Grass silage in diets for organic growingfinishing pigs

The supply of a mixed ration of grass silage and concentrate to growing-finishing pigs reduced the growth performance and feed utilisation. Further improvements of the feeding system would be required to substantially reduce the feed costs

Kunstmelk en DVE bij opfok van roze-vleeskalveren

Een hogere kunstmelkgift verhoogde de groei in de opfokperiode met circa 90 gram per dag, bij een gelijkblijvende voederconversie. Het saldo werd echter nauwelijks door het DVE-gehalte in het krachtvoer beonvloed

Protein and lipid accretion in body components of growing pigs : effects of body weight and nutrient intake

In pig production, optimization of the conversion of animal feeding-stuffs into body components, especially lean meat, requires knowledge of the response relationships between nutrient intake and animal performance. In this study, the separate effects of protein and energy intake on rate and composition of body gain have been determined, in pigs with a high genetic capacity for lean tissue gain, from 20 to 45 kg. In addition, the response in body gain to energy intake has been investigated from 20 to 45 kg and from 45 to 85 kg, and the effects of body weight and previous nutrition on this response were examined. The relationship between protein intake and protein accretion was described well with a linear-plateau model, reflecting a protein and an energy dependent phase in protein deposition. The amino acid pattern of body protein was influenced by protein and energy intake. The optimal lysinelenergy ratio was not significantly affected by the level of feed intake. Protein and lipid accretion responded linearly to energy intake, both from 20 to 45 kg and from 45 to 85 kg. The increase in protein gain per unit increase in energy intake, decreased with increasing body weight. The ratio between lipid and protein deposition, and consequently body lipid content, responded curvilinearly to energy intake and increased with increasing body weight. The percentage of lean tissue decreased curvilinearly with increasing energy intake. Pigs which were restricted in energy intake from 20 to 45 kg, gained faster from 45 to 85 kg. However, this gain was largely explained by an increase in digestive tract contents and in organ gain. The percentage lean tissue at 85 kg was higher in these previously restricted pigs, but this was the result of their higher lean percentage at 45 kg, and not of a compensatory gain from 45 to 85 kg. Consequences of these results for defining an optimal feeding strategy have been discussed

Stikstofverteerbaarheid in voeders voor landbouwhuisdieren : berekeningen voor de TAN-excretie

De ammoniakemissie vanuit de veehouderij wordt momenteel berekend op basis van de excretie van ruw eiwit (stikstof) in de mest, zonder onderscheid te maken tussen stikstof in feces en urine. Met behulp van de TAN-excretie (totaal ammoniakaal stikstof) kan een betere inschatting gemaakt worden van de emissie omdat hierbij rekening gehouden wordt met de verdeling van uitgescheiden stikstof (N) over de urine en feces. De TAN-excretie wordt berekend uit de opname aan verteerbaar ruw eiwit (VRE) en de retentie van eiwit in dierlijk product. De VRE wordt bepaald uit het ruw eiwit (RE)-gehalte van het voer en de fecale verteerbaarheid van het RE (VC-RE). Op dit moment zijn geen gegevens over de fecale eiwitverteerbaarheid van in de praktijk gebruikte voeders beschikbaar. Daarom is in deze studie met behulp van lineaire programmering en gepubliceerde en in de praktijk gebruikte randvoorwaarden van diervoeders en prijzen van grondstoffen, de gemiddelde fecale vertering van eiwit berekend voor de gehanteerde diercategorieën van het Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS)

Ruwvoer voor dragende zeugen

Kan ruwvoer een deel van het krachtvoer voor dragende zeugen verantwoord vervangen? Dat is de centrale vraag van het onderzoeksproject ‘Gras- en mengkuilen voor drachtige zeugen’ van Wageningen UR Livestock Research. Het lijkt mogelijk om 1 EW (Energie Waarde) uit krachtvoer door graskuil of 1,5 EW uit krachtvoer door mengkuil te vervangen in het voer van dragende zeugen. Daarbij moet de variatie in ruwvoeropname tussen zeugen worden beperkt zodat ook jonge en ranglage dieren voldoende ruwvoer en energie opnemen

