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1.
The effect of a straw dispenser in farrowing crates was investigated to determine the extent to which the provision of small quantities of straw has an influence on both sows and piglets. Sows and suckling piglets are often housed in barren environments with limited opportunities to show behavior they are highly motivated to perform. Enriching the environment might be a solution; for example, by providing materials that can be manipulated. In this study, 20 sows received a straw dispenser with chopped straw (treatment group) and 20 other sows did not receive any enrichment (control group). The treatment group was split up in 2: in treatment group A, the straw dispenser was placed in front of the sow, above the feed trough; and in treatment group B, the straw dispenser was placed next to the sow. Sows from the treatment groups received the straw dispenser from arrival in the farrowing crate until weaning. The total straw use within the treatment group was very variable but did not differ before and after farrowing. Sows took on average 53.0 g (±8.85) straw from the straw dispenser during the whole period in the farrowing crate. The frequency of undesirable and stereotypical behavior performed by the sows did not differ between treatment and control groups, and the same is seen with nest-building behavior before farrowing. By positioning the dispenser in front of the sow, the frequency of lateral lying increased, which means the udder was exposed more toward the piglets. This was reflected in the higher frequency of udder activity, performed by piglets from this treatment group. By positioning the dispenser next to the sow, sows showed more ventral lying behavior, because of disturbance of lying behavior by piglets. Piglets from this treatment group also showed less udder activity and possibly because of this, more pain-related behavior. These piglets performed more playing behavior in the third week of life compared with other groups, but it cannot be stated with certainty that this is a positive effect. A lower weight gain and weaning weight were seen in piglets within treatment group B. Possible explanations are the higher level of activity among these piglets as the straw dispenser was positioned within their reach or decreased milk consumption because of decreased udder activity and increased ventral lying by the sows. It can be concluded that the straw dispenser has positive effects on the behavior and welfare of sows and piglets, but positioning the straw dispenser in reach of both sow and piglets is not preferred as it is associated with undesirable effects on behavior such as ventral lying in sows and pain-related behaviors in piglets.  相似文献   

2.
The effects of sow-crate design on certain behaviors of sows and piglets at farrowing and again approximately 3 wk later were evaluated with a 2 x 2 x 4 factorial arrangement of crate width (narrow [N = 55 cm] or wide [W = 64] between lowest horizontal pipes), length (short [S = 183 cm] or long [L = 198] from rump stop to front gate) and side type (lower side of sow crate "fingered" [F], "bowed" bottom bar 20 cm above the floor [B], or straight bottom bar 20 cm [S20] or 25 cm above the floor [S25]). Farrowing-crate design influenced both sow and piglet behaviors both during and immediately after parturition and during nursing-suckling bouts approximately 3 wk later. Activities of 51 sows and their piglets were videorecorded during and immediately following parturition. Sow-crate design affected neither the interval between births of successive piglets in a litter nor the frequency of standing by the sow during parturition. Latency from birth to first mammary contact (LMC) was greater with S25-sided and S sow crates, and especially with S, W crates. A significant interaction occurred between sow-crate side type and dimensions; LMC was longer when S25 sides were combined with S or W crates. Data on suckling behavior were collected from 113 litters over three successive sucklings approximately 3 wk after farrowing. Sow-crate design had no effect either on the consistency with which a piglet suckled a particular teat or teat pair or on the frequency of multiple-teat use. Piglets maintained fewer functional teats with S, S20 crates. The distribution of functional teats between rows was less symmetric with S crates. Piglets nursed with their bodies over a side bar more frequently with B- and S20-sided crates. The sow permitted her piglets to suckle while she was in a vertical stance more frequently with S and N crates, and especially with S, N crates. Sow-crate design affected important behaviors of sows and piglets both during and immediately after parturition as well as during nursing-suckling bouts about 3 wk later.  相似文献   

