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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:
Identifying the cause of death and factors associated with hogs that perish in-transit: A pilot project at 2 Ontario packing plants.
Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles, Production by admin on June 26, 2013 | No Comments
The cause of death for pigs in transit is usually assumed to be heat exhaustion or stress, and a full autopsy is rarely performed. This study autopsied pigs that died, or would be euthanized after transport, from two packing plants. 84% of the autopsies showed abnormal hearts, and so from that point on a procedure for examining the hearts was put into practice, as well as the full autopsy. The hearts were stored in formalin for 24 hours, weighed, sectioned, and examined by the same project pathologist. The lesions observed on the affected hearts were classified as Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy like Lesions (HCML) due to the similarity to the lesions found in humans, dogs, and cats with HCM. To determine the prevalence of HCML in the general pork population, 51 additional hearts from pigs that did not die in transit were examined. It was found 50% of the control hearts also had lesions, but were not pronounced enough to cause heart failure when under the stress of transport. Since HCM is a genetic heart condition, an attempt was made to survey the genetic lines from farms that produced pigs with heart lesions, but there were not enough participants to provide information. Future work might look at the genetic lines contributing to HCML occurrence in pigs, and then in-transit deaths could be reduced by selectively breeding to improve heart condition. At this point, temperature control and reducing stress can help reduce in-transit deaths by avoiding triggering heart failure in susceptible animals.
Effectively Feeding of Canola Meal
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Swine Innovation by admin on June 25, 2013 | No Comments
The powerpoint summary of solvent extracted, extruded and pressed, and expeller pressed canola meal.
Banff Pork Seminar 2013
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles by admin on June 17, 2013 | No Comments
The proceedings for the 2013 Banff Pork Seminar, published as Advances in Pork Production, Volume 24. Individual articles are also available through Pork Insight.
Determination of Tryptophan Requirements for Grow-Finish Pigs Raised in Commercial Conditions
Posted in: Nutrition, Pork Insight Articles by admin on June 11, 2013 | No Comments
The abstract for a study determining the trytophan requirement as trp:lys ratio for 125kg commercial pigs. As trp:lys increased carcass weight increased, but 18% was determined to be the value where income would be the greatest.
Empiric Narrowing of the Net Energy Value of Low-Oil Corn DDGS for Hogs
Posted in: Energy, Pork Insight Articles by admin on | No Comments
The abstract of a study determining the net energy of corn DDGS, with additional oil removed. From empirical evidence the value was deemed to be 2.15-2.30 Mcal/kg.
Slowly-Digestible Starch Influences Abundance of Glucose and Short-Chain Fatty Acid Transporters in the Porcine Intestine
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The abstract for a study examining the effect of slow or rapid digestible starch on expression of glucose and short-chain fatty acid transporters. The mRNA of transporters changed, with slowly-digested starch increasing glucose and decreasing short-chain fatty acid transporters.
Evaluation of Energy Digestibility of Canola Co-Products by In Vitro and Digestion Discrepancies Using Spectroscopy
Posted in: Energy, Pork Insight Articles by admin on | No Comments
The abstract for a study using spectroscopy to highlight discrepancies in in vitro nutrient analysis. The conclusion is that fat analysis should be a priority for improved analysis due to its impact on protein and fibre analysis.
Development and Validation of a Spectroscopy Method to Predict Protein Digestibility
Posted in: Nutrition, Pork Insight Articles by admin on | No Comments
The abstract for a study outlining the use of spectroscopy to determine protein digestibility, and then comparing the value to that of in vivo protein values. The method is less accurate with N-free diets, or if corn starch particles are on the surface of the feed, but otherwise fast, accurate, and requires little sample.
Nutrient Profile and Energy Digestibility of Wheat Co-Products from Flour Milling Differ in Growing Pigs
Posted in: Nutrition, Pork Insight Articles by admin on | No Comments
The abstract for the analysis of the nutrient profile of wheat flour milling co-products. 9 profiles showed protein content 15.9-27.8%, crude fibre 5.2-12%, GE was all higher than corn, dietary energy 3.21-3.56 Mcal/kg, and ATTD of energy 74.4-82.9%.
Increasing Dietary Levels of Extruded and Expeller-Pressed Canola Juncea Meal on Hog Growth Performance and Carcass Traits
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The abstract for a study testing whether extruded and expeller-pressed B. juncea canola meal can increase feed palatability and dietary energy. At 20% CM still reduced feed intake, average daily gain, and final weight. The feed efficiency, backfat thickness, and pork index did not change.