Better Pork - August 2004
Netherlands: A stress-free way of blood testing hog herds
by NORMAN DUNN
Breeding herds in the Netherlands have to blood test all sows at four-month intervals as part of a national program to identify and isolate major diseases. The measure was introduced after this country was hit by one epidemic after another at the beginning of the millennium, including massive outbreaks of swine fever.As the average sow herd in the Dutch industry numbers over 200 breeding animals nowadays, the prevention program causes massive work for farmers and their vets, not to mention considerable stress for the animals concerned.
Now the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture has accepted a new step towards simplifying the national program. This is based on the fact that an equally complete picture of disease levels within a breeding herd can usually be reached through testing a few representative sows from the herd, especially where these are loose-housed in groups during gestation, as they often are in modern Dutch units.
What happens is that only reject sows from each herd are now blood tested, and the tests take place on arrival at the slaughterhouse rather than on the farm.
The blood is then passed on to a central laboratory and tested for presence of diseases such as swine fever, foot-and-mouth or Aujeszky's disease. Only the identification of a suspect antibody at this stage leads then to testing of the whole herd. BP
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Sweet-smelling apple mix boosts piglet intake
by Norman Dunn
ApeelMatrix weaner supplement is a novel way of getting young hogs to eat more feed. As the name suggests, the product is based on apples, which are diced, dried and then sprayed with plant-sourced antioxidants, anti-microbial and amine-stimulating substances. The sweet smelling product is then added to the main piglet ration.
"Using diced apples as basis material also means we have a chewy, non-dusty material which contains plentiful soluble fibre for healthy pig digestion tracts," explains Zöe Stevenson, representative from the producers, Park Tonks of Cambridge, U.K. "We've also added a specific herb essence to the product which has the effect of decreasing stress in the young pigs," she adds.
Park Tonks claims that on-farm results indicate that its new apple product can offer an increase in pre-weaning creep intake as high as 29 per cent, an eight per cent increase in post-weaning feed consumption and a five per cent dlwg boost up to 20 kg liveweight. Recommended supplementation is around 200 grams per piglet from 10 days old and then five per cent of creep feed mix for the first two or three weeks post-weaning. BP
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United Kingdom: Cool-chain delivery system for boar semen boosts sow breeding results
With climate-controlled vans covering more than 8,000 miles per week, a U.K. pig breeding company is replacing postal and courier services and helping improve conception rates for its customersby Norman Dunn
A lot can happen to boar semen between the AI station and the often far-off sow. Straying from the ideal temperature during transport can knock conception rates down by as much as 12 per cent, according to estimates by JSR Genetics, Britain's largest pig breeding company.
JSR noted that national performance results from AI had been falling off in Britain. Results in 2002-2003, for example, showed that unsuccessful servings were partly to blame for the number of "non-productive days"-- the period in the year excluding gestation, lactation and a six days weaning-to-service interval -- averaging 51 in 18 per cent of herds, compared to top performance herds with just 35 days. The group with the least non-productive days averaged 2.23 litters per sow per year, more than seven per cent better than the worst group.
Did much of the fault lie with AI semen and how it was stored and transported? JSR reckoned that this is so, and decided to introduce a company service with its own delivery vehicles and a cool-chain system to improve the situation for at least its customers.
"This service has been designed so that the optimum semen temperature of 17°C does not deviate by more than one degree at any time," explains Dr. Alan Tinch, JSR's head of research and genetics. The JSR approach involves dedicated delivery vans working from the company's five AI centres and together covering in excess of 8,000 miles per week. The vans are climate-controlled inside and each farmer customer in the cool-chain system now gets a cooler box for storing the delivered semen. This has a 12-volt integral cooling system and is sited out with the farm's pig buildings to comply with U.K. biosecurity rules.
The quality standard established by JSR in its new semen service has the same specifications used by the blood transfusion and organ donor services for humans in Britain.
"Another really risky part of the semen journey is from the farm storage cooler to the actual sow," adds Dr Tinch. "The temperature must be kept at optimum levels here too, and to help we give the farmers an insulated carrier bag which can hold up to 30 doses in insulated pockets, together with catheters and other equipment."
When JSR first introduced its Cool Chain system in England, results indicated that conception rates were up 12 per cent compared with former systems where postal or other services were used for delivery. Numbers born per litter were also up, by around eight per cent.
