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The objective of this study was to identify and quantify, through mathematical models, the main factors of production in growing and finishing pig units linked to three Brazilian cooperatives located in Western Region of Paraná State that influence the parameters of daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio. The records of 216 growing and finishing farms from 2010 to 2013, representing 1,533 batches, and totaling approximately 1,025,000 pigs, were evaluated. Thirty production factors related to the management, health, installations and equipment, nutrition, genetics, and environment were considered. The number of pigs per pen, the feeder model, the origin and sex of the animals, and the initial and final body weights were the factors included in the final models for both dependent variables (daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio) and had a significant impact on these ratios. Approximately, 41 and 55% of the total variance found for daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio, respectively, were explained by the variables included in the final models. Mathematical models could serve as important tools to aid the decision-making in pig production systems.

Nowadays, livestock production, and literature regarding same, is confronted with a serious lack of information and tools to estimate and compare the real water disappearance (animal intake plus wastage) and manure production at commercial pig farms. An experiment was conducted over 13 months at 15 commercial growing-finishing pig farms, aiming the determination of water disappearance and manure production, using 3 different types of drinkers [bite-ball nipple (BB), nipple (NI), and bowl (BO)]. Two seasons, with 6928 and 6348 pigs (both: 9 weeks old and 24.5 kg average body weight) were studied considering 2 housing periods (10 and 15 weeks). A total of 55 water meters [one water meter on each water line that supplies the housing building (pigs intake, cooling system and cleaning facilities)] and 15 fiberglass tanks (each 5 m3) were installed at farms to determine the water disappearance and manure production. The BO drinkers were fixed permanently at 0.25 m above the floor while the others were set at 0.05 m above the shoulder height of the smallest pig in the pen. All data were recorded on a daily basis. The Gompertz nonlinear function was applied to the average weekly data to obtain mathematical equations that predict the water disappearance and manure production at growing-finishing farms. Independently of the drinker type, the water disappearance and manure production for the whole experiment (15 weeks) were 8.83±1.37 and 4.46±0.82 L·pig/d, respectively. The water disappearance of the 2 seasons differed with the average value for the warm being 14% higher (P

A total of 576 pigs (PIC 327 × 1050; initially 96 lb BW) from 2 consecutive finishing groups were used to determine the effects of wheat source and particle size of pelleted diets on finishing pig growth performance, caloric efficiency, and carcass characteristics. Pigs were allotted randomly to pens upon entry into the finisher. Pens of pigs were balanced by initial BW and randomly allotted to 1 of 6 dietary treatments with 12 replications per treatment and 8 pigs per pen in two groups of finisher pigs. The experimental diets all had the same wheat-soybean meal formulation, with the 6 treatments formed by including the wheat from 1 of 2 sources (hard red winter vs. soft white winter) that were processed to 1 of 3 mean particle sizes (200, 400, or 600 μ). All diets were fed in pelleted form.

In swine production, pig movement restrictions or packing plant closures may create the need to slow growth rates of finishing pigs to ensure they remain at a marketable body weight when packing plant access is restored. Although dietary formulations can be successful at slowing pig growth, precision is needed regarding how to best formulate diets to achieve growth rate reductions. Thus, the objective was to evaluate three dietary experimental approaches aimed at slowing growth rates in finishing pigs. These approaches consisted of either increasing neutral detergent fiber (NDF), reducing essential amino acids, or reducing the dietary electrolyte balance through the addition of acidogenic salts. A total of 94 mixed-sex pigs (72.4 ± 11.2 kg BW) across two replicates were individually penned and assigned to 1 of 8 dietary treatments (n = 11–12 pigs/treatment): 1) Control diet representative of a typical corn–soybean meal-based finisher diet (CON); 2) diet containing 15% NDF from soybean hulls (15% NDF); 3) diet containing 20% NDF from soybean hulls (20% NDF); 4) diet containing 25% NDF from soybean hulls (25% NDF); 5) diet formulated as per CON but with 50% of the soybean meal replaced with corn (89% Corn); 6) diet containing 97% corn and no soybean meal or synthetic amino acids (97% Corn); 7) diet containing 2% anhydrous calcium chloride (2% CaCl2); and 8) diet containing 4% anhydrous calcium chloride (4% CaCl2). Over 28 d, pig body weights and performance were recorded weekly. At d 28, all pigs were ultrasound scanned and switched to the CON diet to evaluate compensatory gain from d 28 to 35. Overall, increased NDF did not impact any growth performance parameter (P > 0.05). Amino acid restriction reduced average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and gain:feed (G:F) linearly (linear P < 0.001). Similarly, ADG, ADFI, and G:F were linearly reduced with increased CaCl2 inclusion (linear P < 0.001). ADG differed during the compensatory gain period (P < 0.001), with 4% CaCl2-fed pigs having a 47% increase in ADG compared with CON-fed pigs. Conversely, 15% and 25% NDF-fed pigs had reduced ADG compared with CON-fed pigs during the compensatory gain period. Gain efficiency differed from day 28 to 35 (P < 0.001), with 4% CaCl2-fed pigs having a 36% increase in G:F compared with CON-fed pigs. Altogether, these data demonstrate that both amino acid restriction and CaCl2 inclusion are effective at slowing pig growth, albeit at greater inclusion rates.

