Better Pork -February 2004
Denmark:Surviving the antibiotic growth promoter ban
by NORMAN DUNN
Danish hog production took an initial beating when it decided on a 100 per cent withdrawal policy for antibiotic growth promoters in hog feed. But latest industry and World Health Organization (WHO) figures indicate that performance is slowly recovering and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in Danish pork has been greatly reduced.It's been four years since Danish farmer voluntarily stopped using antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) in hog production. Behind this move, which has high public relations value in a country that exports 80 per cent of its annual1.6 million tonne pork production, were fears that AGPs encouraged development of bacteria resistance to antibiotics, a resistance that could negatively affect human medicine.
In Denmark, AGPs were first withdrawn for feeding hogs in 1998 and then for weaners as from 2000. Since then, mortality within the national herd has increased by 0.6 per cent. When adjusted for genetic improvement, days to slaughter at 100 kilograms has also increased by 1.6 days to 175.5. According to Danish Slaughterhouse economists in Copenhagen, this adds an extra $1.55 Cdn per hog to production costs.
Specifically, mortality was a big problem when AGPs were withdrawn from weaner feed. The national average was still running at 3.75 per cent during 2002, which is about one per cent more than it was six years ago for the seven kilo and 30 kilo sector in Denmark. Daily liveweight gain (dlwg) also suffered by about 10 per cent. In the same time span, this dropped to just over 400 grams, according to figures from the National Committee for Pig Production (NCPP).
Feeder hog penalties have been less. About 0.5 per cent higher mortality has developed in the last six years, while excellent genetic progress in the national Danish breeding herd has meant that dlwg continued its upward incline, although the annual increase in performance here dropped from an average 20 grams before the withdrawal to 10 grams now.
"We have progressed a long way since just after the withdrawals. But, on average, we have still not reached the performance levels we had when antibiotics were routinely added to hog rations as growth promoters," admits NCCP disease control research manager Dr. Niels Kjeldsen. "A lot of mileage has been made by opponents of our action by the fact that hog farmers' applications of antibiotics on a medicinal basis rose dramatically after the AGP removal. But we can look at it this way: we applied four grams per finished hog in 2002. In 1994, this figure was 10 grams."
Economic impact of AGP withdrawal in Denmark $ Cdn per hog Increased mortality 0.6% 0.51 c Increased days to slaughter 1.6 0.35 c Increased medication - 0.45 c Increased labour input 30 seconds per hog 0.24 c Total cost per hog $ 1.55 Exchange rate applied: C$1 = DK kroner 5.00
(Statistics courtesy of the National Committee for Pig Production, Denmark)There have also been compensations through sow productivity in Denmark, where output has continued to improve by a regular 0.1 slaughter pigs per year. Also, increased emphasis on feed and hygiene management and the use of organic acids in rations instead of antibiotics are increasingly successful in combating intestinal disease, say the NCPP researchers.
And Denmark's international marketing has certainly not suffered by the move. This year, the WHO has singled it out in its latest report as a country where the counts of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in hog meat have reduced "drastically" and it called for all other countries to follow suit. BP
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The Netherlands:Quiet treatment for hogs doesn't help
Recent research suggests that brusque treatment may even increase lean meat percentage. But the researchers caution that robust handling doesn't imply crueltyby Norman Dunn
Does gentle treatment by stockpersons in the barn enhance hog performance? Results from a recently completed Dutch project comparing noisy, robust handling with the quiet and gentle approach have dumfounded European experts, who have always claimed that impatient treatment causes stress, which in turn affects hog feed consumption and weight gain.
A full-scale trial in farrowing pens indicated that hog performance and mortality were just the same between the two treatments and, in fact, the impatiently treated animals ended up with a higher carcass lean meat percentage!
"Bad treatment" in the trial included stockpersons moving swiftly into and through the pens, making plenty of noise and lifting the piglets with both hands round the belly and dropping them into a handling wagon containing up to 20 other animals. The piglets were then lifted out of the wagon and dropped the last few inches onto the pen floor.
In another compartment, the quiet treatment involved entering each pen quietly and standing still for about half a minute so that the piglets could get used to the stockperson's presence. Lifting piglets for loading into the inspection wagon was done gently by grasping one rear leg. Never more than 10 animals were kept in the wagon at any one time.
But when they released their results, the Dutch researchers cautioned that robust handling should never be mistaken for rough or cruel treatment. BP
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Austria: Automatic straw bedding for hogs
by Norman Dunn
No more heaving bales around and no need to enter hog pens when bedding. That's the prospect offered by the Strohmatic, a new idea from Austrian manufacturer Schauer which hammer-mills straw bales, extracts any dust and spreads the required amount of straw in each pen.
