scholarly journals PSII-12 The effects of lift crates on sow performance and litter survival

2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 233-234
Author(s):  
Dalton R Obermier ◽  
Mark Knauer ◽  
Amanda Graham ◽  
Hyatt Frobose

Abstract In modern sow farms, pre-weaning mortality (PWM) remains a key barrier to achieving peak productivity and optimizing piglet welfare. Therefore, a total of 270 sows (PIC 1050, 3.6 average parity) were used (May to July 2018) to determine the effect of lift crates in farrowing on sow and piglet performance and litter survival in a commercial setting in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Lift crates are driven by postural changes in the sow which activate a hydraulic lift system (Balance Frame; NOOYEN, Deurne, NL) which temporarily raises a movable sow slat 25 cm above the crate floor. Sows were randomly assigned to 2.44 m × 1.83 m farrowing crates that were 1) conventional or 2) lift crates. Within rooms, litters were standardized to 13 or 14 pigs within 24 h after parturition. Daily sow feed intake was measured using electronic lactation feeders (Gestal SOLO; JYGA Technologies, Inc.). Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS (Cary, NC). Sow was the experimental unit. No differences (P > 0.22) were observed for number born alive, stillbirths or mummified fetuses. Sow backfat loss (2.2 vs. 2.5 mm), average daily feed intake (5.67 vs. 5.74 kg) and wean-to-estrus interval (5.27 vs. 5.62 d) were similar (P > 0.16) between conventional and lift crate treatments. However, from birth to cross-fostering, lift crates reduced (P < 0.01) piglet deaths by 55% when compared to conventional crates (0.58 vs. 0.32 piglets). Piglet deaths from cross-fostering to weaning did not differ (P = 0.18, 0.68 vs. 0.54 piglets). Number of pigs weaned (12.62 vs. 12.87) and suckled litter weaning weight (75.7 vs. 75.6 kg) did not differ (P > 0.11) across treatments. These results provide evidence that lift crates can reduce the number of piglet deaths and may improve PWM in sow farms.Keywords: crate, piglet, survival

2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 149-149
Author(s):  
Dalton Obermier ◽  
Megan Eickhoff ◽  
Benny E Mote ◽  
Amanda Uitermarkt ◽  
Hyatt Frobose ◽  
...  

Abstract Pre-weaning mortalities have become a pressing issue in modern swine production. Litter size at birth has greatly increased through direct genetic selection. Unfortunately, little emphasis was placed on improving functional teat number, resulting in a nutrient access shortage. Therefore, a total of 750 sows consisting of three genetic lines in a commercial barn in Nebraska, USA, were used to evaluate the impact of functional teat number on piglet survival. Teat traits recorded at farrowing included total teat number (TT), functional teat number (FT), and non-functional teat number (NFT); with population means of 14.84 (1.21), 14.55 (1.30), and 0.28 (0.56), respectively. Production traits recorded included total number born (TNB), wean number (WN), total pre-weaning mortality (PWM), and post-cross foster mortality (CFPWM). The lm function within RStudio was used to estimate regressions, with parity and piglets placed (PP) used as covariates for WN and CFPWM, and parity, PP, and TNB for PWM. One additional FT increased WN (P &lt; 0.01; 0.33), and reduced PWM (P &lt; 0.01; -3.04%) and reduced CFPWM (P &lt; 0.01; -3.71%). A subset of 274 sows were used to determine the effects of increasing functional teats on sow and piglet efficiency. Additional traits recorded included sow average daily feed intake (ADFI), backfat loss (BF) and average piglet weaning weight (WW). Parity, ADFI, backfat-entry, and WN were used as covariates for BF; parity, backfat-entry, and WN for ADFI; and parity, PP, ADFI, and WN were used for estimating WW. Regression estimates showed that an additional functional teat had no significant impact (P &gt; 0.05) on ADFI, BF, or WW. Taken together, these results suggest that improving functional teat number does not impact ADFI or BF for sows and does not influence average piglet weaning weight, but it does decrease PWM resulting in more pigs weaned per litter.


