Practical Alternatives for Managing Castration Pain in Piglets

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre, Production by student on June 11, 2018 | No Comments

Castration is a procedure completed on male piglets to prevent the development of boar taint, which is an unpleasant smell and odor in pork from males. There are a couple objectives outlined in this experiment, to identify which analgesics will provide optimal pain relief to piglets, at what age castration should be performed to minimize stress and production losses in piglets, determine if the timing of drug administration affects piglets’ pain responses following castration and whether provision of oral sucrose prior to an analgesic can provide measurable benefits to pigs during the initial pain of castration. Behavioral observations were used to determine pain in castrated piglets. The effectiveness of the different analgesics was determined by the piglet’s ability to navigate a chute unaided. A decreased sensation of pain felt by the piglets corresponded to the piglet’s more quickly navigating the chute. This experiment determined that of the three analgesics used, meloxicam, ketoprofen and paracetamol, ketoprofen displayed the most positive effects. This conclusion was made due to the quicker response time for the piglets when navigating the chute. However, when comparing castrated piglets to those who had sham castrations there was no significant difference in chute navigation time.  There is no definite cause for this; however it is believed to be a result of handling stress or an additional environmental stress.

Practical Alternatives for Managing Castration Pain in Piglets – 2017

Cleaning Ease and Animal Welfare Implications of Trailer Design

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When effectively mitigating the transmission of disease in the swine industry it is vital that farms maintain a thorough biosecurity protocol. However, even the best maintain protocols have gaps, especially when it comes to transportation. The aim of this study was to develop a list of commonly used trailers to transport market hogs in Canada which were ranked on their cleaning ease and animal handling and welfare characteristics. Commonly used trailers in Canada include: a double deck potbelly trailer with a belly rail installed between the pot and top deck, straight deck trailers, quad deck trailers and the newly introduced Pezzaioli trailer. Pot belly trailers are currently the most commonly used trailer in Canada due to their versatility, high load capacity and relatively light weight. However, these trailers pose the most strain during animal handling and are the most difficult to clean. There are alternative designs that are easier to clean and provide better animal handling characteristics, but these designs are less versatile, heavier and have a reduced load capacity.

Cleaning Ease and Animal Welfare Implications of Trailer Design – 2017

Influence of Sow Lactation Feeding System on Sow and Piglet Performance

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Electronic Feeding Systems (EFS) have many advantages when comparing them to manual feeding options, including collection of feed intake data, delivery of fresh feed and reducing feed wastage. This study looked at the implications of a modified feeding system on the performance of the sow and piglet during lactation. Being as feed costs are the largest expense that producers face, generally between 50-70% of the total cost of production, it is important to consider ways in which these costs can be reduced. When comparing manual feeding to both an EFS and a modified feeding system this study determined that all three systems resulted in similar performance from the sow and piglet. However, when looking at feed disappearance it was evident that both the ESF and the modified feeding system had reduced feed intake compared to that of the manual feeding system. The ESF and modified feeding system reduced feed disappearance on average by 19.7%. Through the use of economic analysis it was determined that by implementing one of these systems producers would save $8.50/sow/lactation. This study did not consider the cost of maintenance during the economic analysis.

Influence of Sow Lactation Feeding System on Sow and Piglet Performance – 2017

Spray Dried Bovine Plasma for DON Contaminated Nursery Diets

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Spray Dried Porcine Plasma has been effectively shown to mitigate the effects of the mycotoxin DON, however due to its association with porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PED) producers have discontinued its use. This study evaluated the effect of Spray Dried Bovine Plasma (SDBP) and DON when included in the diet on feed intake, growth performance and gut health within newly weaned pigs. This experiment resulted in contradictory findings to that of previous studies indicating that further research is required. However, this study did display that DON is responsible for detrimental effects on ADFI and to a lesser extent on ADG. When combined with DON, SDBP was determined to have a beneficial effect on ADFI but did not affect ADG.