The objective of this study was to describe the housing system in the hospital pens on growing and finishing (GF) pig farms. This work was developed by using a questionnaire and was conducted between January and April, 2016. Forty-four GF commercial farms (a total of 41,111 animals) were involved, seeking to raise issues concerning the facilities of the hospital pens, environment, management, feeding and the reasons for transferring the animals to these accommodations. About 98% of the evaluated farms had, at least, one hospital pen. Most of these farms presented a percentage of animals evaluated (PAE) in the infirmary, of less than 1.5% of the total capacity of the animal housing on the farm. In 93.48% of the farms, the criterion used to transfer the animals to the infirmaries was when they were identified as “impaired, hurt, suffering”. In 47.83% of the cases, there were no differences between the hospital and common pens regarding the general management of the animals. The facilities and environment characteristics were similar in almost all hospital pens. Respiratory problems were the main reason for transferring pigs from the common to hospital pens. Under the conditions of this study, sufficient hospital pens exist on farms and overcrowding or competition for resources among pigs are avoided. However, there is no established standard among respondents about where to place the recovered animals.

Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-12T17:25:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2017-06-01. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2018-11-12T17:33:57Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 S0001-37652017000301221.pdf: 958227 bytes, checksum: 04395f3b0321f2c0623c8cf69f1d8b59 (MD5) ABSTRACT Two trials were aimed to evaluate beef tallow in diets with and without emulsifier on performance of pigs at growing-finishing phases. In the first trial, 15 barrows (22.03±0.62 kg) were distributed among three treatments: reference diet; test diet 1 (5% beef tallow) and test diet 2 (10% beef tallow). Beef tallow presented average value of 7130.97 kcal ME/kg. For the performance trail, 30 barrows (24.85±1.18 kg) were distributed among five treatments: T1 - diet with soybean oil and 3230 kcal ME /kg; T2 - diet with beef tallow and 3230 kcal ME/kg; T3 - diet with beef tallow and 3080 kcal ME/kg; T4 - diet with beef tallow, 3080 kcal/kg and 0.1% emulsifier; T5 - diet with beef tallow, 2930 kcal ME/kg and 0.1% emulsifier. Feed conversion was worse in animals fed diet with 3080 kcal ME/kg containing beef tallow and with 2930 kcal ME/kg with beef tallow and emulsifier. For economic availability, animals fed diet with beef tallow and 3230 kcal ME/kg and those fed diet with 3080 kcal ME/kg containing beef tallow and emulsifier, did not differ from animals fed diet with soybean oil, which enables the reduction up to 150 kcal ME/kg be compensated by emulsifier addition. Universidade Estadual de São Paulo Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias Universidade Federal do Ceará Departamento de Zootecnia

The effect of bedding levels and trailer compartment on internal trailer temperature and relative humidity (RH) during loading and transport of finishing pigs was evaluated in cold and mild weather. Three levels of bedding were used in each experiment: 0.6 m3, 1.2 m3, and 2.4 m3. In mild weather, internal temperatures were lower when 1.2 m3 or 2.4 m3 of bedding were used during loading and transport compared to 0.6 m3 (P &lt, 0.05). Internal trailer temperature increased in a quadratic fashion in the top front compartment when 1.2 m3 was used (P &lt, 0.05), and in a linear fashion in the top rear compartment when 2.4 m3 were used in cold weather (P &lt, 0.05). In mild weather, temperature increased linearly in the top front compartment with heavy bedding levels. Relative humidity increased in a linear fashion in the top front compartment with 0.6 m3, bottom front with 1.2 m3, and top front with 1.2 m3 in cold weather (P &lt, 0.05). In general, temperature and RH increased as bedding levels increased in both cold and mild temperatures. Excess bedding can absorb more moisture, resulting in transport loss and decreased animal welfare.

