Swine Nutrition Flashcards
What is the average pig gestation
Average gestation: 3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days
What is the average pig lactation
Average lactation: 3 weeks
What are 3 types of diets used for pigs? What type of systems use each type?
- Complete feed: TMR
o Commercial pigs
o Balanced to the level of amino acid = very customized
Made based off of genetics - Grain-based homemade feed + supplement or premix
o Backyard pigs - Produce-based homemade feed + supplement or premix
o Backyard pig/pet
o Veggie/food waste – common to develop malnutrition
What factors impact feeding your pigs
- Fed daily – must meet nutritional requirements
o Easy to feed them ok, hard to feed them great - Amount – depends on breed/age/sex/stage/nutrient density
- Depends on goals
o Commercial, show, outdoor small holder, backyard/pet, zoo - Cannot be raised on pasture alone
How does regulation of livestock feed influence feeding pigs
CFIA regulates all livestock feed
* Feeds Act – all feeds we give too pigs must comply
o Backyard owners often are not aware
* No feeding meat, meat byproduct to pigs (even though it is an omnivore)
o Infectious disease transmission (virus)
o Introduced because of foot and mouth disease
o Also Classical swine fever, porcine epidemic diarrhea virus
What are the ‘feed basics’ to know when feeding pigs
- Feed components:
o Nutrients (carbs, fat, protein)
Protein: incomplete protein (soy/field pea/canola)
Grain: barley, wheat, corn, oats
o Amino acids – supplemented because only fed incomplete protein
o Premix: Minerals/ Vitamins/Enzymes
o Supplement: protein/amino acid/vitamin/mineral/enzyme - Water
What is a plant based product that distributes viruses? How do we deal with it?
Plant based product that distributes viruses: soybean meal
- Trade restrictions on places with viruses – and if it is imported it is heated and properly processed
What are the basic feed components to know when feeding pigs
- Feed components:
o Nutrients (carbs, fat, protein)
Protein: incomplete protein (soy/field pea/canola)
Grain: barley, wheat, corn, oats
o Amino acids – supplemented because only fed incomplete protein
o Premix: Minerals/ Vitamins/Enzymes
o Supplement: protein/amino acid/vitamin/mineral/enzyme - Water
How many essential amino acids do pigs require and what is the most important?
- 10 essential amino acids for pigs (can’t synthesize)
o Lysine**
a significant driver of muscle growth
How is Pig Feed Formulated
- Set energy needs
- Set lysine amino acid ratio – depends on ingredient amount of lysine
a. May not need to prioritize if it is a pet but still needed for a balanced diet - Set other amino acids as a ratio to the amount of lysine
- Add vitamin and mineral (also enzymes to help with digestion)
What is the sow cycle
Sow Cycle
1. Gilt introduction
2. Puberty and genetically selected to enter mating program and bred to achieve specific desired outcome
3. Pregnancy
4. Lactation
5. Repeat – each stage requires different nutrients
What factors indicate a replacement gilt is ready to breed
- Average birth weight = 130-170kg, heavier = better to breed
- Breed on second estrus – usually 7 – 9 months
o Because reduced activation/development of mammary glands - Should be a BCS 3 – 3.5
What factors impact puberty onset
- Housing
- Movement
- Lighting
- Feed intake
- Feed quality
- Bear exposure (required for estrus induction)
- Genetics
Compare the consequences of if the gilt is too skinny or too fat
If Gilt is too skinny
* Weak/low weaning weight
* Poor return to estrus
* Smaller subsequent litter size
If Gilt is too fat
* Anestrus
* Dystocia
* Reduced appetite in lactation
* Poor milk production
What are the goals for feeding gilts
Goals for Feeding the Gilt
* Need to grow (bone growth and repro growth)
* Ensure they are sound
How should you feed gilts and what happens if they don’t
- Do not restrict feed or else
o Delayed puberty
o Lameness issue: Ca:P imbalance
o Repro problem – low backfat reserves
How do we feed pregnant sows
How do we feed:
* All sows to be in loose sow housing (in the next 4 years – government act)
* Use electronic sow feeders to allow feeding individually
What are the goals of feeding pregnant sows
Goals:
* Meet maintenance requirement/maintain BCS
* Meet needs for fetus/placenta growth
* If young then they also need to grow
What are the consequences of overfeeding a pregnant sow
Overfeeding
* Reduced feed consumption during lactation/excess weight loss in lactation
* Poor udder development (verry large teats – can’t get in baby’s mouth)/reduced milk production
* Reduced herd longevity
* Stillbirth (sows tired during birth – birth can be from 6-12hrs)
How much to feed a pregnant sow
How much to feed
* Daily feed = maintenance + back fat gains + fetal growth
* Later in gestation they need more lysine and Ca (also younger parity animals need more)
What is a bedding material that can impact sows
Don’t give pigs straw: they will eat it and it will fill the spiral colon/cecum (excess fibrre)
* Difficult to measure intake of food
What is the goal of feeding lactatting sows
Goal
* Avoid negative energy balance
* Meet maintenance requirements
* Optimize litter performance
What are the conssequnces of underfeding lactating
- Extended wean to eestrus interval
- Smaller litter size
- High culling rate of sows
How much to feed a lactating sow
- Commercial: ad lib