3.
The limited space in farrowing crate imposes many challenges, such as prolonged farrowing duration and high piglet stillbirth rate. Although the features of farrowing pens compensate for the drawbacks of farrowing crates, they are associated with high piglet crushing mortality caused by the greater space afforded to sows and their rolling-over behaviour. Therefore, a freedom farrowing pen was designed to overcome the drawbacks of both farrowing crates and farrowing pens. The main features of the freedom farrowing pen are its left anti-crushing bar and detachable right anti-crushing bar on the sides of the sow lying area. It also has a 10 cm-high anti-crushing bar in the non-lying area. Eighteen healthy, multiparous Yorkshire sows (3-7 parity) were averaged and randomly assigned to farrowing crates, farrowing pens, and freedom farrowing pens to compare the effects of the farrowing systems on sow behaviour and performance. Results showed that the farrowing duration and the mean piglet birth intervals were longer for the sows in farrowing crates than for those in farrowing pens and freedom farrowing pens (P<0.05), but there was no difference between the sows in farrowing pens and those in freedom farrowing pens (P>0.05). The piglet stillbirth rate was higher for the sows in farrowing crates than for those in farrowing pens and freedom farrowing pens (P<0.001). Crushing mortality was higher among piglets in farrowing pens (P<0.001), but there was no difference between piglets in freedom farrowing pens and those in farrowing crates (P>0.05). The freedom farrowing pen and the farrowing pen allowed sows to turn around and move freely, but because of the different structures of their anti-crushing bars, the increase in sow movement did not cause higher piglet crushing mortality (P>0.05). Sows in freedom farrowing pens were found to be more protective of their piglets.  相似文献   

4.
A cohort study was carried out on 112 breeding pig farms in England to investigate the impact of type of farrowing accommodation on preweaning mortality in piglets. Four types of farrowing accommodation were studied; farrowing crates, indoor loose pens, crate/loose systems (where the sow was restrained in a crate during birth and the first days of lactation before being moved to a loose pen) and outdoor farrowing in arcs in paddocks. Four estimates of preweaning mortality were collected: an oral estimate from the farmer before the visit, an estimate from the 6-month rolling average from computer records, records from 20 litters observed when the farm was visited and prospective records collected from 20 farrowings after the visit. These four estimates were significantly correlated. The prospective records also included a farmer reported date and cause of death. From the prospective data there were 25,031 piglets from 2143 litters from 112 farms, 6.5% of piglets were stillborn while live born preweaning mortality was 12%. Mixed effect discrete time survival, binomial and competing risk, models were used to investigate the association between preweaning mortality and farrowing accommodation, controlling for sow parity, litter size and number of piglets stillborn and fostered. There was a reduced risk of stillbirths in outdoor farrowing systems compared with crated systems. Farmers reported that crushing of healthy piglets was the most frequent cause of death accounting for 55% of live born preweaning mortality. There was no significant difference in mortality in live born piglets by farrowing system. There was a significantly higher risk of farmer reported crushing of healthy live born piglets in outdoor arcs compared with piglets reared with sows in farrowing crates and a significantly reduced risk of death from causes other than crushing in piglets reared outdoors or in crate/loose systems compared with piglets reared in crated systems. We conclude that, in the farms in this study, farrowing crates reduced the risk of preweaning live born mortality attributable to crushing but piglets in this system were at increased risk of death from other causes. Consequently crates had no significant effect on overall preweaning mortality percentage. In all four commercial production systems; outdoor, farrowing crates, crate/loose farrowing systems and indoor loose housed systems, there were similar levels of mortality.  相似文献   

5.
To evaluate the effect of late introduction to farrowing pens on the progress of farrowing and maternal behavior, 20 primiparous and 20 multiparous sows were allocated randomly to 1 of 2 treatments: 1) early introduction to pen (EP, n = 20) and 2) late introduction to pen (LP, n = 20). To evaluate the difference between loose-housed sows and crated sows when introduced late to the farrowing environment, a third treatment was included: late introduction to farrowing crate (LC, n = 20). Sow behavior and piglet birth intervals were recorded using video recordings from 16 h before the birth of the first piglet (BFP) until 48 h after BFP. Behavioral data were analyzed using PROC MIXED in SAS and the percentage of stillborn piglets and the response of the sow to piglet scream were analyzed using PROC GENMOD in SAS. Before farrowing (16 to 3 h before BFP), sows introduced late to pens had more postural changes per hour than sows introduced early to pens (LP = 12.7, EP = 8.9; P = 0.04), whereas there were no differences between sows introduced late to crates and sows introduced late to pens (LC = 14.2, LP = 12.7; P = 0.53). Interbirth interval (P = 0.04), variation in the interbirth interval (P = 0.01), and percentage of stillborn piglets (P = 0.003) were affected by an interaction between parity and treatment. In multiparous sows there were no differences between treatments (P > 0.18) either in the progress of farrowing or in the percentage of stillborn piglets. For primiparous sows, there were no differences (P > 0.22) between sows that were introduced late to pens and sows that were introduced early to pens. Primiparous sows that were introduced late to crates compared with pens had longer interbirth intervals (LC = 29 +/- 4.9 min, LP = 16 +/- 2.9 min; P = 0.02), a greater variation of these intervals (LC = 35 +/- 8.3 min, LP = 16 +/- 3.6 min; P = 0.006), and a greater percentage of stillborn piglets (LC = 21%; 95% confidence interval ranging 14 to 30%, LP = 5%; 95% confidence interval ranging from 2 to 12%; P = 0.004). After farrowing, neither postural changes, time spent in lateral lying, number of near-crushing situations, nor the response to piglet scream test were affected by treatment (P > 0.09). When sows and gilts were introduced late to farrowing pens, neither progress of farrowing nor maternal behavior of importance for piglet crushing was influenced. However, crating primiparous sows that were introduced late to the farrowing environment compared with pen housing had detrimental effects on the progress of farrowing and the percentage of stillborn piglets.  相似文献   

