Variation in Pig Performance: Can We Do Anything About It?
Loss of revenue at market and reduced barn utilization can be attributed largely to variation. Variation has two major categories: genetic and environmental. Environmental effects may be exposure to pathogens, access to resources such as water and food, as well...
Electronic Sow Feeder: A Preliminary Report
Housing of gestating sows is one of the more controversial aspects of pig production as they are one of the most restrictive practices in livestock production. Group housing systems may solve this problem for gestating sows with the electronic sow...
Effect of Social Group Size on Aggressive Behaviour of Grower-Finisher Pigs in Fully-Slatted Floor Rearing System
Previous research mainly focuses on small group sizes but commercially larger sizes are becoming more common. Social behaviour in larger groups of pigs is not well understood, though they are likely to have different social strategies. These behaviours should be...
Comparison of Urination Frequency of Grower-Finisher Pigs to Ammonia Emission
Ammonia emissions have negative consequences on the environment, animals and workers in the swine industry. Urine breakdown produces ammonia in puddles and slurry. If urine puddle numbers are known, ammonia emission predictions can be made using a computer model. Puddles...
Effects of Large Group Size on Productivity of Grower-Finisher Pigs
Large groups of pigs have become more popular as they improve space use and profitability while reducing housing costs. Concern of large groups having social instability which could result in higher mortality and morbidity, poor growth and higher variation in...
Effects of Nipple Drinker Height and Flow Rate on Water Wastage in Grower and Finisher Pigs
Water wastage is an unnecessary cost in pig barns. On commercial farms, water wastage is as high as 40-60% compared to previous findings that grower/finisher pigs wasted 25% from nipple drinkers. The difference in these numbers could be due to...
Effect of Gender and Crowding on Variation in Days to Market
Variation in the production chain has a large economic impact. Variation of growth due to gender and crowding during the grower-finisher phase were examined. Less crowding reduced days until market by four days. Holding gilts longer than barrows may be...
Thermoregulation of the Nursery by Early Weaned Piglets Through Operant Conditioning
Growing swine health and productivity is affected by thermal environment, especially in newly weaned piglets as they require warmer temperatures. Pigs were taught how to respond to heat rewards through operant conditioning and control their thermal environment so they can...
The Impact of Feeder Adjustment and Group Size/Density on Weanling Pig Performance
Nursery performance is negatively affected when crowding or reduced floor space increases ear chewing, tail-biting and side-nudging. Crowing often leads to decreased feed intake. Feeder adjustment may work synergistically with adequate floor space to improve pig performance. Reduced crowding is...
Behavioural Diversity in Groups of Juvenile Pigs
Individual differences in pig behaviour may be strategies of coping with a challenging environment. Pig performance varies and this may be related to individual behavioural characteristics. Three main factors were identified regarding personality. These included responses to social displacement activities,...
Sequential Analysis of Belly Nosing of Early Weaned Pigs
Belly nosing has increased since implementing segregated early weaning in order to improve disease control and performance. To investigate how to decrease this behaviour, motivation behind belly nosing was monitored on pigs 7 days after weaning. Pigs who spend more...
Effect of Feed Presentation on the Feeding Behaviour of Grower-Finisher Pigs
The eating speed of pigs should be correlated with the maximum number of pigs to be fed from a single feeder. Competition, feed type, pig size and presentation of feed all influence feeding behaviour of pigs. Dry mash diets prolong...
