Importància de la familiaritat en l'aprenentatge social d'hàbits alimentaris en porcs

Un estudi realitzat per tal d'avaluar l'aprenentatge social en els garrins a l'hora d'acceptar nous aliments mostra que aquests animals poden canviar els seus hàbits alimentaris mitjançant aquest mecanisme, però també destaca la importància de la familiaritat entre els garrins. El traspàs d'informació es produiria mitjançant el contacte entre musells dels animals, atès que en aquesta zona quedarien senyals del nou aliment després de l'alimentació, la masticació i l'alliberament d'aroma retronasal.Un estudio realizado para evaluar el aprendizaje social en los lechones a la hora de aceptar nuevos alimentos muestra que los cerdos pueden cambiar sus hábitos alimentarios mediante el contacto social, en el que destaca la importancia de la familiaridad entre los lechones. El traspaso de información se produciría mediante el contacto entre hocicos de los animales, dado que en esta zona quedarían señales del nuevo alimento después de la alimentación, la masticación y la liberación de aroma retronasal.A study to assess social learning in piglets for accepting new foods shows that these animals can change their feeding behaviour by this mechanism, but also highlights the importance of familiarity among piglets. The transfer of information would be produced by contact between snouts of animals, because cues are presumably present in this area as a result of feeding, chewing and of the retro-nasal aroma release

Phytogenic feed additives in poultry : achievements, prospective and challenges

Phytogenic feed additives have been largely tested in poultry production with the aim to identify their effects on the gastrointestinal function and health, and their implications on the birds' systemic health and welfare, the production efficiency of flocks, food safety, and environmental impact. These feed additives originating from plants, and consisting of herbs, spices, fruit, and other plant parts, include many different bioactive ingredients. Reviewing published documents about the supplementation of phytogenic feed additives reveals contradictory results regarding their effectiveness in poultry production. This indicates that more effort is still needed to determine the appropriate inclusion levels and fully elucidate their mode of actions. In this frame, this review aimed to sum up the current trends in the use of phytogenic feed additives in poultry with a special focus on their interaction with gut ecosystem, gut function, in vivo oxidative status and immune system as well as other feed additives, especially organic acids

Maternal learning and Creep-Feeding: two strategies determining the post-weaning performance of piglets

The early exposure of foetus to certain volatiles may result in a further preference for these compounds later in life and can positively affect the further acceptance of food containing a similar flavour. The study consisted in three trials: 1) determination of the effects on piglet performance of flavour supplementation in sow’s diets (late gestation and lactation) and in weaning diets; 2) creep-feed consumption and preference evaluation by a double choice test (DCHT) comparing the studied flavour and a negative control; 3) identification of the independent role of flavour inclusion in late gestation or lactation throughout DCHT. The inclusion of flavour in sow’s diets improved piglets’ appetite when same flavour was included at weaning. The positive reward associated to the flavour included in sow’s diet was stronger when piglets were offered a non-flavoured creep-feed. Exposure to flavour only at the end of gestation would be enough to condition the piglets

El plaer durant el consum d'aliments en porcs : nova proposta per a l'estudi

Estudiar el grau de plaer que experimenten els animals de granja durant la seva alimentació és important en termes de benestar. Addicionalment, permet re-formular dietes d'acord amb la seva palatabilitat. Aquest treball proposa nous mètodes d'estudi de la palatabilitat en porcs, sobre la base de l'anàlisi dels patrons de consum dels animals, i no en simples mesures de consum o preferències.Estudiar el grado de placer que experimentan los animales de granja durante su alimentación es importante en términos de bienestar. Adicionalmente, permite re-formular dietas de acuerdo a su palatabilidad. Este trabajo propone nuevos métodos de estudio de la palatabilidad en cerdos, en base al análisis de los patrones de consumo de los animales, y no en simples medidas de consumo o preferencias.Studying the degree of pleasure that farm animals experience during feeding is important in welfare terms. In addition, it allows the re- formulation of diets according to its palatability. This work proposes new methods of studying palatability in pigs, based on the analysis of the animals' consumption patterns, and not on simple measures of consumption or preferences

Cost-Effectiveness of the EdAl (Educacio en Alimentacio) Program: A Primary School-Based Study to Prevent Childhood Obesity

Background: The cost-effectiveness of childhood obesity prevention interventions is critical for their sustained implementation. This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of the Educacio en Alimentacio (EdAl) program, a school-based intervention for reducing obesity. Methods: Total EdAl program implementation costs and per-child costs were estimated. Cost-effectiveness, defined using the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), was estimated as the difference between the intervention and control group costs divided by the obesity-related outcome effects for boys (avoided cases of obesity', obesity prevalence, body mass index [BMI], and BMI z-score units) for each group. As a significant difference (4.39%) in the reduction of obesity prevalence between the intervention and control groups was observed for boys in the EdAl program, the data were calculated only for boys. Results: The intervention cost was 24,246.53 (sic) for 1,550 children (15.64 (sic)/child/3 years) or 5.21 f/child/year. The ICERs/ boy were 968.66 (sic) to avoid one case of obesity, 3.6 (sic) to reduce the obesity prevalence by 1%, 44.68 (sic) to decrease BMI by one unit, and 65.16 (sic) to reduce the BMI z-score by one unit. Conclusions: The cost of reducing the obesity prevalence in boys by 4.39% was 5.21 (sic)/child/year, half the cost proposed by the Spanish Health Ministry, indicating that the EdAl program is cost-effective