6.
This study evaluated how socializing piglets before weaning affects behavior of lactating sows and the pre- and postweaning behavior and performance of piglets. Two farrowing rooms, each with 6 pens, and 1 nursery with 4 pens were used. In total, data were obtained from 24 sows and their litters. In each farrowing room, the solid barriers between 3 farrowing pens were removed on d 12 after farrowing, and the sows remained confined in their crates (experimental group). In the other 3 farrowing pens of each farrowing room, sows and their litters were kept under conventional conditions until weaning (control group). All piglets were weaned 28 d after birth. After weaning, piglets from each group remained together in 1 pen of the nursery. The behavior of sows (lying, standing, sitting, nursing) and piglets (lying, active, suckling) in the farrowing rooms was observed for 24 h before and for 48 h after removal of the barriers between the pens. In addition, behavior (active, lying, feeding, agonistic behavior) of piglets was observed in the nursery during the initial 48-h period after weaning. Each piglet was weighed on d 5, 12, and 28 after birth and thereafter weekly until the fifth week of rearing. In the farrowing room, mixing of litters did not influence behavior of piglets and sows. Preweaning weight gain of the piglets did not differ (P = 0.60) between the treatments. In the initial 48 h after weaning, less agonistic behavior (P < 0.001) was observed in piglets belonging to the experimental group. During 5 wk of rearing, piglets in the experimental group gained more weight compared with the control group (P = 0.05). The advantage shown by the experimental group became especially conspicuous in the first week after weaning (P = 0.05). By socializing unfamiliar piglets before weaning, stress due to mixing could at least be distanced in time from the other burdens of weaning, thereby improving performance.  相似文献   

7.
Results of rearing and growing 3250 piglets derived from 287 litters of 99 German Landrace sows in parities 1-11, from parturition throughout 5 weeks post-weaning, were compared in two farrowing systems. The Group-Farrowing System (GFS) was designed according to natural behaviour of wild pigs and contained 8 farrowing boxes allowing sows and their litters to move freely on an area of 85.2 m2. In contrast, the Single Farrowing System (SFS) was a pen in which sows and their litters were housed individually and could move freely on a restricted area of 6.7 m2. Sows were only fixed during farrowing. The first experiment with a suckling period of 35 days comprised 98 litters from 60 sows (parities 1-4). The second experiment with a suckling period of 28 days involved 189 litters of 70 sows (parities 1-11). In experiment 1, body weight of GFS-piglets was significantly higher by 4.57 kg (19%) at the age of 70 d compared with SFS-piglets. In the second experiment, the proportion of stillborns was significantly lower by 50% in GFS than in SFS. Furthermore, body weight of GFS-piglets showed a greater homogeneity during the first 35 d of life than that of SFS-piglets. In SFS, a positive correlation between parity of the sow and stillborn rate was observed. Behavioural studies in both experiments revealed that GFS-piglets, reared during the suckling period in close contact to other sows and piglets from other litters, were in a better condition at weaning than SFS-piglets. Comparisons with other GFS-types show that the success of farrowing in group-housing is dependent on the type of housing conditions, in particular on the possibility for sows and piglets to live according to their specific behavioural repertoire. The factors critical in this context are discussed.  相似文献   

