scholarly journals Effect of high temperature on feeding behaviour and heat production in group-housed young pigs

2001 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Collin ◽  
Jacob van Milgen ◽  
Serge Dubois ◽  
Jean Noblet

To assess the acclimation of pigs to heat stress, the effects of high (33°C) or thermoneutral (23°C) constant temperatures on feeding behaviour and components of energy balance were studied in group-housed young pigs. Three groups of five pigs were used at each temperature. After 1 week of adaptation, voluntary feed intake (VFI) and heat production (HP) were recorded for thirteen consecutive days. Animals were fed ad libitum. Fasting HP was measured on the last day. Average initial body weights (BW) were 21·4 and 20·9 kg at 23 and 33°C respectively. Feeding behaviour was measured individually and rate of feed intake and characteristics of feeding behaviour were calculated. The O2 consumption, CO2 production and physical activity of the group were used to calculate total HP (HPtot) and its components, i.e. fasting HP (HPfas), HP due to physical activity (HPact) and thermic effect of feed (TEF). The BW gain and VFI were reduced by 37 and 30 % respectively at 33°C. The decrease in VFI corresponded to reduced consumption time (-34 %) and size of the meals (-32 %). Feeding behaviour was mostly diurnal (66 % of the VFI), and the rate of feed intake (28 g/min) was not affected by temperature. Daily HPtot, HPfas and TEF, expressed per kg metabolic weight (BW0·60), were significantly decreased at 33°C by 22, 18 and 35 % respectively, whereas HPact was not affected; TEF expressed per g feed was not affected (2 kJ/g). The decrease in HPtot at 33°C was caused by a reduction in TEF and HPfas (kJ/d per/kg BW0·60), which are both related to reduction in VFI.

2001 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Quiniou ◽  
J. Noblet ◽  
J. van Milgen ◽  
S. Dubois

The effects of ambient temperature (T; 12–29°C), body weight (BW; 30–90 kg) and metabolisable energy intake (ME) on components of energy balance were studied in seven groups of Piétrain × Large White barrows kept in a respiratory chamber. In Expt 1 (groups 1, 2 and 3), T varied in a cyclic way from 22°C to 12°C and then from 12°C to 22°C with three or four consecutive days at each of 22, 19, 16, 14 and 12°C. Similarly, in Expt 2 (groups 4, 5 and 6), T varied from 19 to 29°C and then from 29 to 19°C with three or four consecutive days at each of 19, 22, 25, 27 and 29°C. In both experiments, pigs were offered feedad libitum. In Expt 3, pigs (group 7) were exposed to the thermic conditions of Expt 1 but their feed allowance was adjusted on a BW basis to thead libitumintake recorded at 19 and 22°C in Expt 1. Groups 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7 were used over two successive cycles with initial average BW of 37 kg at cycle 1 (four pigs per group) and 63 kg at cycle 2 (three pigs per group). Groups 3 and 6 were studied at an intermediary stage of growth; their initial BW was 45 kg. The O2and CO2concentrations, physical activity and feed intake were continuously and simultaneously measured and used to calculate total heat production (HP; HPtot), HP due to physical activity (HPact), activity-free HP (HP0), and thermic effect of feed. HP was modelled as a non-linear function with T, BW and ME as predictors. Results indicate that all components of HP were proportional to BW0·60. Physical activity was minimal between 19 and 27°C (8 % ME). The estimated lower critical temperature was 24°C. Between 24 and 12°C, total thermic effect of feed decreased from 31 to 16 % ME, but the short-term thermic effect of feed (5·1 % ME) remained constant. Equations for prediction of HPtot, HPactand HP0according to BW, T and ME are proposed and evaluated according to literature values; values for the feed cost of thermoregulation in pigs are proposed.