Effects of supplementing organic microminerals and methionine with or without limiting growth during the rearing phase of replacement gilts on lameness, growth, and body composition

Previous research suggested that lameness in growing pigs could be reduced using feeding strategies, such as limiting growth rate and supplementing trace minerals (TM) and (or) methionine (Met). The present study evaluates effects of 1) TM and Met and 2) limiting total lysine (Lys) during the rearing phase (90 d) of gilts (as a means to limit growth rate) on lameness, performance, and sow claw health and productivity (to first parity). Gilts (n = 240; 58.0 ± 11.1 kg body weight [BW]) were blocked, distributed into pens of 10 gilts, and pens were allocated to a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. Factors were: 1) control or TM plus Met, which provided additional 10, 20, and 50 mg/kg of chelated copper, manganese, and zinc, respectively (0.1%, Aplomotec Plus, Tecnología & Vitaminas, S.L.; Alforja, Spain), and a 1.01 Met:Lys ratio and 2) standard Lys was formulated to meet growth requirements or low Lys to 19% below growth requirements. Feeding was provided through two phases, first between 119 and 163 d of age (phase I) and the second between 163 and 209 d of age (phase II). Diets had 2.43 and 2.31 Mcal net energy/kg for phases I and II, respectively, and were offered ad libitum. Low Lys did not affect feed intake but rather reduced average daily gain (ADG) by 6.35% and the final BW by 3.80% compared with standard Lys (P 0.05) whether gilts displayed lameness or not. Lameness was low in severity and not affected by dietary factors. However, TM- plus Met-fed gilts were 19.2 kg heavier (P = 0.016) than were control at lameness detection. On the sow farm, there was no evidence for differences in lameness or claw lesions among previous dietary treatments. In conclusion, lameness prevalence during the rearing phase was similar, independent of TM plus Met supplement, low Lys, or the interaction. Insufficient reduction of ADG and low severity in lameness may have limited the potential of dietary treatments. Moreover, a greater deficiency of Lys would be needed to achieve the degree of growth reduction previously reported to lessen lameness through feed restriction

The Implications of Nutritional Strategies that Modify Dietary Energy and Lysine for Growth Performance in Two Different Swine Production Systems

This work aimed to determine the impacts of lowering dietary net energy (NE) density in two swine production systems that produce pigs with different carcass traits. To ensure that dietary lysine was not limiting growth, two studies were conducted in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement with NE and standardized ileal digestible lysine (SID Lys) as experimental factors. A total of 1248 pigs were used in each study, Pietrain (Exp. 1, males non-castrated) or Duroc (Exp. 2, males castrated) sired. Reducing NE resulted in a greater feed intake; however, this was not sufficient to reach the same NE intake. While in Exp. 1 a 3.2% lower NE intake did not impair average daily gain (ADG; p = 0.220), in Exp. 2 a 4.7% lower NE intake reduced ADG by 1.4% (p = 0.027). Furthermore, this effect on ADG entailed a reduced ham fat thickness (p = 0.004) of the first marketed pigs. Increasing SID Lys only had a positive effect in Exp. 1, but no significant interaction between NE and SID Lys was reported (p ≥ 0.100). Therefore, dietary NE can be reduced without impairing growth performance when pigs can increase feed intake sufficiently, and thus, limit energy deficiencies

Improving broiler performance at market age regardless of stocking density by using a pre-starter diet

Altres ajuts: Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial CDTI project IDI-20180885Broiler early nutrition has caught the attention of nutritionists due to the positive correlation between early growth rate and market weight. Early nutrition strategies such as low Ca levels or the use of highly digestible ingredients (e.g., spray-dried porcine plasma [SDPP]) have been reported to improve gut and muscle development, immunity, and overall growth of the bird. On the other hand, recent works suggested that stocking density represents the main constrain for modern chickens to express their full genetic potential. The current study aimed to elucidate the potential effects of pre-starter feeding strategies on contrasting livestock stocking densities. The study followed a factorial design of 2 contrasting starter programs (standard [0-11d] vs. pre-starter [0-4 d] + standard [4-11 d]) by 3 stocking densities (low, medium, and high, 27, 33, and 39 kg/BW/m, respectively). Birds placed at low stocking density showed higher BW and better FCR than those at high stocking density (P < 0.05) being this evident only after d 28. On the other hand, birds fed on pre-starter diet led to higher BW at 4 d (P < 0.001) and the effects on BW were maintained until market age (+2.54%; P < 0.05). The pre-starter diet also led to heavier carcasses (+2.2%; P < 0.05), improved uniformity (P < 0.10) and showed a lower incidence of lameness at high stocking densities (P < 0.05) compared to birds fed the standard starter diet. Results of the current study confirm that, regardless of the stocking density used, pre-starter diets (0-4 d) could lead to a better early growth and market weight

