Better Pork - December 2003

New U.K. study suggests ways to cut down on tail biting

Adding straw in the creep area once or more a day decreases the risk of tail biting 10-fold, according to research done at the University of Bristol's Langford House -- one of a number of findings that may help curb this growing problem
by S. ERNEST SANFORD
Though tail biting is very common in confinement-reared pigs worldwide, its incidence is extremely variable among herds, and at different time periods, within the same herd. Despite efforts to control and prevent tail biting, it keeps increasing in our intensive-rearing husbandry units. This increase has coincided with larger herd size and modernization of the pig industry.

Consequences of tail biting include restlessness, poor growth, possible paralysis and death from secondary infections and condemnation of part or all of the carcass at slaughter. Experimental studies to recreate or induce tail biting have been few and far between, with the result that its causes remain poorly understood.

Now, however, a team of researchers at Langford House, the pig research centre at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, has completed a study to determine the major risk factors associated with or contributing to tail biting. This was a very comprehensive study which systematically investigated some 92 pig farms right across Britain over an 11-month period. The results were published earlier this year by Moinard C and colleagues in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, Applied Animal Behaviour Science.

The research was conducted in a case control study format. Herds were categorized into those with at least one tail-bitten pig over a six-month period and those with none. Various statistical analyses were done and the following key results were obtained:

  • Adding straw in the creep area once or more a day decreased the risk of tail biting 10-fold.

  • Keeping growing pigs on partly or fully slatted floors compared to solid floors increased risks of tail biting (odds ratio [OR] 3.2).

  • Using a feeding system with five or more grower pigs per feed space increased tail biting risk (OR = 2.7).

  • Stocking density of 110 kg/m2 or greater during the grow-finish phase increased risks of tail biting (OR = 2.7).

  • Herds commingling from five or more sources had increased risk (OR = 3.5).

  • As the number of pens per stockman increased by one, the risk of tail biting increased 1.06-fold. Certain diseases and production characteristics indices also had a relation to the risk of tail biting.
  • Presence of respiratory diseases accounted for a 1.6-fold increase in risk.

  • As P2 back-fat value increased by one millimetre, risk of tail biting decreased by 1.5-fold.

  • Post-weaning mortality above 2.5 per cent was associated with a 3.9-fold increase in risk of tail biting.

  • Tail docking accounted for a three-fold increase in risk of tail biting.

This study identified and quantified some of the management practices on commercial farms that can be changed to decrease the risk of tail biting in grow-finish pigs. We now need to select which are the easiest steps to follow in correcting this negative behaviour, then move on to more challenging items. It must be noted, though, that many of these risk factors overlap with other conditions. So correcting the cause of conditions that overlap would simultaneously address the tail biting issue also.

What about some of the age-old methods we have traditionally used to reduce tail biting, such as toys in the pen and other distractions? We do need to continue using these approaches, while realizing that they are more in the category of band-aids and not solutions. They do not get to the root cause of the problem; they merely treat the symptoms.

As with many things we do with livestock in general and with pigs in particular today, this is not just a husbandry issue. We can expect further scrutiny from the animal welfare lobby unless we get a better understanding and better control of tail biting. The claim will be that this is not normal behaviour and is the result of our confinement rearing techniques. We can expect increasing pressure to stop the current practice of cutting the tail off as a (temporary) solution. We will have to find better ways.

The U.K. researchers have documented a comprehensive list of management factors that are linked to tail biting. It is now up to us to sift through their findings and implement the changes that make sense in individual units to reduce the tail-biting risk in grow-finish pigs. BP

S. Ernest Sanford, DVM, Dip. Path., Diplomate ACVP, is a swine specialist with Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica (Canada) Ltd. in Burlington.

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Better Pork - December 2003

AMMTO project now available to Ontario livestock producers

This industry- and government-sponsored program will give producers and regulators the tools to determine the capabilities and limitations of advanced manure management technologies for Ontario livestock farms
by Sam Bradshaw
The Advanced Manure Management Technologies for Ontario (AMMTO) Project is now ready for use. This project was funded by Cold Springs Farm Ltd., Ontario Pork Producers Marketing Board, Ontario Pork Industry Council, Premium Pork, Selves Farms Limited, Poultry Industry Council and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food Healthy Futures Program.

It was initiated to develop a decision-making process and tools that livestock producers and regulators could use to determine the viability, capabilities and limitations of advanced manure management technologies for Ontario livestock farms.

