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1. Introduction Meat consumers have shown an increasing interest in purchasing products from more sustainable production systems that are considered more respectful of the environment and of animal welfare [1,2]. Those systems reduce the use of agrochemicals and fossil fuels, encourage the rescue of local animal genetic resources, and contribute to the strengthening of local communities [3]. This reorientation promotes the creation and consolidation of niche markets. Niche pork...
1. Introduction As advances in genetics [1–3], reproductive management [4], and nutrition [5,6] continue to increase the number of piglets a sow can produce per litter [7,8], it is important to consider the issues that are associated with larger litters, particularly surrounding piglets and pre-weaning survival. Issues surrounding large litters include the effects of intrauterine crowding and so birth weight variation, piglet hypoxia during delivery and litter-mate...
Background There are three enteric coronaviruses that can cause gastrointestinal illness in young pigs e.g., transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), and porcine delta coronavirus (PDCoV) [1]. Transmissible gastroenteritis virus has been present in the United States since 1946, but PEDV and PDCoV were introduced more recently in 2013 and 2014, respectively. The spread of PEDV among swine herds was rapid; and strict biosecurity...
Introduction Coronaviruses belong to the order Nidovirales, family Coronaviridae, and subfamily Coronavirinae [1], and are characterized by their large genome, helical nucleocapsids, and unique method of gene expression [2]. The subfamily includes four genera: Alphacoronavirus, Betacoronavirus, Gammacoronavirus, and the more recently discovered Deltacoronavirus [3]. Coronaviruses are typically species specific and can infect a variety of birds and mammals [2]. In humans,...
1. Introduction In the wild, weaning in pigs is a long and progressive process that occurs between the 9th and 22nd week of age, allowing piglets a gradual transition from milk to solid foods [1]. In addition, social interactions with the mother and experienced conspecifics may allow for a smooth transition to adapt to post-weaning feeding patterns [2]. In contrast, early weaning practices common in commercial pig husbandry occurring around 21–28 days of age depict an...
Introduction Lysine is the first limiting amino acid in corn-soybean meal-based swine diets. In order to maximize efficiency in all stages of production, the requirement of Lys needs to be determined. In lactation diets, nutrients need to be supplied to support both sow maintenance and litter growth. Inadequate nutrient intake during lactation can cause the sow to be catabolic and cause increased sow body protein mobilization. Previous research has suggested a linear correlation...
Introduction Voluntary feed intake is often low and variable directly after weaning. As a result, research has focused on how nutritional stressors can be overcome to stimulate feed intake and subsequently increase performance (Pluske et al., 1997). Thus, highly palatable and nutrient dense protein sources are commonly added to nursery diets to encourage feed intake. Traditionally, this has been accomplished with the addition of milk and animal-based by-products. However,...
1. Introduction Weaning is one of the most stressful events in pig production [1]. Early weaned piglets face several nutritional and psychosocial stressors, including the transition to a solid diet and the abrupt separation of sows and piglets [2]. These events coincide with an immature immune and digestive system [3], which has consequences, such as the reduced activity of digestive enzymes, changes in intestinal morphology, and reduced nutrient digestion in the small intestine...
Introduction Market availability and fluctuation in the cost of conventional feed ingredients are pushing producers to increase inclusion of low-cost, fibre-rich co-products in the diets of monogastric animals. One major issue of this approach is that digestibility of high-fibre ingredients varies widely, with α-linked starch being digestible through hydrolytic–enzymatic action, but β-linked dietary fibres only being digested by exogenously supplied enzymes or...
Fermentation products with main and side activities Feed enzymes are mostly produced by fungi or bacteria. Those living organisms produce a wide variety of different enzyme proteins. For commercial practice, only a limited number of those activities is assayed in the laboratory. Assaying e.g. the xylanase activity obviously results in a quantification of the xylanase level, while not providing information about other activities that remain present in the fermentation product. In...
1. Introduction For newborn piglets, the thermoneutral zone is about 34 °C [1]. However, to ensure thermal comfort of sows [2], the temperature in farrowing rooms is controlled to about 20 °C, which is markedly below the thermoneutral zone for newborn piglets [3]. The immature thermoregulatory ability of piglets makes maintenance of body temperature difficult for piglets and makes them prone to suffer hypothermia. Important secondary effects of hypothermia include...
In 1817, selenium (Se) was isolated for the first time by Berzelius. At that time little was known about its biological function, until its nutritional requirement was revealed about 140 years later by Schwarz and Foltz in 1957...
U.S. Soy has a large market in animal feed because of its rich nutritional value and its contribution to animal performance. Although alternatives exist, such as corn protein, and a growing supply of synthetic amino acids, research consistently shows that when compared to these alternatives, soy outperforms.
Dr. Hans H. Stein, a professor of Animal Science at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, conducts research in the area of intestinal physiology and feed ingredient...
Introduction Feed manufacturing equipment has been shown to be a potential source of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) cross contamination. Wet decontamination has been found to be the most effective method for decontaminating the surface of feed mill equipment. However, this is not practical in most current commercial feed production settings. Methods to mitigate the risk of PEDV transmission in feed and feed ingredients have been investigated, including chemical...
1. Introduction The sustainability of pasture-based animal production systems has social, environmental and economic implications. Grasslands provide low cost feed for livestock, mainly ruminants, becoming the basis for production and livelihoods in many rural areas of the world [1]. Sustainable grazing systems are grounded on the principles of improving the cycle of nutrients of grassland ecosystems, enhancing the vegetation, increasing the biodiversity and improving the...
Introduction Growth promotional feed additives continue to be an area of emphasis for evaluation, especially in nursery pig diets. One of the classes of feed additives that has gained significant interest is probiotics. Probiotics can be defined as live microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host (FAO/ WHO, 2001). 6 Mechanistically, the modes of action of probiotics are likely to include competitive exclusion of...
1. Introduction Diet induces a change in the microbial ecology and fermentation end products in the gut, which in turn, influences the nutritional, physiological, and immunological functions of pigs (Brestoff and Artis, 2013; Jha et al., 2019). Cereal grains and different agro-industrial coproducts represent major portions of the pig diet which contains a considerable amount of fermentable carbohydrates like resistant starch (RS) and non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) such as AX...
PSA interviewed Casey Owens (University of Arkansas) about the differences between red meat and white meat in poultry and pork. Let's Squawk About It is a monthly interview segment by the Poultry Science Association....