H.M. Vermeer

Farm and management characteristics associated with boar taint.

Pig farms in the Netherlands producing boars have different levels of boar taint prevalence, as assessed by sensory evaluation with the human nose at the slaughter line. With a questionnaire to 152 Dutch pig producers (response rate 59%), farm and management characteristics were identified that are potentially associated with farm-level boar taint prevalence. Lower farm-level boar taint prevalence was associated with a smaller group size, a smaller pen surface per boar, newer housing equipment, not practicing restricted feeding in the last period before delivery, a longer fasting period before slaughter, a higher stocking weight and a lower fraction of boars from purebred dam line sows or from Pietrain terminal boars. These characteristics can be used to develop farm-level intervention strategies to control boar taint. More research effort is needed to establish causal relationships.

Operationalizing principle-based standards for animal welfare—indicators for climate problems in pig houses

Simple Summary Dutch farms that probably do not comply with the legal principle-based standard for climate in pig houses can be identified based on a limited set of measurements. The results may encourage pig farmers to improve climatic conditions, but can also justify subsequent investigation to substantiate noncompliance with the legal animal welfare standards. This was concluded after farm data collection by inspectors on 96 farms with weaners or growing–finishing pigs. Analysis of the data revealed that CO2 and NH3 concentrations; pig fouling; and ear, tail, and eye scores can be used as indicators of suboptimal climatic conditions. Abstract The Dutch animal welfare law includes so-called principle-based standards. This means that the objective is described in abstract terms, enabling farmers to comply with the law in their own way. Principle-based standards are, however, difficult for the inspection agency to enforce because strict limits are missing. This pilot project aimed at developing indicators (measurements) to assess the climate in pig houses, thus enabling the enforcement of principle-based standards. In total, 64 farms with weaners and 32 farms with growing–finishing pigs were visited. On each farm, a set of climate-related measurements was collected in six pens. For each of these measurements, a threshold value was set, and exceeding this threshold indicated a welfare risk. Farm inspections were carried out during winter and spring, thus excluding situations with heat stress. Assessment of the variation and correlation between measurements reduced the dataset from 39 to 12 measurements. Using a principal components analysis helped to select five major measurements as warning signals. The number of exceeded thresholds per pen and per farm was calculated for both the large (12) and small (five) sets of measurements. CO2 and NH3 concentrations were related to the outside temperature. On colder days, there was less ventilation, and thus CO2 and NH3 concentrations increased. Air quality, reflected in the CO2 and NH3 concentrations, was associated with respiratory problems. Eye scores were positively correlated with both pig and pen fouling, and pig and pen fouling were closely related. We selected five signal indicators: CO2, NH3, and tail and eye score for weaners and finishers, and added ear score for weaners and pig fouling for growing–finishing pigs. The results indicate that pig farms can be ranked based on five signal indicators related to reduced animal welfare caused by climatic conditions. This approach could be adopted to other principle-based standards for pigs as well as for other species.

Exploration Feeding and Higher Space Allocation Improve Welfare of Growing-Finishing Pigs

Simple Summary A lack of exploration materials in pig pens can result in damaging behavior towards pen mates. The objective of our study was to reduce skin and tail lesions by frequently providing small amounts of feed on the floor and by providing more space per pig. Both the so-called “exploration feeding” and the additional space resulted in fewer skin lesions. Finally, this can lead to a more welfare-friendly pig husbandry. Abstract Lack of environmental enrichment and high stocking densities in growing-finishing pigs can lead to adverse social behaviors directed to pen mates, resulting in skin lesions, lameness, and tail biting. The objective of the study was to improve animal welfare and prevent biting behavior in an experiment with a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design on exploration feeding, stocking density, and sex. We kept 550 pigs in 69 pens from 63 days to 171 days of life. Pigs were supplemented with or without exploration feeding, kept in groups of seven (1.0 m2/pig) or nine animals (0.8 m2/pig) and separated per sex. Exploration feeding provided small amounts of feed periodically on the solid floor. Skin lesion scores were significantly lower in pens with exploration feeding (p = 0.028, p < 0.001, p < 0.001 for front, middle, and hind body), in pens with high compared to low space allowance (p = 0.005, p = 0.006, p < 0.001 for front, middle and hind body), and in pens with females compared to males (p < 0.001, p = 0.005, p < 0.001 for front, middle and hind body). Males with exploration feeding had fewer front skin lesions than females with exploration feeding (p = 0.022). Pigs with 1.0 m2 compared to 0.8 m2 per pig had a higher daily gain of 27 g per pig per day (p = 0.04) and males compared to females had a higher daily gain of 39 g per pig per day (p = 0.01). These results indicate that exploration feeding might contribute to the development of a more welfare-friendly pig husbandry with intact tails in the near future.

