Risk Factors for Mortality in Grow-finishing Pigs in Belgium (original) (raw)
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Management factors affecting mortality, feed intake and feed conversion ratio of grow-finishing pigs
animal, 2013
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of animal management and farm facilities on total feed intake (TFI), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and mortality rate (MORT) of grower-finishing pigs. In total, 310 batches from 244 grower-finishing farms, consisting of 454 855 Pietrain sired pigs in six Spanish pig companies were used. Data collection consisted of a survey on management practices (season of placement, split-sex by pens, number of pig origins, water source in the farm, initial or final BW) and facilities (floor, feeder, ventilation or number of animals placed) during 2008 and 2009. Results indicated that batches of pigs placed between January and March had higher TFI ( P = 0.006), FCR ( P = 0.005) and MORT ( P = 0.03) than those placed between July and September. Moreover, batches of pigs placed between April and June had lower MORT ( P = 0.003) than those placed between January and March. Batches which had split-sex pens had lower TFI ( P = 0.001) and better FCR ( P < 0.001) than those with mixed-sex in pens; pigs fed with a single-space feeder with incorporated drinker also had the lowest TFI ( P < 0.001) and best FCR ( P < 0.001) in comparison to single and multi-space feeders without a drinker. Pigs placed in pens with <50% slatted floors presented an improvement in FCR ( P < 0.05) than pens with 50% or more slatted floors. Batches filled with pigs from multiple origins had higher MORT ( P < 0.001) than those from a single origin. Pigs housed in barns that performed manual ventilation control presented higher MORT ( P < 0.001) in comparison to automatic ventilation. The regression analysis also indicated that pigs which entered to grower-finisher facilities with higher initial BW had lower MORT ( P < 0.05) and finally pigs which were sent to slaughterhouse with a higher final BW presented higher TFI ( P < 0.001). The variables selected for each dependent variable explained 61.9%, 24.8% and 20.4% of the total variability for TFI, FCR and MORT, respectively. This study indicates that farms can increase growth performance and reduce mortality by improving farm facilities and/or modifying management practices.
Study of the mortality rate in pre-fattening pigs
Asian Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences
The focus of this experimental work was the long-term analysis of the mortality of pigs in the pre-fattening category, as well as the determination of the most important etiological and predisposing factors of death. We carried out this research on farm in the east of Slovakia, in the Spiš region, over a period of three years. Based on our 36-month monitoring of pig mortality, we found that pre-fattening mortality was on a downward trend with mortality rates of 2.79%, 2.72% and 2.71% in consecutive years. There is also a certain seasonal impact on mortality in pre-fattening, because we found a higher incidence of deaths especially in the cold spring, autumn and winter months. Diseases such as respiratory and diarrheal diseases were among the most important etiological and predisposing factors of mortality in the observed farm.
Mortality and Survival Probability of Female Pigs in Southern European Commercial Breeding Herds
Journal of Agricultural Science, 2017
This retrospective cohort study characterized death occurrences in female pigs in commercial herds, examined the survival probability for served females, and quantified factors associated with by-parity mortality risks for farrowed sows. The cohort data from herd entry to removal included 558,486 first service records of 113,517 females in 121 herds, served between 2008 and 2013. Two herd categories were defined on the basis of the lower 25th percentiles of herd means of annualized lifetime pigs weaned per sow: low-performing herds and ordinary herds. Two-level survival analysis was performed for served females to obtain by-parity survival probabilities (gilts and parity 1-6 sows). Also, log-binomial regression models were used to examine risk factors and ratios associated with mortality risks for the seven parity groups farrowed in either spring, summer, autumn or winter. Overall mean mortality incidence rates were 1.22 and 5.30 pigs per 100 pig-days of observation for pregnant fem...
Mortality Versus Profitability in a Romanian Swine Farm
2017
In a world with a continuously major demographic increasing, the global economy will be oriented to a correct path "the economy of rationality and hope", which has to ensure the world's rapidly demand and needs for food. As an important economic branch, a sustainable agriculture must simultaneously deliver food security, environmental sustainability and economic opportunity. In such a global environment, Romanian swine farms are vertically integrated into farrowing operations, the piglets grow and are fed until they reach market weight and at the end, they are slaughtered. There are many criteria for assessing good results in an integrated pigs farm, such as the volume, structure and quality of pigs produced, present and future possibilities to improve the activity, at what cost and with what investment effort and risks. An inherent risk of a swine farm with a huge impact to profitability and financial equilibrium is represented by pig mortality. For this reason we hav...
Analysis of factors associated with mortality of heavy slaughter pigs during transport and lairage
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The study was based on data collected during 5 yr (2003-2007) and was aimed at assessing the effects of the month, slaughter house of destination (differing for stocking density, openings, brightness, and cooling device types), length of the journey, and temperature-humidity index (THI) on mortality of heavy slaughter pigs (approximately 160 kg live weight) during transport and lairage. Data were obtained from 24,098 journeys and 3,676,153 pigs transported from 1,618 farms to 3 slaughter houses. Individual shipments were the unit of observation. The terms dead on arrival (DOA) and dead in pen (DIP) refer to pigs that died during transport and in lairage at the abattoir before slaughtering, respectively. These 2 variables were assessed as the dependent counts in separate univariate Poisson regressions. The independent variables assessed univariately in each set of regressions were month of shipment, slaughter house of destination, time traveled, and each combination of the month with...
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Pig welfare is affected by housing conditions, the minimum requirements of which are set up by EU legislation. Animal and non-animal-based measures are useful indicators to investigate housing risk factors for pig welfare. An observational study on 51 pig farms in seven EU countries, aimed at investigating housing risk factors for the welfare of finishing pigs, showed body weight and presence of bedded solid floored resting area (BED) identifying three clusters of farms. Farms with BED were featured by no or limited tail docking, larger availability of manipulable materials and lower number of pigs per farm and per annual work unit. In these farms, less skin and ear lesions were found, compared with lean pigs of farms without BED, which were characterized by lower pig space allowance, mortality rate and medication cost. In farms without BED, heavy pigs were featured by more space per pig, more pigs per drinker and higher mortality rate and medication cost per pig, compared to lean p...
Evaluation of pre-slaughter losses of Italian heavy pigs
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A retrospective observational study evaluated the risk factors for pre-slaughter losses (i.e. animal deaths occurring during transport and lairage) and their economic impact in Italian heavy pigs (~160 kg bodyweight). Of the 3 344 730 pigs transported, 1780 (0.053%) died before slaughter, with most losses occurring during transport (56.6%). The estimated economic impact was of 424 000 €. The percentage of batches with at least one animal lost pre-slaughter increased during summer (P < 0.001). The proportion of pre-slaughter losses was higher when journey lasted more than 90 min (P < 0.001) and was positively correlated with transport duration (P < 0.01). Losses were higher (P < 0.01) in batches transported at low stocking densities (i.e. when heavier pigs were transported). Batches with lower slaughtering order (i.e. longer lairage time) had higher proportions of losses (P < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that the odds of a given batch to have at least on...