There was no Science Page last week due to the holidays but you can still catch up on the previous editions on our website.
We will come back with a brand new Science Page next week!
Month: December 2017
Best of Leman 2017 series #3: J. Lowe – Understanding cull sow movements in North America
We launched a new series on the blog in October. Once a month, we are sharing with you a presentation given at the 2017 Allen D. Leman swine conference, on topics that the swine group found interesting, innovative or that lead to great discussions.
Our third presented is from Dr. Jim Lowe from the University of Illinois on the movements of cull sows in North America and what it implies in terms of disease transmission.
To listen to this talk, please click on the picture below.
Happy holidays to you and your loved ones!
Science page: Troubleshooting poor litter size using the National Swine Reproduction Guide
First, we would like wish you the happiest of holidays from all of us at the University of Minnesota, College of Veterinary Medicine.
This is our Friday rubric: every week a new Science Page from the Bob Morrison’s Swine Health Monitoring Project. The previous editions of the science page are available on our website.
This week we are sharing how to troubleshoot poor litter size within a production system using the National Swine Reproduction Guide, a report by Sarah Bloomer at North Carolina State University.
Key points:
- The National Swine Reproduction Guide (NSRG; U.S. Pork Center of Excellence, Des Moines, IA) is a valuable tool to help producers utilize data analysis to troubleshoot reproductive problems in a herd or farm.
- Analysis of farrow-to-wean farms within a North Carolina production system revealed extended wean-to-service interval of first-parity sows and poor performance of second-parity sows. NSRG recommendations include reviewing lactation diet composition and first-parity sow lactation feed intake.
Reproductive data from nine farms within one production system from 2011 to 2015 were obtained. Average Total Number Born (TNB) for the production system was 12.4 piglets born per litter, yet litter size was lowest in second-parity sows. Greater than 24% of second-parity sows failed to achieve the decision boundary criteria of 11.5 TNB. Within first-parity sows, 73% of the contemporary groups had greater than 10% of their sows failing to return to estrus within 10 days of weaning.
The following recommendations to improve TNB and reduce Weaning-to-Service Interval (WSI) were created following consultation of the NSRG:
- Limit cross-fostering onto first-parity sows
- Review lactation diet composition, particularly amino acid content;
- Identify methods to promote first-parity sow lactation feed intake. If economically
feasible, farms may also consider breeding sows displaying estrus 7 and 8 days post-weaning on their next cycle.
Two UMN graduate students awarded at CRWAD
The first week-end of December was the Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases in Chicago. Several of the swine group graduate students were presenting their work and received an award.
First, Frances Shepherd received the award for best oral presentation in the Enteric Diseases category for her presentation titled Variability and bioinformatic analysis of porcine rotavirus B and C illustrate potentially important immunological sites. Frances’ advisers are Dr. Douglas Marthaler and Dr. Michael Murtaugh.
Then, Dr. Robert Valeris received the best poster award in the Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventative Medicine category for presenting Survival analysis of protocols for eradication of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae in swine farms.
Join us in congratulating our students for their awards!
NHF: Processing fluids are effective for PRRSV diagnostics
This month in the National Hog Farmer, Drs. Carles Vilalta, Juan Sanhueza, and Montse Torremorell share a project instigated by the late Dr. Bob Morrison regarding the use of processing fluids to make a PRRSV diagnosis.
The improvement of sampling and diagnostics techniques has made sampling on the farm an easier task with the use of pooled serums or oral fluids samples for example.
One of the ways to get cheaper, more sensitive and quicker techniques would be to use routine chores, such as piglet processing, since castration and tail docking are part of the regular procedures in sow farms.
The goal of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the processing fluids (the liquid accumulated at the bottom of the pail when farmers collect tails and testicles during routine procedures) by real-time polymerase chain reaction to assess PRRSV status in a sow herd.
The key points from the studies were: