Looking Beyond Production Benchmarking

Posted in: Economics, Pork Insight Articles, Production by admin on March 30, 2011 | No Comments

Benchmarking is a continuous process that allows for comparison and improvement when used properly. Benchmarking can be overwhelming due to the amount of data, but can be useful when both production and financial information is considered. For production, mortality rate for pre-weaning and finishing, the pigs produced for size of farm, and hog sales are some useful figures. For example, the top 50% had similar born alive/litter, weaned/litter, and weaned/sow/year. Financial information shows that the top 50% receive more per pig, and also pay less for each pig produced. The increase in net profit appears to be mostly due to a decreased feed cost per pig. Comparisons between provinces can show how competitive a region is. When attempting to benchmark, it is important to consider what to measure, who to benchmark against, and the time period.

Euthanasia

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Euthanasia is a necessary part of swine production, so it is important that it is conducted with skill and minimal animal suffering. When the animal is insensible it can no longer feel pain or distress, and it is important to confirm this stage is reached. Acceptable mechanical means of euthanasia include blunt force trauma (>12kg), non-penetrative captive gun (>12kg), or captive bolt gun (all weights). It is important for staff to understand the process of death, which includes insensibility, tonic (rigid limbs), and clonic (paddling) steps. Gas euthanasia using carbon dioxide is also acceptable for all weights, but from practical aspects can usually only be used for suckling and nursery pigs. One of the most important aspects of euthanasia is staff training. The employee should know when euthanasia is necessary, how to competently complete it, and do so in a respectful manner.

An observational study on the prevalence and impact of Isospora suis in suckling piglets in southwestern Ontario, and risk factors for shedding oocysts

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Production by admin on February 2, 2011 | No Comments

An observational study was conducted to determine the commoness of Isospora suis oocysts in fecal samples from suckling piglets in Ontario. thee relationship between the presence of I. suis oocysts and diarrhea was also evaluated. Fifty farms and 709 litters of piglets were included in the study. Oocysts were detected on 70% of farms, with 187 litters infected. A litter of pigs that was positive for oocysts was significantly more likely to exhibit diarrhea than a litter that was negative. Management and housing factors were examined with respect to risk factors for the presence of I. suis.

Farms that did not use a detergent when cleaning farrowing crates were 10-times more likely to be positive for I. suis than those that used a detergent (P = 0.007). It was concluded that coccidiosis is a common problem on Ontario swine farms.

Neither the study by Mundt et al  nor the work described here revealed an association between the type of flooring in the farrowing crate environment and risk of I. suis infection. Possibly a much larger study designed to examine this particular aspect may be necessary before the role of flooring can be ruled out as an important risk factor for I. suis infection. The difficulty in interpreting the findings of this trial with regard to flooring type is that there were many different types of flooring designs and materials used on the 50 farms in the study. Overall, this study demonstrated that I. suis oocysts were present in the feces of suckling piglets on many Ontario farms and that the presence of oocysts was associated with diarrhea at the litter level. The work therefore suggests that coccidiosis is likely a common problem on Ontario pig farms.

Mycotoxins in Swine Diets

Posted in: Production by admin on November 1, 2010 | No Comments

The cool, wet weather we experienced this summer has caused many problems for the farmers in this area.  This fall there is one more – there are reports of grain that is contaminated with fusarium mould.

