It is well known that animals make use of chemical communication to exchange information within their environment. This chemical communication involves the production, emission and detection of these chemicals. Pigs are able to produce chemical messages (odours) from digital,...
The pain associated with castration continues to be an animal welfare concern. In an effort to improve animal welfare, the German Parliament had outlawed castration without anaesthesia in 2013. It actually was not until January 1, 2021, that castration...
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Friday, October 7, 2022
LEAN HOGS:
The Sep unemployment rate stands at 3.5% and the U.S. economy created 263,000 jobs during Sep compared with expectations of 275,000. No matter how you slice it, no matter what the stock market does today, this information...
Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) piglets are associated with large litter size and is suggested to be a factor in 5% to 10% of pregnancies. A crowded pregnant uterus affects placental functions regarding size, vascularity, and surface area. Smaller placentas...
Some animal welfare advocates argue that the permanent confinement of sows in farrowing crates will limit the sow’s freedom of movement and the ability to show typical species appropriate behaviour. They further argue that permanent confinement increases the risk...
Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial infections worldwide. Cystitis is an inflammation of the urinary bladder. This infection is often the result of an ascending bacterial infection. The condition is often subclinical in pigs...
Tail biting has continued to be a problem that occurs in pig production despite an increase in our knowledge of techniques that can be used to prevent tail biting. Still a major “pain in the butt” on some farms...
African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) is most often described as being highly contagious and causing virulent disease with very high mortality. The fact of the matter is that ASFV is not highly contagious. It certainly is contagious but only...
The level of contamination with mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON, "vomitoxin") can vary from year to year depending on field management, growing conditions and grain storage. Pigs are quite sensitive to the toxicity of DON. Toxic levels of DON...
When a disease spills over from animals to humans it is called a zoonotic event. In June, 2021, the Province of Manitoba reported a zoonotic event that involved a swine host adapted influenza Virus (IAV-S) that infected humans. When...