75% of slaughtered pigs had their livers discarded due to lesions characteristic of parasitic migration.

It would be so nice if the sows could warn us when there are problems when they are giving birth to their piglets during labour! This seems impossible… Or maybe it is not so.

Seaweeds are rich in undigestible polysaccharides and are a potential source of soluble dietary fibers. The most abundant polysaccharides in brown seaweeds are laminarin, fucoidan and alginic acid.

The thermographic cameras can measure the temperature in all the image with resolutions that are equivalent to 19,200 infrared thermometers at the same time.

This chapter is intended as a roadmap for the development of a Salmonella control program for factories, a program whose aim should be to minimize Salmonella contamination, of any and all serotypes.

The goal is that the sows always have access to a good amount of fresh drinking water in the farrowing quarters.

The clinical profile seen to date of ASF in Russia and neighboring countries is a typical acute disease. The animals die between 7 and 15 days post-infection and the symptoms observed include fever, huddling together due to cold, and injuries described above.

There was an increase of repetitions in females (at 17-28 days, cyclic and acyclic, with a repeat rate of 22%) and mucous-like, white to brown (chocolate) vulvovaginal discharge hours after artificial insemination.

In the previous chapter we saw how level litters by size. Now we will see how to do it by number.

Some tips to reduce feed costs on pig farms.

We have long known that of all the species tested, piglets are born with the lowest circulating levels of 25(OH)D.

In the previous chapter we discussed the ideal time to level out litters of newborn piglets. Here's how to do it.

Feed is one of the risk factors in the epidemiology of salmonellosis and therefore, control of pathogens in the feed should continue to be considered an essential component of any control program for swine salmonellosis.

Vitamin D is normally produced following skin exposure to ultraviolet-B. Since most piglets (and humans too!) are raised in climate controlled housing and born year-round, direct access to sunshine is often limited, even in the summer. Fortunately, vitamin D can be added to diets to meet the animals' need for vitamin D.

With the high prolificacy of sows nowadays, leveling out litters is one of the most hands-on jobs on the farms of today. It is one of the first steps to start lactation successfully.

Modern sows are able to produce over 70 weaned piglets during their productive live.

We have seen the importance of obtaining a sufficient dose of quality colostrum to generate the newborn’s defenses as well as the conflict that this can suppose when we level the litters after birth. Now lets take a look at the importance of rapidly obtaining colostrum and milk to ensure energy supply and minimize temperature loss.

The semen was destined for Japan which requires the donor boar to be tested with negative results within 60 days prior to collection for export for: Vesicular Stomatitis, Aujesky’s disease, PRRS, Brucellosis, Leptospirosis, and Tuberculosis.

The ingestion of Ig in sufficient quantity is the first priority. So much so that it even comes before the factor that seems most important: the feed supply.

African Swine Fever is probably the most complex disease among the ones that affect pigs.

This case starts with abortions that occur dramatically in April. They begin on Saturday the 23rd and during the following week continue until reaching 34 abortions.

We should focus on actions that are in our hands to try to improve the profitability of our farms.

What if we were to wean on Friday and were able to block farrowings for 2 days? The bulk of farrowings would be concentrated on Monday.

Production manuals and legislation often give recommendations as to the minimum space requirements for each type of animal. There are many sources where we can find information about the minimum requirements to ensure animal comfort. But, what is the optimal number of animals to put in a pen? Is there a magic number? There is not as much documentation on this topic.

Patterns of association are quite helpful in helping focus resources whether that is time, money, or any intervention we are seeking to implement.

Long farrowings increase mortality, and deaths occur above all in the last 1/3 of the delivery.

UTIs are among the most frequent bacterial infections in the herd but they are rarely diagnosed or taken into consideration by veterinarians.

Abortion occurred in 90% of first parity sows and in 10% of second parity sows.

The dispersion of matings described in the previous article is even more drastic on farms operating in bands over one week.

When gilts were mated at a little more than 100 kg, productivity at 2nd parity had a huge decline and the sow was never able to reach their maximum potential.

