scholarly journals Effect of environmental enrichment and group size on the water use and waste in grower-finisher pigs

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shilpi Misra ◽  
Eddie A. M. Bokkers ◽  
John Upton ◽  
Amy J. Quinn ◽  
Keelin O’Driscoll
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Group Size ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Water Usage ◽  
High Enrichment ◽  
And Performance ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Large Groups ◽  
Reduced Water ◽  
Different Levels

AbstractThe grower-finisher stage accounts for 64% of the total on-farm herd water use. Part of this is consumed by the pigs, but a part is also wasted. Drinking water usage and wastage is affected by different factors. We investigated how different group sizes and different levels of enrichment affect water usage (ingested plus wasted), water wastage, behavior and performance in grower-finisher pigs. Pigs (n = 672), 11 weeks of age (77 ± 2 days) were used for the experiment. The effect of group size: SMALL (12 pigs), MEDIUM (24 pigs), and LARGE (48 pigs) was assessed across two levels of enrichment (LOW—wooden post, hanging rubber toy, HIGH—Same as LOW + fresh grass). There was no effect of group size on water use or wastage. Pigs with HIGH enrichment (10.4 ± 0.4 L/pig/day) used less water than LOW enrichment (11.0 ± 0.4 L/pig/day; p < 0.001). The water wastage/drinker/hour was lower in pens with HIGH enrichment than LOW (p = 0.003). The drinking bout number (p = 0.037) and total occupancy/hour (p = 0.048) was also higher for pens with LOW than HIGH enrichment. Aggressive and harmful behaviour were performed less in LARGE groups and pens with HIGH enrichment. Thus, HIGH enrichment allowance reduced water usage and wastage so may have benefits for the environment, as well as animal welfare.

scholarly journals 47. Effect of environmental enrichment and group size on the water use and waste in grower-finisher pigs

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Shilpi Misra ◽  
Eddie A.M. Bokkers ◽  
John Upton ◽  
Amy J. Quinn ◽  
Keelin O'Driscoll
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Group Size ◽  
Environmental Enrichment

The effect of an environmental enrichment device - the PECKABLOCK ™ - on the behaviour and growth performance of broiler chicks

2000 ◽  
Vol 2000 ◽  
pp. 132-132
Author(s):  
J.H. Guy ◽  
N.R. Guy ◽  
R.A. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Potential Problem ◽  
Broiler Chicks ◽  
Farm Animal Welfare ◽  
Natural Behaviour ◽  
Commercial Broiler ◽  
Novel Material ◽  
Nutritional Needs ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Different Levels

Rearing houses for broiler poultry breeders are relatively barren buildings which provide for the basic environmental comfort and nutritional needs of the birds, but offer little in the way of additional novel stimuli (FAWC, 1998). The Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) recommends that environmental enrichment should be available in rearing houses. The Peckablock is a cereal-based enrichment device which is suspended in front of broiler breeders and provides birds with a novel material at which to peck, mimicking their natural behaviour. The manufacturers claim that this stimulus, plus the reward of cereal grains that are loosened and have fallen into the undertray, can help to ameliorate the potential problem of cannibalism. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of providing Peckablocks on the behaviour and performance of commercial broiler chicks at two different levels of light intensity.

The influence of drinker allocation and group size on the drinking behaviour, welfare and production of growing pigs

1999 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 617-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Turner ◽  
S. A. Edwards ◽  
V. C. Bland
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Group Size ◽  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Feeding Strategy ◽  
Water Flow Rate ◽  
Growing Pigs ◽  
Drinking Behaviour ◽  
Large White ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
And Performance

AbstractCurrent Welfare Code recommendations suggest one nipple drinker per 10 pigs, while farmers have often used a ratio of one per 20 animals. This statement is based on information from pig farmers and advisors in the United Kingdom. Neither approach is based on empirical investigation. The use of larger group sizes in commercial herds raises further questions, since the relationship between group size and the appropriate number of drinking points cannot be assumed to be linear. The aim was to assess the two conflicting drinker allocations for their effect on welfare, as measured by drinking behaviour, social behaviour and performance, and any effect of group size on these. A total of 640 Large White × Landrace growing pigs were assigned to four treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement (60 pigs, three drinkers; 20 pigs, one drinker; 60 pigs, six drinkers and 20 pigs, two drinkers). Drinker provision had no significant effect on water use (5.10, 3.88, 4.99 and 3.45 s.e. 0.231 I per pig per day respectively) but in a larger group more water was used in less drinking time (P < 0.001). The diurnal pattern of water use was similar for each treatment. More aggression occurred at the drinker in large groups with a poorer drinker allocation (11.0 v. 3.8% of drinking bouts terminated by aggression for 60 pigs with three drinkers and mean all other treatments respectively, P < 0·05). Overt aggression (2.22, 2.27, 1.76 and 2.07 (s.e. 0.284) aggressive acts per pig per h, respectively) and lesion score counts of a sample of pigs from each pen suggested no difference between treatments. Providing one drinker per 20 animals, even in a large group, did not affect drinking behaviour, social behaviour or production. These findings should not be extrapolated to situations of different ambient temperature, water flow rate or feeding strategy.