Author(s):  
Kelsey L Batson ◽  
Hilda I Calderón ◽  
Robert D Goodband ◽  
Jason C Woodworth ◽  
Mike D Tokach ◽  
...  

Abstract A total of 109 sows (Line 241; DNA, Columbus, NE) were used to evaluate the effect of increasing dietary phytase in lactation diets, already adequate in P, on sow and litter performance. On d 107 of gestation, sows were blocked by body weight and parity and allotted to 1 of 3 dietary treatments of increasing phytase concentration (0, 1,000, or 3,000 FYT/kg; Ronozyme Hi Phos GT 2700, DSM Nutritional Products, Inc., Parsippany, NJ). The control diet contained no phytase and was formulated to contain 0.50% standardized total tract digestible phosphorus (STTD P; 0.45% available P) and 0.62% STTD Calcium (0.90% total Ca). The phytase diets that contained 1,000 or 3,000 FYT/kg were also formulated to 0.50% STTD P and 0.62% STTD Ca including the release of 0.132% STTD P and 0.096% STTD Ca. Diets were balanced for net energy and fed from d 107 of gestation until weaning (d 18 ±3). All farrowings were monitored, with farrowing duration starting at the time the first pig was born until the first dispersal of placental tissues with no subsequent pigs born. Litters were cross-fostered within treatment until 48 h post-farrowing to equalize litter size. There were no differences among treatments in sow body weight at d 107 of gestation, 24-h after farrowing, or at weaning. Sow average daily feed intake from farrowing to weaning tended to increase (linear, P = 0.093) as phytase increased. There was no evidence for difference in the number of total born pigs, as well as the percentage of stillborns, mummies, and born alive pigs at the completion of farrowing. Similarly, phytase supplementation did not influence (P &gt; 0.05) wean-to-estrus interval or litter size after cross-fostering among dietary treatments. Although not significant (linear, P = 0.226), farrowing duration decreased as added phytase increased with a decrease of 47 minutes (12%) for 3,000 FYT compared to the control. There were no differences in pig weight at weaning, but as a result of increased survivability (linear, P = 0.002), litter weaning weight and overall litter weight gain increased (quadratic, P &lt; 0.05) up to 1,000 FYT of added phytase with no further benefit observed in sows fed 3,000 FYT. In conclusion, sow feed intake tended to increase linearly with increasing added phytase. Feeding 1,000 FYT/kg maximized overall litter gain and weaning weight; however, a larger scale study with more sows is needed to determine the addition of phytase in lactation diets to reduce farrowing duration.


2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Katherine Vande Pol ◽  
Ovidio Bautista ◽  
Heath Harper ◽  
Michael Ellis ◽  
Caleb M Shull ◽  
...  

Abstract There is limited understanding of optimum cross-fostering methods to use to maximize piglet performance. This study evaluated effects of within-litter birth weight variation after cross-fostering on pre-weaning piglet removals (PR; morbidity and mortality) and ADG. A hierarchical incomplete block design was used (blocking factors day of farrowing and sow parity and structure) with a 3x2 factorial arrangement of treatments: 1) Birth Weight Category (BWC): Light (&lt; 1.0 kg), Medium (1.0-1.5 kg), or Heavy (1.5-2.0 kg); 2) Litter Composition (LC): Uniform (piglets of the same BWC), and Mixed (equal numbers of piglets from each BWC). Piglets were weighed 24 h after birth and allotted to form litters of 15 cross-fostered piglets. The experimental unit was 5 piglets of the same BWC (3 experimental units per litter). A total of 102 litters were allotted to 17 blocks of 6 litters (1 Uniform litter of each BWC; 3 Mixed litters) with 51 replicates (3 replicates/block of 6 litters). Weaning weights and PR were measured. PROC GLIMMIX and MIXED of SAS were used to analyze PR and other data, respectively. Models included BWC, LC, the interaction, and replicate within block. There were treatment interactions (P &lt; 0.05) for all measures except birth weight. There was no effect (P &gt; 0.05) of LC on weaning weight or ADG for Light or Medium piglets; Heavy piglets had greater (P &lt; 0.05) weaning weight and ADG in Mixed than in Uniform litters. PR were greater (P &lt; 0.05) for Light piglets in Mixed than in Uniform litters, and for Heavy piglets in Uniform than in Mixed litters. PR for Medium piglets were similar (P &gt; 0.05) across LC treatments. In conclusion, rearing cross-fostered piglets in Uniform litters reduced PR for Light piglets, but increased PR and reduced ADG of Heavy piglets, with no effect for Medium piglets.


