October, 1996 . Volume 19, Number 9
October, 1996 . Volume 19, Number 9
Two new references that will be very useful to swine producers and their service agencies have been produced by the National Pork Producers Council. One is PORK SOURCES OF EXPERTISE and the other is COMPUTER SOFTWARE AND INTERNET LOCATIONS. Both of these publications are a product of the Swine Educators Advisory Group which NPPC formed early this year.
The directory of sources of expertise covers 24 major swine producing states and lists the individuals who are primary information sources within each of these states. For North Carolina, these individuals are categorized under Breeding and Genetics, Facilities/Engineering, Food Safety, Herd Health, Internet/Computers/Software, Management/Economics, Marketing, Meat Science/Pork Quality, Nutrient Management/Environment, Nutrition, and Reproduction.
The directory of software and Internet addresses lists available software in eight areas: Production and Financial Systems, Feed and Nutrition, Genetics/Selection Programs, Growth and Simulation Models, Marketing, Production Scheduling and Pigflow, Ventilation, and Waste Management Programs. Complete addresses and phone numbers are included for each of the software packages. The Internet locations include over 200 locations that cover nineteen topics.
Extension Swine Husbandry has a limited number of these directories for distribution. They are also available from the National Pork Producers Council by calling 515/223-2600.
Charles Stanislaw
A three-day swine genetics conference, jointly sponsored by the National Swine Improvement Federation and the Canadian Center for Swine Improvement, will be held in Ottawa, Ontario in December 5-7, 1996 at the Chateau Laurier Hotel. This conference will feature speakers from the United States and Canada and will provide a forum for discussing genetic aspects of improving both the quality and production efficiency of pork.
The first day will be a symposium on the Ontario Pork Carcass Appraisal Project, which included over 250 measurements on over 3,120 carcasses. Speakers will review the carcass appraisal project and discuss carcass lean yield predictions in live pigs. Panel discussions will review the genetic basis and commercial importance of carcass quality. The annual conference of the National Swine Improvement Federation will be on the second and third days and speakers will address on-line assessment of pork quality, relationships between lean growth and pork production, and the genetic implications of improving quality and production efficiency of pork.
This conference will attract swine breeders, commercial producers, packers, university and industry geneticists, and meat scientists from the United States, Canada, Mexico and abroad. A copy of the complete program, plus registration information, is available from Charles Stanislaw (Phone:919-515-4002, FAX:919-515-6316, Email:CM_Stanislaw@ncsu.edu).
Charles Stanislaw
All pork production systems need a human attendant or stockperson. The basic goal of this person is then to make each pig as comfortable and contented as possible. The comfort of the animal will then maximize productivity (profit) levels in the breeding, nursery and finishing herds. Both research studies (Hemsworth et al., 1981, 1986, 1987) and personal observations have documented large differences in reproductive and growth performance that is attributable to the stockmanship skills of the unit managers. Stockmanship has been defined by Seabrook (1993) as follows: 'Stockmanship is knowing the behavior patterns of animals and groups of animals within one's charge and having the ability to recognize small changes in the behavior of any one animal or of all the animals collectively'. In addition, any shortfalls in the application of existing scientific knowledge is in many cases due to inadequacies of stockmanship.
The factors that make the greatest contribution to efficient herds are a combination of good health status, superior genotype, better nutritional and feeding strategies, good housing/climatic control, and skilled management and stockmanship (English, 1995). It is also important to realize that pig management has a very influential role on how effectively pigs of varying genotype are provided with their specific needs.
Approaches that improve stockmanship and have additive influences on enhancement of the quality care of swine have been outlined by English et al. (1992) and are summarized as follows:
Todd See
Research at the University of Kentucky has shown that nursing sows - especially those with large litters - raise bigger piglets when fed a diet that is higher than usual in protein.
"Sows with large litters use the extra protein to provide more milk for their baby pigs," says Gary Cromwell, an animal scientist at the university. "Pigs from sows fed the higher protein diet weighed 10% more at weaning than pigs from sows fed a diet lower in protein."
Sows usually lose weight while they are nursing pigs, but in the study, Cromwell found that those sows fed a high-protein diet lost less weight than those on a lower protein diet. In fact, researchers found they could prevent weight loss during lactation by feeding high-protein diets. "This is important because excessive weight loss during lactation causes problems in getting sows bred back," Cromwell notes.
