Stylosanthes and cassava leaves as protein supplements to a basal diet of broken rice for local pigs

Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2004 | No Comments

Lost Income in Grow/Finish: The Problem of Lightweight, Cull and Dead Pigs

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It is important to look at pork production from the point of not only minimizing costs but also increasing margins. Dead market hogs are not viewed as a cost of production. It is an opportunity cost that represents not achieving full potential. Cull pigs, dead pigs, and lightweight pigs are often lumped into the same category of economic loss. Most real losses of pork production involve pigs not achieving proper weight. Dead pigs are widely considered by producers as naturally occurring and that nothing can really be done about it. This is less than true as studies have shown that many farms have uncommonly high mortality rates which results in true potential not being reached.

Three things can be done to address problems of cull, dead and lightweight pigs, and these include: 1) Counting and recording dead and culled pigs; 2) Estimating the losses from each category; and 3) Identify causes of attrition.

Limitations to Improvements in AI Efficiency

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The limitation to improvement in AI efficiency is not in the technology, but in the implementation of the technologies. One of the problems is placing too much confidence in new equipment or techniques and abandoning basic principles. Performance optimums must be defined so they can be achieved with the new technology. This will benefit operations by reducing costs, reducing labour, or improving the use of genetically superior animals. If these cannot be defined it will be hard to sell that technology. Problems with adoption of new technologies include lack of training and information, lack of focus on detail, lack of success and fear of failure, and increased costs and labour (rather cancelling out the benefits of the new technology). Principles behind adopting new technologies for employees include participation in learning, repetition of task, relevance (what it means to do what they do), transference (training in relevance to the actual job), and feedback. Make sure that the employees know that this new technology does not replace the basics! Educate employees about every step from every perspective to help them understand what and why the technique is performed. Never assume information is known or understood.

Eugenol stimulates lactate accumulation yet inhibits volatile fatty acid production and eliminates coliform bacteria in cattle and swine waste

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Weaning to Estrus Interval in Sows – Can we overcome the parity effect?

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Within the breeding herd the weaning-to-estrus interval (WEI) has a major effect on overall reproductive efficiency. It affects the non-productive days (NPD), the success of accurate heat detection and timing of insemination, subsequent litter size, the replacement rate in a farrowing group and the culling rate within the sow herd. Within current North American production systems, young growing sows in the first parities often pose the biggest challenge. First and second litter sows can be difficult to maintain within a farrowing group because of extended or variable WEI, poor rebreeding performance and/or small subsequent litter sizes. Early weaning can worsen the situation. These problems are often attributed to loss of body condition, and thus body tissue reserves, due to the large metabolic demands of lactation on the young growing sow. There is ample evidence that changes in live weight and body composition can have profound effects on reproduction. However, there is also evidence that reproductive performance can be affected without obvious changes in body condition. Differences in nutrient partitioning between growing and mature sows, mediated through metabolic hormones, may impact on levels of reproductive hormones and consequent reproductive performance. In an effort to better understand the fundamental differences between growing and mature sows in control of post-weaning reproduction, comparisons of first and fifth litter sows from farrowing through early gestation were part of an intensive research study conducted at the University of Manitoba Glenlea Swine Research Unit. It has been proposed that modern genotype gilts are more likely to remain in the breeding herd if they begin their breeding life with greater body tissue reserves (i.e. are more mature), than is currently common practice. Our results along with our own research herd performance support this concept. While early-weaned 1st parity sows in the current study demonstrated variability in weaning-to-estrus interval (WEI) and subsequent reproductive performance, this is not a common problem in our herd. Reproduction and WEI following 18 to 21 day lactation are comparable to multi-parous sows. In conclusion, our data is consistent with the theory that variability in WEI and subsequent reproductive performance of early-weaned 1st parity sows is linked to body tissue reserves and catabolism during late gestation as well as throughout lactation. It also points to the need for ongoing research with modern genotypes to determine more appropriate feeding and management strategies to realize their reproductive potential and optimize longevity in the breeding herd.

Photoperiod, Timed Weaning and Reproductive Performance of Sows

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The objectives of this project were:
1. To determine the effect of weaningtime (i.e. hour of weaning) on the interval from weaning to estrus, timing of the luteinizing hormone (LH) surge, timing and number of ovulations and subsequent reproductive performance of sows kept under short or long photoperiod.
2. To determine the feasibility of fixed time artificial insemination (AI) following this treatment.

