Boar taint in very small organic entire male pigs - preliminary results

Very small entire male pigs can be part of a new concept of organic seasonal production of pigs. The concept includes outdoor production of small entire male pigs, very large female pigs and sows slaughtered after first litter. The entire males and the sows are slaughtered in the summer and the female pigs gilts in December. The purpose of the very small entire male pigs is to avoid castration and boar taint at the same time. In order to make the concept special regarding product quality and image, different crossbreeds are considered including a traditional Danish breed. Two seasons (2007 and 2008) are planned. Results of the 2007 season are presented

Effect of organic pig production systems on performance and meat quality

The present study was carried out to establish knowledge of consequence for setting up guidelines of importance for production of competitive organic pork of high quality. Performance and meat quality characteristics were compared between three organic pig production systems based on indoor housing with access to an outdoor area and a Danish conventional indoor system including 100% concentrate during the finishing feeding stage. The three organic systems used the following three feeding regimes: 100% organic concentrate according to Danish recommendations, 70% organic concentrate (restricted) plus ad libitum organic barley/pea silage and 70% organic concentrate (restricted) plus ad libitum organic clover grass silage, respectively. With exception of a slightly lower daily gain in organic pigs fed 100% concentrate, no significant difference was found in performance and meat quality characteristics compared with results obtained in the conventional system. In contrast and independent of roughage used, organic pigs raised on 70% concentrate had a significant reduction in daily gain (P < 0.001) compared with pigs raised on 100% concentrate, despite the fact that no difference in feed conversion rate was seen between the tested production systems. However, the percentage of leanness increased significantly in meat from organic pigs raised on 70% concentrate plus roughage compared with meat from pigs given 100% concentrate. This was reflected in higher yield (weight) of lean cuts and lower yield of cuts with high fat content from pigs fed 70% concentrate plus roughage. In general, organic feeding resulted in a significantly higher content of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the back fat (1.8%), which increased further when restricted feeding plus roughage (4%) was used. Restricted concentrate feeding gave rise to a decrease in tenderness compared with pork from pigs fed 100% concentrate

Økologiske sæsongrise - kødkvalitet for sæson 2007

Kødkvaliteten for sæsonproducerede økologiske små hangrise (ca. 30 kg slagtevægt), store sogrise (100, 90 og 70 kg) og søer slagtet efter første læg (120 og 80 kg) er undersøgt for to sotyper (Landrace x Yorkshire = LY og Sortbroget Dansk Landrace = SB) og tre krydsninger af han- og sogrise (LYxDuroc = LYxD, SBxD og SBxSB). De sortbrogede grise og i lidt mindre grad SBxD har mørkere kød end LY / LYxD grisene og kødfarven er mørkere end hos konventionelle og økologiske slagtesvin ved normal slagtevægt. De sortbrogede grise har måske lidt mindre mørt kød, men forsøgets stikprøve er for lille til at sige noget sikkert. De sortbrogede grise har en speciel smag i fedtet karakteriseret som nøddeagtig og sød. Der er ikke konstateret specielt høj eller lav pH i kødet. De sortbrogede små hangrise har for nogle produkter noget stærkere griselugt og –smag (måske også hangriselugt og –smag) end LYxD krydsningen. Det kan hænge sammen med et højere indhold af skatol i fedtet. Der skal dog en væsentlig større stikprøve til at sige noget sikkert om forekomsten / frekvensen af hangriselugt for de enkelte krydsninger. Androstenon har også betydning for hangriselugt men er ikke analyseret i denne undersøgelse

Kødkvalitet for sæson 2007 og 2008

Kødkvaliteten for sæsonproducerede økologiske små hangrise (ca. 25 kg slagtevægt), store sogrise (ca. 100, 90 og 70 kg) og søer slagtet efter første læg (ca. 130 kg) er undersøgt for to sotyper (Landrace x Yorkshire = LY og ren Sortbroget Dansk Landrace = SB) og tre krydsninger af han- og sogrise (LY x Duroc = LY-D, SB-D og SB-SB). De sortbrogede grise og i lidt mindre grad SB-D har rødere og mørkere kød end LY / LY-D grisene og kødfarven er mørkere end hos konventionelle og økologiske slagtesvin ved normal slagtevægt. De sortbrogede grise har lidt mindre mørt kød (undtagen for søernes skinkesteg). De sortbrogede grise har en speciel smag i fedtet karakteriseret som nøddeagtig og sød. Der er ikke konstateret specielt høj eller lav pH i kødet. De sortbrogede små hangrise ser ud til at have et højere indhold af skatol i spækket men har ikke mere hangriselugt og –smag eller griselugt og –smag end LY-D krydsningen. Der skal dog en væsentlig større stikprøve til at sige noget sikkert om forekomsten / frekvensen af hangriselugt for de enkelte krydsninger. Androstenon har også betydning for hangriselugt men er ikke analyseret i denne undersøgelse

