Search

Simple Summary: Simple Summary: Weaning stress in piglets often leads to intestinal damage, inflammation, and subsequent problems, including diarrhea and hindered growth. While antimicrobials have been utilized to mitigate these side effects, concerns regarding antibiotic resistance necessitate the exploration of alternatives. Purified seaweed extracts, notably fucoidan, exhibit promising antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of administering a preweaning highly purified fucoidan drench to piglets on post-weaning growth, immune response, and intestinal morphology. Results demonstrated that the preweaning fucoidan drench did not elicit adverse effects on piglets. However, neither preweaning fucoidan nor an antimicrobial drench improved growth, immune response, or intestinal morphology compared to the control-treated piglets. Further research should focus on refining preweaning administrative protocols and employing commercial models to comprehensively assess fucoidan's potential to promote the health and productivity of weaner piglets and, ultimately, reduce the industry's reliance on antimicrobials. Weaning stress imposes considerable physiological challenges on piglets, often manifesting in intestinal disturbances, such as inflammation and compromised barrier function, ultimately affecting growth and health outcomes. While conventional interventions, including antimicrobials, have effectively mitigated these sequelae, concerns surrounding antimicrobial resistance necessitate the exploration of alternatives. Fucoidan, derived from brown seaweed, offers promise due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Previous research has been limited to the in-feed supplementation of partially purified fucoidan extracted from brown seaweed. The focus of the present study is assessing the effect of a preweaning drench with highly purified (85%) fucoidan on piglet growth, immune response, and intestinal morphology post-weaning. Forty-eight male piglets at 17 ± 3 days of age (5.67 ± 0.16 kg) were assigned to a saline (control), fucoidan, or antimicrobial group, receiving treatment as a single 18 mL oral drench three days before weaning. Monitoring for seven days post-weaning included body weight measurements, blood sample collection for the inflammatory protein assay, and small intestine morphological analysis. The findings revealed that the preweaning fucoidan drench did not elicit adverse effects on piglets. However, neither fucoidan nor antimicrobial drenches significantly enhanced growth parameters, immune markers, or intestinal morphology compared to that of the control-treated piglets (p > 0.05). The lack of response may be attributed to the high health status of the experimental cohort and the limitation of a single dosage. Future research should consider a more challenging production setting to evaluate the viability and optimal application of fucoidan as an antimicrobial alternative in the pig industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Shoulder sores are a welfare issue primarily for breeding sows and are often associated with reduced movement and body condition loss during lactation. The occurrence of shoulder sores contributes to lactation failure, which in turn becomes a welfare issue for piglets due to the stress of early weaning. This experiment investigated the use of a thermal camera to detect hotspots caused by underlying tissue damage on the shoulder of sows, prior to wound formation. Infrared thermography (IRT) was able to detect hotspots in 88% of sows that developed sores, allowing for a lead in time to wound formation of 7 days. Once a hotspot was detected, we investigated the use of three commonly used topical commercial products, Repiderma®, Derisal®, Chloromide® and mānuka honey. All treatments, with the exception of Repiderma®, decreased the diameter of the sores by weaning. The results of this study provide evidence that the use of IRT provides a tool for early detection of shoulder sores in sows, allowing for early treatment that is likely to improve the longevity of the sow and welfare of the litter, due to a reduction in lesion related sow culling. Shoulder sores in sows cause pain, may lead to early weaning and resultant piglet distress, and premature culling. Early detection and intervention is key to avoid these substantial production and welfare imposts. In this experiment we tested infrared thermography (IRT) to identify shoulder sores before wound eruption, and effectiveness of four wound healing treatments; mānuka honey (n = 11); Derisal® (n = 11); Chloromide® (n = 13) and Repiderma® (n = 16), all of which contain no antibiotics. Three hundred and ten sows (parity 2.3 ± 0.2) were monitored daily from entry to the farrowing sheds until weaning using a thermal camera. IRT successfully