Eye On Europe: Double AI catheter adds almost an extra piglet per litter
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Tests indicated not only that average litter sizes were larger with double deposition but also that these litters could be safely achieved with less volume of semen
by NORMAN DUNN
Spanish pig insemination specialist Magapor claims to be the first in the world to introduce a double-deposition catheter for sow AI. This is a 1.5 metre-long catheter which deposits semen under pressure, both post-cervical and intrauterine, at a ratio of 80:20.
The company claims that two years of research and field trials with the new "Maga+DD" system and trials indicate that it can give 0.7 extra field piglets per litter through helping to ensure higher sperma delivery in the uterus horns.
Magapor says that intrauterine insemination alone tends to depress litter size with the semen flowing into one horn of the uterus. The new system is designed to allow sperma access to the ovocytes in both horns. First field tests on an 800-sow herd saw 317 sows of mixed ages served over a period of seven weeks. Groups were formed comparing the double deposit system with conventional post-cervical deposition. These indicated not only that average litter sizes were larger with double deposition but also that these litters could be safely achieved with less volume of semen.
The control post-cervical AI group on full dose (three billion sperma in 90 cc) produced litters averaging 13.8 piglets. The sows on full dose AI applied with the double-deposition catheter achieved 14.5 piglets per litter on average. But where the dose was reduced to 1.5 billion sperma in 50 cc the average number of litter members rose to 14.6. A lower dose of sperma (750 million in 50 cc) inseminated with the double-dose catheter equalled the prolificacy achieved by the post-cervical technique on full dose with an average of 13.9 piglets per litter.
Magapor aimed to market the new catheter by the end of 2008. The firm also says that no special training is required for its use, since using it is as simple as standard port-cervical technique. Because semen is introduced under pressure the insemination process is also said to be faster than with conventional equipment.
Underfloor cooling for nursing sows
Another development last year within European hog breeding is the universal acceptance that nursing sows in farrowing pens perform better when their immediate environment is cooler. Piglets might like things best when the temperature is way up at 27 degrees, but mother prefers at least 10 degrees less, according to research.
Better Pork's April 2008 "Eye on Europe" has already reported one way of addressing this problem through nose-level ventilation within the farrowing crate bringing cooler air direct to the nursing sow. Now, Jovas Agro International from the Netherlands is introducing underfloor cooling for farrowing pens. The Dutch Sterksel Institute has tested lowering ambient temperature of the flooring around the sow's shoulder area with an extra underfloor air channel and this increased sow feed intake by 500 grams a day compared with sows in the same building in farrowing pens with only nose ventilation.
Jovas has now designed an underfloor system for retro-fitting, incorporating a metal floor plate for the head and shoulder areas of the farrowing crate with a cool air channel underneath, the air being drawn into the building via the feed passage. Capital cost for fitting the new system runs to from the equivalent of $46 to $156 per pen. This is less than 25 per cent of the price for some new water-cooled systems for farrowing crate floors, points out Jovas.
Another newcomer with farrowing crate floor cooling adds increased comfort as well.
Gråkjær Staldbyg from Denmark is developing soft rubber matting glued to farrowing crate flooring. The aim here was to help avoid pressure injuries to sow shoulders. But the developers found that they could also keep the nursing animals cool by running a network of water-carrying tubes through the mat.
"CoolComfort" is to be the trade name of the mat, which features a tough, bite-resistant 20-millimetre top layer of rubber over a foam interior. On test farms, so far the cooling water has been tapped straight off the drinking supply and this has proved to reduce contact temperature significantly. As yet, no market price has been calculated, but the firm says that it is aiming for a product which will pay for itself within a year through more comfortable sows and less shoulder injuries.
Custom butcher service for Scottish farmers
Butcher Paul Smith from Aberdeenshire in northeast Scotland has developed a unique service for farmers who want to market pork (or other meats) produced on their own farms.
Not only does his business arrange collection and slaughter of the animals. The carcasses are jointed according to specifications – for instance into bacon, hams and pork chops, with other meat ground or used in sausages. The products can be left fresh, be vacuum-packed or be blast-frozen. They are then either returned to the farm of origin for direct sale to the public or packaged with a special logo and labelling for the farm and shipped to requested addresses.
The custom-butchering and delivery service has been built up over eight years and includes dry curing of bacon when required. Although the packaging and distribution sector is continually expanding, most of Smith's customers are still farmers who like to get a side of pork from their own production into the freezer and enjoy it with their families and guests through the winter. In summer, there's a big demand for barbecue pork and Smith also rents out a Canadian-style hog roaster to customers.