Digestibility of dietary fiber in distillers coproducts fed

Posted in: Production by admin on September 2, 2010 | No Comments

The objective of this work was to measure the apparent ileal digestibility (AID) and the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of dietary fiber in different sources of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and to calculate hindgut fermentation of dietary fiber in DDGS fed to growing pigs. Diets, ileal digesta, and fecal samples from pigs fed corn or diets containing 1 of 28 sources of distillers coproducts were analyzed for fiber. Of the 28 sources of coproducts, 24 sources were corn DDGS (C-DDGS), 1 source was sorghum DDGS (S-DDGS), 1 source was DDGS from a blend of sorghum and corn (SC-DDGS), 1 source was C-DDGS from beverage production (DDGSbeverage), and a source of corn distillers dried grain (DDG) was also included in the experiment. Total dietary fiber (TDF) and DM were analyzed in all DDGS sources, ileal digesta, and fecal samples. Hindgut fermentation was calculated by subtracting values for AID from values for ATTD. In 10 sources of DDGS and in ileal and fecal samples from pigs fed those sources, crude fiber, ADF, NDF, insoluble dietary fiber (IDF), and soluble dietary fiber (SDF) were also determined. Concentrations of CP, ether extract, and ash were also analyzed in these samples, and concentrations of organic residue (OR) were calculated by subtracting the concentration of CP, ether extract, and water from OM. The AID and the ATTD of TDF differed (P < 0.01) among sources of C-DDGS. The average AID of TDF in 10 sources of C-DDGS (21.5%) was not different (P > 0.05) from the AID of TDF in corn (16.5%), but the ATTD and the hindgut fermentation of TDF in the 10 sources of C-DDGS (44.5 and 23.0%, respectively) were greater (P < 0.05) than in corn (23.1 and 6.6%, respectively). The AID of crude fiber, NDF, IDF, SDF, and TDF  were not different between C-DDGS and S-DDGS, but the AID of ADF was greater (P < 0.01) in S-DDGS (57.4%) than in C-DDGS (36.8%). The ATTD of OR in S-DDGS (72.5%) and SC-DDGS (68.4%) were less (P < 0.05) than in C-DDGS (77.1%), but the ATTD of ADF, NDF, IDF, SDF, and TDF were not different among the 3 sources of DDGS. The AID, ATTD, and hindgut fermentation of TDF were not different between  DDGS from an ethanol plant and DDGS from a beverage plant. The average AID, ATTD, and hindgut fermentation of TDF in the 24 sources of C-DDGS were 23.0, 47.3, and 24.4%, respectively. It is concluded that the AID and ATTD of fiber differ among sources of DDGS and those differences may contribute to differences in the digestibility of energy in DDGS.

For more information the full article can be found at http://jas.fass.org/

Dietary chlortetracycline induces differential effects on the accuracy of quantitative computed tomography and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry in assessing vertebral bone mineral density in growing pigs

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The effect of dietary chlortetracycline (CTC) on the bone mineral density (BMD) of growing pigs was assessed using quantitative computed tomography (qCT) and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Pigs of 28 and 84 days old were given either drug-free (n = 48) or CTC-fortified (800 ppm) diets for 56 days. At day 28, eight control pigs were selected for qCT and DXA, and their second lumbar vertebrae were removed. Eight control and eight CTC-treated animals were selected at days 84 and 140, respectively, and six pigs from each of these groups were assessed at day 168. Several CTC-exposure variables had significant effects (P < 0.05) on the relationships between qCT-, trabecular- and vertebral body-BMD (R² increments of 0.03 and 0.01, respectively) and between DXA-, trabecular- and vertebral body-BMD (R²increments of 0.40 and 0.10, respectively). The findings of this study demonstrate that the qCT method is more reliable than the DXA technique in monitoring tetracycline-induced changes in porcine vertebral BMD. The magnitude of the effect of the drug treatment on the DXA-BMD estimation was surprisingly high, suggesting that DXA should not be used to monitor such changes in growing pigs. In contrast, the marginal influence of drug treatment on the qCT-BMD assessment suggests that this methodology is useful in this context. Furthermore, the qCT method may also have applications in the investigation of the effect of other osteotropic substances or bone metabolism modulators on BMD.

For more information the full article can be found at  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/10900233

Development of rapid immunoassays for the detection of ractopamine in swine urine

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The monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against ractopamine (Rac) were prepared and their properties identified by indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunoabsorbant assay (ELISA). The IC50 of mAbs was 2.7 ng ml_1 towards Rac or 9.3 ng ml_1 towards Rac-glucuronides and no cross-reactivity (CR) towards other competitors except dobutamine (CR: 3.76%). Based on the mAbs, the Rac-kit (kit) and Rac-strip (strip) were developed to detect Rac residues in swine urine. The strip and kit assay could be performed within 5–10 min and 2 h, respectively, allowing the analysis of urine samples without the need for sample clean-up. The detection limits were 1 ngml_1 for kit and 3 ngml_1 with the unaided eye, and 0.2 ng ml_1 with the Strip Reader for strip. The correlation coefficients (R2) were 0.988 for kit in the range 0–128.0 ng ml_1, and 0.987 for strip in the range 0–10.8 ng ml_1. Comparing the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with the kit or strip in swine urine spiked with Rac standards, the differences ranged from 1.4% to 4.5% for kit and 1.0% to 4.7% for strip. However, the differences were greater than 54% for the kit and 55% for the strip test for the analysis of urine from swine treated with Rac. The results obtained from GC-MS using hydrolysed urine samples were generally in good agreement with those obtained from strip or kit using non-hydrolysed urine samples.

