2024 PSC producer meeting presentation – Chou – Improved sow housing and upcoming ethology projects
During the 2024 PSC producer meetings, held in collaboration with Zoetis and PIC, ethology researcher at the Prairie Swine Centre Jen-Yun Chou gave a presentation titled ‘Moving forward with improved sow housing: current progress and prospects’. In this presentation, Jen talked about her journey through...
by
Ken Engele
Evaluation of a Pilot-Scale Electro-nanospray System for Decontaminating Pig Barns
In this study, an electro-nanospray system was developed for pig barn decontamination. This technology generates engineered water nanostructures (EWNS) through electrospraying and ionization of reverse osmosis (RO) Water. The highly charged nano-scale water droplets encapsulate reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are responsible for bacterial inactivation...
by
Ken Engele
Impact of dietary Calcium and Phosphorus on sow reproduction and bone development in piglets
Two experiments were conducted to determine the influence of dietary Ca and P levels in the gestation and lactation diets of high producing sows on Ca and P balance, productivity, bone turnover, and bone development in piglets. The objective of the first study was to...
by
Ken Engele
A Survey of Best Management Practices of Swine Farms Across Canada
Two projects funded by Swine Innovation Porc and carried out by Prairie Swine Centre (PSC) and Centre de développement du porc du Québec (CDPQ) examined the adoption of best management practices on farms throughout Canada. The first project audited 24 farms across Canada (2018), with...
by
Ken Engele
Swine welfare a hot topic in cold Banff
Just prior to the start of the Banff Pork Seminar, on January 9, while it was quickly becoming frigidly cold outside, discussions were taking place around animal welfare in modern pork production systems. More than 40 pork producers, industry representatives and researchers came together for...
by
Ken Engele
Response of growing hogs to the inclusion of hybrid rye in low or high energy diets
Hybrid rye has the potential to be a cost-effective ingredient in swine diets. Several studies observed slightly reduced feed intake for pigs fed increasing hybrid rye substituting for wheat or corn, which in turn resulted in lower average daily weight gain. Typically, the growing pig...
by
Ken Engele
New and alternative sanitization procedures for antibiotic-free swine barns
Certain barns that switched to antibiotic-free production observed increased prevalence of pathogens after a few years on the program. Developing improved sanitization and disinfection procedures is an important step to reduce the pathogen load in antibiotic-free barns, which was the goal of this study. This project identified...
by
Ken Engele
Effects of gestation sow grouping practices on aggression and production
A concern with any type of group housing is the aggression performed when mixing unfamiliar sows into a group, as they compete to form a social hierarchy. Ongoing aggression is another related concern. It is important to understand how different grouping practices influence sow aggression,...
by
Ken Engele
Dietary nitrogen content affects lysine requirement and nitrogen utilization and retention in growing pigs
When dietary protein is reduced by more than 3%, non-essential amino acids or total dietary protein may become limiting for maximum nitrogen (N) retention (i.e., lean gain) and growth performance. It has been suggested that the ratio of essential amino acid-nitrogen to total nitrogen (E:T)...
by
Ken Engele
Inclusion of non-protein nitrogen and lysine in grower pig diets on growth performance
Results from our previous study demonstrated that inclusion of non-protein nitrogen (NPN) in a diet with a high essential amino acid-nitrogen:total nitrogen (E:T) ratio (i.e. limiting in total nitrogen [N]) increased the Lys requirement and maximum N retention in growing pigs. A growth performance study...
by
Ken Engele