulate the edge of the flight zone. The majority of pigs can be moved simply by understanding and utilizing the point of balance without ever having to employ a moving aid (Grandin, 2006). The goal of any handling and loading system should be to provide a continuous unidirectional flow of pigs from the pen to the trailer and trailer into the plant, with minimal amount of stress on the animal. Pigs load and transport best in a highly controlled, consistent environment that eliminates distractions and mimics the features of the home pen. This control should include all major and minor aspects of the animals’ environment, such as chute width, ramp slope, wall coloration, lighting, flooring material, airflow patterns, etc. To maintain a high level of success requires constant vigilance and evaluation of the system to identify areas for improvement. This requires a collaborative effort of the producer, the transport company and processing facility. At a minimum, the factors that should be continuously monitored (TQA, 2005) are average live weight, load time (on a per pig basis), death loss (in transit and at the plant), non-ambulatory pigs and an identified reason (lame, fatigued, etc). Additional information including loading personnel, driver, trailer identification, prod usage, slips/falls percentage and chute integrity can be useful for continually improving the loading system.

Microbial and nutritional characteristics of pig liquid feed during fermentation

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Microbiological sampling of swine carcasses: A comparison of data obtained by swabbing with medical gauze and data collected routinely by excision at Swedish abattoirs

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Survey shows that there is no single silver bullet for PCV2

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Porcine circovirus is being blamed for a disease syndrome in Ontario grower-finisher barns, where mortality rates of five to 20 per cent or higher are being recorded. Dr. Robert Friendship, a Professor in the Department of Population Medicine at the University of Guelph, has responded
to this outbreak by conducting a case-control study designed to observe 25 farms with a history of clinical Porcine Circovirus type 2 (PCV2) disease and 25 matched farms that have not been diagnosed with PCV2. Friendship, who has been involved in survey studies examining the prevalence of
the problem, estimates that the disease affects about a quarter of grower-finisher operations in Ontario and appears to be spreading. PCV2 was identified as a possible cause of disease
in pigs in the early 1990s by swine veterinarians in Western Canada and was later discovered in all pigs worldwide.

Economic Returns to Public Agricultural Research

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Over the last several decades, the U.S. agricultural sector has sustained
impressive productivity growth. The Nation’s agricultural research
system, including Federal-State public research as well as private-sector
research, has been a key driver of this growth. Economic analysis finds
strong and consistent evidence that investment in agricultural research
has yielded high returns per dollar spent. These returns include benefits
not only to the farm sector but also to the food industry and consumers in
the form of more abundant commodities at lower prices. While studies
using different methods and coverage give a range of estimates of returns
to agricultural research, there is a consensus that the payoff from the
government’s investment in agricultural research has been high.

Refined soybean protein products shows promise as a replacement for animal proteins

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In this study they found that combining the inexpensive soybean protein concentrate
with the microbes containing epidermal growth
factor (EGF) and then feeding it to the
pigs may result in performance similar to that achieved with
blood plasma or milk products. It will be a couple of years
before researchers know if that is the result they will get.

Guidelines For Estimating Swine Hoop Shelter Finishing Costs Based on marketing 11,527 pigs sold from 18 shelters

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Latest Developments In Alternative Feedstuffs for Pigs

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Few crops have been developed primarily for livestock production. Zero-tannin faba beans (tannin being the highest anti-nutritional factor in faba beans) hold advantages over field peas such as higher crude protein and ability to grow better in variable conditions. Crop fractionation consists of the separation of the product into a main portion and one or more by-products. 2 by-products of importance come from the ethanol industry (Dried Distiller’s Grains with Solubles) and from the dry milling of wheat. These do have some negative aspects, for example, dry milling by-products contain more phytate, which mobilizes the need for xylanase and phytase enzymes to assist in the breakdown.

