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Industry Partners
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:
Determining the Optimum Stocking Density in Nursery Pigs
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre, Swine Innovation by admin on December 22, 2016 | No Comments
Floor space allowance is a complex issue in swine production, and one that is critical for both economic and welfare reasons. The quantity of space provided substantially affects pig welfare by influencing behaviour, stress and social interactions, and has significant economic impacts on productivity and the total pig throughput possible on a farm. It’s important that recommendations for the minimum floor space allowance for groups of pigs are not arbitrary, but based on sound biological and economic research. The current space allowance requirements specified in the Canadian Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs are largely based on research performed on grower-finisher pigs. However, comparatively little is known on the effects of space allowance on nursery pigs, and current space allowance requirements may overestimate the requirements for nursery pigs due to their increased willingness to overlie one another. The objective of this project is to determine a precise value for the minimum space allowance for nursery pigs which provides an optimal and scientifically defensible balance between profitability and animal welfare.
Determining Effective Enrichments for Group Housed Sows
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Effective enrichments have been shown to reduce aggression and injuries, and can be an effective tool to improve the management of group-housed sows. This project set out to identify the most effective forms of enrichment based on attractiveness, durability, and sustainability of a range of enrichment objects. The objects identified as most effective within this study will be used in a future enrichment study.
Groups of 28 multiparous sows and gilts were housed in walk in/lock in stalls with a partially slatted loafing area. Five treatments were examined over five days, including: 1) a horizontal piece of wood (4”x4”), suspended on chains between two posts; 2) a block of wood (18”x 2”x 4”), attached to a chain allowing the block to rest at a 450 angle; 3) three items (rope, chain, and wood block) hung together on a chain; 4) straw provided in two metal racks; and 5) straw placed on the solid floor at 300g/day/sow.
When looking at the overall interaction, the percentage of sows interacting with enrichment items on day 1 far exceeded those on days 3 and 5. This habituation response was expected. There was an increase in sows lying down throughout the five day treatment with the swing, straw on the floor, and straw in a rack treatment groups. Ranking the enrichment treatments according to durability, safety, and sow attractiveness resulted in the following ratings (first to last): straw on the floor, straw in a rack, three-item enrichment, and the block of wood. Based on these results, the straw, cotton rope and the wooden block treatments will be further examined in the next phase of the study.
Stimulating Exploratory Behavior in Piglets: Effects on Pre-Weaning Creep Consumption
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This study investigated whether pre-weaning creep consumption 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 in a large shallow feeder. In order to examine differences between farms , studies were conducted at Prairie Swine Centre (PSC) as well as two commercial farms.
The enrichment treatment (E) consisted of cotton ropes hung in the farrowing pens, and was compared to pens with no enrichment. Each pen was also given one of two types of feeders; a standard feeder or a large tray feeder, giving four different treatment combinations. Results indicate that piglets provided with E interacted with it in 5% of observations. Overall, the tray feeder resulted in a greater frequency of piglet visits to the creep feeder compared to a standard round feeder, but there was no effect of enrichment. Fecal swabs indicated that over 50% of animals with access to a tray feeder were eaters prior to weaning.
The provision of a large tray feeder that encourages social feeding, appears to have a greater influence than rope enrichment on attracting piglets to creep feed. While the increased creep disappearance found with the tray feeder indicates that more piglets were interacting with the creep, no benefits to growth rate were found.
Does the Inclusion of Lyso-Lecithin (Lecired) Improve the Growth of Newly Weaned Pigs?
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The newly weaned piglet is abruptly transferred from a liquid milk diet, containing about 8% fat to a dry diet with approximately 5% fat. Moreover, fat digestibility of milk fat by the suckling pig approaches 95% while the digestion of dietary fat by the piglet shortly after weaning is only about 75% (cited by Price et al. 2013). Thus, supplementing dietary fat to the diet of the newly weaned piglet does not alleviate the deficit in energy intake experienced at this time.
Price et al. (2013) showed that the addition of lecithin to the diet of newly weaned piglets improved digestibility of long-chain fatty acids. However, similar to the results of others, this did not result in an improved growth rate. Lecithin, which is primarily phosphatidylcholine, is commonly added to food, because it is an emulsifier. It is listed in CFIA, Schedule IV. We hypothesized that Lyso-lecithin will improve digestibility of tallow, resulting in a performance response when the pigs are limiting in energy.
ATP Bioluminescence a Means for Assessing Trailer Cleanliness
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre by admin on December 19, 2016 | No Comments
Proper washing and disinfection of swine transport trailers is an important step in maintaining biosecurity. This study examined the feasibility of using adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence as a rapid and effective swine trailer cleanliness assessment tool. Samples were taken from newly-cleaned, dry trailers using an ATP swab by swabbing an area of 10 cm x 10 cm and were tested for microbial contamination level using an ATP bioluminescence meter.
The results obtained from ATP testing were compared to the co-located samples taken using standard microbiological techniques with MacConkey and R2A agar contact plates (diameter Ø = 60 mm). From a total of more than 500 samples collected from 16 commercial swine transport trailers across Saskatchewan, a significant correlation (r = 0.206; p=0.001) was found between ATP bioluminescence method and standard microbiological technique using R2A agar plates. Lower correlation (r = 0.154; p=0.002) was observed between ATP method and MacConkey agar plate counts. Unlike R2A that detects a wider group of bacteria, MacConkey agar supports only the growth of selected gram-negative bacteria while ATP bioluminescence detects ATP from both microbial and organic sources.
