Browsing by Subject "pigs"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    African Swine Fever (ASF) Global Surveillance Summary for the National Pork Board by the Secure Food Systems Team, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota
    (2023-12) Alexander, Catherine; Blair, Benjamin; Bonney, Peter; Corzo, Cesar; Leonard, Mickey; Malladi, Sasidhar; Martin, Sylvia Wanzala; Medrano, Miranda; Ssematimba, Amos; St. Charles, Kaitlyn; Tavai-Tuisalo'o, Margret; Culhane, Marie
    This white paper and supplementary spreadsheet summarize African Swine Fever (ASF) surveillance in the world. The paper includes countries, ASF status as of the date of protocol access, and surveillance protocols in place in "free" areas and "ASF infection" areas in both wild and domestic swine.
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    Effects Of Adding Minimally Refined Cottonseed Oil Or Crude Glycerol To Diets Containing 40% Distillers Dried Grains With Solubles (Ddgs) On Growth Performance, Carcass Characteristics And Pork Fat Quality Of Growing-Finishing Pigs
    (2016-05) Villela, Cassio
    Feeding corn DDGS increases unsaturation of pork fat which reduces fat firmness, shelf life of retail cuts and causes processing problems. Cottonseed oil contains cyclopropene fatty acids (CPFA) which can inhibit synthesis of unsaturated fatty acids. Dietary crude glycerol can increase saturation of pork fat. This study evaluated the effects of adding cottonseed oil or crude glycerol to diets containing 40% corn DDGS on fat quality of growing-finishing pigs. Neither cottonseed oil nor crude glycerol supplementation improved pork fat quality as measured by belly firmness, Iodine Value (IV) of pork fat, and pork fat oxidation. Dietary cottonseed oil increased pork fat IV due to the high unsaturated fatty acids content of cottonseed oil. Therefore, supplementation of swine diets high in corn DDGS concentration with cottonseed oil or crude glycerol does not mitigate DDGS-induced soft carcass fat.
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    Identifying The Characteristics Of Slow Growing Pigs And Risk Factors Associated With Slow Growth
    (2015-12) He, Yijie
    Pigs that grow significantly slower than their contemporaries are problematic for animal well-being and profitability. This study was designed to investigate the physiological and behavioral characteristics of slow growing pigs and risk factors associated with slow growth, and to investigate the effect of feeder space on pig performance. The results suggest that light body weights at early stages were the major risk factors for slow growth. Low concentrations of IGF-1, insulin, leptin and total AA were associated with slow growth in pigs. The need to provide ample feeder space during the early stage of growth in order to alleviate slow growth did not appear to be beneficial in growth performance in this study. Providing more feeder space reduced time spent standing, and tended to increase time spent lying by SG pigs, indicating that SG pigs may benefit from more feeder space and have improved welfare.
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    Improving the sustainability of pork production by assessing the nutritional value of corn co-products and environmental impacts of swine feeding strategies
    (2022-08) Yang, Zhaohui
    The animal agriculture sector has developed and modernized rapidly because of the growing demand for high quality protein driven by population growth and greater purchasing power globally. However, livestock supply chains are important contributors to environmental issues including climate change, eutrophication, acidification, and land and water use. Among all processes involved in livestock production, feed production, processing, and transportation have been shown to cause the largest fraction of greenhouse gases emissions and human-induced nitrogen emissions. Furthermore, the efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus utilization in pigs to produce lean pork for human consumption is relatively poor, which causes significant nitrogen and phosphorus wastage. As a result, practices to improve nutrient efficiency and reduce nutrient waste through feeding are needed. The objectives of this dissertation were to assess the nutritional value of corn co-products for precision diet formulation and quantity environmental impacts of different swine feeding strategies. The first study used an in vitro digestion model to evaluate novel corn co-products and showed that new processing technologies improved nutritional values of corn co-products for swine. The second study determined the accurate energy and digestible amino acid content of emerging corn co-products for precision swine diet formulation. The third study explored new analytical methods to dynamically assess digestible amino acid concentrations in corn co-products and showed the potential of estimating digestible lysine content using front-face fluorescent spectroscopy. The fourth study used a systems approach to evaluate the effectiveness of using precision feed formulation in swine diets to improve productivity, nitrogen utilization efficiency and environmental impact of pork production. Main findings from this dissertation suggested that several practices can be adopted to improve the overall sustainability of pork production including recycling novel corn co-products into swine diets, using precision diet formulation with accurate nutritional values, and incorporating life cycle assessment of environmental impacts into diet evaluation.
