Field Testing of an Air Filtration System for Transport
The spread of airborne transmissible disease such as PRRS continues to be a serious threat to the Canadian swine industry as this disease causes significant economic losses to infected herds. Th is project aimed to develop an additional line of defense against infection of airborne diseases by designing an...
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Ken Engele
Can Group-Housed Sows Raised at Lower Temperatures?
In this project, an operant mechanism that will allow sows housed in a group system to control their own environmental temperature was developed. Th e mechanism was configured with a manual control switch that the sows can access and operate, which in turn activated the supplementary room heating system,...
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Ken Engele
Impact of Various Parity Groupings on Welfare and Productivity in ESF Housing
Electronic sow feeders (ESF) provide an automated system for controlling the individual feed intake of group-housed sows. However, this system can prompt increased aggression, especially in the initial period following mixing, as sows compete for access to the ESF. The primary objective of this research was to compare different...
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Ken Engele
Quantifying the Prevalence of Lameness and Hoof Lesions
Th e aim of this survey was to collect information on the prevelance of lameness and hoof lesions on genetic nucleus herds, to help provide baseline information on the prevelance of lameness and hoof lesions in Canadian sows. Six genetic herds were visited, located in AB, SK, MB, ON...
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Ken Engele
Nanaparticles for Controlling Disease – Causing Microorganisms in Pig Barns
Laboratory-scale tests were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of various types of commercially-available nanoparticles on the levels of microorganisms commonly encountered in swine barns. Results indicate Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles had the highest antimicrobial efficacy among all the nanoparticles tested. Further experiments carried out in the barn indicated that partial...
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Ken Engele
Geothermal Systems for Heating & Cooling in Swine Barns
This study assessed the applicability of a geothermal system in swine production facilities. In-barn evaluation of the impact of the geothermal system on energy use, thermal environment, greenhouse gas emissions, and animal performance was conducted by comparing a swine grow-finish room with geothermal system to a conventional production room with...
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Ken Engele
Assessing Whey to Reduce Feed Cost
Deproteinized whey permeate is a by-product of the cheese-making industry. Depending on the type of cheese being produced it can be categorized as “sweet whey” or “acid whey”, the latter contains about 4.7% organic acids. The objective of this experiment was to determine the response of weanling pigs to...
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Ken Engele
Effect of Dietary Calcium and Phosphorus in Sows
This study was designed to determine the influence of Ca and P intake by young, gestating sows on the growth and skeletal development of their developing piglets and if smaller birthweight piglets are at greater risk from mineral insufficiency during gestation. A total of 30 sows were randomly assigned...
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Ken Engele
Can Flaxseed Replace Antibiotics in Starter Diets?
We hypothesized that feeding n-3 FA’s to sows in the form of flaxseed would allow for the removal of Ab’s in starter feeds. Based on the findings from this trial, we can neither accept nor reject this hypothesis, as we found that in our high health herd, Ab’s...
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Ken Engele
Feeding Value of Cull Lentils
The current study was designed to characterize the nutritive composition, including digestibility and energy concentration, of feed-grade (cull) lentils for growing pigs. We conducted two studies. The first study determined the amount and digestibility of energy and amino acids in two samples of lentils. In the second study...
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Ken Engele
Stimulating Exploratory Behaviour – Effect on Creep Consumption
This study investigated whether feed consumption before and after weaning can be increased through stimulating exploratory behaviour in piglets, and whether this is best achieved through provision of enrichment (E), or through presentation of creep feed in a large tray feeder (TF) so as to facilitate synchronized feeding among littermates. Enrichment...
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Ken Engele
Weaning Sows Directly into Group Housing
Social stress from mixing sows has the potential to negatively affect sow production and welfare. Housing sows in stalls from weaning until five weeks after breeding is a common strategy used to prevent aggression and ensure control over individual feeding during breeding, conception and implantation. However, alternative management options are...
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Ken Engele