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Prairie Swine Centre Upcoming Producer Meetings
Prairie Swine Centre will be hosting a series of producer meetings throughout western Canada in early April. Mark your calendars for the location that is most convenient for you. Follow the link for more information.
Friday, April 5 - Niverville, MB - Niverville Heritage Centre
Tuesday, April 9 - Strathmore, AB - Travelodge Hotel
Wednesday, April 10 - Saskatoon, SK - Comfort Inns & Suites
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Impact of Water Availability & Space Allowance on Profitability
Reduced floor space allowance for pigs may negatively affect growth performance as a result of competition for feed and water access, especially at later stages of the grower-finisher period. However, kilograms of pork produced per unit of floor space may increase with more pigs per pen, improving overall profitability for producers. The effect of space allowance was tested by altering the numbers of pigs per pen to provide 8.2, 7.4 or 6.8 square feet space allowance/pig. The effect of water availability was tested by adding one extra bowl drinker to create non-restricted water availability, or leaving as is to create restricted water availability.
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Field Testing of an Air Filtration System for Transport
The spread of airborne transmissible disease such as PRRS continues to be a serious threat to the Canadian swine industry as this disease causes significant economic losses to infected herds. This project aimed to develop an additional line of defense against infection of airborne diseases by designing an air filtration system for a swine transport trailer to maintain a pathogen-free environment inside the trailer during transport. Testing and evaluation of the prototype air filtration system showed that the use of antimicrobial filters (i.e., MERV 16 and fabric bag filters) can effectively capture bioaerosols in the air and prevent their entry into the animal compartment of the trailer.
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Interaction Between Pig Density and Dietary Energy on Performance
Dietary net energy and stocking density independently affect performance, feed utilization and profits in the finisher barn. The objective of this experiment was to assess the interactions of stocking density and dietary energy, and determine how these interactions affect net income. When stocking density was increased, the performance of finishing pigs was reduced; however the income over feed cost (IOFC) was…
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Stimulating Exploratory Behaviour - Effect on Creep Consumption
This study investigated whether feed consumption before and after weaning can be increased through stimulating exploratory behaviour in piglets, and whether this is best achieved through provision of enrichment (E), or through presentation of creep feed in a large tray feeder (TF) so as to facilitate synchronized feeding among litter mates. Enrichment consisted of cotton ropes hung in the farrowing pen. Piglets provided with enrichment were observed to contact the enrichment on average 11 times per day. Feeder type, but not enrichment, resulted in a greater frequency of piglet visits to the feeder.
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Looking to Enrich your Operation? What Needs to be Considered?
Providing enrichment involves making changes to the environment that are intended to increase the range of normal behaviours and improve the biological functioning and well-being of animals. When looking to incorporate enrichment into your operations there are 6 aspects you should consider.
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