Poor Immunity from a Strep. suis Autogenous Bacterin
A major cause of death in recently weaned pigs is a bacterial infection Streptococcus suis. There are many strains which makes it difficult to control and vaccinate for. An autogenous bacterin vaccine was created for the strain SX-428 and measured for its effectiveness. The antibody levels and...
Nitrogen Dynamics in Manured Saskatchewan Soils
Manure is a nitrogen source for crop growth. To predict its behaviour in the soil, the amounts and forms of nitrogen must be known. The behaviour of the manure nitrogen as a plant nutrient source is influenced by the soil nitrogen cycle. Using this knowledge,...
Effectiveness of Three Manure Pit Additives
Evaluation of three manure pit additives on their effectiveness in reducing manure strength and solids, odour threshold and gas concentrations above the manure surface, and maintaining micronutrient and nutrient content was completed. The additives investigated were Pit Boss, American BioCatalysts and Westbridge (H4-5O2). The additives...
Development and Evaluation of a Temperature-Humidity Controller for Livestock Buildings
A TDK relative humidity sensor's life expectancy and accuracy could be improved by applying a specific protection treatment, allowing humidity control strategies. Evaluation of the modified TDK relative humidity sensor and the temperature and humidity control strategy (THC) was completed. Room temperature and relative humidity...
Humidity Control Strategies for Winter Conditions
Automatically adjusting ventilation according to room humidity could optimize energy requirements while improving the buildings room conditions. Under Prairie winter conditions, a conventional temperature control system and a temperature-humidity control system were evaluated through a computer model. The optimum strategy was the temperature-humidity control system...
Performance and Carcass Quality of Growing-Finishing Pigs Submitted to Reduced Nocturnal Temperature
In the summer, higher temperature in the barn reduces feed intake and therefore reduces pig growth rate. To modify eating behaviour and stimulate the average daily feed intake, a reduced temperature setpoint during the summer was proposed. A reduced nocturnal temperature strategy was implemented with...
Incidence of Belly Nosing in Segregated Early Weaning Pigs
Segregated early weaning was implemented to decrease disease in swine operations. This led to a higher incidence of belly nosing and sucking in early weaned pigs as these behaviours increase as age decreases. Management factors such as line differences, pen enrichment and diet form were...
Farrowing and Savaging in Wild Boar Sows
Behaviours such as savaging have sometimes been attributed to the domestication process. In order to decrease loss of piglets due to aggression, savaging behaviours should be further understood. Farmed wild boar sows of three genetic lines were videotaped during farrowing. Sows were aggressive towards 33%...
Effect of Increasing Group Size on Grower-Finisher Pigs
Housing grower-finisher pigs in larger pens while increasing group size has been increasingly of interest. Group sizes of 10, 20, 40 and 80 per pen were observed in the aspects of health and production. Group size does not significantly differ the health and production of...
Factors that Influence Voluntary Feed Intake
Feed intake varies widely on commercial farms. Variations in feed intake lead to variations in nutrient intake levels which impacts pork production efficiency and productivity. Factors involved include social, environmental and immunological stressors as well as dietary factors. In grower-finisher pigs, DE content of feed...
The Threonine Requirement of the Sow in Lactation
The threonine requirement of a high-producing sow in lactation was determined as threonine is the second limiting amino acid in most swine diets. Tissue breakdown was minimized in sows by having a threonine requirement of 37.3, 40.0 and 38.9 g total threonine/d (28.7, 30.8 and...
Field Pea DE Content and Chemical Characteristics
In Western Canada, field peas are a source of amino acids and energy in swine rations. Specific Canadian field pea samples have not been examined for nutritional value or quality previously. Physical and chemical characteristics were analyzed in relation to DE content in field peas...