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Prairie Swine Centre is an affiliate of the University of Saskatchewan
Prairie Swine Centre is grateful for the assistance of the George Morris Centre in developing the economics portion of Pork Insight.
Financial support for the Enterprise Model Project and Pork Insight has been provided by:
Fertility after intrauterine insemination with conventional or low numbers of spermatozoa in sows with synchronized ovulation
Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles by admin on February 5, 2007 | No Comments
A total of 411 mixed-parity sows were subjected to controlled ovulation by injection of 600 IU equine chorionic gonadotrophin at weaning and 5 mg porcine luteinizing hormone (pLH) 80 hours later. Sows were assigned to a single insemination of 1 or 3 × 109 sperm delivered into either the cervix or uterus. Inseminations were performed
approximately 36 hours after pLH injection. Intensity of standing estrus at insemination was subjectively scored as 1
to 3, with 3 being a stronger response, and semen backflow was recorded as yes or no. Number of sperm and site of
deposition did not affect pregnancy or farrowing rates or subsequent litter size. Mean farrowing rates were 68.32% and 68.63% in sows inseminated using an intrauterine catheter and either 1 or 3 × 109 sperm, respectively. In sows inseminated using the cervical method, farrowing rates were 77.88% and 67.31% when 1 and 3 × 109 sperm were used, respectively. Greater intensity of estrus at insemination was associated with higher pregnancy and farrowing
rates (P < .001), and backflow during insemination was associated with lower pregnancy and farrowing rates (P <
.01). When appropriately timed after induced ovulation, insemination of low sperm numbers does not adversely affect sow fertility, and this lack of effect is independent of the site of sperm deposition.
Factor Analysis of Downwind Odours from Livestock Farms
Posted in: Environment, Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles by admin on January 29, 2007 | No Comments
Odour emissions from livestock operations in Ontario have raised significant public concerns. In this study, downwind odour measurements were conducted during a 7-week period in July and August in 2004. The study involved taking measurements at two poultry farms, six dairy farms, and six pig farms in southern Ontario using both human assessor observed Nasal Ranger field olfactometers and an electronic nose developed in our research laboratory. The factors considered include animal species, distance to the odour source, and weather conditions (i.e. wind speed, temperature, cloud cover, and atmospheric stability). The collected data were studied and the relationships between individual factors and downwind odour intensity were analysed. In addition, the significance of the factors was investigated and ranked. The results show that downwind livestock farm odour should be considered as a complex system and it is suggested that multi-factor analysis be performed. The ranking of the significance of factors to odour intensity can improve the understanding of downwind odour systems and enhance the efficiency of odour evaluation and reduction techniques. Responses of the gas sensors in the electronic nose were compared with the perceived odour intensities, and good agreement was reported.
The effects of noise level in gestation barns on human hearing loss and swine reproduction.
Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles by admin on October 13, 2006 | No Comments
Farmers are often exposed to loud noises, studies have shown that they often deal with noises of 89 dB’s for eight hours a day. There has not been an extensive study that looks at the noise effects of working in a pig barn. Studies of pig vocalization have tied it to stress. When pigs are making noise they are not comfortable and there bodies shift there duties from normal activities like productive growth and reproduction to trying to reduce stress. This study sets out to document noise levels in hog barns and to see if their is a connection between noise and reproduction of the sows. 18 group housed barns and 18 crated barns were used in the study. Each barn had a db recorder hung from the ceiling to record noise levels, and historical reproductive statistics were provided by the barns. Swine barns were found to reach levels of uncomfortable noise at least some point in the day and this has an effect on reproduction and worker safety. Wearing hearing protection is one way to help producers avoid risk such as hearing loss. Environmental design of barns and management practices are suggested as one way to reduce the noises made by the sows
Component and Factor Analysis of Pork Farm Odour using Structural Learning with the Forgetting Method
Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles by admin on August 23, 2006 | No Comments
There have been many studies on the modelling of pork farm odour by analysing the chemical components in odorous air. It is suggested that the component analysis approach should be extended to factors such as temperature, relative humidity, and airflow speed. A relative contribution analysis of potential odour components and factors to the perception of odour would allow identification of significant odour components and major contributing factors. Odour reduction practice for pork farms could then be directed towards the significant components and factors, thus improving the efficiency in developing odour measurement and reduction technologies. It is generally accepted that neural networks have several advantages over conventional techniques, for instance, their ability to automatically learn the relationship between the inputs and outputs without any previous knowledge of the system being studied, their powerful generalisation ability, and their capability of handling non-linear interactions. However, typical neural network models suffer from the so-called ‘black box’ problem, i.e. it offers no information about the system other than the input/output relationship. In this paper, existing methods for odour strength prediction were reviewed, and a neural network based multi-component multi-factor odour model was developed. To reveal the relative contribution of the inputs, the neural network was trained using an algorithm called structural learning with forgetting. By applying the structural learning with forgetting based algorithm, unnecessary neural connections faded away and a skeletal network emerged. The resulted skeletal network enabled an analysis of the contribution of components and factors. The effectiveness of the proposed approach was demonstrated by simulation and comparison studies.
