Impact of Piglet Birth Weight on Growout Performance and Carcass Quality
Reduced birth weight has consequences including changes in proportions of primary and secondary muscle fibres. This may effect adult muscle composition and eating quality of the meat. Reduced birth weight is related to increased litter size. By increasing the litter size by one, average birth...
Effect of Ractopamine in Finishing Diets: Economics
The beta-adrenergic agonist known to stimulate muscle growth and inhibit fat deposition known as ractopamine is the active ingredient in Paylean®, which was recently registered in Canada. The relative economics of this product will impact the final decision to use this feed additive. Costs include...
Effect of Ractopamine in Finishing Diets: Meat Quality
Ractopamine is the active ingredient in Paylean® and is known to stimulate muscle growth and inhibit lipid deposition. The impact on the eating quality of pork are unclear and few studies include taste evaluation. It is crucial to have the consumers acceptance of the pork...
Effect of Ractopamine in Finishing Diets: Performance and Carcass Composition
The active ingredient of Paylean® is ractopamine known to stimulate muscle growth and inhibit lipid deposition. It has recently been registered in Canada and is used to increase the profitability of pork production. Paylean was evaluated to see its effects on carcass characteristics, performance, carcass...
Productivity of Sows and Gilts in Various Management Programs with ESF
Numerous consumer groups are advocating for group housing for sows due to the restriction of movement in gestation stalls. Ensuring appropriate feed levels and minimizing aggression can be challenging in group housing. Electronic sow feeders are an option for group housing as it allows one...
Large Group Auto-Sort: Potential and Problems
Large Group Auto Sort (LGAS) applies electronic technology to manage grow-finish pigs and is relatively new. It can be cost effective to assemble many animals into a pen by using similar weights derived from electronic sorting scales and sorting gates. Due to mixed reviews, more...
Space Allowance for Finishing Pigs Affects Productivity, Health and Behaviour
Animal care and economic implications are very involved in space allowance for finishing pig production. Space allowance and group size was investigated along with productivity measurements. For both large and small groups, average daily gain was reduced when space allowance decreased at around the same...
Belly Nosing, Belly Suckling, and Tail Biting in Early Weaned Pigs
A problem associated with early weaning of piglets is a higher incidence of behavioural issues including belly directed behaviour. Two forms of belly directed behaviour are belly nosing and belly sucking. These two forms were observed in relation to tail biting and other oral-nasal behaviours...
Belt Conveyor Manure Separation System: Impact on Odour and Gas Emissions
Handling large volumes of manure from livestock operations led to environmental concerns, so innovative strategies are being explored to manage manure in an environmental and economical manner. A tilted belt conveyor (BC) was examined to replace the slatted portion of the pen to separate feces...
Impact of Drinking Water Sulphate Levels on Gas Emissions and Manure Nutrients
A major environmental concern for the swine industry are odour and gaseous emissions. Sulphur containing compounds are some of the most odourous components of swine. Drinking water quality on air emissions and swine manure nutrients were assessed. Up to 1,800 ppm of sulphate in drinking...