Effect of milk deprivation during the lactation period on performance and digestive enzyme activities of the piglets following weaning

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Welfare by admin on September 25, 2006 | No Comments

Post-weaning performance of piglets from systems where lactation is disrupted (e.g. from multisuckling systems) is superior to conventionally reared piglets. The objective of this study was to establish whether restricted growth prior to weaning caused by disruption of suckling was an important factor in post-weaning performance and also whether there were related changes in gastro-intestinal development. Ten litters of eight piglets were used in a split-plot design. Half of each litter (limited suckling, LS) had suckling disrupted by separation from their dam for 7 h/day from day 14 to 28 after farrowing. The remainder of each litter was allowed to suck normally (normal suckling, NS). The same amount of creep feed was offered to LS piglets as consumed by NS littermates on the previous day. There were no differences in weight between LS and NS piglets at 14 days of age, but restricting access to the sow reduced weaning weight at 28 days of age (7.96 v. 9.00 kg; LS v. NS; P , 0.01; s.e.d. 0.23). Feed intakes were greater for LS than NS piglets over the first 28 days post weaning, particularly in the 1st week after weaning when feed efficiency was also improved (0.91 v. 0.62 kg gain per kg feed; P , 0.01; s.e.d. 0.08). As a result, LS piglets grew more rapidly in the first 28 days post weaning, particularly in the first 7 days after weaning. Subsequent performance to 8 weeks was similar for both groups. Digestive organ weights were not different at 2 and 9 days after weaning; nor were small intestine specific enzyme activities significantly different ( P . 0.05). Pancreatic trypsin activity was, however, greater ( P , 0.01) for LS pigs on both days 2 and 9 post weaning. In conclusion the restriction of growth as a result of limited suckling itself is an important factor in determining post-weaning performance and may be related to development of pancreatic trypsin activity.

Sandra Edwards

Sow shoulder lesions: Risk factors and treatment effects on an Ontario farm

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Welfare by admin on September 12, 2006 | No Comments

Farrowing sows spend the majority of their time laying on their side, and as a result can develop lesions on their shoulders. The sows on an Ontario farm were monitored on the development of lesions on different floor types. Lesions were scored on a scale of 0-4 on size and severity, and if lesions were 3 or 4 sows were assigned to a treatment group. The treatment involved including a steel plate or a rubber mat on the flooring , or leaving it as a control. There was an increase in risk of lesion formation in sows with a body condition score below 3 by 3.7 times (P<0.05), a flank-to-flank measurement of 94-104cm by 2.8 times (P<0.05), and an increase of 1kg to weaning weight  by 1.1 times (P<0.05). As well, Landrace or Duroc sows were more likely to develop lesions than Yorkshire sows, as were first or fifth and above parity sows. The sows with the stainless steel plate treatment had an average healing time of 39 days, the control group had 32 days, and the rubber mat group had 25 days. The cost for rubber mats with multiple uses becomes $0.09, and the benefit to sow welfare is significant enough to consider implementing.

Positive handling in late pregnancy and the consequences for maternal behaviour and production in sows

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Welfare by admin on May 23, 2006 | No Comments

Negative handling increases the stress for sows, but positive handling can actually increase the sow productivity. However, the studies on positive handling have largely been conducted over a longer time frame, and this study looked at acute positive handling before farrowing. The goal was to determine if acute positive handling can increase sows’ maternal behaviors. Sows were scored out of 6 for confidence 12 days before farrowing, then half of the group received positive handling for the 12 days. Positive handling included giving a sow feed nut, petting neck and head, and quiet talking. The control sows received minimal human contact. Behavior was recorded by video from two days before, to two days after farrowing on 11 high confidence and 11 low confidence sows. There was no difference in nest building behavior, nursing behavior, posture changes or bar chewing between control and treatment sows. Farrowing duration, piglet mortality, and piglet weight gain were likewise unaffected. Although short-term positive handling had little detectable effect, sows with an initial higher confidence score did have shorter farrowing duration, and spent more time resting prior to farrowing. Finally, sows with low confidence scores had reduced fear towards humans when part of the treatment, even after only two weeks of positive handling.

Alternative Dry Sow Housing

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Welfare by admin on April 5, 2006 | No Comments

The UK banned dry sow stalls in 1999, and since then there has been a trend away from stalls in the EU, and later North America. Properly managed group housing can be economically and productively similar to stalls. Within group housing, stalls are still useful for isolating sows with poor body condition scores, behavioural issues, or breeding. Voluntarily switching to group housing can prevent negative public opinion, and avoid a mandatory installation though legislation.

Group Housing Sows – Take Away Notes

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The EU is in the process of banning gestation stalls, and several countries have already done so. Some of the tips North American producers can learn from this include leaving 3 years for research, and a 2 year learning curve post-conversion. Other decisions to make are the type of system, grouping type, herd size, management, structure design, identification, observations, group mixing, and cost.