All the stockperson needs to do is dump a big round or square bale into a hopper where the straw is teased out and fed automatically into the hammer mill. Variable chop lengths can be chosen. Straw is then blown into an auger/tube system that can transport it up to 200 metres. Openings in the auger pipeline above pens unload a specified amount of straw, depending on the length of the bedding operation. Importantly, the system is low-dust with this material drawn-off into a storage sack during the milling procedure.
The Strohmatic is also low-cost. The chopping and conveying system uses an average four kW per hour and the engine driving the bale teaser just 5.5 kW. The system, tested on 10 Austrian farms since August this year, sells for around $37,500 Cdn for all equipment to distribute straw in 100 square metres of pens. BP
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Are low crude protein diets practical?
While these diets are becoming more common, nutritionists still question whether animal performance and carcass quality can be maintained and how high synthetic amino acid levels can go before performance falls to levels below that supported by intact proteinby A. DENISE BEAULIEU and JOHN F. PATIENCE
The practice of nutrition in today's pork industry requires the recognition of a number of inter-related forces. Depending on the individual farm's circumstances, these may include: 1) achieving optimal performance at the lowest possible cost; 2) production of a high quality carcass that earns maximum quality premiums; and 3) minimizing nutrient excretion into the slurry.
Although, decreasing the nitrogen output in the manure can be achieved by feeding low crude protein (CP) diets, this has met with some resistance from producers because of the cost of synthetic amino acids, and because carcass quality may be adversely affected.
However, the cost of synthetic amino acids, relative to the cost of intact protein, such as soybean meal, is declining as more efficient and effective manufacturing processes evolve. The problems with carcass quality are increasingly being attributed to inaccurate energy values applied to feeds.
While lower CP diets embracing expanded use of synthetic amino acids are becoming more common, two questions have arisen in the minds of nutritionists. Can lower protein diets be fed while maintaining animal performance and carcass quality, and how high can synthetic amino acid levels go before performance falls to levels below that supported by intact protein?
In the past, many nutritionists have failed to maintain animal performance with lower CP diets and carcass quality has often suffered. The use of the net energy (NE) system is increasing in many parts of the world. However, in North America, its adoption generally lags behind that of other parts of the world.
In some cases, the use of simplified corn-soybean meal diets discourages any change in the energy system. Furthermore, there has been little demonstration of the benefits of the NE system when applied under practical conditions in North America. Nonetheless, at least theoretically, NE should be an advancement when adopting feeding programs with lower CP levels, since it more accurately acknowledges the impact of the reduced CP on the quantity of energy available to the pig.
An experiment was therefore undertaken to determine if lower CP levels can be employed without sacrificing performance or carcass quality. The diets were formulated on a NE basis and dietary electrolyte balance was also considered in an attempt to address the concerns associated with low protein diets and decreased carcass quality.
A three-phase split-sex feeding program was employed throughout; barrow and gilt programs differed in phases two and three only. The experiment compared three dietary treatments: a control program in which diets contained no more than 0.1 per cent lysine, a low protein program that contained diets formulated to maximize synthetic lysine, methionine and threonine, but not tryptophan, and a third program that was intermediate between the other two. All diets contained wheat, soybean meal, barley, canola oil, and the appropriate minerals and vitamins.
Synthetic amino acids were employed, as defined above, to maintain constant lysine-to-DE ratio and minimum amino acid-to-lysine ratios across all treatment. For example, the low protein treatment for Phase I was supplemented with 2.65 kg lysine, 0.74 kg threonine and 0.21 kg methionine per tonne.
The energy, CP, lysine and methionine composition for all phases are presented in Table 1. This table clearly shows that when diets are formulated to contain equal concentrations of NE, the DE decreases when CP content is reduced.