Potential risk factors related to pig body weight variability from birth to slaughter in commercial conditions

The aim of this observational study is to identify risk factors associated with body weight (BW) variability in three data sets (DS) in commercial conditions. A total of 1,009 (DS1), 460 (DS2), and 1304 (DS3) male and female crossbreed pigs (Pietrain × [Landrace × Large White]), respectively, were included in each trial. Pigs were periodically weighed until slaughter. Then, variables such as length of gestation, length of lactation, parity, litter size, sex, birth BW, and ADG were considered. Pigs remaining on the farm after two loads to the slaughterhouse were defined as last group of animals sent to slaughterhouse (LGS). Descriptive statistics of variability were calculated, and a risk analysis approach was used to look for the factors related to LGS. A multiple logistic regression was performed to identify all variables that were significant (P < 0.05). The risk ratio (RR), odds ratio (OR), and population attributable risk (PAR) were calculated for all of the significant variables after transforming all of them into binary factors using the 25th percentile as the cut-off point. Results showed that the major part of the variability (as CV) comes from birth (20% to 25%) and increased only a little during lactation and 14-d post weaning. From this point onwards, CV tended to decrease, as pigs got closer to the marketing weight (down 11.5% to 12.7%). Regarding the indicators selected, RR, OR, and PAR presented similar trends in the three DS studied. Therefore, for the variables finally included, these indicators had their minimum values at the start of the cycle and then gradually increased at the end. Those results, based on an epidemiological approach, suggest that the closer to the end of the cycle the greater the probability for a light piglet of being/becoming LGS. It might be explained by the shorter available time to efficiently implement preventive measures aimed to improve the performance of delayed pigs and, thus, reducing variability.Those results, based on an epidemiological approach, make sense as the probability for a light piglet to be a LGS increases the closer to the end of the cycle, due to the short time to implement preventive measures and increase the performance of delayed pigs and reduce variability. The differential PAR associated with both, the nursery and the growing period, was 1.7% and 1.5% for DS1, 5.1% and 3.1% for DS2, and 3.7% and 2.8% for DS3. For the lactation period, the results were 4.3% for DS2 and 4.5% for DS3. Results suggest that the most critical periods, in relation to retardation of growth in swine, are lactation and nursery. Implementing measures that maintain risk factors under or above thresholds, especially in the initial phases of growth, will reduce the percentage of LGS pigs and positively affect the overall homogeneity of the batch

High levels of standardized ileal digestible amino acids improve feed efficiency in slow-growing pigs at late grower-finisher stage

Slow-growing pigs negatively affect production efficiency in conventional pig farms by increasing the occupation time of the facilities and being a limiting factor for the All-In/All-Out swine production systems. This subset of pigs is usually managed with the rest of the pigs, and their nutrient requirements may not be fulfilled. The purpose of the present study was to compare the productive performance of slow- and fast-growing pigs to different standardized ileal digestible (SID) amino acids (AA) dietary levels at late grower-finisher stage. A total of 84 pigs were weighed, tagged, and classified as slow-growing (SG; n = 48; 24.1 ± 1.38 kg) or fast-growing pigs (FG; n = 36; 42.7 ± 1.63 kg) at 11 weeks of age. Pigs were housed in mixed sex pens (n = 8 SG+6 FG/pen) equipped with feeding stations to record daily feed intake per individual pig. Pigs were assigned to three dietary treatments resulting in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement at 15 weeks of age. Isoenergetic diets were formulated by increasing the ideal protein profile based on the following SID lysine (Lys) levels: 0.92%, 1.18% and 1.45%. Pigs were weighed bi-weekly until 21 weeks of age. Fast-growing pigs were 33.7 kg heavier, gained 255 g/day and consumed 625.5 g/day more than SG pigs (p 0.05). However, feed conversion ratio was 0.3 lower for SG pigs fed 1.45% SID Lys/AA compared to SG pigs fed 0.92% SID Lys/AA (p = 0.002). Feed conversion ratio was not different within the FG pigs' dietary treatments (p > 0.05). The efficiency of SG pigs may be improved when dietary SID AA levels are increased from 0.92 up to 1.45% SID Lys/AA. Thus, nutrient requirements may vary depending on growth rate at the same age, and SG pigs may require higher dietary SID AA levels than FG pigs to achieve similar productive performance