Assessing the effectiveness of swine transport trailer cleaning protocol using ATP bioluminescence method threshold values were established with readings of less than 430 RLU per 100 cm2 as ‘Pass’ while higher than 850 RLU per 100 cm2 as ‘Fail’ or has high risk of disease propagation. With these assessment criteria, ATP bioluminescence method can be used as a supplementary tool for monitoring surface cleanliness of transport trailers in a rapid, simple, inexpensive and reliable way, to complement the procedures specified in CSHB (2011) guidelines.
http://prairieswine.com/rsc/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ATP-Biolumenescence.pdf
Determining Effective Enrichments for Group Housed Sows
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre by admin on November 2, 2016 | No Comments
Effective enrichments have been shown to reduce aggression and injuries, and can be an effective tool to improve the management of group housed sows. This project set out to identify the most effective forms of enrichment based on attractiveness, durability, and sustainability of a range
of enrichment objects. The objects identified as most effective within this study will be used in a future enrichment study. Groups of 28 multi-parity sows and gilts were housed in walk in/lock in
stalls with a partially slatted loafing area. Five treatments were examined over five days, including: 1) a horizontal piece of wood (4”x4”), suspended on chains between two posts; 2) a block of wood (18”x 2”x 4”), attached to a chain allowing the block to rest at a 450 angle; 3) three items (rope, chain, and wood block) hung together on a chain; 4) straw provided in two metal racks;
and 5) straw placed on the solid floor at 300g/day/sow. When looking at the overall interaction, the percentage of sows interacting with enrichment items on day 1 far exceeded those on days 3 and 5. This habituation response was expected. There was an increase in sows lying down throughout the five day treatment with the swing, straw on the floor, and straw in a rack treatment groups. Ranking the enrichment treatments according to durability, safety, and sow attractiveness resulted in the following ratings (first to last): straw on the floor, straw in a rack, three-item enrichment, and the block of wood. Based on these results, the straw, cotton rope and the wooden block treatments will be further examined in the next phase of the study.
Reducing Energy Use in Group Sow Housing Systems
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Conversion of gestation sow housing from stalls to group systems has been mandated in the recently revised Canadian Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs, with all sow farms expected to adopt this practice by July 2024 (NFACC, 2014). As such, this study aimed to investigate management options that will take advantage of potential merits of group sow housing.
One such advantage may be that sows housed in groups can interact with one another and exhibit thermoregulatory behavior (e.g., huddling), thereby potentially tolerating temperatures below the lower critical temperature (LCT). This could result in reduced energy costs for heating and ventilation. Housing sows in groups can also lead to aggression among gestating sows and is aggravated by feed restriction during gestation. High fi ber (high heat-increment) diets have been reported to increase satiety and reduce aggression among sows in addition to increasing heat production of sows. The addition of fiber to the diet could be a means of addressing behavioral
issues associated with grouped-sows as well as contributing to the energy balance of sows under reduced barn temperature.
Ventilation System Requirements for Converted Gestation Barns
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Computer simulation was utilized to assess the performance of different ventilation system configurations needed for a sow gestation barn newly converted to group housing. Various configurations of the ventilation system involving varying capacities and locations of exhaust fans as well as size, design and location of air inlets, were examined based on indoor air quality (i.e., air temperature, humidity, and air speed at the animal level) and ventilation effectiveness (i.e., air distribution and airflow pattern, inlet air velocity, and room static pressure). Based on the computer simulation results, horizontal flow ventilation system with air inlets on one side and exhaust fans on the opposite side showed the best simulated performance among all ventilation design configurations tested. The horizontal flow ventilation configuration was then selected for further evaluation in an actual group sow housing facility, where energy use, temperature and air quality, and sow welfare and performance were assessed.
Fermented Soybean Meal for Weaned Piglets
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Soybean meal contains a variety of anti-nutritional factors which limit its inclusion into the diets of young piglets. It has been shown that fermentation of soybean meal (fSBM) effectively removes trypsin inhibitors, oligosaccharides and phytic acid and improves digestibility of nutrients, including amino acids. These improvements however, are not consistently observed (Song et al. 2010), and work is required which determines reasons for the variability among fSBM produced from different plants. Preliminary results from this research project indicate pigs receiving approximately 17% HP5010 fSBM in their diets had reduced body weight relative to the pigs receiving a comparable amount of a commercial SBM product, Hamlet 300.
Mitigating DON Through Optimal Use of Blood Plasma in Nursery Diets
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Previous research showed that nursery pigs fed deoxynivalenol (DON) contaminated diets supplemented with spray-dried porcine plasma (SDPP) had similar growth rate and feed intake as those consuming noncontaminated diets. In this study, two blocks of 100 weanling pigs were used
to determine the optimal inclusion level of spray-dried bovine plasma(SDBP) required in nursery diets contaminated with DON to maintain growth performance. Growth performance was not statistically different for pigs fed the diets with DON contaminated diets and the diet without DON. Also, adding SDBP to the DON-contaminated diets had no eff ct on nursery pig growth performance. Therefore, we were not able to determine the optimal inclusion level of SDBP in the DON-contaminated nursery diet.