JSR introduced the same system for Scotland just six months ago and there the popular Cool Chain system has almost completely replaced former postal and courier semen delivery services, rising from an initial six packets to a weekly round of over 40 deliveries by spring 2004.BP
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Make sure you evaluate the antibiotics in your nursery pigs' feed
It's quite possible that your pigs are being exposed to more than one antibiotic in the nursery, making them likely to develop resistance. Evaluating the antibiotics being used in the feed and determining whether each one is justified can help reduce unnecessary exposureby CATE DEWEY
Producers use a phase feeding program to ensure that nursery pigs are fed the appropriate levels of protein and energy in a highly digestible form. These programs allow them to change feeds with the size of the pig, giving the pigs the best possible diets to meet their abilities to digest each specific nutrient. Thus, nursery pigs are able to grow to their genetic potential.This all sounds ideal until we evaluate the antibiotic feed additives that are in the diets. Research has shown that nursery pigs have growth rate and feed efficiency advantages if there are antibiotics in the feed. Usually, the benefits in production justify the cost of the feed additive. Personally, I think antibiotics in nursery feed diets are advantageous. They are expected to reduce disease and enhance production. Disease outbreaks in nursery pigs produce a problem of poor welfare. My concern with the inclusion of the antibiotics is the choice of the antibiotic and, more specifically, the number of antibiotics that nursery pigs are eating.
Different antibiotics kill different bacteria. For example, penicillin kills the bacteria that cause erysipelas and Strep suis meningitis, and tetracycline kills mycoplasma. We also need to focus on what "good" bacteria are being killed by the antibiotics that the pigs are eating. Pigs need good bacteria in their intestine to help them digest food. When the good bacteria are killed and the bad bacteria are not killed, then the bad bacteria can grow rapidly and cause disease.
Often people will take antibiotics to cure an infection (perhaps a sinus infection) and then will eat lactobacillus tablets to repopulate their intestine with "good" bacteria to help digestion. Pigs are no different. When they eat antibiotics, good bacteria die. When we change antibiotics in the nursery, each new antibiotic may kill off another set of good bacteria.
The other problem with changing antibiotics in the nursery is antibiotic resistance. When pigs are fed an antibiotic, bacteria in their systems become resistant to that antibiotic. Perhaps in the nursery the antibiotic is used at a low level so that the growth and feed efficiency are improved. If, later in that pig's life, it develops an infection (such as mycoplasma) that requires antibiotic treatment, it is likely that the antibiotic will not work. The pig's bacteria have become resistant to the antibiotic to which it was exposed in the nursery diet.
How do pigs get exposed to more than one antibiotic in the nursery? Let's assume that the pigs are given a five-phase feeding program. Perhaps they receive Tiamulin (denagard) and tetracycline in the first diet, ASP 250 (chlortetracycline, sulfamethazine and penicillin) in the second diet, neoterramycin (neomycin and oxytetracycline) in the third diet and then tylosin in the last two diets.
Just to stretch the point, let's say that pigs with diarrhea are given an injection of Excenel (ceftiofur). Later, when diarrhea breaks out in the group, apramycin is put in the water. By the time these pigs are 25 kg, they have been exposed to 10 antibiotics. This example is extreme. However, my point is that many pigs in Ontario have been exposed to a number of antibiotics by the time they reach 25 kg.
In the last issue, I discussed the diagnosis of post-weaning diarrhea due to E coli. I would like to use that disease as a way to further illustrate my point. Each time the antibiotic in the nursery diets is changed, the pig is exposed to yet another antibiotic. Likely the antibiotics were killing off "good" bacteria such as lactobacillus. For example, if the pigs are given tetracycline in the feed and the E coli is resistant to tetracycline, then the E coli grows and other bacteria in the intestine die. Without these good bacteria, the diarrhea-causing E colihave a wonderful opportunity to grow and attach to the intestinal wall. The next step is for them to produce toxins and cause severe diarrhea and perhaps death of the pig.
In herds with on-going post-weaning diarrhea problems, it is probably better to remove the antibiotics from the feed and replace them with zinc oxide for the first three weeks after weaning. After three weeks, an antibiotic that specifically reduces the E coli in the intestine is possibly a good choice. If an outbreak of diarrhea due to E coli occurs in the group, pulsing an antibiotic into the water to the affected group should reduce the extent of the problem.