detected 88% of shoulder sores as hot spots and provided a lead in time of 7 days. Sixteen percent of all sows had a hotspot detected and were randomly allocated to one of four daily treatment groups. At the end of the treatment period, sore diameter was significantly reduced for all treatments, except the Repiderma® group. Sow traits had little influence on susceptibility to shoulder sores. There may be a link between prewean mortality and shoulder sores, but this requires further investigation. The use of IRT to monitor for hotspots for early intervention is validated. Future work should concentrate on methods to prevent wound eruption after detection with IRT to improve the health and welfare of both the sow and her litter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sows undergo physiological stress during gestation and lactation, potentially leading to enteric dysbiosis and reduced reproductive potential. Phytogenic additives (PFs) may improve performance via their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. This study determined whether the provision of a gestation/lactation diet containing PAs would alter the gastrointestinal microbiota of sows and their piglets, and improve performance. Sows received a commercial diet throughout gestation and lactation (CTR; n = 64), a commercial diet throughout gestation and a diet containing PAs in lactation (CTR-PA; n = 63) or a commercial diet containing PAs in gestation and lactation (PA; n = 90). Sows were weighed and backfat recorded after mating and at entry and exit from the farrowing house and piglets were weighed on days 1 and 21 of life. Faecal samples collected from sows at farrowing house entry and piglets at 21 and 35 d were subjected to 16 S rRNA gene amplicon analysis. The addition of PAs to sow diets resulted in more piglets born (P = 0.03), however, it did not improve the number of liveborn piglets (P = 0.14). There were no differences in sow weight, P2 backfat depth or lactation feed intake observed. PAs had no effect on piglet weight or survival to weaning but did alter the faecal microbiota of sows, and this change was observed in piglets at 21 and 35 d. PA supplementation to sows has the potential to increase litter size, while also potentially influencing gastrointestinal tract health of the sow and piglets reared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In this experiment, intermittent suckling (IS) with or without the co-mingling (CoM) of piglets was studied as a method to stimulate solid feed intake and reduce post-weaning stress. Methods: Three weaning regimes using 30 multiparous sows were compared: (1) conventional weaning (CW) (n = 10 litters), where piglets had continuous access to the sow until weaning (d 0, farrowing = d -25 relative to weaning); (2) intermittent suckling (IS) (n = 10 litters), where piglets were separated from the sow for 8 h/d starting at d -7 (relative to weaning); and (3) intermittent suckling with co-mingling (ISCo) (n = 10 litters) where IS started at d -7 and two litters were housed together during separation and then returned to their original sow. Ad libitum creep feed was available from d -17. At weaning pigs were housed in pens of 11 pigs, 27 pens in total. The ISCo treatment was divided in half to examine effects of different mixing strategies after weaning. Half of the ISCo litters were kept in familiar groups (ISCoF, familiar, n = 4) and the other half were mixed within treatment resulting in groups of unfamiliar pigs (ISCoNF, not familiar, n = 5), the same as IS (n = 9) and CW (n = 9) treatments. Results: The ISCo piglets ate more creep feed in the week before weaning (P < 0.01), but also showed more aggressive and manipulative behaviour on first day of CoM compared with CW piglets (P < 0.05). IS with or without CoM increased exploratory and play behaviour on the first day of treatment intervention (P < 0.001) and increased sleeping behaviour on the last day of treatment intervention compared with CW (P < 0.001). Mixing strategy at weaning had an effect on performance data with the highest growth and feed intake seen in ISCoF pigs 2 to 8 d after weaning (P <0.001). IS and ISCoNF pigs also grew faster and ate more than CW pigs 2 to 8 d after weaning (P < 0.001). Post-weaning injury scores suggested reduced aggression in ISCo as evidenced by reduced redness (skin irritation) (P < 0.05), and a tendency for ISCo to have less scratches than CW (P < 0.1). The IS pigs slept the most and displayed less manipulative behaviours on the day of weaning and plasma haptoglobin levels remained low in IS pigs after weaning (P ≤ 0.01). Conclusions: Both intermittent suckling techniques improved production indices in the immediate post-weaning period. However, the addition of co-mingling before weaning in combination with grouping