The Ceiling’s the Limit in Barn Repair Options
Barn deterioration happens at a rapid pace in the swine industry due to conditions including high moisture, varying temperature, corrosive gases and the presence of microorganisms and dust. Components like the walls, attics, ceiling and eaves are often affected. Renovations are costly and often need...
Imaging is Everything in Pork Assessment
Rapid methods that are non-invasive are needed to assess pork quality objectively. The current method is inconsistent since it uses a subjective approach involving colour and water holding capacity. Hyperspectral imaging can objectively grade pork on different quality attributes, following the standards if the National...
Grasping at Straw to Boost Sow Milk Yield
Increasing sow milk yield is an important area of research since it helps with piglet growth. Sows are often aggressive due to restricted feeding so increasing satiety was investigated to see if performance was improved. Processing of straw improved the energy digestibility, with stronger effects...
Fed Up With High Feed Costs? Chew On This
Feed costs are one of the main expenses in swine production, so a lot of research has been done to help reduce this constant strain on producers. Feeding low, constant net energy diets is a cheaper alternative to feeding higher net energy levels in grow...
Slat Width Study Fills Knowledge Gaps
Improper flooring can lead to a number of leg and foot problems for sows. The second most common reason for culling sows is lameness and it is an even more important issue in group housing since moving around is crucial to access resources like food...
Brachyspira 2.0: Novel Disease Needs Novel Approach
A novel species of Brachyspira was discovered that causes severe illness in pigs. Testing is being completed on different strains and how to treat them as some may be resistant to certain antibiotics. This testing has many benefits like the correct dosage and drug being known,...
Got Milk? Mammary Research Yielding Results
The sow is not producing enough milk to feed the increasing litter sizes produced, so piglet growth is being limited. Improving the sow's milk yield can help maximize piglet growth. This may be accomplished through improving mammary development. The main periods of development are from...
Infrared Camera Could Keep Producers in the Black
A thermographic camera uses infrared radiation to form an image and may be able to detect diseased animals by identifying those who are losing heat. A single camera can be aimed at a pen and all animals in view would be in the image. This...
Better Disease Detection is Nothing to Sneeze At
Pig diseases are costly, reduce performance, lower production and can lead to losses. Serologic testing the antibodies that the animals produce when fighting off an infection can detect which diseases are present. Currently, the serologic test used can only detect one agents' antibodies at a...
Precision Feeding Can Nourish Your Bottom Line
Fine tuning nutrients in diets is an important part of keeping diet costs as low as possible while having optimal performance with low phosphorus and nitrogen excretion. Precision feeding allows for not only fine tuning of the diets themselves but also for individual diets. Using...