Effect of genotype, sow rearing system and outdoor acces on piglet survival in extensive systems

Whether cattle grazing in nature reserves in temperate summers ought to be provided with artificial shelter (man-made), in addition to natural shelter (vegetation), is a topic of debate. We have investigated the effect of heat-load on the use of natural versus artificial shelter (with a roof and three walls) by cattle in eight nature reserves in Belgium. GPS collars were used to monitor use of open area, natural and artificial shelter during one or two summers (per 30 min). Cattle location data were coupled to same-time values of climatic ‘heat-stress indices’ calculated from local weather stations’ measurements of air temperature, air humidity, solar radiation and wind speed. Use of open area decreased as heat-load increased. The strength of the effect, and whether the cattle sought natural or artificial shelter, were associated with the amount and spatial distribution of natural shelter in the reserve. When natural shelter was sparse, a more scattered distribution tempered the increased use of shelter with increasing heat-load. If sufficiently available, cattle preferred natural to artificial shelter. When little natural shelter was available, cattle did use the artificial shelter and especially so with increasing heat-load. Microclimatic measurements indicated that solar radiation was blocked by vegetation at least as well as by artificial shelter, and allowed more evaporative cooling. In conclusion, we found no evidence for the added value of additional artificial shelter to protect cattle from heat-load in temperate nature reserves, as long as adequate natural shelter is available.Trabajo presentado al 65th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science (EAAP) (Copenhagen, Denmark, 25 al 28 de agosto, 2014).Trabajo presentado al 65th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science (EAAP) (Copenhagen, Denmark, 25 al 28 de agosto, 2014).Intramuscular fat content (IMF) influences important qualitative traits of meat as tenderness, juiciness and flavour, and technological characteristics. This trait is difficult to measure in vivo and is not included in the breeding programs, despite its medium heritability. Furthermore, IMF is a complex quantitative trait determined by several biochemical and metabolic processes influencing fat deposition in muscles. Indeed QTL affecting this trait have been already reported and some candidate genes were investigated in the last years, but relevant causative mutations have not been so far detected. Recently, thanks to the sequencing of the porcine genome and to the development of a high throughput genotyping porcine chip, it is possible to perform genome wide association (GWA) studies and put in light markers associated to this trait. With the aim to identify genes and markers associated to IMF we performed GWA using the Illumina PorcineSNP60 BeadChip and 889 Italian Large White pigs included in the Sib Test genetic evaluation program of the Italian Association of Pig Breeders (ANAS). The association analyses were conducted using linear mixed model implemented in GenABEL. The results of GWA analysis allowed to detect seven markers significantly associated with IMF (P-value <10) mapped on chromosomes 1, 3, 8 and 12. A validation study on selected markers was performed using a mixed model procedure of SAS software. Markers identified, once confirmed, could be applied as candidate genes to improve meat quality traits in Italian Large White pigs.The constantly growing yearly demand for meat, dairy products and eggs has important implications for agricultural production methods. Nowadays livestock/crop production is becoming increasingly industrialised worldwide, shifting from extensive, small-scale, subsistence production systems towards more intensive, large-scale, geographicallyconcentrated, specialised and commercially oriented ones. The shift in livestock farming methods from extensive to intensive poses a number of significant challenges for animal welfare, environmental sustainability and food security. The indicators to assess animals health and welfare status, have been increased during the last years, and the importance of this discipline is now widely known worldwide. Thanks to the welfare quality ® protocol the procedure to assess the animal health and welfare has become more and more clear, precise and accurate since the project ended in 2009. Furthermore this procedure to assess animal welfare status is time consuming and requires manpower and accurate planning.Bearing in mind the objectives of this study to investigate the Barbary sheep fertility under our climatic conditions and to evaluate the efficiency of the prostaglandin f2α(pgf2α)injections in induction of fertile estrus in different seasons. For these objectives, some experiments were performed during the period from July,2008 to March, 2009. A total number of 300 Libyan Barbary ewes(3-6 years old, weighing 40-60 kg) was used in this experiment. Ewes were kept in privet farms, fed and managed similarly. Ewes were divided to four season groups(summer, autumn, winter and spring groups). Each season group was divided into treated and control. Animals in the treated groups were injected with double injections of 125 μg of prostaglandin f2α intramuscularly(i/m), 11 days apart. While those in control groups