Sukumarannair S. Anil

Effect of lameness on sow longevity.

OBJECTIVE To analyze the association of lameness and performance variables on sow longevity by use of time-to-event analysis. DESIGN Cohort study. ANIMALS 674 sows from a commercial breeding herd. PROCEDURES A lameness assessment was performed on each sow. Data on farrowing performance and longevity were collected for the sows during 3 or fewer parities from the database of the herd during 2005 and 2006. The association of risk factors with sow longevity within 350 days after lameness assessment was analyzed via Cox regression analysis. Pigs per day, total production days, and survival at 350 days after lameness evaluation were compared between lame and nonlame sows. RESULTS Numbers of preweaning baby pig deaths, stillborn pigs, and mummified pigs were negatively associated with sow longevity within 350 days after lameness assessment. A higher number of pigs born alive and younger parity of sows were protective. Lame sows had a higher risk (1.710 times as high) of removal from the herd within 350 days after lameness assessment. The number of pigs born alive per day, survival of sows at 350 days, and total number of days in the herd were lower in lame sows. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results of this study indicated significant differences in the survivability of lame and nonlame sows in a commercial herd. Parity and farrowing performance variables were factors influencing sow longevity in this herd. Producers need to minimize sow lameness and remove lame sows from a herd early (when treatment is not an option) to minimize economic loss.

Pain Detection and Amelioration in Animals on the Farm: Issues and Options

Pain in nonhuman animals is a difficult concept to identify and measure. This article briefly describes the consequences of pain in animals on the farm and explains the reasons for the minimal use of analgesics in farmed animals. Pain can have implications for both animal welfare and economics. The reasons for a low use of analgesics in farmed animals include the lack of recognition of animal pain owing to the apparent lack of anthropomorphically identifiable behavioral changes, concern over human food safety, and lack of research efforts to develop safe analgesics for farm use. Treatment cost relative to the benefits expected is another hindering factor. Interventions to minimize pain must begin with developing objective and practical measures for pain identification and measurement at the farm level. A suggested use of a combination of different behavioral and physiological indicators would help to identify pain in animals. To facilitate continued usage of the methodologies on the farm it also is necessary to evaluate the economic implication of the pain alleviation intervention.

Relationship between postural behaviour and gestation stall dimensions in relation to sow size

The extent to which the size of the gestation stall, relative to the size of the sow, affects the normal basic postural behavioural needs of sows like standing, sitting and lying was assessed using 25 sows randomly selected from four farms. The postural behaviour of the animals was recorded using a time-lapse video recorder. The relationships of duration of postures, time taken for various postural changes and frequency of postural changes with stall measurements in relation to sow measurements were analysed. Negative correlations (P 0.05). The time taken to change from a standing to lying posture was negatively correlated (P<0.05) with stall length relative to animal length. Similar correlations (P<0.05) were noted between stall width relative animal breadth and the duration of postural change from standing to sitting and from sitting to standing. Stall width relative to animal breadth was negatively related to the frequency of postural change from standing to sitting (P<0.05). The results suggested that the freedom of movement of pregnant sows in stalls could be improved by a little increase in the space allowance within the stall.

Effects of allometric space allowance and weight group composition on grower-finisher pigs

The average daily gain (ADG; kg d-1), pen efficiency (PE; kg ADG m-2 floor space) and welfare indicators (injury levels, salivary cortisol concentrations and behaviour) of grower-finisher pigs were evaluated in groups of 19 barrows, at four levels of floor space allowances calculated mathematically (area = k × BW0.667) using a constant k, (with values 0.027, 0.031, 0.034, and 0.037) for a mean final market weight of 116 kg and in two levels of group weight composition (uniform and varying weights – based on uniformity and variation of body weights of pigs within a pen at the beginning of the experiment). The corresponding space allowances (m2 pig-1) at the market weight of 116 kg were 0.64 (SA0.64), 0.74 (SA0.74), 0.81 (SA0.81), and 0.88 (SA0.88). The data were analyzed using repeated measure ANOVAs and independent sample T tests. The pigs in SA0.64 had a lower ADG (0.859 ± 0.017), spent a lower proportion of time lying in preferred areas (55.22 ± 1.644) and had higher total injury scores (4.581 ± 0.139) ...