Analyzing the Effect of Mandatory Water Restrictions on Water Usage

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Trey Dronyk-Trosper ◽  
Brandli Stitzel
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Water Rights ◽  
Water Usage ◽  
Total Water ◽  
Water Restriction ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Total Water Consumption ◽  
Water Restrictions

AbstractAs water rights and water usage become an ever more important part of municipalities’ and states’ way of life, it becomes important to understand what policies can be effective for encouraging conservation of water. One method that has been employed at various times and throughout numerous communities is to limit outdoor watering days. We use a dataset with over 3 million property-month observations during the 2007–2015 period in Norman, Oklahoma, to identify whether the periodic implementation of mandatory water restrictions reduces water usage. Our data allow us to exploit variance in the timing of these water restriction programs. Our findings indicate that this policy reduces water consumption by 0.7 % of total water consumption. Additionally, we use home assessment prices to identify heterogeneity in this response, finding that high priced homes are more responsive to water use restrictions.

Pasture renewal in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions: An overview of farmer practice, experience and attitudes

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 21-24
Author(s):  
Kelly Smith ◽  
R. Brazendale
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Farm Management ◽  
Dairy Farmers ◽  
Practice Experience ◽  
Rate Information ◽  
And Performance ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Over Time

Pasture persistence and performance, and associated issues such as black beetle, are of central concern to dairy farmers. The Pasture Renewal Survey 2010 aimed to better understand farmers' confidence in their ability to make informed decisions on their pasture renewal practices, their satisfaction with the success of this decision-making and the performance of their renewed pastures over time. In addition, the survey investigated their attitudes to information sources and what barriers they saw to improving pasture performance on farm. A postal and online survey elicited responses from 776 dairy farmers in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions. The four main findings of the work were: 1. Farmers are more confident of their ability to make appropriate on-farm management decisions for renewed pasture than they are of their ability to choose appropriate cultivars and endophyte. 2. Farmers, while generally satisfied with their own success in renewing pasture, reported decreasing levels of satisfaction with renewed pastures over the 3 successive years following renewal. 3. Farmers do not rate information sources very highly in terms of their usefulness in relation to pasture renewal. 4. Weather-related issues and pest-related issues (particularly black beetle) were the most commonly identified barriers to improving pasture performance. Keywords: farmer confidence, farmer satisfaction, information sources, pasture renewal.

scholarly journals Yield and water use efficiency of cauliflower under irrigation different levels in tropical climate

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (32) ◽  
pp. 1621-1632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pacheco de Souza Adilson ◽  
Carvalho da Silva Andrea ◽  
Aki Tanaka Adriana ◽  
Euzébio de Souza Manoel ◽  
Pizzatto Mariana ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Tropical Climate ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Different Levels

scholarly journals CHARACTERISTICS OF OMEGA-OPTIMIZED PORTFOLIOS AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF THRESHOLD RETURNS

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renaldas Vilkancas
Keyword(s):  
Portfolio Optimization ◽  
Risk Measures ◽  
High Threshold ◽  
Portfolio Performance ◽  
Threshold Values ◽  
Portfolio Returns ◽  
Upside Risk ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Risk Free Rate ◽  
Different Levels

There is little literature considering effects that the loss-gain threshold used for dividing good and bad outcomes by all downside (upside) risk measures has on portfolio optimization and performance. The purpose of this study is to assess the performance of portfolios optimized with respect to the Omega function developed by Keating and Shadwick at different levels of the threshold returns. The most common choices of the threshold values used in various Omega studies cover the risk-free rate and the average market return or simply a zero return, even though the inventors of this measure for risk warn that “using the values of the Omega function at particular points can be critically misleading” and that “only the entire Omega function contains information on distribution”. The obtained results demonstrate the importance of the selected values of the threshold return on portfolio performance – higher levels of the threshold lead to an increase in portfolio returns, albeit at the expense of a higher risk. In fact, within a certain threshold interval, Omega-optimized portfolios achieved the highest net return, compared with all other strategies for portfolio optimization using three different test datasets. However, beyond a certain limit, high threshold values will actually start hurting portfolio performance while meta-heuristic optimizers typically are able to produce a solution at any level of the threshold, and the obtained results would most likely be financially meaningless.

scholarly journals Effect of environmental enrichment and group size on behaviour and live weight in growing rabbits

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Zucca ◽  
S.P. Marelli ◽  
Veronica Redaelli ◽  
Eugenio Heinzl ◽  
Heidi Cardile ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Live Weight

scholarly journals Mango Leaf Monitoring with Inductive and Capacitive Sensors and Its Comparison with Trunk Dendrometer Measurements

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Federico Hahn ◽  
Juan Espinoza ◽  
Ulises Zacarías
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Hall Effect ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Fruit Trees ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Leaf Water Content ◽  
Water Usage ◽  
Warm Weather ◽  
Hall Sensors

Mango is one of the main fruits grown in Mexico that are exported worldwide, but the trees consume a lot of water, and irrigation scheduling should be implemented to optimize water use. Dendrometers were installed in fruit trees to optimize water usage during 2019 and 2020. A capacitor with Teflon clamps pressurized the leaf, and its dielectric changed with leaf water content. Additionally, Hall sensors were installed in leaves to study the effect of water during mango production. It was found that capacitance tend to be more sensitive than magnetic field monitoring. Higher changes were noted during midday with warm weather. Thresholds from the capacitance and Hall effect sensors can provide signals for irrigation scheduling.

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