Gastric Ulcers: An Under-Recognized Cause of Mortality and Morbidity

Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2003 | No Comments

Ulceration of the pars oesophagea is a cause of sow and grow-finish mortality. The mortality rate due to gastric ulceration has increased in the past decade and is one of the most important causes of death. Many hogs at slaughter have some degree of ulceration. It is difficult to address the severity of the ulceration by inspection alone. Unless ulcerations are severe and chronic, there seems to be no relationship between growth rate and stomach lesions. If feed particle size is too small it will increase the incidence of death by ulceration, but the feed-to-gain efficiency improves. Anything less than 700 to 750 microns is the point where ulceration begins. Small feed particles pass through faster and increase the fluidity of the stomach, which allows more contact of stomach acids with the stomach wall lining. The most practical solution is to ensure there is no disruption in the feeding program. Respiratory disease in a grow-finish barn is recognized as resulting in an increase in ulcers. Alkaline salts have been investigated as practical feed additives to help neutralize acidity in the stomach and improve structure of the gut. Surprisingly, gastric ulcers are highly heritable. There is some belief that ulcers are infectious. Many pigs that had ulcers housed certain bacteria that are thought to lead to ulceration.

MANURE VALUE, PRICING SYSTEMS, AND SWINE PRODUCTION DECISIONS

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Response of weaner pigs to feed rationing and frequency of feeding

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Nutritional manipulation increases intramuscular fat levels in the Longissimus muscle of female finisher pigs

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AI Management

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The popular switch to AI has brought about new responsibilities. Breeding herd success relies on 3 general areas: semen quality, technician ability, and female fertility. Shortcomings in any one of these areas will reduce productivity. The most important responsibility for the technician is good heat detection. Purchasing from a source that has a reliable quality assurance program can ensure semen quality. The semen should be stored in a fridge 17 to 18 degrees C and rotated two times per day. Hormones emitted from a boar that is present are needed for good heat detection. Head to head contact and physical stimulation from the boar helps significantly to get the sow into a standing heat. Make sure that the boars are not housed near the sows in order to avoid habituation (sows getting used to the boars presence and becoming unresponsive to the boar). Sows who come into estrus late after weaning should be bred ASAP, and sows that come into heat early after weaning should be delayed breeding. One good, thorough heat detection per day should be sufficient for the sows (gilts should be checked twice a day regardless). A late breeding can result in reduced immunity by the sow and compromise reproduction quality. The challenge for each breeding manager is to develop an estrus detection program and an accompanying insemination schedule that results in a satisfactory level of reproductive performance.

Three Points to Watch for Optimal Productivity

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Three points to watch for optimal productivity include mouldy feed, gilt pool, and adequate number of serviced sows per week. Certain new barn equipment has areas where mouldy feed can build up. This mould build up can produce mycotoxins, which can be extremely harmful to pigs. This can affect conception, 4 to 8 week failure rate, and result in repeat estrus. Preventative measures include checking regularly for mouldy feed, graphing reproductive performance, and using a farrowing rate decision tree. The goals of any gilt program should be better sow longevity, productivity consistency across parities, and a better gilt pool predictability. Gilt pool checklists are great to normalize any gilt program. This should include gilt age at service, finisher phase diet, modified open gilt diet, consistent teaser boar, biofeedback for immunity, and proper pen space. Breeding the right number of sows per week is important to reduce variation in pig flow. This can be accomplished by using graphs and information from PigCHAMP to hit the weekly target.

Impact of Farm Size and Type on Competitive Advantage

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Financial and reproductive performance of lactating-pregnant Creole sows

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Lifetime and post-weaning determinants of performance indices of pigs

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Panel Presentation: Views on Piglet Processing and Farrowing

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Proper management of piglets is important, especially in a nucleus herd. Tattooing the piglets will ensure that the breed and farm origin of the pigs is followed throughout production. Individual sow record keeping helps keep track of the litter breeding history of the sows and then it can be determined whether the sow is worth re-breeding. Piglet fostering is important so piglets can be grouped by size and put on the better milking sows if they are falling behind. It is done within the room to avoid potential spreading of disease. Treatments are administered as the need arises and they are all recorded for quality assurance. Iron is injected and tails are docked to minimize tail biting and for use as a handle. Castration is performed at day 8 on the market pigs. Secondary factors affecting piglets include having healthy mothers, optimal sanitation, timely fostering techniques, quality employees, and reasonable targets.