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Prairie Swine Centre is an affiliate of the University of Saskatchewan
Prairie Swine Centre is grateful for the assistance of the George Morris Centre in developing the economics portion of Pork Insight.
Financial support for the Enterprise Model Project and Pork Insight has been provided by:
Is it getting better? Animal welfare aspects in subsidized dairy and pig stables
Posted in: Welfare by admin on January 1, 2008 | No Comments
The Farm Investment Scheme (FIS)does not achieve important improvements in the behavioural aspect of animal welfare at the farm level. Although there are some meliorations in the dairy farms, these are mainly due to the abandonment of tethered-stalls – a husbandry form which is due to become extinct even without policy intervention
in the middle run. At the pig farms, restriction of animal behaviour is a much more severe problem and the FIS can not account for any improvement.
Incentive Systems under ex post Moral Hazard to Control Outbreaks of Classical Swine Fever in the Netherlands
Posted in: Welfare by admin on January 1, 2007 | No Comments
In this paper, we argue that the nature of animal disease (e.g. highly contagious or infectious
disease, the length of the incubation period, how obvious clinical signs are) matters greatly while
designing incentive structure for early disclosure of contagious disease. A more complete analysis of
farmer’s decision to timely report a disease outbreak or a suspicious case is needed. This study proposes a more realistic approach to tackle the problem of farmers’ motivation to disclose of a disease. A simple conceptual stochastic dynamic programming model is used to better understand and optimize the individual farmer decision of a timely disease reporting, given certain incentive parameters defined by a regulator. An empirical study is performed in the context of CSF, a highly contagious disease without obvious clinical signs, in the Netherlands. The model allows us to investigate which disease parameters and economic incentive parameters are essential and how they influence farmers’ decision on early disclosure. After providing basic results, the article discusses their implications and the further model improvement and including of principal-agent relationship in the model.
The impact of group size on damaging behaviours, aggression, fear and stress in farm animals
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Group size may have a large impact on the behaviour of farm animals, especially in species where the natural group size is very different from the group size used on farms. In cattle, large group sizes are common in wild populations. For poultry and pigs, however, the group size found in the wild is generally much smaller than the group size found under farming conditions (Collias et al., 1966; Gonyou, 2001). Large group sizes may lead to damaging behaviour, aggression and increased fear and stress levels. The aim of this review is to study the impact of group size on these parameters and to identify housing and management options that can help to reduce problems caused by increased group size. Increasing group size was found to increase the risk of damaging behaviour, such as feather pecking in laying hens and vulva biting in sows. Aggression does not appear to be a problem in large groups, because dominance relationships in these groups are not based on individual recognition, but based on other signals such as body size, avoiding costly fights. There is evidence for increased fear and stress levels in large groups compared with small groups, but fearfulness is also strongly affected by type of housing. To minimize problems in large groups it seems helpful to offer separate functional areas and to provide cover, reducing disturbance between animals. To minimize the risk of damaging behaviour, such as feather pecking in laying hens and tail biting in pigs, stimulating foraging, exploration and manipulation behaviour by providing sufficient substrate (straw, wood shavings and sand) offers perspective. Rearing the animals in a system that allows the development of all these behaviours is very important. Other solutions can be found in optimizing the diet and offering extra foraging opportunities. Furthermore, genetic selection against damaging behaviour seems promising. In conclusion, group size mainly has an effect on damaging behaviour and fear and stress in pigs and poultry. The effect on aggressive behaviour is limited. To reduce damaging behaviour, fear and stress, it is important to provide a complex environment with ample behavioural opportunities and separate functional areas.
