Immunocastration as Alternative to Surgical Castration in Pigs

Surgical castration of piglets is a routine practice in pig production used to prevent the incidence of boar taint of pig meat, which may develop in entire male pigs as they reach puberty. This practice is being presently questioned in the European Union, and there is a strong initiative to end it. The initiative is presently voluntary; however, key stakeholders of European pig production sector have signed a declaration, and the actions undertaken by them already affect the business. Before such new concepts in pig production can be implemented, alternative solutions are needed, one of them being immunocastration. The present chapter will thus focus on the presentation of immunocastration as one of the promising alternatives to surgical castration. Theoretical and practical aspects of immunocastration in pig production will be described, and the advantages and disadvantages of this alternative will be summarised. Physiological principles of immunocastration and impacts on metabolism, growth performance, body composition and meat quality will be described and aspects of public acceptability reviewed

TEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF IMMUNOCASTRATION

Due to animal welfare problems and strong public opposition a ban on surgical castration of male piglets is foreseen in EU until the end of 2018. To cope with this major change in pig production, intensive research of possible alternatives is carried out, in particular fattening of entire (EM) and immunocastrated (IC) males. Present publication is focused on the immunocastration; its physiological principles and impact on metabolism, growth performance, carcass and meat quality, animal welfare, economics and public acceptability. Although current trends indicate that rearing of EM is more likely to become a regular practice for the provision of fresh meat market, immunocastration offers a good alternative, especially interesting for fattening pigs to higher age and weight (e.g. more extensive systems) due to the efficient elimination of boar taint and advantages in animal welfare and meat quality

An attempt to predict conformation and fatness in bulls by means of artificial neural networks using weight, age and breed composition information

The present study aimed to predict conformation and fatness grades in bulls based on data available at slaughter (carcass weight, age and breed proportions) by means of counter-propagation artificial neural networks (ANN). For chemometric analysis, 5893 bull carcasses (n=2948 and n=2945 for calibration and testing of models, respectively) were randomly selected from the initial data set (n≈27000; one abattoir, one classifier, three years period). Different ANN models were developed for conformation and fatness by varying the net size and the number of epochs. Tested net parameters did not have a notable effect on models’ quality. Respecting the tolerance of ±1 subclass between the actual and predicted value (as allowed by European Union legislation for on-spot checks), the matching between the classifier and ANN grading was 73.6 and 64.9% for conformation and fatness, respectively. Success rate of prediction was positively related to the frequency of carcasses in the class.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Performance of Krškopolje Pigs in Extensive and Intensive Production Systems

An observational study of growth performance was performed with Krškopolje pigs reared in extensive (EXT) and intensive (INT) production system. Pigs in INT system (n=6) were housed indoors and received a complete feed mixture, while EXT pigs (n=6) were kept in combined indoor/outdoor system and were fed a traditional meal (cooked root crops) and a mixture of ground grains. Growth performance and meat quality traits of longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle of pigs were assessed. Pigs were monitored from 86 to 224 days of age and were weighed 4-times (at 86, 129, 195, 224 days) with 4 growth stages (25-45, 45-75, 75-90 and 90-120 kg) considered. Overall INT pigs achieved 49 % higher daily gain and were heavier at slaughter than EXT pigs (88 vs. 120 kg, P<0.001). Growth rate of INT and EXT pigs was similar (443 vs. 464 g/day) from 25-45 kg, whereas EXT pigs grew slower than INT pigs in the periods 45-75 and 75-90 kg (445 vs. 853 and 505 vs 893 g/day, respectively). In the last period (90-120 kg) only INT pigs were monitored and they exhibited a decline in growth rate (580 g/day) compared to the previous two periods. Due to higher body weight (BW) at slaughter, INT had thicker backfat than EXT pigs (40 vs. 22 mm, P<0.000), however at equal BW (88 kg), no differences were noted. EXT pigs exhibited lower CIE L* (P=0.044) and higher CIE a* (P=0.003) colour parameters of LD (i.e. darker, redder LD colour), indicative of more oxidative muscle metabolism of EXT pigs

Analytical Review of Productive Performance of Local Pig Breeds

Traits of interest concerning reproductive performance, growth performance, carcass and meat quality of local pig breeds involved in H2020 project TREASURE were collected from the available literature, unpublished data available to partners or results recorded in the experiments within the project. The survey revealed great variability in the availability and quality of information. Reproductive performance of local pig breeds is lower than in conventional modern pig breeds, not only due to their genetic background but also due to the management. Data on growth rates reflect the heterogeneity of different production systems and feeding regimes used. The growth potential of the majority of local pig breeds is not well exploited, and their nutritional requirements are not known. Generally, local pig breeds show low muscular development and high potential for fat tissue deposition and are slaughtered at older age and weight, which results in higher intramuscular fat and more intense colour of meat. However, considerable differences exist between them and their potentials, not only in their production systems. For many local pig breeds studied in the project, the collected information provides the first in-depth overview of their productive performance in their preserved, present-day phenotype