New Conservation Till Manure Nutrient Delivery System 2004-2006
Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles by admin on August 21, 2006 | No Comments
Residue cover along with manure application can reduce erosion and phosphorus runoff significantly, although this minimum tillage can limit crop yields. To overcome these limitations effective nutrient placement should be adopted. A zone-jection system with crop nutrients applied as manure, narrowed the yield gap that can occur for no-till corn following a poor crop. There was no evidence of increased nitrate leaching, even at sites where excess N was applied. The absence of large amounts of N in either the soil or soil solution may be related to efficient N use and even luxury consumption of N by the crop and excess accumulation in stalks. It was found that the stalk can represent a significant sink for N in cases of over application. The N contained in stalks would likely be released slowly over time or incorporated into soil organic matter given its wide C/N ratio. Zone-jection proved a viable system for producing good crop yields and benefiting the environment through efficient nutrient use, as well as control of runoff, erosion and odors.
Selection of sex specific DNA aptamers to sperm
Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles by admin on August 15, 2006 | No Comments
Currently sorting mammalia sperm is limited due to the damage it inflicts on sperm and costs and time associated with it are unrealistic. But the ability to sort sperm and be able to determine gender based on sperm can have huge implications to large farms and is desirable. Sex-specific markers are needed to improve current methods and develop a working sperm sorting system. This project uses aptamers to help detect molecules. Tests were carried out to get aptamers to bind to boar sperm, and a high binding efficiency was achieved. Assessment of the aptamers found that they were in both the nuclear and cellular extract. Aptamers were then selected to pre-sorted bull sperm. The selection was monitored and then assessed. X-aptamers were found to have more binding ability than Y-aptamers.
Prevalence of resistance to 11 antimicrobials among Campylobacter coli isolated from pigs on 80 grower-finisher farms in Ontario
Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles by admin on | No Comments
We carried out a cross-sectional study to investigate antimicrobial resistance patterns of Campylobacter coli isolated from Ontario grower-finisher pigs. From January to June 2004, 1200 samples were collected from 80 farms by obtaining a constant number (15) of fecal samples per farm. Susceptibility of the isolates to 11 antimicrobial drugs was determined by the agar-dilution technique. The overall prevalence of resistance to 1 or more antimicrobials among the isolates was 99.2%. High levels of resistance were observed for azithromycin, clindamycin, erythromycin, streptomycin, and tetracycline: 91.7%, 82.5%, 81.4%, 70.7%, and 63.7%, respectively. For sulfamethoxazole, ampicillin, and nalidixic acid, resistance was observed in 40.3%, 26.6%, and 22.7% of the isolates, respectively. Although at very low levels, resistance was observed for ciprofloxacin (a fluoroquinolone), chloramphenicol, and gentamicin: in 2.4%, 1.7%, and 0.2%, respectively. Many of the isolates (29.7%) were resistant to 5 antimicrobials, the most common being azithromycin, clindamycin, erythromycin, streptomycin, and tetracycline. Isolates from the same farm showed at least 5 patterns of resistance. Results from this study indicate high levels of resistance to the antimicrobial drugs most commonly used in the Canadian swine industry (macrolides, lincosamides, and tetracyclines) among C. coli isolated from grower-finisher pigs in Ontario. Macrolides and fluoroquinolones are the drugs most commonly used to treat severe human campylobacteriosis. Fortunately, at present, there is little resistance to fluoroquinolones among C. coli from pigs in Ontario.
