Piglet Mortality in an Outdoor Farrowing Hut: What Behaviors Contribute to Their Demise?

Pre-weaning crushing mortality has been estimated to cost the industry over $100 million/yr and is a serious animal well-being concern. The objectives of this study were to determine behavior, postures, locations and vicinity to the sow for each piglet 1-h prior to piglet death when housed in an outdoor farrowing hut. No differences (P \u3e 0.05) were found for behavior or postures between CR and NC groups. Piglets engaged in more (P = 0.006) standing during the daylight hours. No (P \u3e 0.05) differences were observed among treatments and time for location within the farrowing hut. For vicinity to the sow, there were no (P \u3e 0.05) treatment differences but for time of day, piglets spent more (P = 0.004) time close to the sow during dark hours. In conclusion, piglet behavior, postures, location and vicinity to the sow 1 hour prior to piglet death did not differ between the two treatment groups. Time of day affected standing postures with more piglets standing during the light hours and at night more piglets preferred to be in the vicinity of the sow. Therefore, finding few behavioral differences between treatments may indicate that variation among sow behavior is a more significant cause of piglet crushing than variation among piglet behaviors

Can Fear Be Effectively Assessed in Swine? A Study Measuring Fear Levels during a Human Approach Test

This study evaluated the effect of experience and social companionship on the degree of fearfulness in pigs during a human approach test. Experience had no significant effect on fearfulness of pigs while social companionship significantly decreased number of vocalizations (156 (unpaired) vs. 54 sec (paired) P \u3c 0.05), latency to enter within 1 meter (97 (unpaired) vs. 50 sec (paired) P \u3c0.05), and 0.5 meter (133 (unpaired) vs. 70 sec (paired) P \u3c 0.05), as well as significantly increased number of contact bouts (5.7 (unpaired) vs. 7.75 (paired) P \u3c 0.05). These results suggest that experience with a novel environment and novel human will not necessarily decrease fear, but the social environment does play a large role in decreasing fearfulness in pigs. Producers can use the human approach test to evaluate levels of fear and implement positive management strategies to decrease fearfulness in the herd

Excavation: Recent Photographs by Stanley Greenberg Exhibition Catalogue

https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/greenberg-ephemera/1000/thumbnail.jp

Piglet Mortality in an Outdoor Farrowing Hut: What Contributes to their Demise Over the First 72-h After Parturition?

Pre-weaning mortality has been estimated to cost the industry over $100 million/yr and is a serious animal wellbeing concern. The objective of this study were to determine behavior (nursing) and postures, (active and inactive) for piglets over the first 72-h after parturition when housed in an outdoor farrowing hut. No differences were found for nursing (P = 0.69), active (P = 0.52), inactive (P = 0.59) or unknown (P = 0.78) for piglets that were killed or not killed over the first 72-h after parturition. In conclusion there were no differences in the behavioral repertoire performed by outdoor loose housed piglets that resulted in their death by crushing over the first 72-h after parturition. Therefore, finding few behavioral differences between treatments may indicate that variation among sow behavior is a more significant cause of piglet rushing than variation among piglet behaviors

Effects of Facility Design on the Stress Response of Market Weight Pigs during Loading and Unloading

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of finisher pig facility design on pig stress responses at the time of loading for the market weight pig. The new (NEW) design had 192 pigs / pen with internal swing gates that were used to manually pre-sort market weight pigs on the day before loading. Traditional (TRAD) design had 32 pigs / pen; it was not feasible to pre-sort market weight pigs prior to loading. During loading, treatments were alternatively assigned to trailer decks. Pigs were loaded onto straight deck trailers, provided with ~0.41 m 2 / pig and were transported ~1 h to a commercial plant. During loading and unloading, the number of pigs displaying open mouth breathing (OMB), skin discoloration (SD) and muscle tremors (MT) were recorded. At the plant, dead and nonambulatory pigs were recorded during unloading, and nonambulatory pigs were classified as fatigued (stress-related) or injured. Total losses were defined as the sum of dead + non-ambulatory pigs at the plant. Data were analyzed by Proc Glimmix of SAS. NEW pigs had lower (P ≤ 0.05) percentages of OMB, SD and MT during loading and unloading compared to TRAD pigs. NEW pigs had fewer (P \u3c 0.05) dead pigs (0.01 vs. 0.23 ± 0.05 %), total nonambulatory pigs (0.29 vs. 0.66 ± 0.12 %) and total losses (0.30 vs. 0.89 ± 0.14 %) at the plant compared to TRAD pigs. In summary, utilizing large pens and pre-sorting prior to loading, reduced physical signs of stress during loading and unloading, and reduced total losses at the plant by 66 % compared to pigs from traditional pens