Liquid Diets for Young Pigs: A “Solution” for Post-Weaning Morbidity and Mortality

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Piglet mortality and morbidity in the farrowing and nursery stages have shown little, if any, improvement in the past 10 years. Losses can be contributed to poor feed conversion, cost of treatments, and early weaning. Evidence shows that piglets can grow 70% faster on a liquid diet, which implies that sow milk production is not enough to sustain piglets at an older age. All milk-replacer contraptions must be cleaned and sanitized at regular intervals to minimize bacterial growth. This is why many milk replacements have been acidified; it helps to reduce bacterial growth.

Studies have shown that 18 day old pigs grow 2.3 times faster on milk replacement than pigs weaned straight to the nursery or left to suckle. These pigs gained more body fat, 10% more protein, and have a more developed small intestine. The difference is also significant in hotter temperatures.

Energy is the most difficult aspect of milk replacement. Much of the energy in sow milk comes from fat calories. Feed conversion is better in piglets fed high fat milk replacements than low fat replacements. A negative aspect of high fat replacement is an increase of amino acid oxidation (ultimately they excrete more). This results in less muscle deposition than piglets fed low fat replacement (most likely due to the low-fat feed piglets consuming more feed). Corn syrup solids (CSS) fed as a carbohydrate replacement to piglets had no effect on growth performance, feed conversion, or average daily feed intake. It can be a quality alternative to lactose (the main milk protein) in liquid milk replacement diets.

The Real Impact of Boars in Breeding Programs

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The boar is obviously an essential part of any swine operation. There is a lot of labour involved with the use of a boar in an AI system, so the question arises: is it worth it? We know that boars can stimulate puberty, heat detection, and return to estrus, but can it actually increase fertility? Boars release pheromones (specifically, androstenol and androstenone), which are smelled by the female and help to invoke a standing response. Boar stimulation will also increase the release of LH (Luteinizing Hormone) in the female, which will lead to follicle development, production of steroids, and ovulation. Young boars are not effective in reducing the age to puberty in gilts. Wean to service intervals can be impacted by boar exposure and even exposure to estrus sows. Some causes of reduced fertility (such as season or parity) can be relieved to some degree by controlled boar exposure. Research shows that 48% of females will stand without boar exposure, but with all types of stimulus this number can be bumped up to 97%. Boars may help AI success by inducing uterine contractions by the sow by inducing an oxytocin release. Boar exposure at time of mating can also serve as added insurance against excessive leakage at insemination.

Emerging Diseases and Their Impact on Animal Commerce: The Argentine Lesson

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Benefits of feeding phytase to growing-finishing pigs

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Phosphorus is an essential nutrient. It is required for bone growth, cell structure, and enzymatic processes, to name a few. However, meeting phosphorus requirements for growing pigs is difficult. That is because approximately 60 % to 70 % of phosphorus in plant-based swine feed ingredients occurs as phytate phosphorus. Phytates are complex molecules that bind phosphorus and other nutrients for storage in seeds and grains. Monogastric animals lack sufficient intestinal phytase, which is the enzyme required to break down phytate molecules and release bound phosphorus. Several studies have shown that supplementing swine diets with the phytase from various sources improves phytate phosphorus utilization. Adding phytase to swine diets may release bound nutrients and increase their digestibilities. However, the extent of such improvement varies with source of phytase and diet type. The objective of our study was to investigate the efficacy of a microbial phytase, specifically Phyzyme XP, a microbial 6-phytase, on phytate phosphorus hydrolysis by growing-finishing pigs. Results from this study show that there was no significant dietary effect on feed intake, average daily gain or feed efficiency. Phytase supplementation did improve fecal phosphorus digestibility compared with the non-supplemented diets. There was no significant difference in phosphorus digestibility between supplementing phytase at 500 or 1000 units of phytase per kilogram of diet. Supplementing the negative control diet with 500 units of phytase per kilogram of diet improved gross energy digestibility from 86.6% to 87.8%. The effect of phytase supplementation on calcium, crude protein, and dry matter digestibility was not significant, but there was a 3% improvement in dry matter digestibility as a result of phytase supplementation at 500 units per kilogram of diet. It was concluded that the phytase enzyme evaluated in this study improves phytate phosphorus utilization in growing-finishing pigs. Microbial phytase may also enhance energy and dry matter utilization of the diet. However, there appears to be no benefit to supplementing this particular phytase at a rate higher than 500 units of phytase per kilogram of diet.