In a nursery barn that is managed all-in all-out by room, it is important that separate water medicators be set up in each room. If the whole barn is medicated every time one room is affected by diarrhea, then the E coli that affects the barn will soon become resistant to the antibiotic used during the outbreak. It is important that only pigs affected by the diarrhea are medicated and the other pigs are left unmedicated. This way, if they break with diarrhea, the antibiotic is expected to work against the E coli in that group too.
Whether or not your nursery pigs have a problem with E coli diarrhea, it is important that you critically evaluate the antibiotics that are being used in the feed. Each producer needs to determine whether each antibiotic is justified and whether the antibiotic chosen is really the best one for that group of pigs. Work with your veterinarian to determine what diseases typically affect the pigs in the nursery and the grower-finisher barn and design the antibiotic inclusion based on disease prevention.
It may be that the antibiotics you choose for your herd are not those routinely put in the phase feeding program by your feed supplier. Judicious use of antibiotics may preclude your use of these standard pre-packaged diets. If you go through this process in a logical manner, you will be able to justify the in-feed antibiotics used on your farm. BP
Cate Dewey is a professor in the Department of Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph.
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Research suggests gestation stalls can meet animal welfare standards
Current scientific literature indicates that gestation stalls meet the criteria set out by the American Veterinary Medical Association, provided the appropriate level of stockmanship is administeredby JIM DALRYMPLE
The housing of gestating sows has been one of the most controversial aspects in pork production. Sow gestation stalls, cages for laying hens and veal calf housing in crates have provided fuel for animal rights and animal welfare advocates throughout the world.More than 20 years of research has been done on alternative systems for dry sow housing. The tie-up stalls or tethers for sows that were introduced in the 1960s and '70s and that were still in use in many European countries in the 1980s are almost non-existent today. This type of sow housing never was used to the same extent in Canada. Also the concerns about extreme early weaning have all but disappeared with a shift to later weaning of pigs.
Still, many special interest groups advocate further changes in the way the breeding herd is managed. Some advocate a return to outdoor housing, which is likely impractical with today's lean breeding stock.
Climate changes and extreme variation in temperatures, rain, snow and mud, as well as predators and pests, make demands to return to the natural environment unrealistic.
Freedom of movement, a concern of the animal welfarists, is being addressed. Group housing is being researched in most major pork-producing countries and changes will likely be made to group-housing systems for sows to control problems such as aggression and feet and leg health.
Sow stalls do have the advantage of providing the producer with the opportunity to feed each sow as an individual, according to the sow's body condition and general wellbeing. Record keeping that can trace medicinal and vaccine use, as well as a sow's previous performance, is easier with a stall system. These stalls also prevent fighting amongst sows, common in group housing. Pigs are aggressive animals and, when housed in groups, they exhibit an established order of dominance.
The pork industry emphasizes the importance of good sow nutrition, which can only be achieved with control over each animal's level of feed intake. Also, less total barn capacity is needed for the gestation sow system with individual stalls.
All systems that house sows in groups will lead to some regrouping and aggressive behaviour. Re-grouping should be kept to a minimum and the variation in ages and size minimized.
Many initial feeding systems with grouped sows involved floor feeding, which sometimes added to aggression and bullying between animals in the group. Refinements to electronic feeding systems are improving individual feed performance.
The Prairie Swine Centre in Saskatchewan has undertaken a major study of gestation sow stalls. The Code of Practice suggests that wider stalls should be used as sows increase in size with each parity. One study compared sows in stalls from 55 cm to 70 cm (22-28 in.) in width. Further studies are underway, but increasing stall width, particularly for older sows, would seem appropriate. All animals were relatively uncrowded in 70-cm stalls. Further work by Harold W. Gonyou, Ph.D. a research scientist - ethology at the Prairie Swine Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is now looking at sows housed in different size stalls over six reproductive cycles to further assess the impact of stall size on productivity.
U.S. studies reported by Dr. John Dean (awaiting title & location) conclude that gestation stalls or well-managed pens produced similar states of welfare for pregnant gilts or sows in terms of physiology, behaviour, performance and health.
