Impact of feed, light and access to manipulable material on tail biting in pigs with intact tails

Background Tail biting (TB) is a welfare issue with economic consequences due to infections and ill-thrift. This study aimed to reduce tail injuries in a high-performing non-tail-docking pig herd.Results During eleven years preceding the trial, the annual incidence of tail injuries registered at slaughter in pigs from the herd increased from 3% (equivalent to the national mean) to 10%. It was positively correlated to a high weight gain and negatively correlated to daylight length.The overall incidence of tail injuries during the four years preceding the trial was 9.2% with significant differences between four identically structured buildings for fatteners (I < II < III < IV).The feed was enriched with amino acids, minerals and fibres. The buildings used different illumination strategies, I: standard fluorescent tubes with an invisible flickering light of 30-40% for 14 h daily, II: non-flickering led light for 14 h daily, III (control) and IV: standard fluorescent tubes for 2 h daily. IV had free access to manipulable material (hay-silage), while I-III was offered 100-200 g daily.During the adaptation period (6 months), the incidence of tail injuries decreased significantly in all buildings to a mean of 5.4%. The largest decrease (from 11.4 to 4.3%) was obtained in IV.During the trial period (12 months), the mean incidence of tail injuries decreased in all groups to a mean of 3.0%. There were no differences in treatment incidences of individual pigs due to TB between groups, but the use of enriched pellets due to TB in pens was lowest in II. The low incidence of tail injuries was retained during the post-trial period (6 months) when all buildings used artificial illumination for two hours per day.Conclusions The incidence of TB in fast growing non-tail-docked pigs in the herd was successfully reduced by supplementing the feed with amino acids, minerals, vitamins and fibres. Additional manipulable material accelerated that process and non-flickering illumination may have had an impact in preventing TB.The results obtained do not support the need for tail-docking of pigs, provided that the needs of the pigs in terms of feed ingredients, stocking density and access to manipulable materials are fulfilled

Misaligned Values in Software Engineering Organizations

The values of software organizations are crucial for achieving high performance; in particular, agile development approaches emphasize their importance. Researchers have thus far often assumed that a specific set of values, compatible with the development methodologies, must be adopted homogeneously throughout the company. It is not clear, however, to what extent such assumptions are accurate. Preliminary findings have highlighted the misalignment of values between groups as a source of problems when engineers discuss their challenges. Therefore, in this study, we examine how discrepancies in values between groups affect software companies' performance. To meet our objectives, we chose a mixed method research design. First, we collected qualitative data by interviewing fourteen (\textit{N} = 14) employees working in four different organizations and processed it using thematic analysis. We then surveyed seven organizations (\textit{N} = 184). Our analysis indicated that value misalignment between groups is related to organizational performance. The aligned companies were more effective, more satisfied, had higher trust, and fewer conflicts. Our efforts provide encouraging findings in a critical software engineering research area. They can help to explain why some companies are more efficient than others and, thus, point the way to interventions to address organizational challenges.Comment: accepted for publication in Journal of Software: Evolution and Proces

Phenotyping of E. coli serotypes associated to oedema disease

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Oedema disease is a severe disease, mainly affecting recently weaned pigs. It is caused by <it>E. coli </it>strains that express fimbriae F18 and produce verotoxin 2e, mainly belonging to serotype O138, O139 or O141. The aim of this study was to compare <it>E. coli </it>isolates within these serotypes with respect to diversity.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Faecal <it>E. coli </it>strains belonging to serotypes O138, O139 and O141 isolated during the period 1994–1998 from Swedish pigs aged less than 12 weeks were compared using a biochemical fingerprinting system. Aiming to compare the results obtained over time, also strains isolated during 1964–67 and 1975–80 were included in the study. The study comprised 129, 263 and 95 isolates of <it>E. coli </it>serotype O138, O139 and O141, respectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Biochemical phenotypes (BPTs) were defined. At each sampling occasion each herd could only contribute with one isolate per BPT. Consequently, all but one of identical BPTs identified at a specific sampling occasion was omitted. The final number of isolates from 1994–98 that was compared included 64, 182 and 41 isolates of serotypes O138, O139 and O141, respectively. Within each serotype, the dominating BPT included over 65% of the compared isolates, demonstrating a large dominance of one BPT per serotype. These dominating BPTs were also demonstrated in the material from the 1960ies and the 1970ies. Still, the presence of other common BPTs (especially within serotype O138 and O139) demonstrated a certain variation within serotype. In a herd severely affected by oedema disease, <it>E. coli </it>serotype O139 was easily demonstrated in diseased pigs but only rarely in apparently healthy weaners</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results obtained demonstrate the presence of dominating BPTs within the oedema disease inducing serotypes. A stability of these BPTs over time was observed, presumably at least partly due to a never-ending access to naïve pigs. Still, the presence of other common BPTs indicates a variation over time, which visualises the importance of monitoring for this. Such studies should focus on pigs affected by oedema disease, because oedema disease inducing strains of <it>E. coli </it>were only rarely demonstrated in healthy pigs in a herd affected by oedema disease.</p

Lungworms (Metastrongylus spp.) demonstrated in domestic pigs with respiratory disease: was there a clinical relevance?

