Effect of stocking rate on pig performance in a wean-to-finish production system

DeDecker, J. M.; Ellis, Michael; Wolter, B. F.; Corrigan, B. P.; Curtis, S. E.; Hollis, G. R.

doi:10.4141/a04-042

Cited by 17 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Stocking density was positively associated with mortality in retrospective analyses of wean-to-finish records from a commercial production system ( Mehling et al, 2019 ). A positive correlation in nursery mortality attributable to stocking density was reported by several authors ( Table 4 ; Brumm et al, 1996 ; Wolter et al, 2003a; b ; DeDecker et al, 2005 ; Stojanac et al, 2014 ). However, multiple studies have not observed a difference in death loss related to stocking density ( Brumm et al, 1996 , 2001 , 2004 ; Turner et al, 2000 ; Wolter et al, 2002 ; Morrison et al, 2003 ; Street and Gonyou, 2008 ; Jensen et al, 2012 ; Serrano et al, 2013 ; Callahan et al, 2017 ; Jang et al, 2017 ; Wastell et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 62%

Postweaning mortality in commercial swine production. I: review of non-infectious contributing factors

Gebhardt

Tokach

Dritz

et al. 2020

Translational Animal Science

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Postweaning mortality is a complex causal matrix involving animal, environment, and infectious etiologic factors. Despite advances in swine productivity such as total pigs born, growth rate, feed intake, and efficiency, there have been modest to no improvements in postweaning mortality rates over the last several years. Industry averages for postweaning mortality range from four to eight percent for each the nursery, grow-finish, or wean-finish stages. Retrospective mortality causal analyses of individual databases have been performed. However, little information derived from meta-analysis, systematic review, or comprehensive literature reviews are available. In order to develop and evaluate strategies to comprehensively manage and reduce postweaning mortality, addressing the complexity and range of impact that factors have on mortality is necessary to identify and prioritize such contributing factors. Our objective is to describe the current state of knowledge regarding non-infectious causes of postweaning mortality, focusing on estimates of frequency and magnitude of effect where available. Postweaning mortality can be generalized into non-infectious and infectious causes, with non-infectious factors further classified into anatomic abnormalities, toxicity, animal factors, facility factors, nutritional inadequacies, season, and management factors. Important non-infectious factors that have been identified through review of literature include birth weight, pre-weaning management, weaning age and weight, and season. Additionally, reasons for mortality with a low incidence but a high magnitude include abdominal organ torsion/volvulus, sodium ion or ionophore toxicosis, or dietary imbalance due to feed formulation or manufacture error. Many interactive effects are present between and among infectious and non-infectious factors, but an important trend is the impact that non-infectious factors have on the incidence, severity, and resolution of infectious disease. Strategies to reduce postweaning mortality must consider the dynamic, complex state that forms the causal web. Control of postweaning mortality through understanding of the complexity, evaluation of mortality reduction strategies through rigorous scientific evaluation, and implementation remains an area of opportunity for continued growth and development in the global swine industry.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 62%

Postweaning mortality in commercial swine production. I: review of non-infectious contributing factors

Gebhardt

Tokach

Dritz

et al. 2020

Translational Animal Science

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“…Swine growth rate increases as stocking space increases, albeit at a decreasing rate as the marginal benefit of the extra room dwindles (DeDecker 2002;Hamilton et al 2003;DeDecker et al 2002DeDecker et al , 2005aDeDecker et al , 2005b. The pig producer directly controls the initial stocking space by determining the number of weaned pigs received from the nursery to stock the finishing facility.…”

Section: Modeling Pig Growthmentioning

confidence: 98%

An integer programming model for optimal pork marketing

Ohlmann

Jones

2008

Ann Oper Res

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Pork producers must determine when to sell pigs, which and how many pigs to sell, and to which packer(s) to sell them. We model the decision-making problem as a linear mixed-integer program that determines the marketing strategy that maximizes expected annual profit. By discretizing the barn population into appropriate weight and growth categories, we formulate an mixed-integer program that captures the effect of stocking space and shipping disruption on pig growth. We consider marketing to multiple packers via shipping policies reflecting operational sorting constraints. Utilizing data from Cargill Animal Nutrition, we implement the model to obtain solutions that characterize significant strategic departures from commonly-implemented industry rules-of-thumb and that possess the potential to increase profitability in an industry characterized by narrow profit margins.

