Abstracts - Management

Pre-weaning mortality (especially crushing by the sow) is higher in piglets raised in a multi-litter (ML) system until 9 weeks of age than in piglets raised in a single-litter (SL) system.

The results showed that organic iron complex did not improve the reproductive performance of sows or the growth performance of piglets.

Our results suggest that at least at the chosen stocking densities, parity and space allocation have minimal effect on a number of commonly-used welfare measures.

Results of the present study revealed that behavioural patterns that are established when suckling reappear when forced to form a new dominance hierarchy after weaning.

These baseline results suggest that oral-fluid samples can be collected from individually housed sows, but that further studies on the optimization of oral-fluid collection in the sow unit (gestation and farrowing) would be of value.

Overall, video imaging of fattening pigs appeared promising for real-time weight and growth monitoring. In this study the weight could be estimated with an accuracy of 97.5% in a group level.

Under the conditions of this study, plasma transfer alone does not improve survival of low-birth-weight piglets.

It appears that nest-building behaviour in prepartum sows could be enhanced by the provision of nesting materials. This, coupled with elevated oxytocin and prolactin concentrations, could result in improved postpartum nursing performance and maternal behaviour in early lactating sows.

This is the first study indicating a link between brain neurotransmission and tail biting behavior in pigs.

Therefore, our results suggest that low birth weight has minimal impact on meat quality.

The results of this study offer a promising application with regard to using SNP markers to reduce boar taint risk in Canadian pigs.

Keeping group-housed gestating sows on partly straw bedded floor with permanent access to the concrete feeding stalls compared to fully straw bedded floor did not significantly influence animal performance and NH3-emissions, and decreased CO2eq-emissions.

Crossbreeding appeared to have a greater impact on animal welfare and meat quality than vehicle type, but trailer type may emphasize these negative genotype-related defects.

We conclude that actions to improve animal welfare also have an economic impact as they enhance sow production. Good stockmanship and healthier animals result in more piglets born and a shorter reproduction cycle.

Farms that use living animals for the exposure to gilts during the acclimatization and farms that had increased number of weaned piglets per sow and year were less likely to test positive for M. hyopneumoniae and less likely to develop clinical symptoms of EP in fattening pigs.

The results obtained at the commercial growing-finishing farms show that in uncontrolled conditions the water disappearance and manure production are significantly influenced by the drinker type.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different induction protocols when applied on d114 of gestation.

Under the conditions of this study, plasma transfer alone does not improve survival of LBW piglets.

Tannins from the quebracho tree can control the production of compounds that cause manure odors, according to studies by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists.

The results suggest that serum iron and TIBC values may be used as potential indicator of early iron deficiency in weaning piglets.

The behavior of three antibiotics (bacitracin, chlortetracycline, and tylosin) and two classes of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), tet and erm, were monitored in swine manure slurry under anaerobic conditions.

The aim of the experiment was to study the effect on litter performance of two oral supplementation strategies on piglets born weighing 1.35 kg or less.

Biosecurity is a useful measure to promote the reduction of antimicrobial use in the pig industry.

These results demonstrate that management options can affect the reproductive performance and injuries of gestating sows in the ESF system.