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...
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...
Take time to do maintenance
As part of the brochure ‘Managing energy cost in the barn’, this section talks about the importance of a well-designed maintenance program, including attic, roof and walls, insulation, feed system, heating system, drinkers and pens, and the ventilation system. To...
Controllers and sensors
As part of the brochure ‘Managing energy cost in the barn’, this section talks about the do’s and don’ts of controllers and sensors and shows the economical implications of improper settings or calibration of the controllers. To access this specific...
Seal up those barns
As part of the brochure ‘Managing energy cost in the barn’, this section talks about the importance of good insulation and sealing of air leaks such as shutters of ventilation fans. To access this specific section, go to ‘Seal up...
Ventilation systems
As part of the brochure ‘Managing energy cost in the barn’, this section talks about the goals of a ventilation system and how to reduce energy use of the ventilation system, including proper controller settings, energy efficient fans, and air...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
