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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:
Cleaning Ease and Animal Welfare Implications of Trailer Design
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre, Production by student on June 11, 2018
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