Regional Eradication of PRRS Virus: A Pilot Project
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A little over 4 years ago, a practicing veterinarian suggested to us that producers in a particular region in southern Minnesota might be interested in attempting to act together to control PRRS virus. In Phase I, eastern Rice County in Minnesota, USA was chosen as the region to perform the study given its natural borders and presumed low prevalence of PRRS. First the farms’ addresses were found using the MN Board of Animal Health database of pig farms in the state of Minnesota dated on 2000. Based on the information provided in that database each location was confirmed in a system of longitude-latitude coordinates in decimal degrees using a GPS device. The study involves 49 sites belonging to 35 producers. The objective in the first phase of this study was to determine if producers would allow their herds to be tested for PRRS and whether they would share this data with other producers. Secondly, to determine the prevalence of PRRSV in Rice County, USA and to assess the geographical distribution of PRRSV strains in the region. The participation of the producers reached 90%, which exceeded our goal, and they openly shared the status of their farms, positive experiences and frustrations with control of the virus. PRRS was detected at many sites; however, we have relatively little evidence of spread between farms since the project began. Phase II began in 2004, the project expanded to a second county in west-central Minnesota – Stevens County. This county has a markedly different type of producer with many producing breeding stock. The sow herds tend to be larger and more recently built. There are similar objectives for the project here, but a major difference is that no funding was provided to support testing. There were similar observations in Stevens County as in Rice County. However, the regional projects presented continued challenges, some of which were expected and some of which caused one to reflect on the value of the efforts. These challenges included identifying the local opinion leaders and determining if they support the concept; overcoming apprehensions and/or resentments that might reside at or below the surface in one or more of the regional participants; determining the locations for all the sites that have pigs; finding someone to pay for the program; the actual documenting of the impact of PRRS; and finally, getting the producers to invest in an attempt to stop the PRRS spread in their herds. National eradication of PRRS virus has been proposed for North America. Pseudorabies virus was hard enough to eradicate with regulatory program and even then it did not eliminate the virus from feral swine. It is believed that regional eradication of PRRS is achievable with the currently available diagnostic tools, vaccines and knowledge on biosecurity and elimination methods. Regional projects present continued challenges and if a group of producers are contemplating a control program, the region should have the following characteristics: excellent veterinary knowledge and leadership, few positive or variable PRRS status pigs entering the region for nursery or finishing; majority of producers willing to monitor the status and eliminate virus; and good collaboration with people who have exhibition pigs. In summary, the challenges are substantial and progress will be coupled with setbacks. But, our experience in these two regions for 4 years leads us to believe that it is achievable in the “right” regions.
Expression of porcine circovirus 2 ORF2 gene requires codon optimized E. coli cells
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Expert judgement on enrichment materials for pigs validates preliminary RICHPIG model
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Environmental enrichment is important for animal welfare, as farm animals are often kept in barren environments (e.g. Young, 2003). In 2001, the European Commission adopted a directive (2001/93/EC) which states that: ‘‘Pigs must have permanent access to a sufficient quantity of material to enable proper investigation and manipulation activities, such as straw, hay, wood, sawdust, mushroom compost, peat or a mixture of such, which does not compromise the health of the animals’’. This directive has been implemented in most EU member state’s legislation; however, a problem with the directive is that it is not clear. For example, it does not explain whether metal chains, ropes, rubber toys or hard plastic balls are sufficient materials to enable proper investigation and manipulation activities. In addition, the value of an enrichment material is most likely determined not only by the type of material, but also by other properties of the material such as the amount and frequency of material provision. A model, called RICHPIG, has been developed to calculate scores for the (relative) enrichment value of different materials from the point of view of the animals. In the model a number of benchmark treatments have been incorporated. These benchmarks do not only illustrate how the model works, they also provide a frame of reference for the assessment of new treatments. A preliminary version of RICHPIG was used to calculate scores (on a scale from 0, worst, to 10, best) for a set of enrichment materials and subsequently experts were asked to evaluate these materials and the model scores. This generated a first validation of the model, which can always be developed further as it has been constructed in a flexible format where information can be added when it becomes available. It serves as a statement regarding how internationally recognised experts assess enrichment materials in relation to proposed model scores, given the present state of science. The aim of this paper, therefore, was to examine expert opinion concerning enrichment materials for pigs and to determine how their scores relate to preliminary model scores. Using an e-mail questionnaire expert opinion was elicited in order to ‘validate’ the preliminary model. In total nine senior pig welfare experts assessed 64 enrichment materials ordered according to the preliminary model. Materials that generated the lowest scores included a mirror (attached to the wall), a concrete block, a rubber mat, straw at an absolute minimum, a mineral block, a heavy plastic ball, a chain, a rubber hose cross, a free toy (sow neck tether), a hanging car tire and a bucket (all median expert scores). Materials that generated the highest scores included whole straw with chopped beet roots, with maize silage or with additional feed, a bale of straw, long straw with fir branches and straw with forest bark and branches. Materials that the experts suggest as the minimum of what they consider acceptable enrichment included compost from a dispenser, straw pellets (loose or from a plastic dispenser) and straw in a metal basket. A high correlation was found between the preliminary model scores and the expert medians. This finding was confirmed in a workshop at an international conference, suggesting that there may be considerable scope for modelling to support ethical and political decision-making in the area of environmental enrichment for pigs.