In the study, Cromwell was able to boost the diet from 13% crude protein to 17% by adjusting the level of corn and soybean meal in the feed. He notes that his research findings suggest the current National Research Council estimates of protein need for high-producing lactating sows are too low for optimum performance.
Cromwell says that these results clearly indicate that sows averaging 435-450 lbs and nursing a litter of 11 or more pigs for 4 weeks require protein levels higher than the current recommendations. The cost of feeding higher levels of protein is only a few cents per day, he adds.
HogHealth
Vol. 6, No. 4
Research underway at the University of Illinois may someday provide pork producers with an accurate way to determine if their sows are pregnant and the number of pigs they are carrying.
The test is a measure of estrone glucuronide, a conjugated estrogen produced by pig fetuses. The estrogen is present in sows' blood on days 20-34 of pregnancy, with the highest concentrations present on days 25-26.
Not only is the test 100% accurate for establishing pregnancy, but there is also a significant positive correlation between the concentration of estrone glucuronide in the blood of the sow and the litter on day 25. The level of estrone glucuronide indicates the number of pigs in the litter.
"About 10%-15% of the sows bred do not become pregnant nor return to estrus, but are assumed pregnant," says Janice Bahr, animal researcher at the university. Bahr points out that producers continue to feed these animals, assuming they will produce more pigs.
Nonpregnant sows cost at least $1 per day. If producers fail to determine that the animals aren't pregnant well in to the gestation period, they could realize a loss as high as $100 per sow, Bahr notes.
About 20% of sows have litters of 6 pigs or less, and a sow must have 7 piglets for the producer to make a profit. Therefore, the availability of methods to detect nonpregnant sows and those carrying small litters early in pregnancy would present a significant financial advantage to producers.
HogHealth
Vol. 6, No. 4
Mixing pig manure and peanut shells may give swine producers a profitable, sweet-smelling method of disposing of pig waste, according to a North Carolina State University scientist.
"Combining the byproducts of two agricultural endeavors - growing peanuts and hogs - could prove to be an alternative to the lagoon systems now used to dispose of swine wastes," says Dr. Evan Jones, a professor of animal science and biochemistry at the college.
To prove his theory, Jones mixed 1,000 lbs of peanut shells with 2,000 lbs of concentrated pig slurry and then formed the mixture into a compost pile. Two days later, Jones said little or no odor was detectable. He notes that when a swine manure-peanut shells mixture is composted, the results look and smell much like soil, and the composted material may have commercial value as a soil amendment.
Even if disposing of swine wastes by mixing it with peanut shells proves practical, Jones adds that producers might not be able to adopt the practice immediately since they would have to do some retrofitting of their pig barns in order to collect manure for composting.
HogHealth
Vol. 6, No. 4
Research conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture has found that cats - rather than rodents or other wildlife - are the most likely source of Toxoplasma gondii infection on swine farms, posing a possible human health threat by passing the parasite to pigs destined for market.
"The parasite can be transmitted to humans through the handling and consumption of raw or undercooked pork containing tissue cysts of the parasite," says J.P. Dubey, parasitologist at USDA.
It is not known how much T. gondii transmission to humans occurs from handling pork and how much results from direct contact with cats, Dubey says.
Healthy humans can weather T. gondii infection with few ill effects. But if a pregnant woman becomes infected, there is a 20%-50% probability that her baby will also become infected. This could result in blindness, mental retardation and other medical problems.
HogHealth
Vol. 6, No. 4
A recent panel discussion on PRRS featuring Dr. Scott Dee, Morris, Minn.; Dr. Patrick Halbur, Iowa State University; and Dr. Howard Hill, Rose Hill, N.C., yielded the following tips for preventing and controlling this costly disease:
Take precautions when introducing new gilts. Isolate, acclimate and vaccinate at selection and again 3 weeks prior to breeding. Introduce larger, fewer groups.
Eliminate subpopulations of naive animals in the breeding herd. This should be done by handling gilts as recommended above, vaccinating sows 7-10 days postfarrowing, and not vaccinating pregnant animals beyond 50 days of pregnancy. (Check with your veterinarian for specific recommendations.)
Take precautions with boars. Isolate, acclimate and vaccinate boars twice before entry. Booster at 6-month intervals. (Again, check with your veterinarian. Boars for A.I. should be isolated, acclimated and vaccinated before entry only.)
Watch for problems in the nursery. If problems persist in the nursery, consider depopulation/repopulation (partial or complete). Vaccinate if PRRS is a problem in the grower-finisher area.
Dr. Roy Schultz
Panel Moderator