Three experiments were conducted to compare different phase-feeding regimens with blending diets using an automated feed-delivery system (FeedPro; Feedlogic Corp., Willmar, MN) for finishing pigs on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and economic return. In Exp. 1 and 2, a total of 1,091 pigs and 19 replicate pens per treatment were used to compare phase feeding 4 diets to blending a high- and low-Lys complete diet to a set Lys curve and blending ground corn and a complete supplement to match diet composition within phases. Blending corn and a complete supplement resulted in poorer (0.338 vs. 0.348; P

Summaryof 1,248 pigs (PIC 337 × 1050; initially 63.8 lb) were used in a 120-d experiment to study the effects of increasing standardized ileal digestible lysine (SID Lys) in diets with or without 150 ppm added Cu from tri-basic copper chloride (TBCC) on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and fat quality. Pens of pigs were allotted to 1 of 6 dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design with 26 pigs (similar number of barrows and gilts) per pen and 8 replications per treatment. Treatments were arranged in a 2 × 3 factorial with main effects of added TBCC (0 or 150 ppm of Cu) and SID Lys (85, 92.5, and 100% of the pig’s estimated requirement). Diets were corn-soybean meal–based with 30% dried distillers grains with solubles and 15% bakery meal. Overall (d 0 to 120), no TBCC × Lys interactions (P > 0.10) were observed for growth performance. Adding dietary TBCC tended (P < 0.10) to increase ADG and improve F/G. As SID Lys increased, ADG increased and F/G improved (linear; P < 0.05). Final BW increased (linear; P < 0.05) as SID Lys increased, and if pigs were fed diets containing TBCC (P < 0.05); however, only HCW increased with increasing SID Lys (linear; P < 0.05). Backfat iodine value (IV) was not affected by treatment; however, increasing the SID Lys level tended to increase jowl fat IV only in pigs fed TBCC (TBCC × Lys linear; P < 0.10). Feeding TBCC decreased (P < 0.02) liver a* values, resulting in decreased redness of the liver and increased (P < 0.01) liver Cu concentrations. Feed cost per pig, cost per pound of gain, and gain value all increased (linear; P < 0.05) as SID Lys increased when calculated on a constant days basis. As a result, IOFC was $2.19 lower (linear; P < 0.02) when pigs were fed only 85% of their estimated SID Lys requirement compared with those fed 100% of their requirement. The value of the weight gained during the experiment tended to increase (P < 0.10) for pigs fed diets containing TBCC. When calculating cost on a constant weight basis, adjusted F/G was improved (P < 0.05), and facility costs tended to be lower (P < 0.10) for pigs fed TBCC. Facility cost decreased (linear; P < 0.01) as SID Lys increased.

A total of 1,170 pigs (PIC 337 × 1050; initial BW 56.3 lb) were used in a 131-d study to determine the effects of a protease enzyme on growth performance and carcass characteristics of finishing pigs. Dietary treatments consisted of: (1) a positive control diet formulated to provide 90% of the standardized ileal digestible (SID) lysine requirement for these pigs; (2) a negative control diet formulated to provide 90% of the SID lysine requirement minus the expected nutrient release (both amino acids and dietary energy) from the protease enzyme (CIBENZA DP100, Novus International, Inc., St. Charles, MO), and (3) the negative control diet with the addition of 0.05% CIBENZA DP100. The diets were formulated such that the negative control diet containing the protease enzyme had calculated nutrient concentrations similar to the positive control. Pens of pigs were randomly allotted to 1 of 3 treatments with 26 pigs per pen and 15 replicates per treatment.

