The opinion of the bloggers do not necessarily reflect the opinion of PigProgress.net or Reed Business. Comments welcome.
Latest Blogs (241-250 of 260)
Should piglet tail docking be banned in the EU?
Most farmers will have come across the problem at one stage or another:
tailbiting. To prevent this, the practice of preventive taildocking is
widespread. However, in an ideal world, it should not be necessary to trim the
tails off piglets to stop them. Should piglet tail docking be banned in
the EU?
Technical grade glycerol
When manufacturing biodiesel an interesting by-product
appears: glycerol. This product could very easily be used as a feed ingredient.
Here's some ideas how to deal with glycerol in feed in the
future.
Reactions to several blogs
Avid readers of this website have been responding to a
couple of my previous blogs - "Using the benefit of computerisation to the full"
and "Wanted: insult-proof, juicy pork". I shall be dealing with their questions
and remarks (in italics) here.
Should we ban piglet castration in the EU?
There are an increasing number of lobby groups in
various EU countries advocating the banning of castration of piglets. On the
29th January the EU commission SCFCAH working group held a closed meeting for
member state officials and invited speakers to consider the
subject.
Compensatory growth
One of the main arguments in using low quality or low
density feeds for nursery and growing-finishing pigs is that late-life
compensatory growth (when feed gets cheaper) will make up for any checks on
early growth. So, is this true? Does compensatory growth really exist? The
answer is a bit complicated.
Using the benefits of computerisation to the full
This might raise a few hackles in certain quarters! All the same, I am not
denigrating the strides which computer-recording has taken over the past 15
years - just suggesting that the subject's progress seems to me to have
levelled-out. Why do I say this? And what needs to be
done?
PMWS and PCVAD - is it still there in Europe?
North America is breaking down with Post-weaning
Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS), or as they like to call
it Porcine Circovirus Associated Disease (PCVAD), in its acute form. In Europe,
we have mainly passed this high mortality phase in weaners and growers and have
entered the chronic phase of lower mortality, but often in more valuable finishing
animals. How badly are we affected here in
Europe?
How to reduce dependence on animal plasma?
Animal plasma is a unique ingredient in that it invariably increases animal
performance, the more under less healthy conditions. Previous research has
clearly demonstrated it is the heavy molecular weight fraction of animal plasma,
which contains the immunoglobulins, that is largely responsible for improved
gastrointestinal health that manifests into enhanced growth, evidenced by higher
feed intakes post-weaning.
Wanted: insult-proof juicy pork
This is not an attack on the pig breeding companies world-wide, but an
opportunity to make a point which has troubled me for at least 20
years.
Fishmeal's X-factor
For a number of reasons (low fish stocks, high demand,
marketing), fishmeal has become quite expensive; in my opinion, too expensive to
be used without hesitation in piglet diets.