Spray Dried Bovine Plasma for DON Contaminated Nursery Diets – 2017

Reducing Energy Use in Group Sow Housing Systems

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Traditionally, sow housing systems are maintained at the Lower Critical Limit (LCT) of approximately 16.5°C, dropping below this can have significant effects on the productivity and health status of the sow. This experiment studied the interaction between group housing, high heat-increment diets, and the sows ability to control temperature to potentially reduce energy usage in production. Group housing allows for some thermoregulation by the sow, thus allowing them to be housed in temperatures lower than the LCT. An operant mechanism was developed for this experiment that allowed the sows to control their own temperature by a manual control switch. Within this experiment sows were fed two diets, one with a high heat increment and a standard gestation diet. When looking at the sows fed the high heat increment diet they maintain a lower temperature in both a chamber (experimental room) and in an actual gestation room. In the chamber they maintained a temperature of around 11.9°C and in the gestation room a temperature as low as 8°C. In addition to maintaining a lower temperature, within the sow controlled room (as opposed to a preset room), a lower CO₂ concentration was observed demonstrating a better air quality. Allowing sows to control their own temperature resulted in around 75% less natural gas consumption and 11% less electricity consumption. This decrease in consumption could translate into as much as a 59% decrease in the overall cost of heating and electricity.

Reducing Energy Use in Group Sow Housing Systems – 2017

Ventilation System Requirements for Conversion to Group Sow Housing

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When converting to group housing for sows if remodeling of the previous ventilation systems does not occur, it is estimated that over-ventilating will occur at a rate of 30%. This will raise the heating energy consumption by 75% in the winter. Carefully redesigning the ventilation system will aid in ensuring optimal pig health as well as reducing energy costs. Through the use of computer stimulation it was determined that utilizing a horizontal flow ventilation system (having the air inlets located opposite to the exhaust fans) resulted in the air being most effectively homogeneously mixed. Utilizing the horizontal flow ventilation system (HFVS) an in-barn evaluation was carried out to determine the ventilation effectiveness on temperature and HRE (heat removal effectiveness), air quality, sow condition and performance, and the behavior of the sow. When comparing the remodeled ventilation system to the unmodified system it is apparent that the modified system more effective at removing heat and contaminants (such as CO₂) from the room. In the room equipped with the HFVS the sows displayed a higher level of comfort and were overall less aggressive towards other sows. The in barn evaluation determined that when comparing a converted room with an unmodified ventilation system to group housing with a HFVS that the HFVS resulted in a 21% reduction in natural gas consumption and a 14% reduction in electricity consumption.

Ventilation System Requirements for Conversion to Group Sow Housing – 2017

Effect of litter size and parity on farrowing room productivity and grow-finish performance

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre, Production by admin on July 31, 2017 | No Comments

Sows that farrowed larger litters weaned more pigs and sent more pigs to the
finisher unit, even though mortality was higher and the average birth weight of these litters was lower.

• Increased litter size resulted in:
– Decreased average birth weight
-No effect on birthweight SD
-No effect on body weight at 7 wk post·weaning
– No effect on carcass parameters

• Decreased birth weight resulted in:
-Increased days to market
– No effect on the lean or fat content of picnic, loin, hock or ham
-No overall effect on palatability
– No effect on carcass parameters

Effect of litter size and parity on farrowing room

Impact of Large Litters on Performance and Carcass Quality

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Increased litter size resulted in a reduction in average BW and increased proportion of small (less than 1 kg) piglets as well as a higher standard deviation.

Impact of Large Litters on performance and carcass quality

The problem of constipated barns economics and throughput

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This presentation discusses how to maintain efficiency and throughput in a barn. The summary of this presentation is as follows:

• There appears to be no advantage to sorting pigs into the finisher, In fact there may be growth performance benefits to not not sorting.
• Use seasonal variations to your advantage
  • Plan ahead for decreased growth rate in summer
• Asses optimum marketing weights
• Maintain health
• Be mindful of sick pen use
• Use marketing to reduce stocking density
• Do not waste time on things that make little to no impact

The problem of constipated barns economics and throughput

Twelve Born Alive: Its not all hugs and kisses

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This presentation outlines several challenges associated with the 30 piglets per sow per year goal that most producers set. Sow body condition score is critical for maintaining proper lactation levels for a reduced pre weaning mortality. The studies discussed in this presentation focus on the issue of lactation nutrition, body condition, long term productivity and management solutions for optimizing on farm performance.

Twelve Born Alive not all hugs and kisses