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Dietary ω-6 to ω-3 Fatty Acid Ratios Affect Protein Deposition in Nursery Pigs
An experiment was conducted to determine if decreasing the dietary omega-6 (ω-6) to omega-3 (ω-3) fatty acid (FA) ratio would affect protein deposition in nursery pigs during a prolonged E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) inflammatory challenge. Following a one week long challenge, six week old piglets fed a lower ω-6: ω-3 ratio had increased protein deposition rates, increased liver protein synthesis rates and increased average daily weight gains relative to those pigs consuming a diet with a higher ω-6: ω-3 FA ratio when feed intakes were similar. Protein synthesis was unaffected by the presence of an LPS induced inflammatory challenge. Overall, reducing the ω-6:ω-3 FA ratio improves the efficiency by which piglets can utilize nutrients for growth, regardless of the presence of an inflammatory challenge.
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Nano-particles for Controlling Disease – Causing Microorganisms in Pig Barns
Laboratory-scale tests were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of various types of commercially-available nanoparticles on the levels of microorganisms commonly encountered in swine barns. Results indicate Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles had the highest antimicrobial efficacy among all the nanoparticles tested. Further experiments carried out in the barn indicated that partial filtration of barn air with a fiter loaded with ZnO nanoparticles in the ventilation recirculation system achieved reduction in bioaerosol levels at the animal- and human-occupied zones. During sanitation, 10 mg/mL of ZnO nanoparticle solution sprayed on concrete pen floor surfaces showed significant decrease in total bacterial counts on surfaces four hours after application. Microbial population, however, started to increase after new nursery pigs were brought into the room.
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Large Group Housing of Finishing Pigs
Many questions have been asked about facility design and management of grower/finisher hogs in large groups. This document provides a practical evaluation of the raising of finisher hogs in large groups and encourages further evaluation of the appropriateness of this housing and management strategy for swine production. Finishing pigs in large groups provides good results in the many weight categories of production.
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Geothermal Systems for Heating & Cooling in Swine Barns
This study assessed the applicability of a geothermal system in swine production facilities. In-barn evaluation of the impact of the geothermal system on energy use, thermal environment, greenhouse gas emissions, and animal performance was conducted by comparing a grower-finishing room with geothermal system to a conventional production room with a forced-convection gas-fired heater system over summer and winter seasons.
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Effectively Assessing Technology
New technologies are constantly being introduced into barns due to promised benefits and enhanced profitability. However, these innovations can also introduce new challenges and costs, such as the impact of new technologies on worker health and safety. So how do you know if it will work in your specific situation? Prairie Swine Centre and the Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture have collaborated to develop a simple, personalizable web calculator that can help predict the value of technology adoption. This multidimensional tool incorporates implementation costs, productivity, and health and safety impacts, and was developed to help forecast the overall benefit of investing in new technology.
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Group Sow Housing Options
Are you looking to make the conversion to group sow housing? How do you effectively compare one system to another? Prairie Swine Centre has the resources and expertise to help you with your decision. Science of Ethology will help you sort through the pros and cons of the main group housing systems currently used in the Canadian pork industry.
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