Table 1. Energy, crude protein and amino acid content of experimental diets. TREATMENT Male Female High Medium Low High Medium Low 35 to 60 kg a Crude protein, % 21.0 20.0 18.9 21.0 20.0 18.9 Lysine, % 1.07 1.05 1.03 1.07 1.05 1.03 Methionine, % 0.31 0.31 0.30 0.31 0.31 0.30 DE, Mcal/kg 3.40 3.37 3.33 3.40 3.37 3.33 NE, Mcal/kg 2.30 2.31 2.31 2.30 2.31 2.31 60 to 90 kg Crude protein 18.8 17.9 16.9 20.0 18.5 16.9 Lysine 0.90 0.89 0.88 0.96 0.94 0.92 Methionine 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.30 0.29 0.29 DE, Mcal/kg 3.35 3.32 3.29 3.40 3.34 3.29 NE, Mcal/kg 2.33 2.33 2.33 2.33 2.33 2.33 90 to 115 Crude protein 18.3 17.1 15.9 18.7 17.5 16.3 Lysine 0.82 0.80 0.79 0.86 0.85 0.83 Methionine 0.26 0.25 0.23 0.27 0.26 0.26 DE, Mcal/kg 3.28 3.22 3.16 3.33 3.28 3.23 NE, Mcal/kg 2.31 2.31 2.30 2.33 2.33 2.33 a Male and female pigs received the same diets in phase 1 A total of 660 pigs (330 gilts and 330 barrows) were housed 22 to a pen, providing 0.65 square metres per pig -- typical of commercial housing density. This experiment was conducted during the summer of 2002. Feed costs per pig marketed were calculated based on actual diet costs. Additionally, this calculation was repeated using the same diets but with November 2003 ingredient costs.
Overall, performance was excellent, with growth rates averaging 959 grams a day over the entire experiment. Feed conversion was also a very good -- 0.359, or 2.79:1. Additionally, the uniformity of performance was also very good, with the Standard error of the mean (SEM) for daily gain only eight grams a day and for feed intake only 25 grams a day.
Table 2 describes the effects of CP content and gender on pig performance during each phase. There were no effects of treatment on average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) or gain:feed in any period. The pigs actually grew faster in Phase III (90 to 115 kilograms) as compared to Phase II (65 to 90 kilograms). This is highly unusual, as one would normally expect the rate of gain in pigs to decline during this final growth phase.
Table 2. Effects of protein level and gender on pig performance by phase. Treatment Male Female High Medium Low High Medium Low Animals on test 107 110 109 109 108 109 Phase 1 Days on testa 27.6 26.9 26.9 31.1 28.6 28.1 Ave. Daily gain, kg. 0.943 0.922 0.964 0.934 0.913 0.911 Ave. Daily feed, kg. 2.05 2.01 2.10 2.03 1.97 2.03 Gain:feed 0.460 0.459 0.458 0.461 0.464 0.450 Phase II Days on test a 31.2 33.5 35.1 28.9 33.0 31.5 Ave. daily gain, kg. 0.949 0.949 0.962 0.926 0.919 0.934 Ave. Daily feed, kg. 2.87 2.81 2.92 2.75 2.56 2.62 Gain:feed 0.331 0.338 0.330 0.338 0.360 0.356 Phase III Days on test a 25.5 24.9 23.2 24.8 24.1 23.8 Ave. Daily gain, kg. 1.037 1.055 1.027 1.016 1.021 1.023 Ave. Daily feed, kg. 3.65 3.54 3.58 3.17 3.24 3.26 Gain:feed 0.294 0.300 0.290 0.322 0.311 0.331 aSignificant effect of treatment. Other parameters were not affected by the crude protein content of the diet. Days to reach market weight vary. Barrows and gilts responded differently to the CP content of the diet. Females took fewer days to reach market weight when fed low CP diets, but this was not seen in males.
Carcass information is presented within gender in Table 3. The effect of diet was statistically significant only for loin thickness, which favoured the low CP diet. However, feeding the low CP diet resulted in a numerical improvement in the carcass spread and in premiums paid. There was no evidence of an increased carcass fatness, something reported by others when pigs were finished on low CP diets but formulated using either digestible energy (DE) or metabolizable energy (ME).
Otherwise, there were only gender effects, with gilts indexing higher (111.9 vs. 109.7), having a higher lean yield (60.4 per cent versus 59.2 per cent), less backfat (19.1 versus 21.4 millimetres), a thicker loin (61.6 versus 59.0 millimetres), a wider spread between backfat and loin thickness (42.5 versus 37.6 millimetres) and earning higher quality premiums ($4.83 vs $4.07). These gender effects are all within the expected range. The thicker loin on the low protein diet was unexpected and needs to be repeated before we can confidently conclude that this is indeed a real treatment effect.
The feed cost per pig is affected by feed intake, the days to market and the cost of the diet. Diets were least-cost formulated at the time of the experiment in November 2002. For comparison, we re-calculated the cost of these diets using November 2003 prices. Feed costs were less for the low CP diets. This was accentuated when diet costs were calculated using November 2003 prices. Relative to one year ago, the cost of soybean meal and lysine has increased, while the cost of methionine and threonine has decreased.
