Introduction: In Germany farmers are legally obligated to monitor animal welfare indicators, and based on that, improve their conditions. Besides the difficulties in defining indicators, the comparable assessment is another challenge. Therefore in the poultry industry, camera systems have been installed in slaughterhouses to evaluate the foot pad condition with a software. The results are open to farmers as feedback and partly to veterinary departments. Such a system has...
Todd Thurman (Swine Insights International) talks about gestation and lactation feed, the increased use of technology, and the importance of aligning nutrition and feeding strategies, in this Engormix interview....
John Carr (Apiam Animal Health/James Cook University) talks about his ideas on the farms of the future, during this Swine It interview with host Laura Greiner....
John Carr (Apiam Animal Health/James Cook University) comments on his experience as a consultant and working with clients, during this Swine It interview with host Laura Greiner....
John Carr (Apiam Animal Health/James Cook University) discusses daily activities of professional workers in swine farms, during this Swine It interview with host Laura Greiner....
Brett Ramirez (Iowa State University) comments on his experience implementing a ventilation system, during this Swine It interview with host Laura Greiner....
John Carr (Apiam Animal Health/James Cook University) talks about perimeter fences and the minimal biosecurity requirements, during this Swine It interview with host Laura Greiner....
Brett Ramirez (Iowa State University) highlights the importance of ventilation maintenance and information, during this Swine It interview with host Laura Greiner....
Brett Ramirez (Iowa State University) explains different aspects of ventilation and its costs, during this Swine It interview with host Laura Greiner....
Introduction Swine raising has changed considerably in the last 30 years with an increase in intensive production systems. Whereas intensive systems minimize production costs, the high animal densities can pose impacts to environments that have low soil absorption capacity (Kunz et al., 2009a; Vanotti et al., 2009). Thus, confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) while reducing the production costs can increase the use of water and the environmental impacts associated with the...
1. Introduction Observational, technical, and analytical skills are necessary for veterinary physicians [1,2]. For professional praxis, for instance, observation as well as pattern recognition skills within the environment are important for detecting and treating relevant diseases and conditions [3,4]. Moreover, these skills are relevant as the environment, along with demographic factors, influences animal health [5]. Recognizing patterns in nature is crucial for proposing novel...
Todd Thurman (Swine Insights International) speaks on issues that COVID, disease outbreaks, and other changes have created in the animal industry, as well as possible solutions through innovation and creative thinking, in this Engormix interview....
In this Engormix interview, Todd Thurman (Swine Insights International) explains how to keep the best balance between different goals: genetic progress and commercial production....
Alex Alonso Wang (Big Herdsman) shows their poultry and swine equipment, explaining the features and benefits of the layer cage and the sow pen, during the Avicola Porcinos Expo 2023 in Buenos Aires, Argentina....
Brian Aldridge (University of Illinois) shares insights on the environmental, nutritional, and maternal factors that affect the microbiome of different animals, during the 11th Symposium on Gut Health in Production of Food Animals in St. Louis, USA....
In this Engormix interview, Todd Thurman (Swine Insights International) comments on the need for accurate and timely information to make important decisions, such as culling, and how artificial intelligence can help....
Introduction: Smallholder pig farmers in east Africa typically wean pigs at 6 to 8 weeks. Farmers report that commercially prepared pig diets are too expensive and therefore typically feed forage and food waste. This results in low average daily gain (ADG), especially for the newly weaned pig. The objective was to describe the weaning weights of local and crossbred Ugandan pigs purchased from smallholder farmers and to compare the growth rate of the pigs fed forage- or...
Jeff Zimmerman (Iowa State University) discussed area density, models and prevention of diseases, during this Swine It interview with host Laura Greiner....
Introduction: Intervention to a PED break includes initiating a multi-facet program focusing on a planned whole herd exposure, biosecurity and sanitation protocol with the goal of PED elimination. There is no literature following a group of individual sows and gilts over a years’ time to measure fecal shedding, antibody levels and impact on performance. The objectives of this project were to evaluate: 1) Duration of shedding in individual sows 2) Individual sow antibody...
Katherine Vande Pol (University of Illinois) shared her insights on piglet birth weight and recent results, during this Swine It interview with host Laura Greiner....