Schaalvergroting gaat door

Elke tien tot twaalf jaar verdubbelt het modale bedrijf. Wat vroeger gold als een megastal, is nu regulier. Het is dus een autonome trend waar je als overheid rekening mee moet houden, zegt Karel de Greef, onderzoeker bij Wageningen UR Livestock Research

Prediction of production : nutrition induced tissue partitioning in growing pigs

In several swine growth models, a constant ratio is assumed between lipid deposition rate and protein deposition rate when pigs are fed below their protein deposition capacity. In the present thesis, it was studied whether there is an effect of energy intake, live weight and nutritional history on composition of growth in restrictedly fed pigs. Results showed that all three mentioned factors affected the composition of growth. Fatness of deposited tissue increased both with an increase in energy intake and with live weight. It was concluded that the composition of total tissue is not constant. It was derived that the composition of extra tissue, deposited due to extra energy intake is independent of energy intake. This extra tissue is consistently fatter than total deposited tissue. This explains the increase in fatness of pigs with each increase in energy intake. It was studied which factor (energy intake or body weight) is of major importance for the partitioning of tissue. Composition of growth was affected by energy intake to a considerably larger extent than by live weight. Furthermore, data on the partitioning of deposited protein and lipid within the body showed that, even at low energy intakes, the major part of extra tissue (due to extra energy intake) was deposited in non-lean carcass parts

Advies innovatietraject Vleespluimvee op basis van Systeemanalyse van keten van vleespluimvee

De verduurzaming van de pluimveehouderij is één van de speerpunten van het landbouwbeleid. Om in kaart te brengen op welke punten daar verbetering in zou kunnen komen heeft ASG daarom in opdracht van LNV in de zomer van 2009 een analyse van de pluimveevleessector uitgevoerd. Kip, eenden en kalkoenen blijven in deze studie buiten beschouwing. De vleeskuikensector omvat nadrukkelijk ook vleeskuikenouderdieren

Dieren spreken niet voor zichzelf

I.v.m. met de vraag van het ministerie aan ASG een wetenschappelijk overzicht van de welzijnsproblemen in de veehouderij op te stellen en daarbij prioriteiten voor te stellen voor de aanpak van problemen, wordt hier ingegaan op de vraag wie bepaalt wat goed dierenwelzijn is. In maatschappelijk beladen discussies wordt vaak van de wetenschap het verlossende woord verwacht, maar de vraag is of dat wel terecht is

Vijf zienswijzen van dierenwelzijn

LNV-minister Gerda Verburg wil vijf procent duurzame stallen in 2011. In 2023 moet de veehouderij 100 procent 'integraal duurzaam' zijn. Bij duurzaamheid speelt onder andere een beter dierenwelzijn een belangrijke rol. Hoe kijken ondernemers hiertegenaan? Uit sociologisch onderzoek onder Nederlandse veehouders komen vijf typen ondernemers naar voren met elk hun eigen zienswijze over dierenwelzij

Tien jaar ontwerpen voor systeeminnovatie : alleen maar diervriendelijkheid?

De projecten van Ontwerpen voor Systeeminnovatie kenmerkten zich aanvankelijk door een sterke nadruk op dierenwelzijn. Aan de hand van opeenvolgende projecten is te zien dat dierenwelzijn in toenemende mate gecombineerd wordt met andere duurzaamheidsdoelen. Reden hiervoor is dat deze ontwerpactiviteiten niet alleen bedoeld zijn als voortrekkers van welzijnsverbetering, maar van integrale verduurzaming. De sport is om dierenwelzijn hand in hand te laten gaan met de behoeften van de boer, de burgerconsument en de omgeving met verbeteringen op het gebied van onder andere milieu en landschap

Clustering of farms based on slaughterhouse health aberration data

Large amounts of data from meat inspections can be used as a tool to support interventions for improvement of herd health. We applied time-series analyses on 3.5 years of meat inspection data of two pig slaughterhouses to identify differences in health aberration patterns over time at farm-level. A negligibly evidence of seasonality and a substantial trend pattern in percentage aberrations over time were identified. Differences exist in percentage health aberrations between the farms and months. This distinction is more elaborate than just grouping farms on basis of aberration incidence