Table 3. Effects of protein level and gender on carcass parameters.a TREATMENT Male Female High Medium Low High Medium Low Settlement weight, kg. 88.60 88.70 88.70 89.54 88.84 89.50 Index 109.4 109.4 110.2 112.0 112.2 111.6 Lean yield, %. 59.22 59.00 59.32 60.36 60.54 60.24 Value, $. 106.58 105.76 109.50 109.58 108.35 109.15 Fat, mm. 21.2 21.7 21.4 19.1 18.4 19.7 Lean, mm.a 58.1 58.6 60.4 61.6 60.0 63.1 Spread, mm. 36.9 37.0 39.0 42.5 41.7 43.3 Price, $. 1.097 1.084 1.117 1.091 1.084 1.087 Premium, $. 4.10 3.95 4.17 4.74 4.76 5.00 aTreatment effect was significant. All other parameters
unaffected by crude protein content of the diet.Nutritionists in the pork industry can have greater confidence in using much higher levels of synthetic amino acids. In this experiment, low protein diets, which supported performance equal to the normal protein diets, contained as much as 3.4 kilograms l-lysine HCl, 1.36 kilograms l-threonine and 0.4 kilograms of dl-methionine per tonne. The economics of growing pigs using low protein diets will depend on the cost of CP (i.e. soybean meal) versus the cost of synthetic amino acids. Moreover, this experiment did not consider the potential savings due to the decreased nitrogen in the manure, which could be significant for some producers. BP
John F. Patience, PhD, is president and Chief Executive, Prairie Swine Centre, Saskatoon. A. Denise Beaulieu, PhD, is a research assistant.
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Know more about the gases that affect the air you and your livestock breath
Understanding the gases to which pigs and humans are exposed inside barns can help you operate them more effectivelyby RON MACDONALD
We have all been hearing more and more about Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), commonly known as "fresh air" to some of us old timers. Only in the last few years has it become more of an issue in swine barns. To help clear up some of the terms and values, Table 1 shows limits for certain and respirable dust (small particles that when inhaled can go deeply into the lung).
Table 1 shows monitoring results from a finisher barn for dust, relative humidity and carbon dioxide. The following equipment was used:
Table 1: Exposure limits for humans Gas TWA (ppm) STEL (ppm) Location Info source CO 25 200 Alberta ChemAdvisor 25 100 B.C. ChemAdvisor 35 400 Ontario ChemAdvisor 35 200 Quebec ChemAdvisor 35 200 U.S.A. NIOSH 50 300 U.K. ChemAdvisor CO2 5000 15,000 Alberta, B.C. ChemAdvisor 5000 30,000 Ontario, Quebec ChemAdvisor 5000 30,000 U.S.A. NIOSH/ACGIH 5000 15,000 U.K. ChemAdvisor NH3 25 35 Canada, U.S.A., U.K. ChemAdvisor NH3 25 35 Canada, U.S.A., U.K. ChemAdvisor H2S 10 15 Canada, U.S.A., U.K ChemAdvisor Dust 5 mg/m3 Canada, U.S.A. ChemAdvisor Glossary PPM: parts per million TWA: Time-Weighted Average STEL: Short-Term Exposure Limit ACGIH: American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists NIOSH: U.S. National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (All information provided by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety)
- A temperature and relative humidity data logger was installed inside the rooms monitored by the temperature sensor to indicate the barn air characteristics.
- A carbon dioxide (CO2) data logger was installed. CO2 indicates if ventilation rates are adequate. Outside air is about 300 PPM.
- A dust sampler was installed. It measures respirable dust concentrations.
The loggers, all from different manufacturers, were programmed to log at one- through 10-minute intervals. The data was exported to an Agviro program that allowed data to be presented on various graphs, using 2 Y scales if desired.
This was recorded during March 2001 and indicates that dust and CO2 were well below acceptable values for human health. Note, however, that humans are only in finisher barns for brief periods daily, while the animals are subjected to this environment on a 24-hour basis.
The data is presented in Table 1 and it can be concluded that:
T
- he relative humidity (RH) was at an acceptable range, from 50-60 per cent. Note that there are distinct patterns in RH, usually correlating to pig active (higher RH) and rest time periods (lower RH).
- CO2 was acceptable. There were large relative fluctuations in the concentrations, reflecting a varying minimum ventilation rate.
- Dust also tended to vary. It tracks the RH and CO2 closely. Dust was within acceptable levels.
Dust concentrations were low but can become extremely high when pigs are being shipped. Relative humidity was well controlled in this facility and CO2 levels were acceptable. This is in line with current thinking that if RH is controlled properly, most other gases tend to be acceptable as well.
