On-demand: Webinar on high levels of hygiene in pig farms
Great biosecurity, scrutiny for water quality and high levels of hygiene all matter to reduce the risk of pathogens as much as possible on pig farms. That – and much more – was the key message at a Pig Progress webinar on Thursday, April 24. The webinar is now available for viewing on-demand.
Click here to view the hygiene webinar on-demand
The webinar, which was organised in cooperation with hygiene and biosecurity company Cid Lines, an Ecolab company, featured 3 expert speakers.
The importance of biosecurity
Dr Carlos Piñeiro, CEO of Animal Data Analytics in Spain, kicked off the webinar with a presentation on the importance of decent biosecurity and how to help farm staff do their job better in terms of biosecurity. He said that there are too many and too frequent biosecurity errors, and most even go undetected. Often, he said, the human factor is therefore a key in a biosecurity system. For a long time, he has been a big supporter of sensors to provide evidence for biosecurity compliance. Data science can help in that respect, he concluded.
Water quality
Secondly, Dr Gabi Doughan addressed the audience. She is veterinarian and post-doctoral research associate with the Swine Medicine Education Center (SMEC) at Iowa State University in the United States. Dr Doughan gave an overview of a research project revolving around water quality. She called water an “overlooked component” in swine production management. Pathogens can not only spread through water but also through biofilms in the water lines. She added that biofilms can grow back within 3 days after water line cleaning and disinfection, which would mean a continuous treatment is needed. Dr Doughan concluded adding that biofilms can be a reservoir for antimicrobial resistant bacteria.
Advanced hygiene programme
The webinar was closed off by a presentation by Elien Claeys, global technical manager with Cid Lines. She discussed the results of a study in cooperation with Animal Data Analytics – where Swine Prime was put to the test. Cid Lines promotes that as “an advanced hygiene programme for maternity and hygiene phases.” The study emphasised rock-solid results of the effects of cleaning and disinfection. This included 2% more piglets per sow, a 16% mortality reduction in farrowing units, 4.7 times lower medication. In addition, she said, in nursery units, mortality went down 14% and medication use was 1.5 times lower.
Click here to view the hygiene webinar on-demand