8.
High titers of interferon were found in the serum and milk of three sows treated two days after farrowing with polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid complexed with poly-L-lysine and carboxymethylcellulose, but circulating interferon was not found in the piglets suckled by these sows. When two treated sows and their suckling piglets were exposed to infection with transmissible gastroenteritis virus eight hours after treatment, the sows showed no signs of disease, although they developed circulating interferon in response to the virus infection. The piglets suckled by the treated sows developed signs of transmissible gastroenteritis which were identical to those seen in a control litter of piglets suckled by an untreated sow. Piglets treated at two days of age with the polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid complex showed a delay in onset of clinical signs when exposed to infection with transmissible gastroenteritis virus, compared with untreated control piglets. When two sows were treated with the polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid complex before farrowing, neither circulating interferon nor activated natural killer cells were found in the piglets after birth.  相似文献   

9.
The influence of suckling interval on milk production of sows   总被引：3，自引：0，他引：3  
The objective of this study was to determine whether sow milk yield per gland could be increased by reducing the interval between suckles (suckling interval). Eighteen sows were allocated at their first farrowing to three treatments comprising litter sizes of 6 or 12 piglets or a cross-suckling treatment that was imposed to increase suckling frequency. The cross-suckled treatment comprised two groups of six piglets each. Each suckling group was allowed to suckle the sow during 30-min intervals each day between d 6 and d 28 of lactation. The suckling interval was shorter (P < .05) for cross-suckled sows than for sows suckling single litters of 6 or 12 piglets during early lactation (d 10 to 14) and late lactation (d 24 to 28). Average piglet growth rate between birth and 28 d of age was greatest (P < .05) for piglets in the single litters of six and lowest for piglets in the cross-suckled treatments. Single litters of 12 piglets had the highest (P < .05) litter growth rates, followed by the cross-suckled litters and then the single litters of six piglets. The concentration of lactose and fat in milk from sows remained relatively stable, although milk from the cross-suckled sows contained more protein in early lactation (P < .05). Milk yield of sows was not significantly increased (P > .05) by the cross-suckle treatment, although during early lactation, milk yield tended to be greater from sows in the cross-suckle treatment than from sows suckling single litters of six (8,920 g/d vs 7,819 g/d, P < .1). The concentration of DNA and total RNA and the RNA:DNA ratio in mammary glands was unaffected by treatment (P > .05). Sows with single litters of 12 piglets had the greatest total DNA in their udders (P < .05). However, individual gland weights were heavier (P < .05) in cross-suckled sows than in sows with single litters of 6 or 12 piglets. Increased suckling frequency seemed to play a role in increased mammary gland weight and milk production during lactation.  相似文献   

10.
When sows and their litters are kept outdoors, much of the responsibility for the litter is shifted from the herdsman to the sow compared to when the sows are kept indoors. Therefore, the maternal ability, including maternal behaviour, is believed to be important in outdoor piglet production. The aim of this study was to describe maternal traits in conventionally bred first-parity sows kept outdoors. Nursing behaviour, sow activity, sow body reserves, litter size and piglet growth were studied in 40 first-parity sows during a seven week long lactation. The sows were kept in groups outdoors. Sow activity (lying down or active) and nursing behaviour (nursing frequency, nursing duration and nursing terminator) were recorded on videotapes at four days post partum (pp) and directly observed at four and six weeks pp. Cross suckling was observed at four and six weeks pp. Sows were weighed and measured for backfat depth five days before farrowing, two weeks pp and at weaning seven weeks pp. Piglets were weighed at four days pp, at two weeks pp and at weaning. We concluded that sow nursing behaviour and activity are individual characteristics repeatable within sows' late lactation. Less active sows are more available for suckling. Light and thin sows have an earlier and more progressed weaning process than heavier, fatter sows. A significant positive relation was found between sow appetite in early lactation and piglet growth until weaning. Sow nursing behaviour is not important for piglet growth when sows and piglets are held in groups, piglets have access to sow feed and piglets are weaned as late as at seven weeks of age.  相似文献   