1998 ◽  
Vol 1998 ◽  
pp. 131-131
Author(s):  
J. J. Hyslop ◽  
A. Bayley ◽  
A. L. Tomlinson ◽  
D. Cuddeford

De-hydrated forages are often fed to equids in the UK in place of more traditional grass hay, particularly where individual animals are known to have a sensitivity to dusty, mouldy hay which may play a part inducing respiratory problems such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). One such alternative forage is short-chop de-hydrated grass. However, there is very little information available on voluntary feed intake (VFI), apparent digestibility and nutrient intake parameters when de-hydrated grass is offered to equids compared with traditional grass hay. This study examines the VFI and apparent digestibility in vivo of a short-chop de-hydrated grass compared with a traditional grass hay and determines their ability to meet the predicted energy and protein needs of mature ponies.Six mature Welsh-cross pony geldings with a mean liveweight (LW) of 281 kg (s.e.d. 0.89) were individually housed and offered ad libitum access to either short-chop de-hydrated grass (DHG) or traditional grass hay (HAY) plus 60 g/h/d minerals. The DHG and HAY were made from the same 2nd cut perennial ryegrass sward cut on the same day.


1967 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 463-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Ulyatt ◽  
K. L. Blaxter ◽  
I. McDonald

Three sheep with permanent fistulas of the rumen were each given dried grass and two hays, each in three different amounts, and the apparent digesti-bility of the roughages in the rumen and distal to the rumen was determined. A lignin ratio method was used to measure digestibility.With increase in the amount of the poorest hay given, the proportion digested in the rumen fell and that distal to the rumen increased. With the second hay this effect was also noted but was not statistically significant. The voluntary intakes ofdry matter varied from 1·94 kg/day for the dried grass to 1·28 for the poorest hay. The volumes of distribution of polyethylene glycol in the rumen when feed was offered ad libitum, however, were the same, irrespective of the type of feed, at between 14·1 and 15·2 litres. These observations were confirmed at slaughter. The results support the hypothesis that sheep voluntarily consume roughages of different qualities to achieve constant fill of their rumens, and that little regulation of voluntary intake can be attributed to distension of the hind gut.


1998 ◽  
Vol 1998 ◽  
pp. 130-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. Hyslop ◽  
A. L. Tomlinson ◽  
A. Bayley ◽  
D. Cuddeford

Many mature, non-pregnant, non-lactating equids are often kept in circumstances where they are expected to perform only light physical work or activity eg: a childs pony. Consequently their maintenance energy and protein needs can often be met at very restricted feed intake levels. Conversely, when they are housed during the winter months it is believed desirable to manage such animals on unrestricted ad libitum feeding regimes in order to allow the animals to exhibit their natural feed intake pattern and consume forage on a little and often basis throughout the daily feeding period. However, ad libitum access to the diet may lead to such animals becoming excessively fat. These conflicting needs of low energy and protein requirement coupled with the desirability of unrestricted access to the diet could both be met, at least in part, if a low quality forage is available ad libitum. This study examines the voluntary feed intake and apparent digestibility in vivo of a mature threshed grass hay offered ad libitum and determines its ability to meet the predicted energy and protein needs of mature ponies.


1994 ◽  
Vol 122 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. T. S. Morrow ◽  
N. Walker

SUMMARYTwo experiments of randomized block design were carried out at the Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland in 1991/92 involving groups of 20 pigs fed ad libitum from single-space feeders with built-in water supply from 37 kg to slaughter at 91 kg liveweight.Treatments were replicated 16 and 6 times respectively in Experiments 1 and 2. In the first experiment, one feeder perpen was compared with two feeders per pen positioned side by side. Two feeders increased feed intake (P < 0·05) but had no significant effects on growth rate or feed conversion. With two feeders, the total time that feeders were occupied and the number of visits to feeders were both increased, while the number of enforced withdrawals from feeders and the amount of queuing were both decreased compared with the single feeder. In the second experiment, placing two feeders 2 m or more apart instead of side by side had no significant effects on feed intake or growth rate but improved feed conversion efficiency by 4%. This improvement was associated with fewer and longer visits to feeders but no difference in enforced withdrawals or queuing. In both experiments all treatments showed broadly similar patterns of diurnal feeding behaviour with two peaks of activity daily, a smaller peak pre-midday and a larger one in the afternoon. This pattern was influenced more by number of visits to feeders than by the mean duration of each visit. It is recommended that two single-space feeders are used in pens of 20 finishing pigs when non-pelleted diets are offered ad libitum and that feeders are sited some distance apart, not side by side.