The welfare of finishing pigs in two contrasting housing systems: Fully-slatted versus straw-bedded accommodation

Posted in: Welfare by admin on January 26, 2006 | No Comments

It is generally perceived that pigs in straw bedding are experiencing a more welfare friendly environment. This paper sets out to determine if there are actual welfare benefits to straw bedding vs fully slated pens. Over 3 years using 1028 pigs researchers conducted four tests (2 in summer periods and 2 in winter periods) in which pigs were either put in fully slated rooms or straw-bedded rooms. Health records were kept to see if pigs became visibly ill or suffered from respiratory issues. Other factors that pigs were check for were body damage, hygiene, behavior, foot damage, measurements at slaughter, lung and cardiac lesions and gastric ulceration. The study also incorporated wet and dry feeding variations. The results of the study found little difference in several categories including mortality (health records), body damage, hygiene, and time spent eating and drinking. There were differences observed in specific health issues such as foot damage, toe damage was worse in straw while sole and heel damage was worse in fully slated rooms. Large difference were found in respiratory diseases which were high in straw bedded pens. Fully slated pens saw increases in tail biting, assumed to be because with no straw to root around in pigs began to investigate other pigs. Lameness was significantly treated more in fully slated pens. Overall days lost to treatment were 631 for fully slated pens and  904 for straw beds. Both systems hold benefits over the other, and also have short comings. This paper exposes the draw backs for potential improvement in either system.

To view this complete article please visit: http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/livsci/

To What Extent Does Wealth Maximization Benefit Farmed Animals? A Law and Economics Approach to a Ban on Gestation Crates in Pig Production

Posted in: Economics, Welfare by admin on January 10, 2006 | No Comments

This paper discusses the potential impacts animal activists could have on animal welfare if they attempted to push there wants through the courts by showing the potential increase in  value of converting from gestation stalls,  rather than trying to make change through public opinion. The economic theory of wealth maximization is proposed as a way to improve animal rights, stating: while people increasingly try to improve there own wealth and promote there own interest, people will be able to represent animal interests through there own. The paper sites that three quarters of Americans agree that farm animals should be free of controversial farming practices such as gestation crates but because of lack of information industrial agriculture producers continue to operate systems in which the public allegedly does not agree with. The paper suggests that legislation has potential to correct this market failure. Evans proposes that animal activists should focus on economic benefits when pushing legislation reforms. There are varying opinions about the economics of gestation crates but the paper argues that there are more positive economic results than negative. There are several studies which show welfare improvements to sows when using alternative housing systems which leads to the argument that the public is willing to pay more for pork if it is raised in a humane way.  Also stated is that pork has an inelastic demand, meaning if prices were to go up demand would not change significantly. Evans argues that even if there is an increase in cost to farmers from converting from gestation crates the marketing benefits will supplement the costs.

The Role of Oestradiol in the Uterine Peristalsis in the Perfused Swine Uterus

Posted in: Welfare by admin on January 1, 2006 | No Comments

This study was designed to examine the effects of oestradiol (E2) on sperm transport in the swine uterus. The bicornuate swine uterus is optimal for the study of the uterine transport and peristalsis because the influence of various factors can be examined on each uterine horn independently. Forty
swine uteri (with or without ovarectomy) were perfused for a period of up to 7 h. Two different E2 concentrations (3 or 30 pg/ml) in the perfusion medium were administered for 30 min unilaterally. Through an intracervical catheter 1 ml of a high concentrated dextran blue solution was administered
directly in the upper part of the cervix. After bilateral perfusion of the swine uterus with a bolus of 0.3 IU oxytocin the distribution of coloured particles was assessed macroscopically before and after incision of the uterine horns. Coloration was evaluated by two observers blinded to the site-specific administration of E2. In the 10 ovarectomized uteri with the 3 pg/ml E2 concentration a unilateral distribution towards the side of oestradiol administration was observed in six uteri, in four it was a bilateral distribution. In the 10 non-ovarectomized uteri with the 3 pg/ml E2 concentration a uni- and ipsilateral coloration was observed in five uteri, in five it was a bilateral
distribution. In the 20 uteri with 30 pg/ml E2, a unilateral coloration of the uterus horns was observed in all uteri. Oestradiol is one of the main factors, which influences the direction of the sperm transport in a dose-dependent manner, in the perfused swine uterus.