2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 101-102
Author(s):  
Kelsey L Batson ◽  
Hilda I Calderon Cartagena ◽  
Robert D Goodband ◽  
Jason C Woodworth ◽  
Mike D Tokach ◽  
...  

Abstract A total of 109 sows (Line 241; DNA, Columbus, NE) were used in a study to evaluate the effect of increasing phytase concentration in lactation diets on sow and litter performance. On d 107 of gestation, sows were blocked by body weight and parity and allotted to 1 of 3 dietary treatments of increasing phytase concentration (0, 1,000, or 3,000 FYT/kg; Ronozyme HiPhos 2700; DSM Nutritional Products, Inc., Parsippany, NJ). The control diet contained no phytase and was formulated to contain 0.50% standardized total tract digestible phosphorus (STTD P; 0.45% available P) and 0.62% STTD calcium (0.90% total Ca). The same STTD P and Ca concentrations were formulated for the phytase diets considering a release of 0.132 STTD P and 0.094 STTD Ca in both diets. Diets were fed from d 107 of gestation until weaning (d 18 ± 2). Litters were cross-fostered within treatment until 48 h post-farrowing to equalize litter size. Linear and quadratic response to phytase concentration was evaluated using the lmer function in R. There was no evidence for difference in sow body weight change, farrowing performance, wean-to-estrus interval, or litter size among dietary treatments. Sow average daily feed intake from farrowing to weaning tended to increase (linear, P=0.093) as phytase increased. Although not significant (linear, P =0.226), farrowing duration decreased as phytase increased. Litter weaning weight increased (quadratic, P=0.039) and overall litter gain increased (quadratic, P=0.047) with 1,000 FYT of phytase. In summary, sow feed intake tended to increase linearly with increasing phytase; however, feeding 1,000 FYT/kg maximized overall litter gain and weaning weight. This small-scale study suggests sow and litter performance benefits due to high inclusions of dietary phytase; however, a commercial trial with more sows is warranted to confirm these results.


2002 ◽  
Vol 53 (8) ◽  
pp. 939 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. R. Dunshea ◽  
D. K. Kerton ◽  
P. D. Cranwell ◽  
R. G. Campbell ◽  
B. P. Mullan ◽  
...  

Digestive capacity of early-weaned pigs may be insufficient to fully digest many ingredients currently used in weaner diets. The aim of this experiment was to determine whether an exogenous enzyme preparation with broad carbohydrase activity could benefit pigs that developmentally might be immature at weaning, especially with regard to gastrointestinal development. Eighty Large White × Landrace pigs were used in a 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 factorial experiment with the factors being: weaning age (14 or 24 days), weaning weight (heavy or light), sex (boar or gilt), and dietary Biofeed Plus CT (0 or 500 μg/g) which contained fungal xylanases, pentosanases and β-glucanases. Pigs were housed individually and given a wheat-based (550 g/kg) diet containing 15.0 MJ DE and 15.9 g lysine/kg on an ad libitum basis for 21 days. The diet also contained 50 g/kg of soybean meal and 50 g/kg of lupin (Lupinus�angustifolius) kernels. The liveweights of heavy (H) pigs weaned at 24 or 14 days and light pigs (L) weaned at 24 or 14 days were 7.9 and 5.3 and 5.2 and 3.9 kg, respectively. Pigs weaned at 14 days grew slower (157 v. 345 g/day) than those weaned at 24 days, although there was a suggestion of an interaction between age and weight at weaning (P = 0.081). Thus, H and L pigs weaned at 14 days grew at 148 and 166 g/day, whereas H and L pigs weaned at 24 days grew at 374 and 315 g/day, respectively. Although there was no main effect of enzymes on daily gain (248 v. 254 g/day, P = 0.80), feed intake (278 v. 284 g/day, P = 0.79), or feed conversion ratio (1.19 v. 1.25, P�=�0.35), there were interactions with weaning age on daily gain (P = 0.050) and feed intake (P = 0.060). Pigs weaned at 14 days grew slower (176 v. 138 g/day) and ate less (206 v. 174 g/day), whereas pigs weaned at 24 days grew faster (321 v. 369 g/day) and ate more (351 v. 394 g/day), when supplemented with enzymes. During the third week after weaning there were interactions between dietary enzymes and sex (P = 0.060) and dietary enzymes and age (P = 0.023) on daily gain. Thus, pigs weaned at 24 days and supplemented with Biofeed Plus CT grew more quickly during the third week (559 v. 460 g/day), whereas the converse was true for pigs weaned at 14 days (286 v. 334 g/day). Also, enzyme-supplemented boars grew better over this period (457 v. 371 g/day), whereas the converse was true for gilts (388 v. 423 g/day). In conclusion, these data clearly indicate that the greatest determinant of post-weaning performance under the present conditions was the age of the pigs at weaning. Dietary enzyme supplementation appeared most efficacious in boars weaned at an older age, although benefits did not become apparent until 2 weeks after weaning.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-161
Author(s):  
Eliete Souza Santana ◽  
José Neto Cassiano de Camargo ◽  
Michele Laboissière ◽  
Roberto Moraes Jardim Filho