Effect of Farm Floor Type on the Behaviour of Heavy Pigs during Pre-slaughter Handling
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In pig production, the relationships between welfare and the housing system are assuming increasing importance. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA, 2005) has recently collected the results of several studies on the effects that different kinds of floor and different space allowances have on the health, performance and behaviour of pigs into a scientific report. The aim of this study was to evaluate for heavy pigs, the possible relationships between the kind of floor and the physiological and behavioural responses during pre-slaughter handling. Seventy-five crossbreed Duroc x (Landrace x Large White) heavy pigs (average hot carcass weight 134.6 kg), mostly castrated males, were examined. All animals were supplied by one farm; 37 were reared in 3 boxes with a solid floor and 38 were reared in 3 boxes with a full slatted floor. The space allowances ranged from 0.97 m² to 1.15 m² for the former group and from 0.70 m² to 0.89 m² for the latter group. All subjects were delivered to the slaughterhouse in one consignment using a three-deck truck. All passageways had solid floors. At the end of the journey, which lasted 44 min, and after a rest of 9 min in the truck, the pigs were unloaded and kept in the resting pens, with solid floors, maintaining the division of the boxes from the farm. After 30 min of lairage the pigs were stunned by electronarcosis. The behavioural events were recorded at loading and unloading, in the upper deck of the truck and in the resting pens. During loading and unloading the number of reversals, balks, falls, slips, jumps, bites, evacuations and vocalizations were recorded for each group of pigs. From the observations made during the journey and during the lairage, the frequency of pigs standing, sitting and lying down were calculated. At the exsanguination, blood samples were collected for the determination of plasmatic content of cortisol, lactate and creatine kinase. The frequency of behavioural events and positions were evaluated by a ÷² test (Fisher exact test) while the plasma blood analysis data, previously normalized by a log transformation, were processed using ANOVA by the GLM procedure of SAS (1996). At loading, the pigs reared on the slatted floor were more difficult to drive along the passageway leading to the vehicle, as demonstrated by the reversals and balks, which reached a total of 77 % of the observed events. These difficulties could be due to a low tendency to move in the farm boxes, as is common for pigs reared on slatted floors (EFSA, 2005), and to the novelty of the kind of flooring encountered to reach the vehicle. Instead, the pigs reared on the solid floor did not show any difficulties in running quickly along the passageway. During transport, the pigs from the boxes with slatted floors lay down before the end of the journey while pigs reared on solid floors showed this behaviour only when the vehicle was stopped at the slaughterhouse and in the lairage pens. Overall, the different kind of floor encountered during pre-slaughter handling increased the psychological stress in the pigs reared on slatted floors, as suggested by the higher level of cortisol. Nevertheless, the condition experienced did not lead to physical stress, as demonstrated by the similar values of lactate and creatine kinase between the two groups of pigs.