Health management strategies in finishing pigs
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Research partners: Newcastle University and Thirsk VLA
Sponsors: BPEX
Project duration: 2007 - 2010
The broad objective of this project is to evaluate the cost-benefit of preventative management strategies designed to improve the health and productivity of finishing pigs. The focus is on husbandry procedures which can be adopted to reduce infectious challenge, optimise the microclimate for the pig and reduce stress. For each intervention there are specific objectives to establish:
- The biological response of the pig to the management intervention
- What factors are affecting the response of the pig
- The cost-benefit of the intervention
Following comprehensive review of literature, an initial experiment compared the use of a pen disinfection routine in all-in all-out and continuous flow housing systems, to determine the effect on air quality, health and productivity of finishing pigs. Data analysis is ongoing to determine the extent of treatment effects on these parameters and their interactions. In addition, this study provides detailed data on individual pigs which are being utilised to gain information on the extent of production loss and weight variation arising from disease. Paired blood and saliva samples were collected from pigs during the study to establish whether or not immune parameters can be detected in the saliva and whether these correlate to levels in blood.
Key findings to date include:
- Disinfection reduced bacteria levels on pen surfaces
- Mean dust levels did not differ between systems, but differed over weeks according to ventilation rate, pig numbers and pen fouling
- There was no significant overall effect of system on morbidity, mortality or pig performance
- Simple cough scores showed a positive correlation with the incidence of pneumonia in live pigs, and with abattoir lung scores
- Individual pig data indicated a growth loss of 340 g/day associated with symptoms of respiratory illness and 190 g/day with enteric illness
The outcomes of this project will contribute practical information that can be disseminated to pig producers to inform health management decisions. If feasible, saliva provides a method for retrieving samples from pigs in a simple and cheap procedure, allowing tracking of immune responses for diagnostic purposes.