Analysis of periparturient risk factors affecting sow longevity in breeding herds

The association of periparturient risk factors with sow longevity and the validity of sow removal decisions made during the periparturient period were analyzed. Data pertaining to 2066 sows from a commercial breeding herd from the US Midwest were used in this study. The likelihood of removal from the herd within 35 d post-farrowing decreased with a younger parity, the absence of lameness or other health problems, a higher lactation feed intake (LFI) and a greater number of live-born piglets (P < 0.05 for all). A greater number of piglets born alive, the absence of lameness and a younger parity lowered (P < 0.05 for all) the likelihood of removal of sows from the herd before the next parity. The number of piglets born alive was higher (P < 0.05) among sows without any health problems during the previous periparturient period. A greater (P < 0.05) number of sows that were retained without any health problems during the periparturient period farrowed. More sows (P < 0.05) retained with health problems during...

Effect of Lameness in Pigs in Terms of “Five Freedoms”

S OF THE PROCEEDINGS 145 competition for resources and may aggravate the condition. The freedom from fear and distress is also violated when a pig becomes lame as the ability to demonstrate the survival instinct is physically restricted. Despite these obvious links between the effects of lameness and five freedoms, pig welfare is often determined on easily measurable, systematically applied terms such as space allowance. A Tool for On-Farm Welfare Assessment of Pigs in New Zealand Ian Barugh, David Mellor, Eric Neumann, and Daan Vink Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand EpiCentre, Institute for Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand The New Zealand Pork Industry has the Code of Welfare 2005 (Pigs) as its primary welfare legislation. It is based on 20 minimum standards and has recommendations for the care of pigs. The minimum standards are primarily facilities based. The objective of this project was to quantify nonhuman animal-based welfare outcomes by observing pigs, pig behavior, and good husbandry. The first stage was to identify welfare indicators to assess and quantify the on-farm welfare status of pigs. Second, a system (welfare assessment tool) had to be developed to interpret these indicators and link them through to the 20 minimum standards contained in the Code of Welfare 2005 (Pigs). In addition, the tool developed had to be a valid measure of pig health and welfare, accurate in providing a true reflection of the current welfare status, reliable and repeatable, robust and practical, clear and adaptable to allow use by a range of inspectors and production systems. The welfare indicators were developed in consultation with parties of interest including pork producers; pork industry representatives; and technical staff, pig veterinarians, National Welfare Advisory Committee, and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty. The tool developed had a series of primary animalbased indicators, including vocalization/noise, appearance (skin and body condiCorrespondence should be sent to Ian Barugh, Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health, Massey University, PN 452, Private Bag 11222, Palmerston North, Manawatu, New Zealand 4442. Email: i.w.barugh@massey.ac.nz

A path analysis of the factors associated with seasonal variation of breeding failure in sows

Data pertaining to 868 904 services of sows from 58 Canadian herds for the period 1999 to 2003 were retrieved from the PigCHAMP data share database and subjected to path analysis to evaluate the effect of number of inseminations per service (1 and >1), wean to service interval (WSI ≤ 5 d and > 5 d) and parity (parity 1, parities 2 to 5 and parity > 5) on the seasonality of breeding failure. Population attributable fraction (PAF) was calculated to determine the contribution of each risk factor. Overall breeding failure proportions were 23.5 and 20.9% in summer and other months, respectively. The likelihood of breeding failure was higher when sows were artificially inseminated (AI) only once, and 6 and 5% of breeding failures in the summer and other months, respectively, were attributable to single insemination. The likelihood of breeding failure was 1.5 and 1.4 times higher when WSI was > 5 d in the summer and other months, respectively, and 14% of breeding failure in summer was attributable to increase in...

Epidemiological Evaluation of Pain in Swine Herds

S OF THE PROCEEDINGS Epidemiological Evaluation of Pain in Swine Herds Leena Anil, Sukumarannair Anil, and John Deen Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul Pain is an important cause for compromised welfare in swine herds. However, painful processing procedures have become part of routine farm management, and this incongruity has been the focus of many nonhuman animal welfare arguments. Processing procedures are 1-time events compared with the everpresent susceptibility to painful diseases. Despite the widespread impacts, pain associated with diseases (lameness, Mastitis-Metritus-Agalactia Syndrome, pleuritis, and the like) is seldom addressed in animal welfare discussion; the focus, when discussed, often is on the painful processing procedures. Pain persists for longer than the clinical signs, may remain invisible, and may lead to hyperalgesia. The problem with diseases as a threat to welfare is that despite a herd-level prevalence, often diseases are dealt with on an individual basis. In reality, it may have higher impacts on herd-level welfare than usually ascribed, and providing evidence to this situation is an epidemiological challenge. Translating individual level assessments for herd-level relevance needs consideration of severity, duration, and prevalence. Often, only the severity of the disease at the individual level alone is assessed—which is clearly insufficient. A low-intensity pain but for a long duration may be of different significance to an individual animal within a herd Leena Anil is now with the Department of Poultry Science, University of Georgia, Athens. Correspondence should be sent to Leena Anil, Department of Poultry Science, University of Georgia, 110 Cedar Street, Athens, GA 30602. Email: lanil@uga.edu