11.
Crating sows in farrowing systems greatly restricts their normal behaviour (e.g. movement, nest-building, leaving the nest site for defecation), which is usually justified by the assumption that piglet mortality is higher with loose-housed sows. Based on experiments showing that this is not the case, farrowing crates were banned in Switzerland in 1997, with a 10-year transitional period. Since then, many farms have introduced loose farrowing systems, enabling an analysis of risk factors for piglet mortality in crateless farrowing systems based on a large sample size. Data from a Swiss sow recording scheme (UFA2000) were analysed using generalised linear mixed-effects models with an underlying Poisson distribution. Average total piglet mortality for the years 2002 and 2003 on 99 farms (N = 12457 litters) with loose farrowing systems amounted to 1.36 liveborn piglets per litter. The number of crushed piglets was 0.64 piglets per litter, whereas the number of piglets that died for other reasons was 0.72 piglets per litter.Herd size, pen size, possibility of confinement of the sow, presence of piglet protection bars and year of data collection did not significantly influence total piglet losses, losses due to crushing and losses due to reasons other than crushing. With greater litter size at birth, significantly more losses occurred due to all reasons (total, crushed, others). Total piglet mortality and losses for reasons other than crushing were significantly higher in older sows. Losses were therefore mainly attributable to sow-related characteristics rather than to the design of the farrowing pen.  相似文献   

12.
This study evaluated the effects of different gestation housing types on reproductive performance of sows. A total of 60 sows (218 ± 24 kg body weight) with mixed parity were used. During gestation, 28 sows were housed in groups with electronic sow feeders (space allowance = 1.26 m2/sow) and 32 sows were housed in individual stalls (space allowance = 1.20 m2/sow). Sows from both housing types were moved to farrowing crates on day 109 of gestation and stayed until weaning (18 days post‐farrowing). Typical corn‐soybean meal diets were provided to sows during gestation and lactation. Measurements were reproductive performance of sows at farrowing as well as performance of sows and their litter during lactation. Similar total numbers of piglets born at farrowing were observed for sows gestated in both housing types. However, group‐housed gestation sows had more mummies (0.321 vs. 0.064; P < 0.05) and stillbirths (0.893 vs. 0.469; P = 0.073) at farrowing than individual‐housed gestation sows. Consequently, individual‐housing type had higher percentage of piglets born alive (95.5 vs. 90.4%; P < 0.05) than the group‐housing type. Therefore, improved reproductive performance of sows from individual gestating housing was confirmed in this study.  相似文献   

13.
The present study examined factors associated with suckling, eating and postural behaviors (standing, lying and sitting) and the relationships between sow behaviors and reproductive performance. A commercial farrowing-to-finish farm with approximately 300 female pigs was visited eight times for 3 years to record sow behaviors using time-lapse video recorders for 24 hr. The lactational and postweaning reproductive performances of each sow were recorded using a recording software system. Statistical models were built to investigate the factors associated with each behavior. Regression analyses were performed to determine the associations between behavior measurements and adjusted 21-day litter weights (A21d-Wt), weaning-to-first-mating intervals (WMI) and occurrence of >or= 2 dead piglets during lactation. The means of suckling intervals and frequency of postural changes of the 145 recorded sows were 47.5 +/- 0.59 min and 86.8 +/- 2.97, respectively. As parity increased from 1 to >or= 4, the suckling interval and total standing duration increased (P<0.05). The number of nursing piglets and observation days 4 to 21 of lactation were not associated with the suckling intervals. A longer duration of lactation was associated with a longer total standing duration and a higher frequency of postural changes (P<0.05). Shorter suckling intervals were associated with heavier A21d-Wt (P<0.05). Each change in postural behavior increased the likelihood of occurrence of >or= 2 dead piglets during lactation (P<0.05). No postural or suckling behaviors were associated with WMI. Eating behavior was not associated with any reproductive performance. In conclusion, sow behaviors during lactation were related to lactational performance but were not related to postweaning reproductive performance.  相似文献   

14.
为了比较广东大花白猪和蓝塘猪与大白、长白猪的哺乳期行为差异,分别选产后5~15d、带仔数为8~11头的5头土母猪与5头洋母猪,连续5d观察其在产仔限位栏内的行为表现。着重观察了母猪哺乳行为的引起、哺乳过程特征、母性行为、规癖行为和采食行为;研究结果表明,土母猪母性行为强、哺乳次数多4~5次、护仔性强,采食力不如洋母猪,小猪寄养换窝干扰母猪正常母性行为和哺乳。在此基础上讨论了土母猪和洋母猪对周围环境变化反应的敏感性。  相似文献   

15.