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of two types of incubation and two types of feeding on the performance of chickens and intestinal development of chicks during the pre-starter phase (1 to 7 days of age). One-year-old male Ross® chicks were used. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design, in a 2x2 factorial design, with two types of feed processing (bran and micropelleted) and two types of incubation machines (single and multiple stage), totaling four treatments, with four treatment repetitions each. Twelve birds per experimental unit were used, totaling 192 animals. Performance evaluations were conducted, such as mean weight, weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion, bowel weight and size, and percentage of intestine in relation to live weight. Histomorphometric tests on the height of the villi and depth of the duodenal crypts were also performed. The two incubation machines did not influence any of the analyzed variables. Even though both had the same composition, the micropelleted feed resulted in positive gains for the performance variables: average weight, weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion when compared to the meal, but was unable to significantly influence the morphometric measurements of the duodenum of chicks in the pre-starter phase.


Author(s):  
Katherine D Vande Pol ◽  
Austin L Laudwig ◽  
Aaron M Gaines ◽  
Beau A Peterson ◽  
Caleb M Shull ◽  
...  

Abstract Litter sizes in commercial pig production have increased substantially over recent years; however, farrowing pen sizes have generally not changed over the same time period. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of farrowing pen size on piglet pre-weaning growth and mortality. Differences in pen size were created by varying the width of pens of the same length, increasing the creep area available to the piglets. The study used a total of 1,786 litters in a randomized complete block design to compare two Farrowing Pen Size treatments (FPS): Standard (pen width 1.52 m) and Increased (pen width 1.68 m). Litter sizes were equalized across treatments (12.9 ± 1.95 piglets) at 24 h after birth using cross-fostering. Litter weights were collected at birth and weaning (21.3 ± 2.08 d); pre-weaning mortality was recorded. The experimental unit was the litter; models included FPS and replicate. Farrowing Pen Size had no effect (P &gt; 0.05) on litter size at birth (12.8 and 13.0 for the Standard and Increased FPS, respectively), after cross-fostering (12.9 for both treatments), or at weaning (11.2 and 11.3, respectively). There was no effect (P &gt; 0.05) of FPS on total litter or average piglet weight at birth, after cross-fostering, and at weaning. These results suggest no benefit in piglet performance from increasing the width of farrowing pens. As litter sizes continue to increase in commercial production, further research is warranted to re-evaluate the impact of farrowing pen size on pre-weaning mortality.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. e978986866
Author(s):  
Rafael Pereira Barros ◽  
Joaldo Rocha Luz ◽  
Ana Paula de Souza Ramos ◽  
Deise Silva Costa ◽  
Luís Gustavo Tavares Braga