Opname van gras- en mengkuil door dragende biologische zeugen

In dit onderzoek is nagegaan of bij dragende zeugen een deel van het krachtvoer door graskuil of mengkuil met CCM of gerst kan worden vervangen. Biologisch gehouden dragende zeugen krijgen in de winterperiode veelal graskuil. Omdat de opname hiervan niet goed bekend is, is het moeilijk de hiernaast gewenste krachtvoergift vast te stellen. In deze proef is de opname van twee soorten graskuil bij dragende zeugen vastgesteld. Daarnaast is de opname bepaald van graskuil die gemengd was ingekuild met gerst of CCM (mengkuilen), omdat hiermee naar verwachting een groter aandeel krachtvoer vervangen kan worden. Tevens is het effect van de rantsoensamenstelling en de opname hiervan op de conditie van de zeugen en de biggenproductie bestudeerd

Measuring empathic, person-centred communication in primary care nurses:validity and reliability of the Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) Measure

Background Empathic patient-centred care is central to high quality health encounters. The Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) Measure is a patient-rated experience measure of the interpersonal quality of healthcare encounters. The measure has been extensively validated and is widely used by doctors in primary care but has not been validated in nursing. This study assessed the validity and reliability of the CARE Measure in routine nurse consultations in primary care. Methods Seventeen nurses from nine general medical practices located in three Scottish Health Boards participated in the study. Consecutive patients (aged 16 years or older) were asked to self-complete a questionnaire containing the CARE Measure immediately after their clinical encounter with the nurse. Statistical analysis included Spearman’s correlation and principal component analysis (construct validity), Cronbach’s alpha (internal consistency), and Generalisability theory (inter-rater reliability). Results A total of 774 patients (327 male and 447 female) completed the questionnaire. Almost three out of four patients (73 %) felt that the CARE Measure items were very important to their current consultation. The number of ‘not applicable’ responses and missing values were low overall (5.7 and 1.6 % respectively). The mean CARE Measure score in the consultations was 45.9 and 48 % achieved the maximum possible score of 50. CARE Measure scores correlated in predicted ways with overall satisfaction and patient enablement in support of convergent and divergent validity. Factor analysis found that the CARE Measure items loaded highly onto a single factor. The measure showed high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient = 0.97) and acceptable inter-rater reliability (G = 0.6 with 60 patients ratings per nurse). The scores were not affected by patients’ age, gender, self-perceived overall health, living arrangements, employment status or language spoken at home. Conclusions The CARE Measure has high face and construct validity, and internal reliability in nurse consultations in primary care. Its ability to discriminate between nurses is sufficient for educational and quality improvement purposes

Opname van gras- en mengkuil door dragende biologische zeugen

In this study it was determined whether the concentrate allowance of pregnant sows can be partly replaced by the supply of grass silage of grass silage mixed with barley or CCM

SILAGE IN DIETS FOR ORGANIC SOWS IN GESTATION

This study was conducted to determine whether the supply of grass silage or grass silage mixed with barley or CCM to organically raised gestating sows would allow a reduction of compound feed allowance without loss in animal performance. On average, sows fed grass silage or mixed silage were able to compensate for a pre-set reduction of 1 kg or 1.5 kg compound feed, respectively. However, the variation in silage intake between individual sows was large, with a number of mainly young sows consuming less silage than the required amount. Consequently, these sows showed a net back fat loss during the experimental period from d 7 of gestation to weaning. Our results indicate that more feeder space than 1 for 8 sows is required to allow adequate silage intake in group housed sows. From this study we cannot derive whether that would be also allow young sows to realise an adequate silage intake. In conclusion, it seems possible to replace 1 kg compound feed by free access to grass silage and 1.5 kg compound by mixed barley or CCM silage, provided that variation between sows is reduced and young sows would also be able to ingest an adequate amount of silage