This study has indicated that supplementation of pig diets with SMMSC cannot be justified unless the slight ulcer score improvement observed could be translated to some commercial production advantage such as a reduction in pig mortalities due to oesophagogastric ulcers. This study has further confirmed the benefit of endoscopy as a tool to enable objective assessment of oesophageal gastric health.

Embryo transfer was used to introduce new genetic material into 5 commercial specific-pathogen-free pig herds in south eastern Queensland in order to reduce the risk of disease transmission. The embryos were collected surgically from gilts and sows and transferred surgically to synchronised recipient sows on the farms within 12 h. A total of 751 embryos were collected from 37 donors of which 665 were transferred to 39 recipients. Thirty-one (79.5%) farrowed with an average litter size of 8.1 +/- 3.0. The methods used to synchronise oestrus and superovulate the donors, together with a detailed description of the surgical technique are presented and discussed in relation to practical problems and limitations of the use of embryo transfer in swine.

No abstract