In the last chapter on hormone management we looked at the advantages of “a la carte” altrenogest treatment as opposed to the 18 day treatment used to synchronize gilts.

Approximately 15-20 days after entering the growth phase, generalized coughing and weight loss were noted. The morbidity rate was almost 30% and the mortality rate was 4-6 %.

Wouldn’t it be great if all the sows on a farm (weaned sows, gilts, repeat breeders…) could be mated on the same day?! And if we were able to choose, on Mondays?

Citric and Tartaric acids trigger an innate sour taste that is attractive to pigs while their pungency is smooth and remains unnoticed.

It is not possible to compare the consumption of antimicrobials in Denmark with very many other countries, because almost none have a detailed registration on their use of antibiotics for the treatment of livestock. However, among those who collect such data, Denmark has one of the lowest levels of veterinary antibiotic use.

In this chapter the use of progesterone derivatives to modify the duration of estrus in sows is explained.

In high-density swine regions of North America, air filtration is playing an important role in the effort to maintain PRRS free commercial sow herds

The farm, with an elevated number of animals, had been experiencing for several days an increased number of births in gestation on the weekend before moving the sows to the farrowing pens. Mortality in these births was 100%.

Production of pig meat worldwide exceeds that of any other meat. Traditionally, linear programming is used to generate minimum cost diets that to meet the pig nutrient requirements. Of greater importance to the pig producer than least cost diets is the maximisation of gross margin (per pig place or per pig place per year).

Loading pigs is a task that, unfortunately, we give little importance to. We don’t usually realize that loosing something at this point is tantamount to losing a year’s worth of work, and worse yet is the economic loss.

In Denmark the most common practice is to always stimulate with the boar together with a complete 5 point pattern of stimulation carried out by the inseminator.

In addition to amino acid intake, proper energy intake is essential for maximizing milk production in sows. Both the amount of and type of energy can influence milk production.

Over the last several years, new sampling, monitoring and diagnostic tools for the swine industry that are faster, simpler and more cost effective have been developed and validated. One of these techniques is the sampling and use of oral fluids (saliva) as specimens for diagnostics in swine.

Oral fluid samples can at times replace traditional blood testing while requiring less labor and technical skill. Also there is clearly reduced stress for people and pigs, which is becoming important in modern food animal production.

Many sow farms have been increasing total born and weaning large litters with heavier pigs. With litter size continuing to improve and lactation length increasing to around 21 days, the demand for milk production must continue to increase to meet the increasing demand of heavier pigs.

Here we present a table of differential diagnosis of the most common diarrheas during lactation.

In 1996, the NFMDTF drafted a national plan to address the 1995 FMD epidemic wherein 98,000 animals were reported to have been affected.

The FMD Eradication Project in the Philippines has formally ended but activities have been sustained even after obtaining FMD-freedom in Luzon having no clinical cases for 5 years with the last outbreak recorded in December 28, 2005.

Piglets suckling SWE-supplemented sows had an enhanced humoral immunity, greater percentage positive of E. coli phagocytising leukocytes and suppressed colonic E. coli population

Rotaviruses are important enteric pathogens that affect newborns of several animal species. In swine, they can cause gastroenteritis in piglets.

The most relevant genetic defects of the skin are epitheliogenesis imperfecta, pitryisis rosea and malignant melanoma. Recent data suggest an increase of the melanoma incidence in Duroc bred, incidences of 2.60% and 0.62% have been found in two Duroc nucleus herds.

Although pigs can be infected with different species of coccidia, in suckling piglets the most important disease caused by enteric protozoa is coccidiosis due to Isospora suis.

The taste system senses the nutritional value of foods through the taste buds defined as clusters of taste sensory cells present in the tongue

The genus Clostridium includes numerous species of anerobic bacteria with large rod-shaped forms, spore makers, and producers of extremely potent and diverse toxins that are almost always responsible for the diseases they cause.

Escherichia coli is an enterobacteria that forms part of the normal intestinal microbiota of healthy animals. Usually, E. coli present in animals are communal antipathogenic strains and they even play a beneficial role, since they compete in several ways with the pathogenic strains in the ecological niche of the lumen.