A public meeting was held at the start of the project to confirm manure management concerns that need to be addressed in Ontario. Based on input from the public meeting, AMMTO developed a list of nine manure management technology objectives.

  1. Potential to reduce odours.

  2. Potential to reduce nitrogen loading to surface and ground water.

  3. Potential to reduce pathogen loading to surface and groundwater.

  4. Potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

  5. Potential to reduce phosphorus loading to surface water.

  6. Potential to degrade medicines and other by-pass substances that may be found in manure.

  7. Potential to reduce manure volume and/or mass.

  8. Potential to reduce livestock producer dependency on the local land base.

  9. Ease of meeting government regulations.

A database of 320 suppliers of manure management technologies was developed and each supplier was sent a form to solicit information required to evaluate the technologies against the AMMTO objectives. A total of 56 suppliers responded.

The decision-making tools developed by AMMTO include the following:

  • A standard Manure Management Technology Information Request Form was developed to solicit the information from technology suppliers necessary to evaluate manure management technologies.

  • An Economic Evaluation Template was developed to compare the economics of different manure management technologies against current practices. The template allows the user to consider capital and operating costs, salvage value of existing systems, effect on land base requirements and soft factors, such as reduced soil compaction and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

  • An Evaluation Process was developed to allow individuals to come up with a numerical ranking of the technical capabilities of different technologies to help in deciding what manure management technology is most appropriate for a particular livestock operation.

  • The database allows users to choose the management issues they wish to resolve by implementing new technology, and the database provides a list of technologies that can be used to address the management issue selected. It allows the user to select a technology from the database list and provides information on 10 factors that affect the implementation of the selected technology. It provides a list of suppliers of each technology listed and a summary of manufacturer information for the technology. And it includes AMMTO's review of the manure management technologies listed in the supplier database.

The AMMTO economic evaluation template, steps to implement database and the evaluation process are all now available for your use.

To access this information go to www.ontariopork.on.ca and click on the AMMTO tab. BP

Sam Bradshaw is environmental specialist with Ontario Pork.


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Better Pork - December 2003

Ontario Pork Congress product test yields detailed carcass information for producers

Over time, as data is collected and compared, the information could be used to answer questions such as the relationship between growth rate and leanness
by SUSAN MANN
Bill Wymenga says participating in the Ontario Pork Congress Commercial Product Test gave him a chance to evaluate certain things on his farm.

Wymenga was one of 16 commercial pork producers who took part in the test, which was sponsored by the Ontario Pork Congress, Conestoga Meat Packers and Ontario Swine Improvement Inc. Each farmer submitted 15 pigs (all barrows) for evaluation.

"It gives us a baseline of information about where we're at," he says, adding that he tried a few things to see what effect they would have on the final product, such as pushing the growth rates of his pigs a bit to see what would happen.

"We found out that we got some really good growth rates, but at the same time the carcass was fatter," explains Wymenga, who is a partner in Orford Swine Enterprises, a 550-sow weaner operation in the Chatham-Kent area. "You're always trying to balance performance at home with what the packer wants."

The product test can yield a lot of good information for farmers and others in the industry and Wymenga, who's in the feed business, says more farmers should participate. "This can give us information on average daily gains, feed intakes and how that compares to the final product. What's really neat is this shows what's happening down on the commercial farms. We're still seeing a fair bit of variability as far as the fastest growing animal and the slowest growing animal. "

For the test, the farmers selected and tagged 15 barrows at weaning from different litters. The pigs were weighed at 25 to 30 kilograms and at slaughter weight. Processing was done at Conestoga Meat Packers where carcass quality and cut-out data was collected.

The first pigs in the test were slaughtered at 129 days of age and the last at 189 days. It was always thought that faster-growing pigs are fatter. But one thing the test showed is that this relationship is not always as strong as expected and can vary between farms.

Normally, when farmers send a hog to slaughter, they get very basic grading information, such as back fat and loin depth, carcass weight and index, says Cathy Aker, technical manager of genetic improvement programs at Ontario Swine Improvement Inc. "In this case, we went way beyond that and actually took the left side of each carcass and broke it down into the primal cuts and weighed all those."

The bones were also taken out, the boneless cuts weighed and the amount of fat and lean measured. "That's very detailed stuff farmers would not normally have access to on their pigs," she explains, adding that the idea of the test was to give the participating farmers an idea of what the quality of their pigs was and how much variability there was.

The test was also intended to provide commercial farmers with a learning experience, give them an opportunity to get more detailed information, particularly on the carcass characteristics of their pigs, and encourage them to weigh their pigs during the test period. Doing the weighing would give farmers an idea of the growth patterns, Aker says.