Drinker to Nursery Pigs Ratio: Effects on Drinking Behavior and Performance

The effect of pig ratio to cup waterers was evaluated to determine changes on pig drinking behavior and performance. Ratios of 1:25 (treatment 1), 1:12 (treatment 2), and 1:8 (treatment 3) were studied. Treatment 3 drank more frequently than those provide with one or two cup waterers per pen. There was a trend for pigs provided 2 or 3 cup waterers in a pen to have increased average daily gains. While further research is needed to quantify and confirm these findings, a nursery providing a ratio closer to published guidelines may lead to increase performance

Albiglutide and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (Harmony Outcomes): a double-blind, randomised placebo-controlled trial

Background: Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists differ in chemical structure, duration of action, and in their effects on clinical outcomes. The cardiovascular effects of once-weekly albiglutide in type 2 diabetes are unknown. We aimed to determine the safety and efficacy of albiglutide in preventing cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke. Methods: We did a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in 610 sites across 28 countries. We randomly assigned patients aged 40 years and older with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (at a 1:1 ratio) to groups that either received a subcutaneous injection of albiglutide (30–50 mg, based on glycaemic response and tolerability) or of a matched volume of placebo once a week, in addition to their standard care. Investigators used an interactive voice or web response system to obtain treatment assignment, and patients and all study investigators were masked to their treatment allocation. We hypothesised that albiglutide would be non-inferior to placebo for the primary outcome of the first occurrence of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke, which was assessed in the intention-to-treat population. If non-inferiority was confirmed by an upper limit of the 95% CI for a hazard ratio of less than 1·30, closed testing for superiority was prespecified. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02465515. Findings: Patients were screened between July 1, 2015, and Nov 24, 2016. 10 793 patients were screened and 9463 participants were enrolled and randomly assigned to groups: 4731 patients were assigned to receive albiglutide and 4732 patients to receive placebo. On Nov 8, 2017, it was determined that 611 primary endpoints and a median follow-up of at least 1·5 years had accrued, and participants returned for a final visit and discontinuation from study treatment; the last patient visit was on March 12, 2018. These 9463 patients, the intention-to-treat population, were evaluated for a median duration of 1·6 years and were assessed for the primary outcome. The primary composite outcome occurred in 338 (7%) of 4731 patients at an incidence rate of 4·6 events per 100 person-years in the albiglutide group and in 428 (9%) of 4732 patients at an incidence rate of 5·9 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group (hazard ratio 0·78, 95% CI 0·68–0·90), which indicated that albiglutide was superior to placebo (p<0·0001 for non-inferiority; p=0·0006 for superiority). The incidence of acute pancreatitis (ten patients in the albiglutide group and seven patients in the placebo group), pancreatic cancer (six patients in the albiglutide group and five patients in the placebo group), medullary thyroid carcinoma (zero patients in both groups), and other serious adverse events did not differ between the two groups. There were three (<1%) deaths in the placebo group that were assessed by investigators, who were masked to study drug assignment, to be treatment-related and two (<1%) deaths in the albiglutide group. Interpretation: In patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, albiglutide was superior to placebo with respect to major adverse cardiovascular events. Evidence-based glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists should therefore be considered as part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes. Funding: GlaxoSmithKline