A total of 264 pigs (initially 41.0 kg BW) were used in a 90-d study to determine the effects of lowering dietary fiber before market on pigs fed high dietary fiber [provided by wheat middlings (midds) and distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS)] on growth performance, carcass characteristics, carcass fat quality, and intestinal weights of growing-finishing pigs. Pens of pigs were randomly allotted by initial BW and sex to 1 of 6 treatments with 6 replications per treatment and 7 or 8 pigs per pen. A positive control (corn-soybean meal-based) diet containing no DDGS or midds (9.3% NDF) and a negative control diet with 30% DDGS and 19% midds (19% NDF) were fed throughout the entire trial (d 0 to 90). The other 4 treatments were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial with the main effects of length of fiber reduction (23 or 47 d before marketing) and fiber level fed during the reduction period (low or medium). Pigs on these treatments were fed the negative control before the reduction treatment. The medium-fiber diet contained 15% DDGS and 9.5% midds (14.2% NDF) with the low-fiber diet was the positive control diet. Increasing the feeding duration of the low-fiber diets lowered overall ADFI (linear, P = 0.03) and improved G:F (linear, P < 0.01). Lowering the fiber level for the last 23 d did not influence growth performance; however, lowering the fiber level improved carcass yield (P = 0.002), with a greater response (P < 0.001) when the low-fiber diet was fed for 23 d. Jowl fat iodine value (IV) decreased when the longer lower fiber diets were fed (linear, P < 0.01) and was lower (P < 0.001) for pigs fed the low-fiber diet during the fiber reduction period than pigs fed the medium-fiber diet during the same time period; however, increasing the time lower fiber diets were fed from 23 to 47 d further reduced (P < 0.01) jowl IV. Increasing the duration that the control diet was fed by increasing the reduction time from 23 to 47 d increased (P < 0.01) backfat depth. Reducing the fiber level decreased full large intestine weight (linear, P = 0.005) with a greater response (P = 0.04) when the low-fiber diet was fed during the reduction period instead of the medium-fiber diet. In summary, lowering the fiber level before marketing can improve G:F, carcass yield, carcass IV, and reduce large intestine weight; however, the optimal duration of the fiber reduction period depends on the targeted response criteria.

A total of 860 finishing pigs (PIC C48/L42×327; initially 66.2 kg BW) were used in a 76-d experiment to evaluate the effects of removing corn DDGS from diets at increasing intervals before harvest. Diets contained 40% DDGS prior to the experiment, 0 or 35% DDGS during the experiment from approximately 66 to 82 kg and 0 or 30% DDGS until the completion of the trial. Pen served as the experimental unit, and there were 7 replicate pens/treatment with 23 to 25 pigs/pen. Pens were blocked by BW and allotted to 1 of 5 dietary treatments, differentiated by the number of days prior to slaughter that diets containing DDGS were withdrawn and replaced with corn-soybean meal-based diets. Withdrawal times were 76, 42, 27, 15, or 0 d (no withdrawal) before harvest. Linear and quadratic response to withdrawal time was evaluated using PROC GLIMMIX. For the overall period (d -76 to 0), as time of DDGS withdrawal increased, ADG and final BW also increased (linear, P < 0.018) and G:F improved (quadratic, P = 0.019). Average daily feed intake quadratically decreased (P = 0.030) with increasing withdrawal time. There was a linear increase (P = 0.010) in HCW, with a marginally significant increase in carcass yield (linear, P = 0.094) with increasing DDGS withdrawal time. Loin depth and lean percentage did not demonstrate any evidence for treatment differences (P > 0.132). Backfat was linearly increased (P = 0.030) with increasing DDGS withdrawal time. Lastly, iodine value (IV) of belly fat was increased (linear, P = 0.001) with increased feeding duration of DDGS. In conclusion, removing pigs from diets containing DDGS for longer periods before slaughter increased ADG and improved G:F, resulting in increased HCW. Belly fat IV was decreased as the length of DDGS withdrawal increased, with the highest IV resulting from pigs that consumed DDGS for the entire experimental period.

A total of 960 pigs (PIC TR4 × Fast Genetics York-AND × PIC Line 02, initially 75.7 lb BW) were used in a 101-d trial to determine the effect of corn particle size and diet form on finishing pig growth performance and carcass characteristics. Pens were randomly allotted to 1 of 6 experimental treatments by initial BW with 8 pens per treatment and 20 pigs per pen. All diets were fed in four phases with the same cornsoybean meal–based diet containing 30% dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS; Phases 1 to 3) or 15% DDGS (Phase 4) used for all diets. The 6 experimental treatments were arranged in a 2 × 3 factorial with main effects of final feed form (meal vs. pellet) and corn particle size (650 μ, 350 μ, or an equal blend of the 650 μ and 350 μ ground corn). Overall (d 0 to 101), linear particle size × diet form interactions were observed (P < 0.02) for ADFI and F/G due to ADFI decreasing and F/G improving as particle size was reduced for pigs fed meal diets but not for pigs fed pelleted diets. Pigs fed pelleted diets had increased (P < 0.001) ADG and final BW and improved (P < 0.001) F/G. As corn particle size decreased, ADG and ADFI decreased (P < 0.02) linearly. Pigs fed pelleted diets had increased (P < 0.001) HCW compared with pigs fed meal diets. Yield, backfat, and loin depth were not influenced by particle size or diet form.