Formalised review of environmental enrichment for pigs in relation to political decision making

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Environmental enrichment is an important requirement for the welfare of farm animals, which are often kept in barren environments. This is also true for pigs. In 2001, the European Commission adopted a Directive (2001/93/EC) laying down minimum standards for the protection of pigs. In addition to requirements on noise levels, light conditions and water supply Directive 2001/93/EC 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.’’ A problem with the EC Directive is that its leaves too much room for interpretation. It is not clear, for example, whether metal chains, ropes, rubber toys or hard plastic balls are sufficient materials to enable proper investigation and manipulation activities. Although reviews have been published on the welfare of pigs generally (e.g. SVC, 1997) and on enrichment for captive animals generally (e.g. Young, 2003), no recent review on environmental enrichment for pigs is available, despite much scientific activity on the subject. In addition, a method is lacking to translate results of research into a specified directive. The aim of this paper, therefore, was to review the literature on environmental enrichment in pigs using a formalised procedure to start disclosing the scientific basis for the EC Directive as part of a larger project aimed at constructing a science-based model for assessing enrichment value in pigs. In order to help determine what is sufficient material for weaned and growing pigs, a literature review was conducted in a transparent and formalised way, systematically collecting relevant information in a database and translating this information into welfare-relevance. In total, 54 experiments reported in 47 references were selected for analysis. These references contained 200 statistically significant and welfare-relevant findings. A cross-table was constructed showing how classes of enrichment materials significantly affect classes of measured parameters. The classes of enrichment materials were metal objects, rubber, rope, wood, mineral blocks, roughage, substrates, straw and compound materials. The classes of welfare parameters were object-directed behaviour, pen-directed behaviour, tail and ear biting, aggression, (other) harmful social behaviour, activity (including play), fear (of humans), production and ‘health and hygiene’. With a number of important caveats described in the paper the cross-table allows the tentative conclusion that the available scientific evidence indicates that metal objects are not suitable enrichment materials for pigs, that rubber, rope, wood, roughage and substrates may be sufficient and that straw and compound materials are best. The methodology developed here for reviewing the available scientific evidence is recommended for other areas of application. It provided an important first step towards making transparent the scientific basis for legal requirements on enrichment materials for pigs and supporting political decision making in this area.

Porcine Circovirus Associated Diseases (PCVAD) in Canada – Prevalence, Co- Factors, and Risk Factors

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Since the discovery and characterization of PMWS in western Canada in 1995, the significance and dissemination of post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) has grown. For the purpose of this presentation I will use Porcine Circovirus- Associated Disease (PCVAD) instead of PMWS because the name PMWS does not include the variety of clinical presentations associated with the disease. This syndrome is characterized by respiratory, digestive, hemolymphatic, vascular, and renal lesions associated with Porcine circovirus-2 (PCV-2) infection. Clinical signs and lesions are observed in late nursery (8-10 weeks of age), and finisher pigs, 2–3 wks after placement. Affected pigs present all or some of the following: cough, diarrhea, anemia, icterus, poor body condition, generalized lymphadenopathy and skin lesions. In 2004, 2005 and part of 2006 PCV-2-associated disease showed a dramatic increase in the Eastern provinces of Canada. It should be noted that the PCV-2 isolated from these new cases presented significant changes in its genome. Due to the sudden appearance of these genetic changes and the severity of clinical disease and mortality seen in the Eastern provinces swine production, it has been proposed that these outbreaks were caused by the dissemination of a new strain of higher virulence. As of today, this hypothesis has not been proven experimentally or by field studies. However, Dr. Carl Gagnon from the University of Montreal is performing studies in order to prove this hypothesis. Up until the summer of 2006 in the Western Provinces, PCVAD was a sporadic finding. However the picture has changed from the sporadic form to the epizootic form on several farms. Veterinarians in the West report 3 different manifestations of PCVAD: Type I: Sporadic occurrence, minimal effect on long term mortality, mainly wasting presentation fitting with the PMWS case definition. Type II: Persistent PCVAD signs. Mortality is elevated, maybe doubled in the affected age group and there is an increase in the number of cull pigs sold. Type III: Epizootic, severity varies with presence of concurrent disease, especially PRRS. Mortality ranges around 8 to 25% in 8- to 13-week-old pigs. Management, immune stimulation or vaccination also seem to play an important role in the presentation of this syndrome. Harding (2006) posed a very interesting hypothesis where “the key to controlling and preventing PMWS in any herd regardless of PMWS status, location, strain or co-factors involved is to reduce and maintain PCV2 viral load below this biologically critical “threshold”. As mentioned before PMWS was first described in 1995, however, retrospective studies have shown that both PCV2 infection and clinical cases of PMWS were present as early as 1985 indicating that PCV2 is not a new virus. These findings, together with the fact that PCV2 infection is present in almost 98 % of the swine farms around the world clearly suggest that PCVAD is a multifactorial disease. Remember that if herd evidence suggests an association between vaccination practices and PCV2- associated disease, re-evaluation of use and timing of certain vaccines is important. Good management practices should be exercised, i.e. strict and true all-in-all-out, early removal of runt pigs and of those that don’t respond to treatment, and reduction of mixing and moving of pigs; reduction of viral load by using disinfectants both in buildings and transport vehicles have been demonstrated to be efficacious against PCV2, and if it is an option, consider changing pig genetics if there is enough evidence that there is a predisposition at the farm. Finally, as commercial vaccines have become available in North America, reports generally seem to agree that vaccines are an effective tool in the control of PCVAD; therefore a combination of the above measures and vaccine might provide the control strategy for this interesting, complex but devastating syndrome.