Improving your Barn Environment
A checklist on how to improve your barn environment. Improving your Barn Environment (full article)
Breeding Sow Mortality and Euthanasia
As pigs are becoming more prolific, the average mortality and euthanasia of breeding sows has doubled to 10%. There are many causes, the main ones were examined. The leading cause of death and euthanasia are prolapses accounting for 25-50% of...
Making Cents of Enrichment
Enrichment can be easily overlooked. It is now listed in the Canadian Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs that multiple forms of enrichment must be provided to improve their welfare. Enrichment reduces problematic behaviours like belly-nosing...
Feeding Mycotoxin Contaminated Grain
Moulds and fungi can infect grains and cause mycotoxin production. A number of mycotoxins affect pig performance. The presence of mould or fungi does not guarantee the presence of mycotoxins and there may not be any obvious mould when mycotoxins...
Group Sow Housing Decision Tree
There are multiple group housing systems to choose from for sows. This decision tree may be helpful in making the right choice for you. Group Sow Housing Decision Tree (full article)
What can the Web Calculator do for Me?
A simple, personalizable web calculator has been developed by the Prairies Swine Centre and the Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture in order to predict the value of technology adoption. Productivity, implementation costs, and health and safety impacts...
Group Sow Housing Feeding Systems Chart
A chart on the group sow housing feeding systems with pros and cons for each system. Group Sow Housing Feeding Systems Chart (full article)
What is the Long Term Impact of Feeding DON to Finishing Pigs?
Grains contaminated with mycotoxins are commonly downgraded for livestock feed. Best practice is to avoid using this, though that is getting increasingly difficult due to increased incidence and level of contamination. Corn, wheat, oats and barley are commonly contaminated by...
Managing Water Intake, Auditing Best Management Practices
Water is the nutrient that is required in the greatest amount, though it often receives the least amount of attention. Finisher pigs’ water intake is up to three times their feed intake, though a lot of the water intake reported...
Finishing Facilities
Small changes have a large impact on the profitability of the operation in regard to finishing facilities due to the length of it. 16 finishing facilities were audited with many achieving a score above 80% for the adoption of best...
Pork Quality and What it Means For a Healthy Way of Eating
For a human to lose weight, it is recommended to have a diet with low carbohydrates, moderate protein and a high amount of fat, which may be surprising. Carbohydrates stimulate insulin release which moves energy from our blood into fat...
Feeding Straw to Sows in Late Gestation. Benefits to Processing?
Behavioural problems due to restricted feeding in sows may be reduced and litter and sow performance during lactation may improve by feeding fiber-rich diets. The composition of the fiber (proportion of soluble to insoluble fiber) and dietary inclusion rates may...
