Biosecurity in Swine Production: Widespread concerns?

Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2009 | No Comments

Biosecurity can be defined as procedures, efforts and programmes established to reduce the risk of disease introduction into pig populations (Conner, 2001). Moreover, it can slow down the transmission of endemic pathogens (viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi) thus limiting the spread of disease at the herd, region or country level. Good herd biosecurity is therefore essential to protect herd health status but it is also important when implementing a program for control or eradication of diseases at a regional level.

Feed ingredients differing in fermentable fibre content affect nitrogen excretion and fermentation metabolites in weaned pigs

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An experiment was conducted with 64 weaned pigs (24 kg) to evaluate the
effect of different fibre sources on N excretion and the fermentation
metabolites produced in the gastrointestinal tract. The diets were balanced in
energy and amino acids with soy protein isolate, pea starch, sucrose and a
premix and supplemented with wheat bran, cellulose, peas, pea hulls, pea
inner fibre, sugar beet pulp, flaxseed meal (FSM) or corn DDGS, as fibre
sources. Fecal samples were collected for 3 consecutive days from d10 and
pigs were slaughtered on d16. Digesta from ileum and colon were collected
and analyzed for their short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and ammonia content.
When wheat bran was the reference ingredient, the total tract N digestibility
was lower with FSM and DDGS (72 and 74% respectively) and higher in pea
hulls (81%) and pea inner fibre (79%). This, in turn affected the amount of
faecal N excreted, the latter being higher with FSM and DDGS (280 and 262
g/kg N intake respectively). The pea- and pea hull-based diets had higher
SCFA at the ileum level, while no difference in SCFA concentration was observed among diets in the
colon. Higher ammonia concentration was also found in the colon of pigs fed
with peas, pea hulls, FSM and DDGS, which might adversely affect the pig’s
gut environment.

A Dose of the The New Reality

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As the week comes to a close, anyone who works in the pork industry likely feels a bit run down, and it has nothing to do with contracting an actual viral infection, but it has everything to do with H1N1 influenza and its unfolding story.
For an agricultural industry that has often been on the leading edge of new developments, technology and change, the pork industry can add another one to its portfolio. It has now been thrown into the limelight as a new media guinea pig. By that I mean, it’s the first industry, certainly agricultural or food industry, to face the influence and fallout from today’s new media and the public’s instant-messaging obsessions and short attention spans. The “old media” outlets are not immune to some finger-pointing as television, radio, newspapers quickly labeled the new influenza virus and
outbreak as “swine flu,” which then spread like wildfire. The 24/7-news-media cycle in which we all live with today requires cable news and others to constantly fill the air waves, and that means talking and talking and talking about everything and anything you can think of related to a particular topic. However, its the “new media” of bloggers, text messages and Twitter where the inaccuracies, rumor and misinformation flourished and trumped patience, clarity and facts. Anti-animal agriculture groups even took advantage of the situation and used the new media vehicles to
campaign deeper and harder against modern agriculture that they so lovely like to label “factory farms.”

Characterization of Lesions in U.S. Cull Sows

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Physical and reproductive conditions of 3,158 cull sows from 2 U.S. Midwestern
harvest facilities were assessed. Body condition, feet, shoulders, teeth, lungs, and
reproductive tracts were visually evaluated for gross lesions at harvest. Based
on the observations of this study, body condition score (BCS) was associated
with several abnormal conditions of sows. Foot-related lesions (overgrown toes,
foot pad lesions) represented the most frequently documented lesions.
Temporal associations of the interactions between lesions and BCS are un-
known. Even though causal relations were not established by this study, the
strong associations observed suggest that sows who do not respond to increased
feeding with improved BCS could reasonably be expected to have additional
lesions that may impact performance and welfare. On-farm management prac-
tices may be related to 1 or more lesions (including foot lesions) that had a high
prevalence in this study.
Farm management practices and nonhuman animal welfare could not be
evaluated with this study so no extrapolation can be given to the type of animal
housing or the antemortem behavior of these sows.