A total of 274 finishing pigs (PIC 1050 × 327, initially 129 lb) were used in a 78-d study to compare the effects of adding high levels of three different sources of phytase (super-dosing) on growth performance and carcass characteristics of finishing pigs. Pigs were randomly allotted to pens with 7 or 8 pigs per pen and 9 replications per treatment. Dietary treatments included a corn-soybean meal–based control diet that was formulated to meet the available P requirements of the pigs without any added phytase, or three diets that were formed by adding 2,000 FTU/kg of phytase from 1 of 3 different phytase sources to the basal diet. The three phytase sources were Quantum Blue 5 G (AB Vista, Chesterfield, MO), Ronozyme HiPhos (GT) 2500 (DSM Nutritional Products, Parsippany, NJ), or Optiphos 1000 (Enzyvia, Sheraton, IN). Overall, regardless of source, super-dosing phytase had no effect (P > 0.26) on ADG, ADFI, or F/G; furthermore, there were no effects (P > 0.36) on any of the carcass criteria measured. In conclusion, in this environment with nutritionally adequate diets, this study suggests that super-dosing phytase had no beneficial effects on finishing pig growth or carcass performance.

Four experiments were conducted to determine the interactive effects of dietary L-carnitine and ractopamine HCl (ractopamine) on finishing pig growth performance. In analysis of treatments common to all experiments, ractopamine increased (P <0.01) ADG and G:F compared to pigs not fed ractopamine. Added L-carnitine tended to increase (P <0.07) ADG and improved (P <0.01) G:F compared to pigs not fed L-carnitine. Three experiments were conducted to determine the effects of L-carnitine and ractopamine on carcass characteristics and meat quality. In Exp. 1, drip loss decreased (linear, P <0.04) in pigs fed increasing L-carnitine. In Exp. 2, drip loss decreased (P <0.04) with increasing L-carnitine when fed with ractopamine. Percentage lean was higher (P <0.01) for pigs fed ractopamine. In Exp. 3, lean percentage increased (P <0.03) in pigs fed L-carnitine or ractopamine. Pigs fed L-carnitine tended (P <0.06) to have decreased drip loss. These results suggest that ractopamine increases carcass leanness and L-carnitine reduces drip loss when fed in combination with ractopamine. Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of L-carnitine and ractopamine on the metabolic response to handling. Non-gentle handling increased (P <0.01) lactate and rectal temperature, and decreased pH. In Exp. 1, non-gentle handled pigs fed ractopamine had decreased (P <0.01) pH and increased temperature and tended (P <0.09) to have higher lactate than other pigs. In Exp. 2, lactate and temperature changes from immediately post-handling to 1 h post-handling were not different for pigs fed L-carnitine or ractopamine suggesting that L-carnitine did not decrease recovery time of pigs subjected to non-gentle handling or fed ractopamine. These results suggest that pigs fed ractopamine are more susceptible to stress when handled aggressively. Because carnitine did not alleviate the negative effects of handling for pigs fed ractopamine, the improvement in drip loss from feeding carnitine must be due to a different mode of action.

Seventy five pigs [(Landrace × Yorkshire) × Duroc] with an initial body weight of 23.3±1.40 kg were used in the present study to investigate the influence of supplementation of a Bacillus spp. combination as probiotic (0%, 0.01%, and 0.02% with basal diet) in growing-finishing pig diets on performance parameters with a feeding trial period of 16 weeks. Growth performance was analyzed at the start and at weeks 6, 12, and 16 of the experimental period. The entire experiment using probiotic supplementation in the diet revealed significant differences in average daily gain and gain:feed, but no effects on average daily feed intake. The result showed significant effects on digestibility of dry matter (0.002), nitrogen (0.069), and energy (0.099) at week 16; and number of fecal Lactobacillus (0.082, 0.041), E. coli (0.097, 0.052), and blood glucose (0.001, 0.049) at weeks 6 and 16. Dietary supplementation with Bacillus spp. probiotic resulted in a significant linear effect on sensory evaluation of meat color, drip loss at day 3, and carcass weight in pigs. In contrast, there was no significant difference in blood metabolic profiles and noxious gas emissions in this experiment. Dietary combination of Bacillus spp. can be used as a probiotic for enhancing the growth performances and carcass quality of growing-finishing pigs.