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    Nutritional Impact Of Feeding Liquid Ethanol Co-Products And Barley Supplementation To Wean-To-Finish Pigs On Growth Performance And Carcass Characteristics
    (2017-04) Tostenson, Blair
    The first objective of this study was to compare dry and liquid feeding systems (The Big Dutchman, Holland, MI, USA) on growth performance in nursery pigs. Four-hundred and eighty early weaned pigs (N=480; initial BW 6.1 ± 0.17 kg; 18 d old; Topigs Norsvin female X Compart Duroc boar) were blocked by weight and randomly assigned to one of two dietary treatment groups via a randomized complete block design (n=240; 10 pigs/pen; 24 pens/treatment). Diets were formulated to be isocaloric and isonitrogenous: (1) Dry, corn-soybean meal. (2) Liquid, water and corn-soybean meal (DM 23%). Pig weights were recorded on d0, d14, d28, and d42 indicating the end of the nursery period. Performance parameters average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and feed efficiency measured as gain-to-feed (G:F) were calculated on pen basis. Data were analyzed using PROC-MIXED procedure of SAS. Statistical significance was set at P ≤ 0.05. Pigs in the dry feeding system had greater ADG, G:F, and final BW (P<0.01). Initially, dry diets had greater ADFI (P<0.01). By the end of the nursery period, liquid fed pigs had greater ADFI than dry fed pigs (P<0.01) In conclusion, feeding nursery pigs dry corn-soybean meal diets resulted in greater ADG and G:F which led to heavier final BW when compared to liquid feeding system pigs (P<0.01). The second objective was to measure nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and energy digestibility when feeding the ethanol co-products Dried Distillers Grain with Solubles (DDGS), Corn Distillers Whole Stillage (CDWS), and Corn Condensed Distillers Solubles (CCDS) to growing swine, and to determine the nutrient profile of manure slurry. Thirty-two crossbred barrows (N=32; Topigs Norsvin females X Compart Duroc boars) were selected with a mean initial body weight of 82.5 kg (Final BW 85.1 kg), housed individually in stainless steel metabolism crates, and were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 dietary treatments (n=8): (1) Dry, control corn-soybean meal (2) Dry, control with 30% DDGS (3) Liquid, control corn-soybean meal and water (4) Liquid, control basemix with 20% CCDS and 30% CDWS. Pigs were allowed 4 days for adaptation to crates with 4 days of sample collection including urine, feces, and slurry. Slurry was pooled and allowed to sit to mimic anaerobic pit conditions. Results from this study found that feeding ethanol co-products attained similar N intake and digestible N levels when compared to conventional corn-SBM diets. Feeding ethanol co-products had greater P intake while liquid diets were greater for digestible P (P<0.01). Dry diets were greater for energy intake and DE while feeding CCDS and CDWS reduced energy availability (P<0.01). For slurry characteristics, dry diets were greater in total N and P while being similar in K content (P<0.01). Pigs fed DDGS had the greatest concentration of sulfur in slurry. In conclusion, feeding liquid ethanol co-products can be an alternative to traditional grains for meeting dietary requirements. Furthermore, pigs fed ethanol co-products yield slurry with comparable nutrient content to corn-SBM and have potential as an alternative to crop fertilizer. The third objective was to compare feeding DDGS, CDWS, CCDS, and barley to grow-finish swine in terms of growth performance and carcass characteristics. The fourth objective was to determine the effect of partial replacement of ethanol co-products with barley on belly firmness. Four-hundred and eighty pigs were blocked by weight (25.8 ± 0.43 kg) and randomly assigned to one of six dietary treatment groups via randomized complete block design (N=480; n=80; 10 pigs/pen; 8 pens/treatment). Diets: (1) Dry basal, Control, corn-SBM all phases (2) Dry, DDGS (Phase 1: 20%, Phases 2-4: 30%). (3) Dry, DDGS (Phase 1: 20%, Phases 2 and 3: 30%, Phase 4: 15% DDGS + 15% barley). (4) Liquid basal, control, corn-SBM and water all phases (5) Liquid, Ethanol co-products (Phase 1:16% CCDS + 24% CDWS, Phases 2 and 3: 20% CCDS + 30% CDWS, Phase 4: 24% CCDS + 36% CDWS). (6) Liquid, Ethanol co-products (Phase 1:16% CCDS + 24% CDWS, Phases 2 and 3: 20% CCDS + 30% CDWS, Phase 4: 15% CCDS + 30% CDWS + 15% barley). Pigs were weighed on d0, d28, d56, d84, and d112. Pigs were marketed at 127 kg, therefore liquid fed pigs were allowed two more weeks to meet market weight, and weighed on d126. Growth performance parameters ADG, ADFI, and G:F were calculated on pen basis. Carcasses were measured for hot carcass weight (HCW), fat depth, loin depth, percent lean, and dressing percentage. Across all diets, feeding dry corn-SBM had the greatest performance for final BW, ADG, and G:F (P<0.01). Furthermore, pigs fed barley had reduced ADG and ADFI and lesser loin depth (P<0.01). Feeding DDGS had similar performance however belly firmness was reduced (P<0.01). Feeding liquid ethanol co-products resulted in greater G:F and reduced ADFI when compared to liquid corn-SBM diets (P<0.01). For pigs fed ethanol co-products such as DDGS, CCDS, and CDWS, belly firmness was reduced due to the greater level of poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and iodine value (IV) leading to softer bellies (P<0.01). In conclusion, dry feeding was superior in growth performance and carcass merit as they reached market readiness compared to liquid fed pigs. Feeding ethanol co-products is an effective cost savings strategy, however, belly firmness may become an issue with the current feeding method. (Key words: pigs, whole stillage, condensed distillers solubles, ethanol co-products, growth performance, nutrient digestibility, carcass characteristics, belly firmness)