The opinion of the bloggers do not necessarily reflect the opinion of PigProgress.net or Reed Business. Comments welcome.
Latest Blogs (131-140 of 248)
Nut so good
A few weeks ago I received a question from one the Pig Progress readers. She asked me if she could feed her backyard potbellied pigs some leftover peanuts and peanut butter. My first reaction was: of course! Why not?
Announcing – IPVS 2010 in Vancouver
Canada will host the 21st International Pig Veterinary Society (IPVS) Congress in Vancouver, British Columbia, July 18-21, 2010. This is the first time the IPVS Congress will be held in Canada and we are planning to have it follow in the footsteps of previous congresses and be yet another invigorating event.
Low protein diets
I have been often asked whether pig formulas should be formulated with the minimum or maximum crude protein concentration possible. Assuming cost is about the same, I have always favoured low-protein diets. Nevertheless, this should not be taken as a universal statement, because there are conditions, mainly economical, under which a low-protein diet is not profitable. But, let’s see first, why low-protein diets are beneficial from a biological point of view and how this translates into more money for the producer!
Agriculture in 2017
Somewhat later in the year, you will most probably find similar blogs to this one, called 'Agriculture in 2018'. I daresay that these blogs might be slightly less positive than this one. Why?
REO and RoI – What’s the difference?
I know – boring old economics! But please read on, as so many of you get the two mixed up, including dare I say it – several economists! REO (Return on Extra Outlay) is a much more useful term than RoI (Return on Investment). One sees RoI being used constantly - usually in the wrong way – when REO would be far more appropriate.
Feed Microbiology 101
I am not aware of any college in the USA or Europe offering such course, but in my opinion, they ought to because of the enhanced importance this topic is discussed with in technical and regulatory circles. Simply knowing that feed and ingredients are contaminated or not is no longer good enough as we need both quantitative and qualitative means of measuring the microbiological load of these materials.
Medication via liquid feeds – a follow up
Following my original weblog on medicating liquid feeds, it appears the Dutch have adopted a pragmatic approach and have come up with a voluntary code for testing the stability of VMPs (Veterinary Medicinal Products) in liquid feed, which can then go on their IKP (pig meat producers) list for use.
Mixing growing pigs
Try to mix pigs as little as possible. Varley (2001) showed that litters kept together grew 110g/day faster to 20 days post-weaning.
Television debut
Pig Progress made its television debut last week when appearing in the satirical BBC programme Have I Got News For You.
Mystery pigs
As usual at any farm visit, pigs announce themselves rapidly. A strong, familiar odour usually enters through the car ventilation system or window before I have had the chance to get out.