In the United States and Canada, animal welfare audit programs are being considered or are currently in effect. These programs will address the sow's welfare, as well as many housing and management aspects in use today. Change may be inevitable, but the public must realize that change costs money and will not be done solely on an emotional basis.
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has developed a position statement on gestation sow housing. The AVMA supports the use of sow housing configurations that:
Current scientific literature indicates that gestation stalls meet each of these criteria, provided the appropriate level of stockmanship is administered.
- minimize aggression and competition between sows;
- protect sows from detrimental effects associated with environmental extremes, particularly temperature extremes;
- reduce exposure to hazards that result in injuries;
- provide every animal with daily access to appropriate food and water;
- facilitate observation of a sow's appetite, respiratory rate, urination and defecation, and reproductive status by caretakers.
The Ontario and Canadian pork industry is striving to remain competitive not only with its pork production competition throughout the world but with other meats. Changes in production systems must be based on science and not on political whims and emotion. Producers realize that unfit, unhealthy animals that are mistreated will not produce healthy litters of pigs.
Research is currently underway throughout the world to assess gestation housing systems and also the need for "nesting behaviour" in the farrowing unit. Farrowing pens and crates with and without bedding are being reviewed at many institutions. Some research in the United Kingdom indicates that space is more important to a gilt's wellbeing than straw.
The farrowing process itself is being reviewed to determine the best welfare for sows. The Scottish Agricultural College research shows that sows prefer to farrow in enclosed spaces. Research has also shown that there was no evidence that crates interfere with parturition physiology and delivery of piglets.BP
J.R. (Jim) Dalrymple, P.Ag., CAC, is a former Ontario government swine specialist and owner of Livestock Technology Services in Brighton.
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The hog industry is corrupting public officials, Kennedy claims
According to the son of a famous father, the pork industry in the United States is guilty of "practices that can't withstand scrutiny." And, he says, the same is true of Canadaby DON STONEMAN
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., president of the U.S.-based Water Keepers Alliance and a vocal opponent of "factory hog farming," was mostly silent on agriculture when he spoke to an admiring crowd at a rivers conference in Guelph in June. In a news conference after the speech, however, he indicated that his organization intends to be a force against the pork industry here.The Water Keepers Alliance finances itself in the United States by taking advantage of an arcane and unused law, the 1888 Rivers and Harbors Act, which makes it illegal to pollute waterways. The same law also allows anyone who successfully brings a polluter to justice to keep half the fine, turning the water keepers into self-appointed bounty hunters. Kennedy said a lawyer at Lake Ontario Water Keepers in Ontario has dug out a Canadian law that may allow the same sort of self-financing legal prosecutions here, but he was not more specific. At press time, Toronto-based environmental lawyer and Lake Ontario Water Keeper president Mark Mattson was not available to comment on the laws that might be used against polluters.
In 1966, says Kennedy, a group of "blue collar" commercial and pleasure fishermen used the Rivers and Harbors Act successfully to prosecute Penn-Central Railway for allowing oil to pollute the Hudson River. In 1973, the same group collected $200,000 from Anaconda Wire and Cable for similar infractions, and the alliance was on its financial feet in a major way. Kennedy cited a long list of successful suits and prosecutions in the United States that continue to finance the Water Keepers.
Kennedy, the son of the assassinated former attorney-general and nephew of John F. Kennedy, the assassinated president of the United States, cited a series of articles in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Raleigh North Carolina's News & Observer in February 1995 which, Kennedy says, "showed how every single public official had been corrupted by the hog industry" because of practices that "can't withstand scrutiny."
"Are you alleging that the same kind of corruption has been going on in Canada?" a Better Pork reporter asked. "Absolutely," Kennedy replied. "In Alberta," he said in answer to another reporter's question. "Public officials have been bought out by the industry that they should be prosecuting."
Kennedy argued that by avoiding paying for the environmental costs of their operations mega-hog operations are actually anti-capitalist and anti-democratic. "They cannot compete with a family farm. They would be out of business," asserted Kennedy who spoke admiringly of the fishermen he says he still sees using methods that have been used "for 350 years" on the Hudson River.
A 50,000 animal pig farm, such as those that Kennedy says exist in North Carolina, should treat its manure in a sewage treatment plant comparable to that for a city, but it would be uneconomical because it would add "$1.25 US) per pound to every hog at kill weight at the same time that hogs are going for 40 cents per pound." BP BP
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