All participants were given the final report, so they had a benchmark against which they could compare themselves. Over time, as data is collected and compared, the information could be used to answer different questions, such as the relationship between growth rate and leanness. "It'll be a good resource to answer questions that are of interest to the industry and it can have an impact on how we raise hogs," Aker notes.

The Ontario Pork Congress Commercial Product Test is being held again next year. BP





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Better Pork - December 2003

Dispelling the myths about agriculture and the food supply

Everyone in the agrifood business has a role to play in talking up Canada's secure, safe and affordable food supply
by JIM DALRYMPLE
Farmers, agribusiness personnel, and agricultural university staff, numbering over 100,000 in Ontario, have an important role to play as "ambassadors for agriculture."

All those involved in the agriculture and food industry come in contact daily with many people who have little understanding of modern agriculture. Thus, they have the opportunity to deal with some of the myths and untruths about the secure, safe and affordable food supply that exists in Canada. So do take the time to speak to a service club, contact your local press and talk with non-farm town and city people about the realities of modern agriculture.

Here are ten things an informed consumer should know about agriculture and our food supply.

Animal welfare. Today's modern farm systems provide a uniform environment for poultry and animals with control over diseases, climate and the food animals and poultry consume. Voluntary codes of practice have been developed with the help of humane societies, scientists, veterinarians, industry and farm representatives that provide for the well-being of farm animals. Farms today incorporate the latest scientific technology production principles so as to provide consumers with foods that are humanely produced in a user-friendly, practical and economically sound system. Information on these codes is available from the Canadian Agri-Food Research Council, the Ontario Farm Animal Council and commodity organizations.

Biotechnology. This science, which uses living organisms or their parts to develop new products, has been with us for decades. The development of penicillin more than a half century ago is an example. Others include yeast to make bread rise and bacteria to age cheese and produce sour cream and yogurt. The dairy cattle industry has used artificial insemination since the 1950s, resulting in improved genetics, higher production yields per cow and fewer farm deaths from not having temperamental bulls present on every farm. There is little to fear from biotechnological developments that can and are improving the feed supply for livestock, reducing environmental concerns, improving consumer food quality and health.

Pesticides and herbicides. The advent of grower pesticide Courses in Ontario has enabled the industry to make use of pesticides and herbicides at the appropriate times and in the right amounts, so lowering production costs and improving product quality. Certain consumer groups want their use discontinued on lawns, gardens and golf courses. Some of the products they want lawn care companies and home gardeners to stop using -- such as Pyrethrin and Permethrin -- are used at much higher concentrations to treat children who have lice.

Manure production. Manure is a valuable resource in the food production chain. Through improved production efficiency, the volume of manure per unit of milk, meat and eggs has been reduced. There are fewer animals than 100 years ago and they grow faster, which means less manure applied on the land. Moreover, there is a better understanding of application methods and the amounts that should be used. The Nutrient Management Act, which is currently being implemented, will further enhance the storage, handling, application and alternative uses of this valuable resource.

Factory farms and family farms. Livestock farming in Ontario is largely a "family farm" business. Today, farms today with 200 cows, 500 sows or 12,000 laying hens are all family owned and operated. A 50-sow, farrow-to-finish operation, marketing 800 pigs per year, or a 20-cow dairy unit cannot provide a suitable return in the face of modern-day land and equipment costs.

Today's farmers are using global positioning data, computers, feeding systems, new milking management technology, and other methods to improve the quality of management for their animals and the product quality for the consumer.

Resource utilization. Today's farm animals use fewer resources than ever. It takes only about half as much feed and water to raise a pig to market weight as it did 50 years ago. Improved feeding systems, disease prevention, biosecurity and modern housing systems have led to lower animal mortalities. From birth to market, a pig only needs the water that a human uses in four days. Improved technology has meant that dairy farmers produce more milk from 300,000 fewer cows, using more than 500,000 less hectares of land than was required half a century ago.

Farm price versus retail share. The dedication of farmers down the years to providing quality food at a reasonable price has meant that consumers are paying less and less of their income on food. The percentage of the family budget spent on food has dropped from more than 20 per cent in the 1960s and '70s to less than 10 per cent today, with the result that more can be spent on leisure, travel, entertainment and other household needs. Farmers need to receive a reasonable return for their investment if they are to survive. Today's leading farmers have a greater investment in their operations than most doctors, dentists and lawyers.