Performance of Krškopolje pigs in extensive and intensive production systems

An observational study of growth performance was performed with Krškopolje pigs reared in extensive (EXT) and intensive (INT) production system. Pigs in INT system (n=6) were housed indoors and received a complete feed mixture, while EXT pigs (n=6) were kept in combined indoor/outdoor system and were fed a traditional meal (cooked root crops) and a mixture of ground grains. Growth performance and meat quality traits of longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle of pigs were assessed. Pigs were monitored from 86 to 224 days of age and were weighed 4-times (at 86, 129, 195, 224 days) with 4 growth stages (25-45, 45-75, 75-90 and 90-120 kg) considered. Overall INT pigs achieved 49 % higher daily gain and were heavier at slaughter than EXT pigs (88 vs. 120 kg, P<0.001). Growth rate of INT and EXT pigs was similar (443 vs. 464 g/day) from 25-45 kg, whereas EXT pigs grew slower than INT pigs in the periods 45-75 and 75-90 kg (445 vs. 853 and 505 vs 893 g/day, respectively). In the last period (90-120 kg) only INT pigs were monitored and they exhibited a decline in growth rate (580 g/day) compared to the previous two periods. Due to higher body weight (BW) at slaughter, INT had thicker backfat than EXT pigs (40 vs. 22 mm, P<0.000), however at equal BW (88 kg), no differences were noted. EXT pigs exhibited lower CIE L* (P=0.044) and higher CIE a* (P=0.003) colour parameters of LD (i.e. darker, redder LD colour), indicative of more oxidative muscle metabolism of EXT pigs

Krškopoljski prašič (Krškopolje Pig)

This chapter presents the history and the current state-of-the-art in the only Slovenian autochthonous pig breed - Krškopolje pig. A review of literature regarding productive traits was carried out. The reproductive performance includes sow age at first parturition and at culling, litters per sow per year, number of live born and percentage of stillborn piglets per litter, piglet birth and weaning weight, mortality at weaning, duration of lactation and length of farrowing interval. Growth performance was evaluated as average daily gain in lactation, post-weaning, and early, mid, or late fattening. Daily feed intake in different stages was also assessed. Review also addresses age and weight at slaughter, and carcass traits: hot carcass weight, carcass yield, lean meat content, backfat and muscle thickness, and loin eye area. Meat quality traits considered were Longissimus muscle pH, objective colour parameters and intra muscular fat content. Additionally, fatty acid composition of intramuscular fat and backfat tissue was considered. Although studies on Krškopolje pig are scarce and the results on productive traits should be interpreted with precaution, due to different production systems and feeding strategies used in considered studies, the current review gives the first overview on this local pig breed in its current phenotype

Accuracy of Near Infrared Spectroscopy to Predict Quality of Pork and Pork Products Including Samples of Krškopolje and Turopolje Pigs

Study demonstrates the preliminary results of the evaluation of pork and pork products of local Slovenian (Krškopolje) and Croatian (Turopolje) pig breeds using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) conducted in the frame of European Union H2020 project TREASURE. For that purpose, samples from meat and products of two local pig breeds were collected, scanned with near infrared spectroscopy apparatus and chemically analysed (for proximate composition, fatty acids composition, proteolysis index, salt content and water activity). Data obtained were added to the database of previously collected samples and prediction models were recalibrated and reassessed. In general, NIRS calibration models are considered to be fit for purpose when the requirements (chemometric parameters) for screening purposes are met. In the present study, the quality of recalibrations using the samples from local pig breeds confirmed practical applicability for majority of studied quality traits. Further efforts are needed to enlarge the database with additional samples from local pig breeds to improve the robustness of the models and to test the calibrations on the independent sets of samples (i.e. with external validation)

Differences in Carcass and Meat Quality between Organically Reared Cocks and Capons

The aim of the present study was to compare carcass and meat quality traits of ecologically reared capons and cocks. The experiment comprised 60 layer-type Slovenian hybrid Prelux-G chickens. Half of the animals were caponized at the age of 52 days (app. 0.5 kg body mass) and another half were left entire males. All chickens were reared on the same farm respecting requirements for ecological farming. Chickens were fed commercial feed mixtures combined with the free access to pasture. After the slaughter (185 days), the chickens were dissected and main carcass parts were weighed. Meat quality (pH, colour, water-holding capacity) and chemical composition (protein, water, intramuscular fat) were determined. Birds of both groups had similar weight of carcass and body parts, except for weight of the thighs with drumsticks and off al weight, which were significantly lower in capons. The main differences in carcass traits appeared in the abdominal fat tissue. Capons had more abdominal fat. Meat physico-chemical characteristics (pH, drip loss) were similar in both groups, except for the colour. Capons had lighter (higher Minolta L*value) and less red (lower Minolta a* value) colour of meat as cocks. There was no difference between capons and cocks in the content of muscle proteins, water and intramuscular fat