1994 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 355
Author(s):  
SW Walkden-Brown ◽  
BW Norton ◽  
BJ Restall

The effects of season and diet quality on voluntary feed intake and growth were examined in mature cashmere bucks over a 16 month period at Wollongbar (29�S., 153� E.). Three-year-old bucks were individually housed under natural photoperiod and fed ad libitum diets of High (pelleted lucerne, CP 17.6%, ME 8.3 MJ/kg) or Low (pasture hay; CP 6.9%, ME 6.6 mJ/kg) quality, between July 1988 and Oct. 1989 (n = 6/treatment). Bucks on both diets exhibited a seasonal pattern in voluntary feed intake with maximal intakes during spring and summer, and minimal intakes during autumn. The pattern appeared to be circannual with high intakes during spring of both years. Liveweight also varied with season peaking in mid to late summer and reaching a seasonal nadir in late autumn or early winter. Change in liveweight was closely associated with digestible energy intake ( r = 0-87, P < 0.001) resulting in a growth cycle closely resembling that of voluntary feed intake. In both treatments, bucks lost weight throughout autumn, while growth rates were maximal between mid-winter and mid-spring. Diet quality did not alter the magnitude of the autumnal decline in liveweight with bucks losing 7.6% (Low) and 7.8% (High) of liveweight during this period. However, bucks on the high quality diet exhibited significantly elevated growth rates between mid-winter and mid-spring. We conclude that mature cashmere bucks exhibit an annual growth cycle with weight loss during autumn and maximal weight gains between mid-winter and mid-spring; that the growth cycle is driven primarily by changes in voluntary feed intake; and that increasing diet quality does not reduce the autumnal decline in liveweight but significantly increases liveweight gain during the seasonal peak in growth.


2002 ◽  
Vol 2002 ◽  
pp. 155-155
Author(s):  
J. J. Hyslop ◽  
B. A. Hedley ◽  
R. Keatinge ◽  
D. G. Chapple

An understanding of the dry matter intake (DMI) capacity of suckler cows is crucial to the provision of adequate nutrition during lactation. However, quantitative data on the likely feed intake patterns of modern continental x dairy suckler cow genotypes is scarce. The objective of the current experiment was to determine voluntary DMI in Simmental x Holstein/Friesian (SIM) and Belgian Blue x Holstein/Friesian (BB) autumn calving suckler cows offered a grass silage based diet ad libitum.


1988 ◽  
Vol 111 (3) ◽  
pp. 475-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. M. Burns ◽  
J. E. Vercoe ◽  
C. R. Holmes

SummaryAdaptive and productive traits were studied in three genotypes of cattle, Simmental (≥ 7/8 Simmental with residual Hereford) (S), Hereford (H) and F2et seq. Africander × Hereford (AH), selected from the 1985 and the 1986 branded steer groups (Years 1 and 2, respectively) fed low- and high-quality diets.There were significant (P < 0·01) differences between years, breeds and diets for the two groups for live weights at the beginning and end of the feeding period, voluntary feed intake and fasting heat production. However, there was no breed × year interaction except in heat production per unit live weight because the AH had a higher heat production per kg than the H in Year 1 but lower in Year 2. Significantly lower values for feed intake (P < 0·01) and heat production (P <0·01) were recorded for S relative to AH and H when expressed on a live-weight basis; however, the ratio of intake to heat production was similar for all breeds.The S breed had the heaviest birth weights and highest pre-weaning weight gains (P < 0·01) and the AH, despite having birth weights similar to that of the H, had higher pre-weaning live-weight gains (P < 0·01). There were significant (P < 0·01) breed differences for adaptive traits (except for the estimate of helminth resistance), with the AH being more tick- and heat-resistant and having sleeker coats than the other breeds.There were no significant correlations between any adaptive trait and pre-weaning gain despite the fact that ticks, helminths and heat loads were evident.This experiment shows that provided a low plane of nutrition is the only stress imposed on growing cattle, breeds such as the S will perform similarly to British breeds and may perform slightly better.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-107
Author(s):  
K. L. Ayorinde ◽  
U. K. Oke