A Growth-Maturation System That Enhances the Meiotic and Developmental Competence of Porcine Oocytes Isolated from Small Follicles
Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles, Production by admin on June 28, 2006 | No Comments
In livestock, most of the follicles on the ovarian surface are small follicles. A procedure that supports the in vitro growth and maturation of these small follicle-derived oocytes may offer a new source of useable oocytes for both biotechnological and fundamental research purposes. The objective of the current study was to test the hypothesis that providing a more growth-supporting and less maturation-promoting environment during the first phase of small follicle-derived oocyte maturation may improve oocyte competence for meiosis and embryo development upon activation. In our small follicle-derived oocyte growth-maturation system (SGM group), cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) from small follicles (1–3 mm) were first cultured in oocyte growth medium for 24 h, then in oocyte maturation medium for 20 h. As controls, COCs from small (SM group) and large (LM group) follicles were cultured using a conventional in vitro maturation (IVM) approach in which they were directly cultured in oocytematurationmedium. At 24 h of culture, the percentage of small follicle-derived oocytes that underwent germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) in the SGM group was comparable to that of large follicle-derived oocytes (LM group) but was significantly higher than that of the SM group (P <0.05). At 44 h of culture, compared to 36% in the SM group, 55% of the SGM group oocytes reached metaphase II (MII; P <0.05). In addition, the level of cyclin B in oocytes of the SGMgroup was comparable to that of oocytes from LM group and was significantly higher than that of oocytes from the SM group (P <0.05).When activated and in vitro fertilized (IVF), 7.3 and 9.0 times more parthenogenetic and IVF embryos developed to blastocyst stage in the SGMgroup than in the SMgroup (P < 0.05). ThemRNA expression levels of three developmentally important genes—DNA-methyltransferase 1, Pou domain class 5 transcription factor 1, and Fibroblast growth factor receptor 2—in embryos of the SGM group were comparable to those of embryos developed from the LMgroup, whereas they were significantly lower in those of the SM group (P < 0.05). Our data suggest that the oocyte growthmaturation system facilitates the final stage of oocyte growth and thus resulted in better oocyte nuclear, cytoplasmic maturation, and developmental competency compared with the conventional direct oocyte maturation system.
In vitro germline potential of stem cells derived from fetal porcine skin
Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles by admin on March 26, 2006 | No Comments
Two of the unanswered questions in mammalian developmental biology are when and where the fate of the germ cell is specified. Here, we report that stem cells isolated from the skin of porcine fetuses have the intrinsic ability to differentiate into oocyte-like cells. When differentiation was induced, a subpopulation of these cells expressed markers such as Oct4, Growth differentiation factor 9b (GDF9b), the Deleted in Azoospermia-like (DAZL) gene and Vasa — all consistent with germ-cell formation. On further differentiation, these cells formed follicle-like aggregates that secreted oestradiol and progesterone and responded to gonadotropin stimulation. Some of these aggregates extruded large oocyte-like cells that expressed oocyte markers, such as zona pellucida, and the meiosis marker, synaptonemal complex protein 3 (SCP3).
Some of these oocyte-like cells spontaneously developed into parthenogenetic embryo-like structures. The ability to
generate oocyte-like cells from skin-derived cells may offer new possibilities for tissue therapy and provide a new in vitro model to study germ-cell formation and oogenesis.
Defining the impact of transportation and handling practices used for Ontario Market pigs
Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles by admin on September 14, 2005 | No Comments
In-transit pigs deaths are rare but they do happen at a rate of about 15-17 pigs per 10 000 shipped. The reasons for these deaths can come from a number of factors such as loading and unloading, the trip itself or the time spent at the slaughter house. A recent study has identified that most of these deaths are a result of on farm actions rather than on the truck or at the slaughter house. This study attempts to identify what on farm practices are resulting in in-transit death losses because there is great variability in farms that suffer from in-transit death. Farms who produced over 500 pigs per year and suffered high in-transit death losses were observed during load outs and paired with a farm that produced similar numbers but had low to no in transit death losses. Farms with high losses were more likely to use a assembly yard and also to use there own truck if they had a assembly yard. High loss farms tended to allow pigs to crowd more often than low loss farms. Prods were more commonly used for the high death farms. The high loss farms were more likely to have steeper ramps with less cleats. There are many factors that influence the amount of death loss pigs, some major factors are the ones that increase the heart rate of the pigs before shipping (steep ramps and prod use). Also changing light and floor patterns deter pigs from moving which increases human interaction which has potential to raise stress and heart rate of the pigs.