And while he butchers according to every customer's wishes, Smith still maintains his own traditional quality standards. With cattle, for instance, he insists on hanging beef for three weeks before it is delivered onwards.
New farrowing system gives more safety for litter members
Optimum safety for suckling piglets is the theme of a new sow-farrowing pen design introduced by Danish manufacturer Vissing. The Combisti 2008 farrowing crate is bolted at the trough end only. This leaves the rear end of the crate suspended above the floor with no legs, so that piglets have free escape routes when the sow lies down. This design also makes the crate much less restrictive for the sow, says the maker.
More safety for litter members is given by sprung horizontal bars on each side of the crate interior. These are positioned to induce the sow to lie down on her belly before rolling over for nursing. Research in Denmark indicates that this idea gives piglets even more time to get out of the way when mother is going down.
Yet another piglet safety touch in the new design is the introduction of double piglet creeps, one at each side of the sow. This is aimed at preventing injuries to the young pigs trying to reach a single creep when stranded on the wrong side of the sow.
Another innovation features the sow trough situated right down at ground level. The designers say that sows naturally eat off the ground and claim that eating this way is therefore less stressful for them. Ideal size of pen for the crate, centrally situated crate and twin creep areas is put at from 170 x 271centimetres to 180 x 280 centimetres.
Self-feeder for sows on liquid rations
The higher-intake advantage of liquid feed for farrowing and nursing sows is the basis for the Artemis trough, introduced this winter by German swine equipment specialist Mannebeck. The computer-controlled system features a stainless steel trough with dry feed supply activated by the sow turning a wheel with her snout. The system recognizes the sow ID through her ear transponder, then deposits a preset amount of feed into the trough. A quantity of water – also preset – is automatically added to give a liquid feed. An inbuilt feed sensor allows no further feed into the trough until it has been emptied.
But the new system does much more than this. The daily feed ration for the sow is automatically divided into periods throughout 24 hours, with the sow unable to call up more feed than allowed for each period. The amount of feed and water for individual sows can also be altered at any time, either through the farm computer or immediately by a hand-held controller in the actual farrowing house.
Even more important is the documentation available for the herd manager, because the Artemis system measures not only individual feed consumption but water, too, with in-built alarm signals when consumption of either falls.
Electronic welfare systems monitor sow movements
Newly launched on the European market are several dry sow management systems based on continual movement surveillance and analysis. These are used with loose-housed sows.
The sows have collar or ear-stud transponders and sensors around the barn record their position, beaming wireless messages of all sow positions to a receiver and by wireless LAN into the farm computer or direct to a hand-held terminal.
Such systems are being developed now because the majority of breeding herds are changing to loose housing systems. European Union regulations require stall and tether housing of dry sows to end by 2013 and running dry sows in groups in loose housing systems means increased demands in individual sow management.
Another reason is the continual refinement of software now capable of analyzing sow movements very accurately and calculating what they mean in terms of animals in heat, being bullied, losing appetite or not drinking enough. Appropriate warnings are automatically flagged on the farm computer or the stockperson's hand-held terminal.
One of the most intensively developed pieces of software is used in the aptly named "Argus Welfare System" developed by Austrian livestock equipment company Schauer.
Sensors in the sow barn pick up the identifying frequencies from the sow transponders, as well as GPS information. "The system can be set-up to base movement recording on a reading every five, 10 or 15 seconds, for instance," explains Wolfgang Auer from Schauer.
"The value is in the tremendous amount of husbandry and welfare control, as well as management warnings, we can develop from movement tracking within a dry sow barn. The system works together with our electronic sow feeding systems, so that feed consumption information can also be added for an even more comprehensive analysis."
Another animal position recording system just on the market is "Local Position Measurement" (LPM) from another Austrian firm, Abatec Elektronic. Based on ear transponders, this offers permanent tracking in real time (up to 1,000 times per second) with sows, and is powerful enough to be used for outdoor animals too. Positioning is GPS-based with radio communication giving 3-D information and even recording speed of movement at any time. Accompanying software is able to analyze the movement information to identify length of feeding, laying and inter-group social behaviour.
Research is the first target for the Abatec LPM development, but the company sees huge opportunities in large-scale farming, both with housed livestock and free-range systems. Tests are already being carried out on Swiss farms. BP