Background An outdoor pig herd was affected by severe respiratory disease in one out of three pastures. At necropsy, Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and Pasteurella multocida were detected in the lungs, as well as the lung worm Metastrongylus apri. The life cycle of Metastrongylus spp. includes earthworms as intermediate hosts, and since domestic pigs mainly are reared indoors, lungworm infections have not been diagnosed in domestic pigs in Sweden for decades, not even in pigs reared outdoors. Therefore, this disease outbreak was scrutinised from the view of validating the impact of Metastrongylus spp. Results At the time of the disease outbreak, neither eggs of Metastrongylus spp., Trichuris suis nor Ascaris suum were detected in faeces of pigs aged ten weeks. In contrast, five-months-old pigs at the pasture with respiratory disease shed up to 3800 eggs per gram (Epg) of Ascaris suum and up to 1100 Epg of Trichuris suis, whereas eggs of these parasites were not demonstrated in healthy pigs aged six months at another pasture. Low numbers of eggs from Metastrongylus spp. (< 150 Epg) were seen in faecal samples from both these age categories. At slaughter, seven weeks later, ten normal weighted pigs in the preceding healthy batch were compared with ten normal weighted and five small pigs from the affected batch. Healing Mycoplasma-like pneumonic lesions were seen in all groups. All small pigs shed eggs of Ascaris suum in the faeces, compared to around 50% of the larger pigs. Metastrongylus spp. were demonstrated in 13 of the 25 pigs (52%), representing all groups included. Conclusion As Metastrongylus spp. were demonstrated regardless of health status, and also in another healthy outdoor herd, the impact of Metastrongylus spp. on the outbreak of respiratory disease was depreciated. Instead, a possible association with a high burden of Ascaris suum was suggested to have preceded the severe outbreak with respiratory disease in the affected herd. Further, it was concluded that Metastrongylus spp. will escape detection at routine meat inspections made at slaughterhouses, and as they appeared to generally not induce clinical signs of respiratory disease Metastrongylus spp. may be more common in outdoor production than previously believed

Qualitative software engineering research -- reflections and guidelines

Researchers are increasingly recognizing the importance of human aspects in software development and since qualitative methods are used to, in-depth, explore human behavior, we believe that studies using such techniques will become more common. Existing qualitative software engineering guidelines do not cover the full breadth of qualitative methods and knowledge on using them found in the social sciences. The aim of this study was thus to extend the software engineering research community's current body of knowledge regarding available qualitative methods and provide recommendations and guidelines for their use. With the support of an epistemological argument and a literature review, we suggest that future research would benefit from (1) utilizing a broader set of research methods, (2) more strongly emphasizing reflexivity, and (3) employing qualitative guidelines and quality criteria. We present an overview of three qualitative methods commonly used in social sciences but rarely seen in software engineering research, namely interpretative phenomenological analysis, narrative analysis, and discourse analysis. Furthermore, we discuss the meaning of reflexivity in relation to the software engineering context and suggest means of fostering it. Our paper will help software engineering researchers better select and then guide the application of a broader set of qualitative research methods.Comment: 30 page

Management practices related to the control of gastrointestinal parasites on Swedish pig farms

Background Internal parasites are common in pigs worldwide and may induce clinical disease or subclinical infections with negative effects such as poor weight gain and reduced welfare, which in turn affect productivity. Effective parasite control to reduce the negative impact of parasitic infections demands a combination of antiparasitic drugs as well as various hygiene and biosecurity practices. The aim of this study was to obtain information on current management practices and parasite control routines used on Swedish pig farms using an online questionnaire. Results Antiparasitic drugs were used on 69% of the farms routinely and were mainly administered to sows just prior to farrowing. Less than 5% of the herds conducted faecal analysis for parasites. Batchwise, age segregated rearing was common and overall, it was practiced for piglets, growers, and fatteners on 88, 80 and 75% of the farms, respectively. Large and medium sized farms appeared to apply stricter hygiene and biosecurity measures to the growing pigs compared to small farms. Dry sows were mainly housed in groups on deep litter straw beds and cleaning, as well as disinfection, between each group was less common compared to what was practiced for growing pigs. Outdoor access was rare and only occurred on organic and small farms. Most of the farms, 54, 74 and 82% of small, medium, and large sized herds respectively, reported to have less than 5% white spot lesions, caused by migrating A. suum larvae, registered at slaughter. Conclusion Several risk factors for parasite infections, such as bedding material, group housing and solid floors, are mandatory requirements by national law. However, it was evident from this study that although strategic hygiene and biosecurity practices appeared common, they were not practiced in all herds and less so for dry sows. Antiparasitic drugs were used frequently and mainly through routine prophylactic treatments without prior testing for parasites. A holistic approach is necessary when designing efficient parasite control programs, and it is essential that management factors and routine monitoring of parasites are given attention. This to achieve efficient parasite control and reduce the risk of unnecessary use of antiparasitic drugs