The objective of this study was to determine the crude protein requirements for juvenile jundiara fish, a hybrid of Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum X Leiarius marmoratus. A total of 240 juveniles of the hybrid, with an initial mean weight of 8.4 ± 1.41 g, were distributed in 15 fiberglass tanks (170 L) in a closed water recirculation and constant aeration system, with a density of 16 fish/tank. The experimental design was completely randomized with five treatments and three replications. The treatments consisted of diets with 32, 34, 36, 38 and 40% crude protein. Seventy days into the experiment the final fish weight and feed intake were measured. Two specimens from each experimental unit were collected for evaluation of carcass chemical composition, nutritional efficiency and blood parameters. The increase in crude protein content promoted the significant, increasing linear effect for mean weight gain, mean feed intake and specific growth rate, and decreasing effect for feed conversion. Significant differences were also observed in carcass chemical composition, nutritional efficiency, total plasma protein, glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides and lipase enzymatic activity. Thus, the increase in crude protein levels of up to 40% in jundiara diets promotes improvement in the productive performance of juvenile jundiara.


1979 ◽  
Vol 19 (101) ◽  
pp. 695 ◽  
Author(s):  
RH King

Sixteen sows and their progeny were allotted to treatments in a 23 factorial experiment involving two levels of feed flavour (0 and 50 ppm of Firanor No. 24) in each of the sow, creep and starter diets. Weaning occurred at a mean piglet age of 26.9 days and observations continued for 31 days after weaning. The feed flavour, when added to the sow diet, was incorporated in sow's milk; milk from one sow fed the flavoured diet contained 9 ppm of Firanor No. 24. The addition of the feed flavour to the creep diet failed to improve creep feed consumption or weaning weight; the average daily creep feed intake and daily growth rate prior to weaning being 47.8 g/head and 207 g/head, respectively. During the postweaning period, pigs that were weaned from sows receiving the flavour and then given the flavoured starter diet ate more feed (P<0.05) and tended to grow faster (839 and 400 g day-1, respectively) than pigs given the unflavoured starter diet, or those weaned from sows given no flavour; their average feed intake and growth rate being 764 and 362 g day-1, respectively.


2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 223-224
Author(s):  
Arnaud Samson ◽  
Claire Launay ◽  
Francesc Payola ◽  
Eric Schetelat ◽  
Hervé Fortune

Abstract Reducing dietary crude protein (CP) with synthetic amino acids (AA) supplementation is beneficial for sustainable swine industry. However some discrepancies regarding the consequences on growth performance are observed. Therefore, this trial aimed to assess the effect of dietary CP level on growth performance of pigs from 35 to 113 kg BW. Growth performance of 63 pigs fed ad libitum and allocated to three groups (HH, MM and LL) was compared. Each group received one level of CP (‘H’ for High, ‘M’ for Medium and ‘L’ for Low) during growing (d0–d35) and finishing (d35–slaugther day) periods: 15.1%, 16.2%, 17.2% and 13.0%, 14.0%, 15.1% respectively. Diets were mostly based on wheat, corn and soybean meal. Within each feeding phase, diets were formulated to be similar in apparent total tract digestible phosphorus, net energy and standardized ileal digestible (SID) essential AA, the SID Lys levels being 0.95% and 0.78% during the growing and finishing period respectively. Data were analyzed using a linear model (R, 3.1.2) with individual as the experimental unit as feed intake, body weight and carcass grading were individually recorded. From d0 to d14 and from d35 to d63, average daily gain (ADG) and Growth:Feed ratio (G:F) were significantly reduced as the CP level decreased (P < 0.05) while average daily feed intake (ADFI) remained unaffected by the dietary treatments. From d14 to d35 and in late finishing period (d63-slaugther day), growth performance was not significantly affected by the dietary CP level. Over the 82-d of the experiment, G:F was significantly higher for ‘HH’ pigs (P < 0.01). Overall, ADG tended to be reduced as CP levels decreased (P = 0.10). There was no difference among treatments for parameters concerning carcass grading (lean meat percentage and meat yield). In conclusion, reducing CP levels while maintaining essential AA levels impaired growth performances of pigs.


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