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Latest Blogs (151-160 of 249)
Swine dysentery eradication – some practical considerations
In recent months we have seen an increase in swine
dysentery cases in the UK and frequent discussions about what should we do.
Should we eradicate or slaughter out?
International recognition
"I was afraid I’d be sitting here all alone, nothing to do, nobody to talk to," the German representative of GlobalGap told me, about a month ago, at an international EuroTier press meeting in the German city of Göttingen.
Modern gilt feeding methods – does it pay?
I have just completed analysing the farm records from some courageous breeders who bit the bullet several years ago and adopted the advice on upgrading their gilt feeding which appeared around 2004.
Eggs for healthy piglets
In long past times, the most effective cure for piglet scours was feeding
them with eggs from hens raised in the same farm. Since then, things have
changed but this knowledge has not been lost. I am talking here about
hyper-immunised egg powder.
Antimicrobial use, resistance and misconceptions
Following the recent release of the UK's usage
of antimicrobials in veterinary medicine, there was the usual storm from the
organic lobby. Are they right, are we sitting on a time bomb waiting to go
off?
I trail a coat. Is the gilt really a 'herd contaminant'?
Parity segregation (where the replacement female up to the second lactation
is kept physically separate from the rest of the herd) seems to be successful.
Parity segregation promises fewer of certain diseases and a much longer sow
productive life (SPL).
Dietary electrolyte balance (dEB)
When we formulate diets for pigs, little attention is paid usually on
minerals, apart from meeting certain specifications and only for just a few of
them. Yet, minerals are extremely important especially because the balance among
them affects metabolism in a very profound way. Let's see how this little known
nutritional topic can influence animal performance.
Tidying up some loose ends
Over the last few month's, I was asked a number of
questions such as 'how effective PCV2 vaccines would be when there is a mixed
respiratory infection with over 30% mortality', and also 'how am I meant to give
all these vaccines to my growing pigs?' Some answers are now
emerging.
PRRS - The disease which keeps bugging us
It certainly does!
I've just read an excellent review under the above title by Jeff Zimmerman of
Iowa State University given to the London (Ontario) Swine Conference 2008. In
common with so many of the erudite papers on the disease during the
past 5 years, it covers epidemiology (veterinary-speak for what can cause disease)
excellently.
High time for net energy
When was the last time you checked your formulations? If your diets are
still formulated on digestible energy (DE) or metabolisable energy (ME), it is
high time to question these nutrition practices. The net energy (NE) system is
by far the best and most accurate system to use in all pig diets and it will
enable you to better match available ingredients with actual animal needs. So,
let's talk more about it!