were injected with two injections of 1.0 ml of 0.9% NACL saline solution simultaneously with the treated ewes. At the same day (day 11) rams wearing painted sponges on their briskets regions were introduced for natural mating. Treated groups showed shorter estrus response time than control groups in all seasons(P<0.05). Estrus duration was longer in winter and spring than in summer and autumn (P<0.001),but no difference was found between treated and control groups inside seasons. Treated group showed higher pregnancy rate(P<0.001) in winter season than control group. Percentage of ewes lambed in winter was significantly high (P<0.001) among treated ewes than control (80 vs 38%). Lambing rate differed significantly (P<0.001) among treated groups in all seasons. Data were collected and calculated statistically using SPSS system for percentages, means, standard deviation(mean ± sd) analysis of variance (anova), Chi square and Dunacan’s test were used accordingly. Other values were measured, calculated and analyzed similarly. Adoption of technology in sheep farms of La Mancha, Spain J. Rivas1, C. De Pablos2, J. Perea1, C. Barba1, R. Dios-Palomares1, M. Morantes1 and A. García1 1Universidad de Córdoba, Campus Rabanales, 14014, Córdoba, Spain, 2Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Paseo de los Artilleros, 28034, Madrid, Spain; pa1gamaa@uco.es Recently in Spain the milk production coming from sheep farms shows higher degrees of specialization based on the adoption of technologies. The aim of this research is to examine the pattern of adoption of technologies in sheep farms of La Mancha. Based on previous researches, from 77 questions, only 38 questions were selected by using qualitative and participatory methods; the chosen variables were grouped into six technology packages (TP): management, feeding, animal health and milk quality, pasture and land use, equipment and facilities, and reproduction and breeding program. The survey was applied to a sample of 157 farms. Using descriptive statistics each TP was characterized and the pattern of adoption was determined. The average of technologies adopted was of 18.4±6.0 (48.3%). TP showing higher degrees of implementation are animal health and milk quality (67.8%), feeding (56.0%) and management (55.7%), but their adoption is not sequential or responds to independent events. This research facilitates the identification of a number of technologies that must be implemented from an organizational strategy point of view. Moreover, all technologies are seeking a dynamic balance system that allows firms migrate to more efficient processes without losing their main attributes. As a technological challenge, an andrologic evaluation of ram, gynecologic evaluation of ewes prior to mating, early detection of non-productive animals are proposed; and a better use of productive records for the decision-making; aspects are recommended. The results of this analysis will have an impact on future research that attempts to improve the use of subproducts, forage reserves and improved rangeland management and hygiene control system, taking the quality milk as an strategic asset, so further research is necessary to assess the impact of each technology on the operating of the mixed system in the Mancha region. Session 40 Poster 20 Session 40 Poster 19The present paper focuses on evaluating the Interobserver Reliability of the Animal Welfare Assessment Protocol for Growing Pigs. The protocol for growing pigs consists of a Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA), direct Behaviour Observations (BO), carried out by instantaneous scan sampling, a Human Animal Relationship Test (HAR) and checks for different Individual Parameters (IP), e.g. presence of tail biting, wounds and bursitis. Three trained observers collected the data by performing 29 combined assessments, which were done at the same time and on the same animals; but they were carried out completely independent of each other. The findings were compared by the calculation of Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficients (RS), Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC), Smallest Detectable Changes (SDC) and Limits of Agreements (LoA). There was no agreement found concerning the adjectives belonging to the QBA (e.g. active: RS: 0.50, ICC: 0.30, SDC: 0.38, LoA: -0.05-0.45; fearful: RS: 0.06, ICC: 0.0, SDC: 0.26, LoA: -0.20-0.30). In contrast, the BO showed good agreement (e.g. social behaviour: RS: 0.45, ICC: 0.50, SDC: 0.09, LoA: -0.09-0.03 use of enrichment material: RS: 0.75, ICC: 0.68, SDC: 0.06, LoA: -0.03-0.03). The rather low agreement of the HAR (RS: 0.38, ICC: 0.54, SDC: 0.34, LoA: -0.40-0.27) can be explained by the fact that the observers entered the pens one after the other to minimise mutual interference which influenced the reaction towards the second intruder. Overall, observers agreed well in the IP, e.g. tail biting (RS: 0.52, ICC: 0.88; SDC: 0.05, LoA: -0.01-0.02) and wounds (RS: 0.43, ICC: 0.59, SDC: 0.10, LoA: -0.09-0.10). The parameter bursitis, however, showed great differences (RS: 0.10, ICC: 0.0, SDC: 0.35, LoA: -0.37-0.40), which can be explained by difficulties in the assessment when the animals moved around quickly or their legs were soiled. In conclusion, the Interobserver Reliability was good in the BO and most individual IP, but not for the parameter bursitis and the QBA.