This study investigated the effects of housing farrowing sows in either crates (C-sows) or a get-away system (G-sows) until day 11 after farrowing on the subsequent behaviour in multi-suckling pens. Emphases were placed on nursing behaviour patterns of relevance for the piglets' growth and survival in the multi-suckling pens. Ten groups of six sows were used. Behaviour was recorded for 24 h on days 1, 8 and 15 after the introduction to the multi-suckling pen. When the sows had farrowed in the get-away system significantly more nursings were initiated in the multi-suckling pen. Furthermore, the G-sows terminated a significantly smaller percentage of the nursings in the multi-suckling pens and there was significantly less cross-suckling compared with pens with C-sows. G-sows also tended (P = 0.08) to lose fewer piglets in the multi-suckling pens than C-sows. In conclusion, the results suggest that nursing behaviour in multi-suckling pens may be improved when the sows farrow in get-away systems as compared with crates.  相似文献   

16.
Clostridium difficile is recognized as an important cause of nosocomial diarrhoea in humans especially in association with administration of antibiotics. In pigs, C. difficile can cause neonatal enteritis and can be isolated from faeces from both diseased and healthy animals. The presented prospective study describes how soon C. difficile can be isolated from newborn piglets after normal parturition and how C. difficile spreads within a pig farm. Six sows, their farrowing crates and their litters at one farm were sampled until C. difficile was found in all piglets. Within 48 h after birth, all 71 piglets became positive for C. difficile (two piglets were already positive within 1h post partum), all sows became positive within 113 h after parturition and the farrowing crates were found intermittently positive. C. difficile could also be detected in air samples and in samples of teats of the sows. All isolates belonged to PCR ribotype 078. Twenty-one C. difficile ribotype 078 isolates, found at the farm, were further analyzed by MLVA (multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis) and belonged to one clonal complex, except one isolate. To be sure that piglets were not born already infected with C. difficile ribotype 078, 38 caesarean derived piglets were sampled immediately after surgery. All piglets tested negative at delivery and stayed negative for C. difficile ribotype 078 during the 21 days in which they were kept in sterile incubators. This study shows that C. difficile ribotype 078 spreads easily between sows, piglets and the environment. Vertical transmission of C. difficile ribotype 078 was not found and is very unlikely to occur.  相似文献   

17.
The present results suggest that mannanoligosaccharides (MOS) included in a sow nutrition may affect its immune system and humoral antibody production in colostrum and milk, and thus increase the piglet immunity at the postnatal period. The studies involved sows of the Polish Landrace breed mated with boars (Hampshire x Duroc). In each experiment, the sows were assigned to two groups: control and experimental (MOS). Each group consisted of 16 sows managed in pens (2 animals in each) during pregnancy, whereas at farrowing and lactation period they were placed in individual pens. The basal diet during pregnancy (PR-S) and lactation (LC-S) period contained wheat (40% in experiment I--groups 1 and 2) or triticale (40% in experiment II--groups 3 and 4), as well as barley, soybean meal, soybean oil and mineral-vitamin premix. Throughout both experiments, the sows from the experimental group had a dietary supplement of mannanoligosaccharides (MOS) preparation for 4 of weeks prepartum and 4 weeks of post partum period. A level of the MOS supplementation (8 g of MOS per sow daily) based on the recommendations of the manufacturer. Blood samples were collected from the sows on days 84 (the start of trial) and 110 of pregnancy, after farrowing, and on day 21 of lactation period, while from the piglets at birth and on day 21 of age. Colostrum was collected between 1-3, 12, 24 and 48 h after farrowing. The blood samples taken from sows and piglets as well as the samples of sow colostrum and milk were evaluated for the presence of IgG, IgA and IgM antibodies. The present study has provided considerable evidence that MOS supplementation of sows feedstuff before and after farrowing (4 weeks before and 4 weeks after) exerts a positive effect on IgG content in the colostrum and plasma of sows and following this on serum IgG level in the suckling piglets. Higher level of colostral (passive) immunity influences positively body weight gain and survival rate of the piglets at weaning.  相似文献   