Effects of yeast culture supplementation on growth performance, intestinal health, and immune response of nursery pigs

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The present study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary supplementation of YC on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, intestinal morphology, intestinal ecology, and immune function changes of nursery pigs compared
with an antibiotic growth promoter (AGP). The results this study indicated that supplementation of 5 g/kg of YC improves growth performance of pigs probably by improving villus height, gut immune response, and nutrient digestibility. The results of the study also suggest that YC could be an alternative to AGP in diets for the weaning pigs.

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

Nest-building behaviour in sows and consequences for pig husbandry

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A better understanding of behaviour patterns in general and farrowing behaviour, including nest-building in sows, is essential for an economically successful pig production. Compared to their ancestor, the wild boar, domestic sows perform nest-building as part of maternal behaviour in a nearly unmodifiedway. However, the pre-parturient behaviour is considerably affected by the husbandry system and is only shown to its full extent when environmental circumstances allow it. If the sow cannot follow her natural behavioural need, for instance when no material is available, she redirects her nest-building behaviour towards the pen or crate equipment. This results in stereotypes and stress, followed by a reduced reproduction performance. With regard to animal health and welfare, loose farrowing systems provide a
good alternative while maintaining a high production performance. As long as these systems are not implemented, the
farmers should provide at least suitable nest-building material like straw. Concluding, further research should evaluate and promote alternative enriched systems in order to support the economic use of these systems for the farmers.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/livsci

Potassium diformate in the diet of reproducing sows: Effect on performance of sows and litters

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This study questioned whether the addition of K-diformate to sow diets also would improve performance of sows and suckling piglets. The objective of this study was therefore to establish whether there is a beneficial effect of
using K-diformate in sow diets on body condition of sows, growth performance of piglets, nutrient digestibility, sow milk composition, and microbiota in sow feces. It was found that supplementing sow diets with K-diformate increased
backfat thickness of sows during gestation, increased digestibility of fat, ash, and content of estimated energy of diets during lactation, and increased birth weight and weaning weight of piglets. K-diformate supplemented diets did not affect the microbial population in the gastro-intestinal tract of the sows. Tendencies towards increased milk fat content of sows fed K-diformate require further evaluation.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/livsci

Differential growth and development of pigs as assessed by X-ray computed tomography

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The purpose of this study was to quantify and mathematically describe the differential growth and development of body components of live pigs. Linear and non-linear models were developed to evaluate the patterns of growth and development of each body component realtive to the computed tomography (CT) BW. The results of this study indicate that the nonlinear (e.g. augmented allometric and generalized nonlinear) functions provided better descriptions of the growth and development of most body components of the live pig than did the simpler (e.g., linear and allometric) models.

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

Amino acid supplementation of hydrolyzed feather meal diets for finisher pigs

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This study determines the possibility of replacing soybean meal (SBM) in finisher pig diets completely with hydrolyzed feather meal (FM). It was concluded that the corn-FM diets were not as effective as the corn-SBM diet when it can to BW gain of finisher pigs. The results indicated that pigs fed the corn-FM diet supplemented with the necessary amino acids can utilize feed and amino acids for birthweight gain and lean gain as efficiently as those fed the corn-SBM diet.

For the full text please subscribe to the Journal of Animal Science

Dietary fiber for pregnant sows: Influence on sow physiology and performance during lactation

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This study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding sows a bulky diet during gestation on their physiological and metabolic adaptations during the peripartum period, and to determine how these effects may relate to sow and piglet performances. It was found that the greater appetite of lactating sows fed a high fiber diet during gestation does not seem related to changes in glucose and insulin metabolism and may be partly due to decreased secretion of leptin. The greater feed consumption was accompanied by a faster growth rate of piglets without sparing effect on maternal body reserves.

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