Genetically modified foods (GMO). Almost all foods today have undergone some "modification" over the last few decades ago. Improved shelf life is one benefit. Health Canada, Environment Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada all monitor developments in new innovative technology. No health problems have been detected from the consumption of GMO food.

Antibiotics. There are no factual data to indicate that the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture has affected the efficacy of medicines for humans. Further education through livestock medicine courses has reduced the amount of antibiotic use in agriculture, as well as reducing their use as growth promotants. Increased emphasis on biosecurity has also led to a reduced reliance on antibiotics.

Food safety. Canada has one of the safest food supplies of any country in the world. Can you remember the last time that a Canadian manufacturer conducted a veterinary drug product recall? Not likely. Quality Assurance(QA), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP),and Quality Control (QC) all assure safe product development and use. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency monitors Canadian products to assure safety and quality. There are a significant number of Websites which provide the non-farm community with factual information on these subjects. They include:

To assure a continued government commitment to agriculture and food research and to have a well informed public, all involved in production from "farm to fork" need to help inform the ninety-eight percent of the population that have little exposure to food production.BP





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Better Pork - December 2003

Britain: More precision needed to identify stillbirth causes

by NORMAN DUNN
Traditionally, litter recording means simply noting the piglets born alive, born dead and mummified. Most farmers faced with a higher than usual stillborn total start casting around for a reason, perhaps stress amongst the dry sows or mouldy feed.

But it would be much easier to identify causes if time of pre-parturition death could be identified, argues Royal Veterinary College student Faye Campey. Lack of precision here has meant stillborn figures -- an average of 0.89 per litter in Britain with the top 10 per cent performing herds averaging 0.61 -- have remained the same for at least two decades, despite huge progress in hygiene and nutrition knowledge and practice.

Identify when the unborn piglets died, Campey argues, and you can then tackle the cause with more precision. To help, she has divided times of death into three sectors -- the period before the birth process starts (prepartum) and the carcasses in such cases tend to be pale with pale pink lungs and heart and generalised watery swelling under the skin; during birth or intrapartum (inhaled material in airways or inflated lungs with faecal staining on skin); and immediately after birth or postpartum (at least some inflation of lungs).

When she examined 37 stillborn piglets over two weeks on one commercial farm, Campey found that only two of the deaths actually occurred before the birth process began, 27 were during birth and eight were postpartum or after birth. This means the last eight of the so-called stillbirths were actually born alive.

"This sort of result would tend to indicate that there's a problem with the sow," notes Dave Strachan, vet at the investigation unit of the Scottish Agricultural Colleges in Aberdeen. "It could simply mean that the sow was older than average or too fat. This way, the birth process could be delayed and you end up with a situation like this with over two thirds of stillborn deaths occurring during the birth process."

Strachan stresses that those looking after the farrowing should be encouraged to make simple post mortem examinations of stillborn piglets to recognize the time of pre-parturition death and determine at least probable causes. "The farm vet would probably be happy to give some tips on carrying out simple post mortems and the results could be used to help improve farrowing performance." BP





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Better Pork - December 2003

Across Europe: Boom in outdoor hog production fails to materialize

by NORMAN DUNN
The forecast boom for outdoor hog production systems in Europe about a decade ago never developed to the extent predicted. Only the national sow herd in Britain managed to top the figure of 30 per cent production from outdoor herds and this has been falling continuously. Now, only 26 per cent of the national hog-breeding herd of 177,000 sows are breeding outdoors.

Despite a promising start with high investment in research towards improving production in outdoor herds, Denmark has failed to cross even the two per cent mark for sows outside with just 26,000 breeding females producing in the fields there. The severe demands on management, particularly in controlling health and breeding performance, has been one of the main reasons for the lack of progress in this low capital system.

For instance, in Denmark, at around 17 per cent, average piglet mortality for outdoor herds is much the same as for indoor herds. But in cold continental winters this rises to 20 per cent and, on the worst performing farms, official figures of 26 per cent piglet mortality are regularly recorded, according to the National Committee for Pig Production in that country. Latest research in northern Germany-- where only one per cent of the national herd (some 25,000 sows) are kept outdoors -- also indicates that performance tends to be very temperature-dependent in the outdoor herds. A survey of more than 6000 farrowings has indicated that returns to service increased by three per cent when temperature dropped below 5° C.

In this German survey, natural service was found to be much more effective than AI, which seems to indicate that human management is more at fault than weather. However, naturally served sows in the outdoor systems produced larger litters too.

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