familiar pigs together after weaning improved performance in an additive manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feeding fibre and branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) to sows during late gestation and lactation, respectively, have been shown to improve litter weights at weaning. Therefore, supplementing primiparous sow diets with lucerne chaff, a feedstuff high in fibre, BCAA and tryptophan, may improve the performance of their progeny. Experiment 1 investigated the effects of feeding primiparous sows (n = 118) either (i) a control diet (CON); (ii) CON with 1 kg of lucerne chaff (LUC); or (iii) a diet formulated to have a similar digestible energy and BCAA content as CON + LUC (SIMLUC 1) until farrowing. The LUC and SIMLUC 1 diets improved day 21 litter weight (p = 0.055). In Experiment 2 primiparous (n = 111) and multiparous sows (parities 2–5, n = 112) were fed either the CON or SIMLUC diet (SIMLUC 2) from day 110 of gestation to farrowing (PreF), or to day 10 post-farrowing (PreF + PostF). The SIMLUC 2 diet tended to be more beneficial to primiparous compared to multiparous sows when fed PreF, as indicated by an interaction between diet and parity on day 21 average piglet weights (p = 0.078). Overall, SIMLUC is most effective in improving primiparous progeny performance as evidenced by their D21 weights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weaning is a stressful time for piglets, often leading to weight loss and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. A leading cause for these post-weaning problems is enteric dysbiosis and methods to improve piglet health at this crucial developmental stage are needed. This study aimed to determine whether an enteric dysbiosis caused by weaning could be corrected via a faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from healthy piglets from a previous wean. Two or four focal piglets per litter were assigned to one of two treatments; FMT two days post weaning (n = 21; FMT) or a control which received saline two days post weaning (n = 21; CON). FMT consisted of homogenised donor faeces administered orally at 3 mL/kg. Weaning occurred at 18 days of age and weights and faecal samples were collected on days 18, 20, 24 and 35. 16S rRNA amplicon analysis was used to assess the faecal microbiota of piglets. FMT increased Shannon's diversity post weaning (p < 0.001) and reduced the scratch score observed at 24 days of age (p < 0.001). The bacterial populations significantly differed in composition at each taxonomic level. In FMT pigs, significant increases in potentially pathogenic Escherichia coli were observed. However, increases in beneficial bacteria Lactobacillus mucosae and genera Fibrobacteres and Bacteroidetes were also observed in FMT treated animals. To our knowledge, this is the first study to observe a significant effect on piglet faecal microbiota following a single FMT administered post weaning. Therefore, FMT post weaning can potentially alleviate enteric dysbiosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the impact of early life interactions on stress resilience of weaner pigs. The hypotheses tested were that reduced maternal contact increases the stress response of pigs to weaning, and that positive human contact during lactation reduces, the stress response of pigs to weaning. Ninety-eight litters were allocated to a 2×2 factorial randomised block design for treatments maternal contact (MC+) / reduced maternal contact (MC-); and positive human contact (HC+) / control (HC-). Modified farrowing crates were used to reduce maternal contact (MC-). Litters in the HC+ treatment received five minutes of daily positive human interaction (stroking). Treatments ceased at weaning (22 days old). Forty-three pigs were mixed into pens of the same treatment at weaning. Behavioral observations were conducted for 2 hours post-weaning and for 4 hours at 2 weeks post-weaning, along with behavioural responses to humans and isolation at 3 and 4 weeks post-weaning, respectively. Cortisol, haptoglobin and IgA concentrations were collected the day prior to weaning at rest, two hours post-weaning, one hour following isolation and at 4 weeks post-weaning and at 5 weeks post-weaning at rest (basal). End weight and survival were also recorded. Results showed that in the first 90 minutes after weaning, HC+ pigs exhibited more inactive behaviours (P <0.05), and less aggressive and eating behaviours (P <0.05) along with more social behaviours (P <0.05) at 90–120 minutes compared to HC- pigs. These findings suggest a quicker stabilisation of behaviour following weaning. While maternal contact did not affect play, aggressive, social or drinking behaviours (P >0.05), MC+ pigs exhibited more eating and active behaviours (P <0.05) from 30 to 60 minutes post - weaning. There were no significant treatment effects (P <0.05) on the physiological measures except at 5 weeks post-weaning where the IgA concentrations of the MC-/HC+ pigs remained steady while those of the other pigs increased five fold (P =0.002). While there were no treatment effects (P <0.05) on the behaviour of pigs at rest at 2-weeks post-weaning, in response to isolation at 4 weeks post-weaning or on performance post-weaning, there was limited evidence that the MC- pigs were less fearful of humans in the test at 3 weeks post-weaning. Based on the behavioural response of pigs immediately following weaning, early positive handling assisted pigs to cope with the stress of weaning. While previous research provided evidence of maternal contact on stress resilience during lactation, the present study provides limited evidence of maternal contact on stress resilience of the weaned pig. • Positive human contact during lactation aids stabilisation of pig behaviours at weaning • Reduced maternal contact had limited impacts of stress resilience on weaned pigs • Cortisol had 3-fold increase at weaning in relation to other time points • No impact of early life influences at rest or in response to humans and isolation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancing stress resilience through the early life period in pigs could potentially improve pork quality. It was hypothesised that pigs receiving maternal contact or positive human contact during lactation would have improved carcass and pork quality. Seventy-nine mixed-sex pigs were selected from a 2 × 2 factorial randomised block design for treatments maternal contact (MC+) / reduced maternal contact (MC-); and positive human contact (HC+) / control (HC-). Modified farrowing crates were utilised to reduce maternal contact (MC-). Litters in the HC+ treatment received five minutes of daily positive human interaction (stroking). Treatments ceased at 22 days of age (weaning) and pigs were slaughtered after 21 weeks of age. The m. longissimus thoracis et lumborum pH was higher in HC+ than HC- pigs (P < 0.05) during chilling, from 90 min post slaughter. No HC effects (P > 0.05) were observed for cortisol or haptoglobin concentration, hot carcass weight, P2 backfat, carcass scratches, colour, drip loss, cook loss and shear force. MC+ tended (P < 0.086) to increase carcass weight, P2 and carcass scratch score compared to MC-, but no further impacts were observed. The impact of positive human contact during early life was observed 20+ weeks after treatment with reduced pH decline, potentially indicating a reduction in pre-slaughter stress, however there were no further impacts on pork quality. There is evidence that maternal contact is important for lifetime growth performance of pigs but the impacts on stress resilience are less apparent. • Evidence that positive human contact affected pork quality 20+ weeks after treatment. • Early life positive human contact increased pork pH. • Maternal contact tended to increase pork carcass weight and P2 backfat. • Implications for positive handling to improve lifetime stress resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tested whether a gradual reduction in sow contact during lactation, achieved through housing the sow in a ‘sow only’ area, would influence piglet stress responses to weaning. Gradual reduction in sow contact was achieved by separating the sow from her piglets (SP, n = 30) for 5, 7, and 9 h per day on days 10–15, 16–20 and 20 to weaning, respectively. Litters from 20 sows were followed as controls (CON), remaining in full contact with one another until weaning. Weaning occurred on day 28 ± 1.3 of lactation. Piglet body weight, injury scores and evidence of creep ingestion were measured throughout lactation and after weaning. Continuous video footage was collected for 6 h on the days following weaning for behavioural analyses. After weaning, SP piglets were lighter than CON piglets (6.8 ± 0.22 versus 7.6 ± 0.16 kg); however, by day 7 post-weaning piglet weights were similar (P > 0.05) for the CON (8.6 ± 0.22 kg) and SP (8.4 ± 0.15 kg) treatments, possibly reflecting a reduced growth check in SP piglets. There was a significant effect of treatment (CON versus SP) on the duration of aggressive (6.5 ± 1.1 versus 4.2 ± 0.8 s) and belly nosing (6.3 ± 2.0 versus 2.4 ± 1.3 s) events post-weaning. Injury scores were higher for CON piglets on almost all days examined (P < 0.05). Plasma circulating cortisol concentrations following weaning were increased in CON piglets (18.7 ± 13.3 nmol/L), and decreased in SP piglets (−12.3 ± 14.1 nmol/L; F 1,127 = 4.425, P < 0.05). These findings imply sow separation during lactation provides welfare benefits for piglets around the highly stressful weaning period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]