TWO experiments were conducted using 500 Black Olympian pullets to determine the effects of Juvenile body weight (Trial 1) and feeding regime (Trial 2) on growth and early lay performances. Results in trial 1 indicated significantly (P < 0.05) higher body weight at first egg (1489.9 vs 1383.8g) and 32 weeks of age (17833 vs 1655.2g) in heavybody weight (HBW) than LightBodyweight (LBW) groups but not on other parameters. Feeding the birds ad libitum also resulted in significantly (P < 0.05) higher feed intake during the first 18 weeks of age (9036.4 vs 6803.70. 18 -32 weeks of age (14,065.9 vs 11,420.9g), weight of first egg (47.43 vs. 43.16g), hen-housed average (53.9 vs 38.7%), egg mass (2,88039 vs. 211038g), feed/ dozen eggs (22853 vs. 1768.1g), grain feed /egg (190.4 vs. 14730 and body weight at 32 weeks of age (1808.1 vs 1716.6g). The results indicated earlier age at sexual maturity,lower mortality and higher body weights in H BW and ad lib feed (AF) groups but better production efficiency (feed/dozen eggs, cost/dozen eggs) in LBW and restricted feed (RF) groups.


2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunxia Xiong ◽  
Shuting Cao ◽  
Hao Xiao ◽  
Qiwen Wu ◽  
Hongbo Yi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Previous studies had shown that short-term acute heat stress (HS) affected the host’s metabolism and intestinal microbiota independent of feed intake (FI) reduction, and long-term calorie restriction caused intestinal morphological injuries and gut microbial alterations. However, research on the effects of constant chronic HS on intestinal microbial composition and the roles of FI reduction played in is limited. This study aimed to investigate the effects of 7-day constant chronic HS on the composition of intestinal microbes in growing-finishing pigs, and its relationship with pigs’ performance, intestinal morphology, and ileal immune response. Twenty-four growing-finishing pigs (Duroc × Large White × Landrace, 30 ± 1 kg body weight) were randomly assigned to three treatments (n = 8), 1) thermal neutral (TN) conditions (25 ± 1 °C) with ad libitum FI, 2) HS conditions (35 ± 1 °C) with ad libitum FI, 3) pair-fed (PF) with HS under TN conditions to discriminate the confounding effects of dissimilar FI, and the FI was the previous day’s average FI of HS. The small intestinal segments (duodenum, jejunum, and ileum) and feces were collected on d 8. Results Results indicated that HS drastically declined (P < 0.05) average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) (about 61%) in comparison with TN, and caused hyperpyrexia, meanwhile PF caused hypothermia. Morphological observation by light and electron microscopes showed that both HS and PF treatment decreased (P < 0.05) the villus and microvillus height compared with TN. Additionally, HS increased (P < 0.05) protein expression of heat shock protein 70 in the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. Furthermore, the expression of tight junction protein zonula occluden-1 (ZO-1) in the duodenum and ileum, and Occludin in the ileum were enhanced (P < 0.05) compared with TN and PF. Moreover, HS significantly enhanced (P < 0.05) the mRNA relative expression of inflammatory cytokines (TLR-2, TLR-4, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), IL-6, IL-8, PG1–5, β-defensin 2 (pBD-2)), mucins (mucin-1 and mucin-2) and P65 protein level in the ileal mucosa tissue. Intestinal microbiota analysis by 16S rRNA sequencing showed lower (P < 0.10) α diversity in both HS and PF, and a separated cluster of β diversity among groups. Compared with TN, HS but not PF mainly reduced (FDR < 0.05) Bacteroidetes (phylum), Bacteroidia (class) and elevated the proportions of Proteobacteria (phylum, FDR < 0.05), Bacillales (order, FDR < 0.05), Planococcaceae (family, FDR < 0.05), Kurthia (genus, FDR < 0.05), Streptococcaceae (family, FDR < 0.10) and Streptococcus (genus, FDR < 0.10). Notably, Lactobacillales (order) was decreased (FDR < 0.05) by PF alone. Furthermore, the Spearman correlation analysis indicated that the microbes prevalent in HS were positively (P < 0.05) associated with intestinal morphological injuries indicators and ileal immune response parameters, and the microbes reduced in HS were negatively (P < 0.05) with the performance data. Conclusions Intestinal morphological injuries and ileal immune response caused by constant chronic HS independent of FI showed close connections with alterations in intestinal microbiota in growing-finishing pigs.


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