Box 21057, 2105 – 8th Street East
Saskatoon, SK, S7H 5N9
Euthanizing piglets is an ongoing area of research as it is emotional for the workers involved. Blunt force trauma is effective if done correctly but this method could use improvement. The Zephyr Piglet Gun involves a non-penetrating captive bolt which can euthanize neonate, suckling and weaned piglets up to 9 kg. It is a highly effective, single step method for euthanasia. Cardiac arrest occurs in less than 15 minutes and...
Most research on the different forms of enrichment are done on piglets and growing pigs. In these pigs, some benefits include reduced aggression and fear, fewer behavioural vices and improved growth. Older animals such as sows differ and generally prefer manipulable and destructible enrichments compared to simple objects. The Canadian Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs includes a requirment that multiple forms of enrichment should be...
Fusarium has been reported throughout western Canada. The principle toxin DON (deoxynivalenol or vomatoxin) contaminates the grain and impacts the feeding of pigs that ingest it. Average daily gain and feed intake are suppressed when fed DON levels over 1 to 2 ppm. Vomiting occurs at extremely high levels, over 20 ppm. Weanling pigs are more susceptible to the effect of DON and its impact on reproductive performance is unknown....
As litter size continues to increase, the number of small pigs also rises. It is crucial to ensure survival of these piglets or there are no benefits to larger litters. Immediately after post-weaning, many problems such as poor growth rate, low feed consumption and an increase in diarrhea occur. It is crucial to decrease the interval between weaning and resuming feed consumption. Often this is done by using high quality...
Transport of pigs involves a large number of potential stressors that could have an effect on meat quality and value of the carcass. Long distances and extreme weather conditions are often present in western Canada transportation. Dual purpose trailers can accommodate pigs or cattle, with dual purpose pot-belly trucks using several steep internal ramps to get pigs into their compartment. Summer and winter conditions were used to study meat quality...
Large Group Auto Sort (LGAS) applies electronic technology to manage grow-finish pigs and is relatively new. It can be cost effective to assemble many animals into a pen by using similar weights derived from electronic sorting scales and sorting gates. Due to mixed reviews, more research is being done to evaluate the LGAS. They are frequently used to sort pigs for markets but not used much to sort pigs towards...
A major environmental concern for the swine industry are odour and gaseous emissions. Sulphur containing compounds are some of the most odourous components of swine. Drinking water quality on air emissions and swine manure nutrients were assessed. Up to 1,800 ppm of sulphate in drinking water had no adverse effects on odour and gas emissions, performance or manure nutrient levels so water treatment is not necessary. There is potential to...
Oil sprinkling has been shown to be an effective dust control strategy. It also reduces gas emissions which may effect the odours emitted from the barn. To further investigate this area, protein diet with fermentable carbohydrates were included to see if a relationship was present with oil sprinkling. Total dust emissions were reduced by 76% when oil sprinkling was utilized but the effect on odour emissions was unclear. Dust emissions...
To select the optimal minimum ventilation rate, moisture production equations have to be verified for intensive swine operations for Canadian climates. Under-ventilation leads to high humidity levels and bacterial growth, while over-ventilation increases the cost of heating in the winter. Moisture production levels were measured and compared to predicted values to see if the equations used are valid in Canadian climates. Additional work needs to be done to update the...
Dietary balance is crucial in swine operations in order to ensure pig performance is optimal. In most commercial swine diets, methionine is not a limiting amino acid so there have been less studies completed on it. In Canadian diets, protein sources are often peas and lentils which are lower in methionine so studies must be done to ensure they are properly balanced. For female pigs the requirement is 0.25% of...