Porcine Health Management

Surgical castration is still widely executed to avoid boar taint, although alternative methods already exist. While information about suffered pain is available, skin wound dimensions and healing are neglected in many studies. The impact of surgeon and anaesthesia onto dimensions of skin incisions was evaluated in two farms.

The effects of a phytogenic feed additive (PFA) on inflammation, oxidative stress, gut permeability, and gut morphology in nursery pigs were determined. Dietary treatments were basal diet [CON] and basal + 0.015 % PFA (Digestarom®, Biomin Holding GmbH).

In the lactation period, sows’ body reserves need to be mobilized, if the energy need is not covered by food intake. A high weight loss negatively effects animal health, wellbeing and biological performance. Therefore, monitoring the sow’s body condition is important to be able to adjust the quality and quantity of feed.

The hygienic status, characterized by different parameters, of the husbandry system is of essential importance for porcine health. Parameters such as noxious gases or microbial load can vary within and between batches, regular monitoring offers useful information. As alternative farrowing systems gain importance, the aim of this study was to compare hygienic parameters, with the main emphasis on air quality, in pens without any fixation of the sow during lactation -single loose housing pens (LH) and a group-housing system for six lactating sows (GH) – with a conventional farrowing crate (FC) system.

Modifying dietary fatty acid composition of piglets, especially at weaning as the most critical period of their live, by using sources of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids such as linseed and peas can contribute on anti-inflammatory function increasing piglet’s health status and welfare. The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary peas: linseed mixture (3:1) on certain plasma metabolites (minerals and enzymes) in weaned piglets

The hemp is a vegetable source rich in n-3 fatty acids (FA) . The objective of this paper was to evaluate the changes of plasma immunoglobulin (IgA, IgG, IgM) on lactating sows due to dietary addition of hempseed. The biological trial was conducted with 10 multiparous sows assigned randomly for 21D to two groups: control (CL), which received the classical diets, and experimental (HSL), treated with 5% hempseed.

In Flanders, certain pig farmers use deep drainage water (depth 4-8m) as drinking water. This water contains high levels of calcium and bicarbonates. It is unclear to which extent these levels affect newly weaned piglets. Therefore, 2 experiments were carried out on the effect of either high bicarbonate or high calcium levels on performance, water consumption and fecal consistency, in newly weaned piglets.

In this study we analyzed whether a compound feed, primarily based on specific fats and to a lesser extent on protein and cholesterol, could be of advantage for weaning piglets as compared to no treatment, nutritional control or creep feed control.

Early contact with diarrhea-causing pathogens leads to an imbalance of the intestinal microbiota. Thus, newborn piglets are faced with great challenges. As a preventive measure, the use of microbiota and immune-modulatory feed additives is reported to support the vitality of piglets.

Salmonella are still a problem in pork production. Increasing litter sizes observed in recent years with lower average birth weights at the same time makes an adequate colostrum supply of newborn piglets more difficult. This study tested the hypothesis, that modern piglet producing farms with a high farrowing rate and an increased Salmonella prevalence in piglet rearing show a more unfavorable colostrum supply in suckling piglets.

In modern piggeries roughages have lost their relevance. Recently, advanced liquid feeding systems facilitate to use whole plant silage (WPS) as the basis for pregnant sows. Thus the question was whether the digestibility rate of these silages can be predicted by using the equation based on crude fibre content.

The term wasting does not imply a diagnosis by itself but is a clinical name to describe a physical
condition characterized by growth retardation, usually of multifactorial origin. This report describes
an apparently new condition of pigs clinically characterized by wasting and vacuolization of the
brain neuropil.

In practical piglet diets the branched-chain amino acid L-Valine (Val) is regarded as 5th limiting
amino acid, but inconsistent information is available about the optimal Val:Lys ratio for piglets. Aim
of this study was to investigate the optimal Val:Lys ratio through performance parameters.

The aim of this study was to compare treatment rates of nursing piglets before and after
surgical castrations were replaced with vaccinations with Improvac (Zoetis Inc.), a vaccine efficient
in reducing boar taint.

To improve the animal welfare in the pig production, Denmark made a national agreement to stop
castration without anesthesia by the end of 2018. Since the knowledge about general anesthesia
of piglets is limited, the aim of this pilot study was to obtain experiences of general anesthesia of
piglets prior to castration in conventional production facilities.