Lameness in piglets - should pain killers be included at treatment?

Background: Joint swelling and lameness are the most obvious and persistent clinical signs of infectious arthritis in piglets. For a positive treatment effect of piglets with arthritis, early initiated treatments with antibiotics are desired. Hitherto pain-reducing drugs have rarely been used within veterinary medicine, but the potential of non steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are interesting from an animal welfare perspective. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the long term efficiency of treating lameness with and without pain relief. Further, the incidences of affected joints in lame piglets were analysed. Results: In total 415 of the 6,787 liveborn piglets included in the study were diagnosed with lameness (6.1 %). Around 86 % of these diagnoses took place during the first 3 weeks of life. There was no difference in the incidence of lameness between the sexes, but lameness was most commonly diagnosed in the offspring to old sows (>4 parturitions). Lameness was diagnosed in about every second litter and on average about two pigs were diagnosed in the affected litters. The incidence of affected litters as well as affected piglets increased with ageing of the sows. Treatments with antibiotics solely and in combination with NSAID improved (P &lt; 0.01 to 0.001) the clinical status from day to day, but the clinical response did not differ between the two treatment groups. Piglets that remained healthy were 1.1 and 1.7 kg heavier (P &lt; 0.001) than piglets diagnosed with lameness at 5 and 9 weeks of age, respectively. There were no differences in piglet body weights between the treatment strategies at any time. Conclusions: The clinical response to penicillin was good. It was neither improved nor reduced by a concurrent administration of NSAIDs. Nevertheless NSAIDs may improve the animal welfare due to pain relief. An important finding of this study was that decreasing pain due to lameness not was negative in a long term perspective, i.e. reducing pain did not lead to overstrain of affected joints and no clinical signs of adverse effects were noted. Therefore the use of NSAIDs ought to be considered to improve the animal welfare, at least in severe cases

Forage availability, supplementary feed and ungulate density: Associations with ungulate damage in pine production forests

Populations of large herbivores, including members of the deer family Cervidae, are expanding across and within many regions of the northern hemisphere. Because their browsing on trees can result in economic losses to forestry and strongly affect ecosystems, it is becoming increasingly important to understand how best to mitigate resultant damage. Previous research has highlighted the importance of regulating deer density and the availability of alternative forage to reduce browsing damage levels in conifer production stands. However, often only one or two proxies of forage availability have been used instead of applying a broad foodscape approach and more knowledge is needed to understand which types of alternative forage best mitigate damage. We conducted field inventories of damage that occurred during the previous fall/winter in 112 production stands in southern Sweden, while also measuring forage availability and cervid faecal pellets in the surrounding landscape (16 ha). Local landowners provided data on supplementary feeding. We found that variation in cervid (Alces alces, Capreolus capreolus, Cervus elaphus and Dama dama) browsing damage to top shoots or stems of young Scots pine trees (Pinus sylvestris, hereon pine), was better explained by the availability of alternative natural forage (using several indices and species of trees and shrubs) than by supplementary feeding. The proportion of damaged pine trees was higher in stands with a lower density of pine stems; in landscapes with a lower density of key broadleaf tree species (genera Sorbus, Salix, Populus and Quercus); and in landscapes with more open land (agricultural fields and paddocks). Damage was also higher in stands where relatively large amounts of moose faeces was found, while not related to the amount of faeces from other cervid species. The amount of supplementary feed (silage or other types such as root vegetables) did not explain variation in pine damage, but the result was possibly affected by relatively few study areas supplying sufficient data on supplementary feeding. The results from our inventory illustrate the efficacy of using naturally growing forage to mitigate browsing damage to young pine trees in managed landscapes. Creation of such forage is also recommended over supplementary feeding because of co-benefits to forest biodiversity and ecosystem services