Considerations for Inconsistent Effects of Inadequate Environments

S OF THE PROCEEDINGS 147 Preliminary analysis shows a tendency for more butting (p < .10), significantly more other aggressive behaviors (p < .05), and a tendency for more defensive behaviors (p < .10) in the small pens in the 1st week. However, space allowance had no significant effects on these variables in the 2nd week. Space allowance did not have an effect on the immune response to the paratuberculosis vaccine. Five of the goats aborted as a result of a toxoplasmosis outbreak during the trial. Twenty-eight animals were toxoplasmosis seropositive in the 5th week. The impact of social stress on the toxoplasmosis outbreak could not be determined yet. The study showed the complexity of using epidemiological approaches to answer nonhuman animal welfare questions in a small, controlled trial. Ongoing data analysis measuring glucocorticoid concentration and social status of individual goats will shed further light on the hypothesis. Considerations for Inconsistent Effects of Inadequate Environments John Deen, Leena Anil, and Sukumarannair Anil Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul The usual basic assumptions of data analysis in most nonhuman animal science and medicine studies involve normality of measures, an equality of likelihood and scale of effects across animals, and the propriety of using classical parametric analyses. These assumptions are used as they fit the training in statistics that most students have received and they also require the least number of animals to perform a study. Many negative factors are not random in their effect upon swine populations and in fact create skewed distributions that reflect an inordinate level of detriment upon subpopulations within studies. This results in skewed distributions that, if ignored, results in underestimations of animals who are severely affected by the intervention. Moreover, particularly if growth is the major measure, mortality is correlated with severely affected animals and yet is rarely analyzed. Multifactorial and nonparametric techniques are much more appropriate for many of these analyses. These techniques have been developed in more detail Leena Anil is now with the Department of Poultry Science, University of Georgia, Athens. Correspondence should be sent to John Deen, Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, 385 Animal Science/Veterinary Medicine, 1988 Fitch Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55108. Email: deenx003@umn.edu 148 ABSTRACTS OF THE PROCEEDINGS in epidemiologic circles. The main constraint for such techniques is that a priori definitions of response variables are often needed and the definition of unacceptable levels needs more discipline and discussion. Drinker to Nursery Pigs Ratio: Effects on Drinking Behavior and Performance Roy A. Edler, J. Tyler Holck, Paul R. DuBois, Larry J. Sadler, Jill R. Garvey, Tony J. Uhlenkamp, Clara J. Jackson, Ken J. Stalder, Anna K. Johnson, and Locke A. Karriker Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., Ames, Iowa Cargill Meat Solutions, Wichita, Kansas Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames The effect of cup waterer to pig ratio was evaluated to determine changes on nursery pig drinking behavior and performance in 7-week-old gilts. Pigs were housed 25 per pen and allotted 0.22 m2/pig in a nursery facility located in central Missouri. Pen was the experimental unit with 3 pens per treatment group. Ratios of 1:25 (Treatment 1), 1:12 (Treatment 2), and 1:8 (Treatment 3) were studied. Pigs were individually identified and their drinking behavior was videotaped on November 15–16, 2006, for subsequent behavioral quantification and statistical analysis. A pig was defined as drinking when the head was over the drinker for at least 5 consecutive seconds. Treatment 3 pigs drank significantly more frequently (13.88 ̇ 0.84 in 6 hr) than those provided with 1 or 2 cup waterers per pen (10.32 ̇ 0.95 and 10.60 ̇ 0.84 respectively; p D .0209). There was a trend (p D .06) for pigs provided 2 or 3 cup waterers per pen to have increased average daily gain compared with those provided a single drinker. This study demonstrated that when pigs were offered more places to drink they visited the water bowl drinker more frequently during a 6-hr period, which tended to increase average daily gain in nursery-age pigs. Although further research is needed to confirm these findings, a nursery providing a ratio closer to published guidelines may lead to increased performance. Correspondence should be sent to Roy A. Edler, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., 2501 Loop Drive, Suite 1000, Ames, IA 50010. Email: roy.edler@boehringer-ingelheim.com