This snapshot view of a few of the gases affecting IAQ clearly shows trends and relationships between them. This can be used to help operate buildings more effectively. For example, evaluating air when pigs are at their peak activities for the day can result in a misinterpretation of the IAQ for the rest of the day. Producers also need better tools to interpret the results for both their own long-term health and pig performance. BP
Ron MacDonald, P.Eng., is an agricultural engineer with Agviro Inc. in Guelph.
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Good animal welfare means timely care for sick and injured pigs
Timely euthanasia of injured or sick pigs is a critical component of good welfare on a farm. Working with your veterinarian to develop an action plan is recommendedby CATE DEWEY
Swine producers and swine health veterinarians set goals for the whole herd. But the care and attention given to the individual pig is one important measure of what distinguishes a herd with good welfare from one with poor welfare.I honestly believe that it does not matter how many pigs are in a barn. If the people working with the pigs are able to pick out the one pig from the group that needs to be treated differently, then that operation has good farm welfare. If sick pigs are found soon after they become ill and then are moved to a sick pen and treated individually, most will recover quickly. When sufficient numbers of pigs from the sick pen have recovered, they can be moved as a group back into a regular pen.
Some pigs do not respond to treatment. Timely euthanasia of injured pigs, sick pigs that are suffering and sick pigs that do not respond to treatment is a critical component of good welfare on a farm. However, I think this is one of the most emotionally difficult jobs in pork production. If an employee has exceptional pigmanship skill, he or she may find euthanasia very difficult. But reducing suffering by euthanasia is just as important as all other tasks on the farm.
Ontario Pork's guide, "On-Farm Euthanasia of Swine encourages producers to work with their veterinarian to develop a euthanasia action plan for the farm. The guide describes options for on-farm euthanasia. When deciding how to euthanise a pig, farm workers must consider human safety, welfare of the pig, the method's suitability for the size of the pig and its practicality.
Gunshot and penetrating bolt are recommended for pigs that are bigger than 5.5 kilograms. Skill, training and adherence to firearm regulations are necessary for these methods. Although blunt trauma is recommended as a rapid and humane method for nursing pigs, many people find this method emotionally unacceptable.
An alternative for nursing and small nursery pigs that are unconscious or semi-conscious is an injection of a concentrated solution of magnesium sulfate (MgS04) into the heart of the pig. Epsom salts are sold in pharmacies and are a readily available form of magnesium sulfate. To make the concentrated solution, you mix equal parts of Epsom salts in boiling water. For example, mix one cup of Epsom salts into one cup of boiling water and stir well -- there may be some crystals left in the bottom of the cup. When the solution has cooled, you can inject the solution into the heart of the pig.
Veterinarians can train farm personnel to inject the solution into the heart of unconscious pigs. The dose is three millilitres of the solution for every kilogram of body weight. A four-kilogram pig will require 12 millilitres. If the pig has an infection around its heart, you may have to use a dose as high as 30 millilitres.
Pigs infected with Strep. suis or Haemophilus parasuis (Glasser's Disease) may have infections around the heart. If the pig to be euthanised is not semi-conscious, it may be sedated with azaparone (StresnilTM) prior to the injection. Although the labelled dose of StresnilTM is 2.2 mg/kg or one millilitre for 18 kilograms, you may wish to give two or three times this dose to sedate the pig before you inject the pig in the heart.
Carbon dioxide is also considered an acceptable method for euthanising small pigs. Producers need to build an airtight box that will hold the pig to administer carbon dioxide (CO2). Research by Dr. Anne Deckert, University of Guelph, indicates that pigs euthanised by CO2 will try to escape from the box. In Dr. Deckert's study, argon (Ar) was used as an alternative to CO2. Although the Ar did not induce escape behaviour, the time to unconsciousness with Ar was longer (1.5 to 3 minutes) than the time to unconsciousness due to CO2 (22 to 27 seconds).
In this study, two pigs began breathing and regained a heartbeat one hour after they were removed from the CO2. As a result, the researchers recommended an injection of MgS04 in the heart of the pigs after the pigs were rendered unconscious due to the gas. The pigs in the study ranged in size from one to 20 kilograms. Three pigs in their trial required 30 millilitres of the solution to stop the heartbeat because they had infections around the heart. In conclusion, I suggest that farms with good pig welfare are those where farm personnel are able to identify individual pigs that need special attention. The key is to find the sick pig as soon as it is sick and then move it away from healthy pigs that might bother it. Provide the pig with a quiet, warm environment, easy access to food and water and proper medication.
Welfare does not stop there. Personnel must also be able to decide when a pig should be euthanised.
Every producer is encouraged to work with his or her veterinarian to develop an on-farm euthanasia plan. More information about this topic can be obtained from Ontario Pork.BP
Cate Dewey is a professor in the Department of Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph.
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