Effects of dietary energy and lysine intake during late gestation and lactation on blood metabolites, hormones, milk composition and reproductive performance in primiparous sows

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The effects of energy and lysine intake during late gestation and lactation
on the reproductive performance of primiparous sows were evaluated using 36 gilts. Sows were allocated to six dietary
treatments according to a 32 factorial arrangement and each treatment had six replicates. Three energy levels [low (EL),
medium (EM) and high (EH)] and two lysine levels [low (LL) and high (HL)] were used. Gilts with HL intake had more
weight (P=0.004) and backfat thickness (P=0.047) gain during gestation. Similar changes in sow body conditions were
observed during lactation. HL intake resulted in higher litter birth weight (P=0.001), weaning weight (P=0.001) and
growth rate (P<0.001) and shortened wean-to-estrus interval (P=0.001). Energy intake influenced the fat and lactose content while lysine intake influenced the total solids and protein content in milk and colostrum. Gilts with HL had higher insulin and lower creatinine levels during postfarrowing and weaning, while triglyceride concentration at weaning increased with increasing of energy intake. The basal and pulses of LH were also influenced by lysine intake. In conclusion, higher lysine intake than those recommended by National Research Council (1998) could improve performance during late gestation and lactation in primiparous sows.

Canadian PRRS Eradication: A dream or a future reality?

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Cost of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) is estimated to be about $100 millions Cdn per year. This represents $10 to $20 Cdn per pig produced in a PRRS positive system. Besides its impact on sow reproduction, pig mortality and treatment costs, PRRS has a direct impact on expression of diseases such as PCVAD (Porcine Circo Virus Associated Disease). This is why it is imperative to control this disease. In 2005, the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) took a position that placed the AASV in the leadership role in a long term PRRS eradication project. Twenty-four members from Mexico, Canada and USA have been appointed to the North American PRRS Eradication Task Force (NAPETF). The main goals of the NAPETF are to define the needs concerning PRRS research as well as the educational and farm surveillance programs that must be put in place in order to control PRRS. The other action items coordinated by the NAPETF are the elaboration of a standard set of PRRS definitions and guidelines on good biosecurity practices, including transport vehicle management. PRRS eradication is the long-term goal, but the first step is PRRS stabilization of the herds. In order to stabilize a sow herd against PRRS, subpopulations of PRRS naïve animals must be eliminated and entry of PRRS viruses must be prevented. Semen must come from a PRRS negative boar stud, replacement gilts must come from a PRRS negative multiplication source, gilts must be acclimatized to PRRS virus before being introduced into a PRRS positive sow herd, and strict biosecurity measures must be respected. In general, when the sow herd has been stabilized to PRRS virus, then eradication can be an option. The different techniques of eradication are: depopulation / repopulation, herd closure and roll over, gilt acclimatization and roll over, as well as test and removal. After the sow herd has been stabilized to PRRSV and an eradication program has been completed, it is imperative that the health status be maintained. The maintenance of a PRRSV negative herd status depends on the biosecurity practices and the cooperative work. Biosecurity is pre-eminent to prevent reintroduction of the PRRS virus. The regular rules regarding biosecurity are to change boots, coveralls and wash your hands when entering a herd; materials to be introduced into the herd, must be free of feces and dust; it must be ideally double bagged and disinfected at entry. Control insect introduction through efficacious screens and insecticides.
PRRSV can travel 2.4 km through insects. Transport vehicles must be well washed, disinfected and dried (>8 h) between transport of PRRS positive and PRRS negative animals. Air filters are a new avenue in prevention of airborne transmission. This tool is now being used to protect boar studs all over the world. Long term PRRS control will rely on cooperative work between all the people from the industry; producers, veterinarians, transporters, researchers, etc. Each of us is sharing a role in PRRS control. To achieve these goals, sharing of information between veterinarians and producers is essential. PRRS status of the herds, PRRS virus sequence homology data and epidemiological studies are steps conducive to a better PRRS control. In conclusion, different PRRSV eradication techniques are available. However, before proceeding to eradication, herds must be PRRSV stable. Thorough follow up of the biosecurity measures will help to maintain the PRRSV negative status of the individual herds. Cooperative work is essential for long-term PRRS negative status of a whole region.