Quantitative assessment of the effects of space allowance, group size and floor characteristics on the lying behaviour of growing-finishing pigs

To obtain quantitative information that can be later used in animal welfare modelling, the relationship between the lying behaviour of growing-finishing pigs (initial body weight (BW) between 19 and 87 kg) and different factors related to the housing conditions, with a potential negative effect on their welfare, was studied by means of a meta-analytical approach. Data from 22 experiments reported in 21 scientific publications were collected. The space allowance, expressed on an allometric basis by means of a k-value (m2/BW0.667), the group size (n) and the floor characteristics (fully and partly slatted v. non-slatted floor), as well as their significant two-way interactions were used as fixed effects, and the experiment was used as a random factor to take into account the interexperiment effect. Further regression analyses were performed on the predicted values of observations in order to improve the adjustment of data. A significant quadratic relationship was established between space allowance (k-value, P <0.05; squared k-value, P <0.01) and the percentage of time spent lying. A significant interaction between the k-value and the floor type was also found (P <0.05), showing that the relationship between space allowance and lying behaviour is affected by the presence or absence of slats. Threshold k-values were obtained using broken-line analyses, being about 0.039 for slatted floors and almost double for non-slatted floors. Compared to other studies, these values suggest that the ability to rest as space availability decreases may be compromised before a reduced performance becomes apparent. Group size did not show a significant effect. Additional information should be added to the model, as further data become available, to adjust the proposed parameters as well as to try to include the effect of other important aspects such as that of ambient temperature

Ammoniakemissie-arme wroetstal voor vleesvarkens = Low ammonia emission bedding system for growing-finishing pigs

In this study requirements and example designs are given to decrease ammonia emission from houses for growing-finishing pigs with sawdust bedding

Breeding for improved welfare in pigs: a conceptual framework and its use in practice

Welfare of animals can be defined as the kind of feelings the environmental conditions bring about in the animals. These feelings depend on the needs of the animals and their degree of satisfaction. Needs of animals, and so their welfare, are partly genetically determined. Therefore, welfare can be changed by breeding. The aim of this study was to investigate how welfare of pigs under modern intensive farm conditions can be improved by genetic selection, with emphasis on the precise definition of the breeding goal and determination of the animal characteristics on which selection can be based in practice. The existing thermoregulation model was used to develop a conceptual framework that describes welfare of growing pigs and production sows with respect to each of their needs as a curvilinear function of the respective environmental conditions. The framework assumes that welfare in terms of feelings is reflected by the physiological and behavioural mechanisms the pig has to activate in order to cope with the various environmental conditions it encounters. Based on those physiological and behavioural responses to changing conditions, five welfare zones can be distinguished for each need. Breeding goals for welfare were defined in terms of the transition points between these welfare zones, such that future pigs would better cope with unfavourable or unfamiliar farming conditions, therewith quickening the domestication process, to some extent. However, as long as genetic parameters for these transition points are not available, more common welfare-related characteristics like temperament, stress resistance and robustness can be included in the breeding goal, as an alternative. For selection among potential breeding candidates, transition points between welfare zones can be determined in sib tests, thereby also collecting the data for estimating genetic parameters. As a cheaper alternative, breeding candidates could be tested under hard conditions and selected on their coping success. In addition, various behavioural tests and operant conditioning tests ( to test a pig's motivation to change its actual environment) can be carried out. Under common conditions on the farm, problems associated with coping (like incidences of diseases, injuries, and stereotypies) and/or other relevant traits ( e. g. saliva cortisol levels, longevity and even production traits) should be recorded routinely and used as selection index information. Selection for improved welfare should lead to more tolerant pigs that are better able to cope with possible unfavourable farm conditions by a more efficient use of the adaptation mechanisms they already possess. It should, however, not result in lowering husbandry standards. More research is needed to assess genetic correlations among various welfare aspects and with production traits to prevent undesired side effects in future populations of pigs