For more information the full article can be found at  http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tfac19

Expression of chemokine decoy receptors and their ligands at the porcine maternal–fetal interface

Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles, Production by admin on August 3, 2010 | No Comments

Successful pregnancy requires coordinated maternal–fetal cross-talk to establish vascular connections that support conceptus growth. In pigs, two waves of spontaneous fetal loss occur and 30–40% of conceptuses are lost before parturition. Previous studies associated these losses with decreased angiogenic and increased inflammatory cytokines. Chemokines, a sub-category of cytokines, and decoy receptors control leukocyte trafficking, angiogenesis and development. The availability of chemokines is regulated by three non-signalling decoy receptors: chemokine decoy receptor (D6), Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (DARC) and Chemocentryx decoy receptor (CCX CKR). We hypothesized that the expression of these receptors and their chemokine ligands regulate the porcine pregnancy success or failure. Here, we describe for the first time the transcription and translation of all three decoy receptors and several chemokine ligands in endometrium and trophoblast associated with healthy and arresting conceptuses at gestation day (gd) 20 and gd50. Among decoy receptors, transcripts for DARC were significantly reduced in endometrium, whereas that for CCX CKR were significantly increased in endometrium and trophoblast at gd50
arresting compared with healthy sites. However, western blot analysis revealed no differences in decoy receptor expression between healthy and arresting tissues. Transcripts for decoy receptor ligands CCL2, CCL3, CCL4, CCL5, CCL11, CCL19, CCL21, CXCL2 and CXCL8 were stable between healthy and arresting littermates. Quantification by SearchLight chemiluminescent protein array confirmed ligand expression at the protein level. These data indicate that decoy receptors and ligands are expressed at the porcine maternal–fetal interface and dysregulation of decoy receptor (DARC and CCX CKR) transcripts occurs at sites of fetal arrest.

Conjugated linoleic acid differentially regulates fat deposition in backfat and longissimus muscle of finishing pigs

Posted in: Production by admin on July 30, 2010 | No Comments

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of extracellular CLA on proliferationand differentiation of cultured adipocytes and its dietary supplementation on backfat and intramuscular fat deposition in finishing pigs. Seven-day-old Duroc × Landrace × Large White pigs were killed to obtain adipocytes for culture. Adding 3 forms of CLA (cis-9, trans-11 CLA, trans-10, cis-12 CLA, or CLA mixture) at concentrations of 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, and 400 μM to culture medium for 10 d increased cell differentiation (P < 0.05). In addition, 3 forms of CLA enhanced cell proliferation (P < 0.05) at 50 to 350 μM and inhibited cell proliferation (P < 0.05) at a concentration of 400 μM. Seventy-two Duroc × Landrace × Large White crossbred gilts weighing 60.7 } 2.8 kg were randomly assigned to 1 of the 3 dietary treatment (control, 1.25% CLA, and 2.5% CLA). The pigs were slaughtered at 100.0 } 5.7 kg. Dietary CLA increased lean percentage (3.5 to 4.7%; P = 0.07), intramuscularfat content (P < 0.05), and shear force (P < 0.05), but reduced 10th- and first-rib backfat depth (P ≤ 0.05) and lipid oxidation (P < 0.05). The adipocyte diameter in backfat or LM was not affected by CLA. Supplemented CLA reduced Δ9-desaturase activity (P < 0.05) in backfat and LM, as well as fatty acid synthetase activity and lipoprotein lipase activity in backfat, but enhanced (P < 0.05) adipocyte fatty acid binding protein mRNA content in LM. These data indicate that dietary CLA regulates fat deposition by affecting adipocyte proliferation, adipocyte differentiation, gene expression, and key metabolic enzymes of lipid metabolism.

For more information the full article can be found at http://jas.fass.org/

Airborne porcine circovirus in Canadian swine confinement buildings

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Porcine circovirus type 2 has been linked to many diseases, such as postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome and can be found in most commercial swine confinement buildings around the world. Although the exact role of the virus in the appearance of disease in animals is not fully understood, the mechanisms responsible for the transmission of the virus are currently believed to happen mostly by contact. Nevertheless, the possibility of airborne transmission cannot be rejected. This study investigated the presence of the virus, total bacteria and total dusts in aerosols. Air samples were taken with gelatin filters in swine confinement buildings and were analyzed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Interestingly, concentrations of airborne PCV2 of up to 107 genomes per cubic meter of air were detected. Airborne dust concentrations were correlated to airborne concentrations of PCV2 and total bacteria. Although the infectivity potential of the airborne viral loads were not evaluated, it is clear that the virus can become airborne in detectable concentrations in commercial swine confinement building environments. The significance of this finding in an epidemiological point of view will need further investigation.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03781135