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“…2 0.96 m 2 /pig = 10 pigs/pen; 0.84 m 2 /pig = 12 pigs/pen; 0.72 m 2 /pig = 14 pigs/pen. 3 Total number of body lesions counted at anterior, mid, hind and total body regions on both sides of the body.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A higher number of pigs per pen, reduces the housing cost per pig as pens are used more e ciently (2). However, increasing the number of pigs per pen causes a reduction in the space allowance (SA), and either a reduction in feeder space per animal in long trough systems or an increase in the ratio of animals per feeder in facilities with an ad libitum feeding arrangement (3). This may result in a reduction in productive performance (4)(5)(6).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Space Allowance and Mixing on Growth Performance and Body Lesions of Grower-finisher Pigs in Pens With a Single Wet-dry Feeder

Montoro

Solà-Oriol

Muns

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: Low space allowance (SA) and mixing may result in reduced growth performance (GP) and animal welfare issues because of adverse social behaviours directed to pen mates. This could be exacerbated in pens with single space feeders owing to social facilitation of feeding behaviour. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of SA and mixing on GP and body lesions (BL) in pens with one single space wet-dry feeder. Results: Two experiments were conducted on grower-finisher pigs from 10 to 21 weeks of age. In Exp1, pigs (N=216) were assigned to three SA; 0.96 m2/pig (n=6 pens; 10 pigs/pen; SA96), 0.84 m2/pig (n=6; 12 pigs/pen; SA84) and 0.72 m2/pig (n=6; 14 pigs/pen; SA72), in a randomized design. In Exp2, pigs (N=230) were used in a 2×2 factorial randomized design considering SA and mixing as treatments. Pigs were assigned to two SA; 0.96 m2/pig (n=10 pens; 10 pigs/pen; SA96) and 0.78 m2/pig (n=10; 13 pigs/pen; SA78) and were either mixed or not at the entry to the finishing facility. GP was not affected by SA (P > 0.05) in either experiment. In Exp2, non-mixed pigs were 5.4 kg heavier (P < 0.001), gained 74 g more per day (P = 0.004), consumed 101.8 g more of feed per day (P = 0.007) and tended to have higher feed efficiency (P = 0.079) than mixed pigs from 11 to 21 weeks of age. Number of BL was affected by SA in both experiments. In Exp1, SA72 pigs had 74.4% and 97.4% more BL than SA96 and SA84 pigs at 20 weeks of age respectively (P = 0.003). In Exp2, SA78 pigs had 48.6, 43.6 and 101.3% more BL than SA96 pigs at 12, 16 and 21 weeks of age respectively (P < 0.05). Mixing did not affect the number of BL from 12 to 21 weeks of age in Exp2 (P > 0.05).Conclusion: Mixing had a considerable effect on growth performance thus, strategies to avoid or mitigate mixing should be considered. Although space allowance had no effect on growth performance, high number of body lesions in the lower space allowance indicates that space allowances equal or below 0.78 m2/pig are detrimental to the welfare of pigs despite following the EU legislation.

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Effect of stocking rate on pig performance in a wean-to-finish production system

Cited by 17 publications

References 19 publications

Postweaning mortality in commercial swine production. I: review of non-infectious contributing factors

Postweaning mortality in commercial swine production. I: review of non-infectious contributing factors

An integer programming model for optimal pork marketing

Effect of Space Allowance and Mixing on Growth Performance and Body Lesions of Grower-finisher Pigs in Pens With a Single Wet-dry Feeder

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