Swine Resources - Growing Pig Replacements

25-Jan-2017

Early parity number born alive classification effectively predicts later parity performance. Sows classified as high in both parity one and in parity two had larger litters in later parities.

The study objectives were to compare the lifetime performance of sows based on number of piglets born alive (NBA) and NBA across parities, according to 3 NBA classifications in first and second parity. The data used for this study were collected from 2001 to 2014 at 17 farms owned by the same company. Farms were located in the Mid-West region of the United States. A total of 502,491 records accounting for the lifetime performance of 105,719 sows were used in this analysis. Data included both purebred and crossbred sow information. Sows were classified into 3 NBA categories (e.g., low, medium, and high) according to the 25th percentiles of NBA in parity 1 and parity 2. Parity 1 classifications: low 12 NBA. Parity 2 classifications: low 13 NBA.

Sep 5, 2016

Piglets

Tail docking is applied to young piglets to avoid a potential problem later of tail biting. However, should the root of the problem be looked at instead of using this preemptive measure?

EXPERT

Tail docking is routinely performed on farms as a means to decrease the prevalence of tail biting. Tail biting is an abnormal redirected exploratory behavior that results in mild to severe injury of pen mate’s tails. Several factors have been associated with tail biting behavior including environment, nutrition, gender, genetics and health status.

Tail docking of piglets has and continues to be highly criticized in both the US and Europe. This is primarily driven by the fact that tail docking is a painful procedure as indicated by changes to the physiology and behavior of pigs who are tail docked.

24-Aug-2016

Numerous reports have provided evidence that zearalenone (ZEN) can increase the weight of genital organs. These findings have been confirmed by many studies in which the ghrelin gene was expressed in the ovary and was implicated in the control of cells in reproductive tissues. The proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is an important marker of cell proliferation.

16-Aug-2016

What are they studying?
They investigated the effect of meloxicam given orally to sows around farrowing. The primary objective was to investigate the effect on IgG transfer to piglets, piglet mortality and piglet performance.

29-Jul-2016

ABSTRACTS:

Objectives:

1) To assess if an additional injection of iron (at 2-weeks of age) improves Hb levels in piglets at weaning and subsequently in the nursery.

2) To assess the relationship between ZnO levels used in nursery starter rations and Hb concentration in nursery pigs.

April 2016

To determine iron status of pigs at weaning and its effects on post-weaning performance, and to determine whether high concentrations of zinc oxide (ZnO) in feed are associated with post-weaning anemia, a small, medium, and large piglet (N = 1095) were selected per litter 1 to 2 days before weaning from 20 Ontario (Canada) swine farms. Serum and whole blood samples and body weights were collected. Three weeks later, a second body weight and blood sample were collected from the same pigs. Hemoglobin (Hb) and other blood parameters were analyzed to assess iron status and associations with post-weaning performance. Iron supplementation protocols and ZnO concentrations in nursery feed were collected.