18.
The present study focused on Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M. hyopneumoniae) detection by nPCR in nasal swabs of 507 suckling pigs. These animals came from 69 sows (from 1 to 8 parity number) of a farrow-to-finish herd with Enzootic Pneumonia (EP) problems at finishing stages. At 1 and 3 weeks of age (still in the farrowing units), nasal swabs and blood samples were taken from all piglets. Moreover, from these 507 animals, 37 randomly selected pigs were necropsied at 3 weeks of age. From those necropsied pigs, M. hyopneumoniae presence was tested in bronchial and tonsillar swabs. At 1 week post-farrowing, blood samples from sows were collected and used to detect M. hyopneumoniae antibodies. From the 69 analysed sows, 19 (27.5%) were seropositive. Global percentage of pigs with M. hyopneumoniae detection in nasal swabs at 1 and 3 weeks of age was 1.5% (8 out of 507) and 3.8% (19 out of 507), respectively. From these nPCR positive pigs, 89% (24 out of 27) were seronegative and 11% were seropositive. From necropsied animals, the pathogen DNA was detected in two pigs at bronchus level and in another pig at tonsil. In this study, sow parity was not statistically related with sow seropositivity and piglet colonization. These results confirm that M. hyopneumoniae infection may be detected not only in nasal cavities of naturally infected suckling piglets but also at their low respiratory tract airways. Our results suggest that M. hyopneumoniae detection in lower and upper respiratory tract could be an indicator that respiratory problems associated to EP may start relatively early in the production system. In consequence, sow-to-piglet and/or piglet-to piglet transmission in farrowing barns should not be underestimated.  相似文献   

19.
Two experiments were conducted to evaluate systems of providing supplemental heat to newborn pigs during and after farrowing. In Exp. 1, 35 sows were randomly allotted to farrowing crates with two supplemental heat treatments: 1) two lateral 250-watt heat lamps; and 2) two lateral heat lamps, plus a 250-watt heat lamp behind the sow during farrowing. In Exp. 2, 72 sows were randomly assigned to farrowing crates with four supplemental heat treatments: 1) one lateral 250-watt heater; 2) one lateral heater plus a 250-watt heater behind the sow during farrowing; 3) a hover with 100-watt light bulb; and 4) a hover with light bulb plus heater behind the sow during farrowing. The average farrowing house temperature was 18.9 degrees C in Exp. 1 and 21.6 degrees C in Exp. 2. Results showed no significant treatment effects on preweaning pig survival or growth rates in either experiment. Thus, providing a heat lamp at the rear of the sow during parturition was not beneficial and would increase operating costs. Hovers have a higher initial cost than conventional heat lamps or heaters, but they would have a much lower operating cost. Hovers may offer swine producers a way of reducing energy costs without affecting preweaning pig survival and performance.  相似文献   

20.
The objectives of this study were to use transgenic sows that overexpress IGF-I in milk to investigate the effect of a short-term fast on piglet intestinal morphology and disaccharidase activity and to determine how milk-borne IGF-I influences the response to fasting. After farrowing, litters were normalized to 10 piglets. On d 6, piglets (n = 30) suckling IGF-I transgenic (TG) sows and piglets (n = 30) suckling nontransgenic sows (control) were assigned randomly to three treatments: fed piglets (0 h), which remained with the sow until euthanized on d 7, or fasted piglets, which were removed from the sow at either 6 or 12 h before euthanasia on d 7. Serum IGF-I and IGFBP, intestinal weight and length, jejunal protein and DNA content, disaccharidase activity, and villus morphology were measured. Fasting for 12 h resulted in a negative weight change between d 6 and 7 (quadratic response to fasting; P < 0.001). Piglets suckling TG sows tended to have greater intestinal length (P = 0.068), but no effect of IGF-I overexpression was noted for intestinal weight. Fasting, however, resulted in linear (P < 0.001) and quadratic (P = 0.002) decreases in intestinal weight. Serum IGF-I did not differ between control and TG sows, but decreased linearly (P = 0.003) with fasting. Serum IGFBP-4 decreased (linear and quadratic; P < or = 0.02) with fasting, whereas IGFBP-1 increased quadratically (P < 0.001) with fasting. Jejunal villus height, width, and crypt depth were all increased with fasting (linear and quadratic; P < 0.04). Disaccharidase activity was not affected by fed state; however, piglets suckling TG sows had greater jejunal lactase-phlorhizin hydrolase (P < 0.01) and sucrase-isomaltase (P = 0.02) activities than control piglets. In summary, intestinal weight, villus morphology, serum IGF-I, serum IGFBP-1 and -4, and piglet BW change were altered (P < or = 0.02) in response to fasting. Thus, the duration of food deprivation before euthanization should be considered when designing experiments to assess intestinal development or the IGF axis, as the magnitude of differences between the fed and fasted state may exceed those expected as a result of experimental treatment.  相似文献   

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