A diversified organic pork production – presentation of a concept based on seasonal outdoor rearing of very small entire males

The risk of boar taint in entire males is supposed to increase with increased age and weight. Thus, a method to reduce this risk may be to slaughter the pigs at a low age and weight. This strategy is investigated as part of a new concept for organic pig production. It is hypothesised that organic pork has to differ markedly from conventional in order to overcome the heavy price competition. A seasonal outdoor rearing system based on production of small entire males, large female pigs and sows slaughtered after their first litter is believed to be a feasible strategy for producing organic pork with high credibility and superior eating quality. The study included a traditional breed, the Danish Black-Spotted. 17 gilts farrowed in April. Within the first week after birth all male pigs, except 2 male pigs per litter, were castrated. The piglets were weaned at 10 weeks of age in June/July but stayed in the paddocks with access to the farrowing hut. The entire male pigs were slaughtered in July at approximately 40 kg live weight. The female pigs were slaughtered in the beginning of November. hvad med Preliminary results showed e.g. a higher daily gain for entire males compared to castrated (390 vs. 332 g per day) and indicated higher content of skatole in the traditional breed compared to a more modern breed

The influence of spatial pattern on visual short-term memory for contrast

Several psychophysical studies of visual short-term memory (VSTM) have shown high-fidelity storage capacity for many properties of visual stimuli. On judgments of the spatial frequency of gratings, for example, discrimination performance does not decrease significantly, even for memory intervals of up to 30 s. For other properties, such as stimulus orientation and contrast, however, such “perfect storage” behavior is not found, although the reasons for this difference remain unresolved. Here, we report two experiments in which we investigated the nature of the representation of stimulus contrast in VSTM using spatially complex, two-dimensional random-noise stimuli. We addressed whether information about contrast per se is retained during the memory interval by using a test stimulus with the same spatial structure but either the same or the opposite local contrast polarity, with respect to the comparison (i.e., remembered) stimulus. We found that discrimination thresholds got steadily worse with increasing duration of the memory interval. Furthermore, performance was better when the test and comparison stimuli had the same local contrast polarity than when they were contrast-reversed. Finally, when a noise mask was introduced during the memory interval, its disruptive effect was maximal when the spatial configuration of its constituent elements was uncorrelated with those of the comparison and test stimuli. These results suggest that VSTMfor contrast is closely tied to the spatial configuration of stimuli and is not transformed into a more abstract representation

Seasonal organic pig production with a local breed

It is important that organic pork differs markedly from conventional pork regarding taste, appearance and production methods in order to overcome the heavy price competition. That is the hypothesis behind the current project

Leptospirosis and an Animal Bite

In October 2013, leptospirosis was identified in a 20-year-old male. The male was bitten on his hand by either his canine or a skunk while breaking up a fight between the two animals. Eight days after the bite, the male developed fever, headache, drowsiness, neck pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, malaise and erythematous rash. Diagnosis was confirmed by amplification of Leptospira by DNA from a urine specimen. Veterinarian serology testing of the canine for Leptospira was negative. Leptospira in a human, acquired from an animal bite is a rare occurrence

Evidences on overweight of regular blood donors in a center of Southern Italy

Objective: Smoking, unhealthy diet and obesity, sedentary behavior and inability to maintain adequate exercise have significant consequences for several chronic disorders. Blood centers can play a public health role in obesity surveillance and interventions. The purpose study was to evaluate the health status of the blood donors by monitoring the nutritional habits and lifestyle. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional face-to-face questionnaire was developed. It included a 41 item dietary assessment, reporting semi-quantitative food frequency, dietary behavior and questions on self-rated health status. Donors were regular repeat blood donors, eligible to donate. Results: Of the 2468 blood donors enrolled between July 2017 and January 2018, 1390 were repeat donors. Only 205 agreed to respond to the questionnaire. Data showed that donors followed mainly a Mediterranean diet and had more awareness to lifestyle, women more than men, in comparison with general population. The prevalence of overweight was found 50.7% in men and 16.9% in women. Conclusions: Overweight and obesity are common among regular blood donors and it is more frequent in men than women. The female blood donors seem to be characterized by better knowledge on the relationship between lifestyle and health, and by a better “putting into practice” of the information possessed