- Generally: 1.5kg per sow and + 0.5 kg per piglet
What are the goals when feeding boars
- Met maintenance requirement
- Maintain energy for work
- Maintain body size (need to balance that with protecting the sow – he is very heavy and breeding takes a long time)
How much to feed boars
- 2.5 kg/d
dont make them fat
Compare underfeeding and overfeeding boars
If overfeed
* Poor libido
If underfeed
* Low energy/low mounting
* Reduced semen volume/sperm production
List the functions of colostrum
Functions
* Give nutrient (fat/sugar/protein/vit/mineral)
* Maturation of GI (growth factors)
* Uterine gland development
* Thermoregulation (brown fat)
* Immunity
How does colostrum quality change over time
Quality
* Declines immediately after parturition begins (resorbing antibodies) –
1st 4 hrs is best
o 3hr – decrease by 30%
o 6 – 7 hr – 50% lower
o 12 hr – 70% lower
o 24 hr – 90% lower
* Colorstral immunity is high – high levels of Ig
* Lactogenic immunity – low levels of Ig persist over all lactation
Does it matter if the piglet is feeding on their own mom
Yes
Babies can only absorb their biological moms T cells (can absorb some Ig)
How does timing impact piglets during lactation
- After farrowing they will have milk let down every 20 minutes
- After 48hrs piglet GI cannot absorb Ig
What is the minimum amount of colostrum a piglet should have
- If <400g of colostrum = rapid increase in mortality
What impacts low colostrum intake
- Low birth weight/large litter size
- Born last
- Infrequent suckling
- Sampling only a few teats
- Chilling – born wet = they can get cold
How does teat order influence piglet growth
- Milk at cranial end of mom is better in quality, and produce more vs teats at the back
o Smaller piglets at the back - Piglet very loyal to the teat they choose – established in 3 days
o Even if sow flips over – they stay at same teat - Unused teats regress – these ones will produce less milk in subsequent lactations
Provide 4 examples of carbohydrate sources for pigs
Carbohydrate: wheat/barley/corn/oats
Provide 4 examples of protein sources for pigs
Protein: soy/canola meal/field peas/wheat (incomplete proteins – lack all essential amino
What is the limiting amino acid for pigs
lysine
Compare lactogenic and colostral immunity
Colostral immunity: colostrum with Ig/Tcells/nutrients in first 24hrs = passive Ig transfer
Lactogenic immunity: constant delivery of Ig/immunity via milk – not absorbed but still functional in GI tract
What are the 4 growing stages of pigs
Growing Stages (common to all pigs)
1. Nursing: 1-8kg
2. Nursery: 8-25kg
3. Grower: 25-65kg
4. Finisher: 65-130kg
Features of water as a nutrient in pig production
Water: most essential nutrient + most consumed nutrient
Quality and Hygiene both matter
How does biosecurity impact water management
- Pig nutrition: volume/quality/hygiene
- Barn function: sanitation/cooling
What are the types of water sources people use for pigs
- Surface water
- Deep well – less bacteria
- Shallow well – way more bacteria, more risk of runoff (more equivalent to surface water)
- Municipal water – many sources of water, usually filtered
4 ways to make surface water more safe
o Fence off reservoir
o Don’t spread manure nearby or in run off zones
o Disinfect water before it enters barn
o Minimum = annual water testing
5 ways to make well water more safe
o Don’t spread manure near wellhead
o Never let standing water accumulate near wellhead
o Slope the land around wellhead for drainage
o Disinfect water before it enters the barn
o Annual testing
4 ways to make municipal water more safe
o Remove biofilm and disinfect cistern tanks
o Remove biofilm and disinfect waterhead tanks
o Remove biofilm with every AIAO batch
o Disinfect with every AIAO batch
How to remove biofilms
o Cleaning biofilm: mineral clean and fat clean to remove film, flush with disinfectant and flush with water
Hydrogen peroxide and chlorine won’t remove biofilms effectively (better than nothing but use biofilm product with detergent action)
What are the main types of cleaning water
- Alkaline detergents: effective in removing organic soil/fat/oil/protein/startch/carbs
- Acid detergents: water scale (Ca/Mg/Fe) removal
- Water treatment: chlorine or hydrogen peroxide
o Cl: great disinfectant
o H2O2: great oxidizer
o Both useful with own pros and cons - Continuous vs Shock treatment
o Both are important
o Continuous = maintain cleanliness – low dose of Cl or H2O2
o Depend on water source
Surface water = continuous
Deep well = shock (less risk of contamination)
How much water do pigs drink daiily
- Will drink 8-10% of body weight per day
Explain the relationship between virus and nutrition of pigs
- Survives well in feed – mechanism of transport
- Different feed types have better ability to transport virus: ex. soybean is quite good
- EX. PED epidemic
o Freeze fried plasma imported, usually it does through viral disinfection
o Mistake was made and it wasn’t disinfected = outbreak - EX. Waste-food feeding (feeding human food = high virus risk)
- Drying process can cause contamination: lay out feed on active roadways to dry and then sweep up (lots of contamination)
How did the risk assessment on feed imports change biosecurity of feed
- Health of animals act only deals with animals – no impact on plant-based feeds
- 6 main import sites: Vancouver/Prince Rupert/Toronto/Montreal/Quebec/Halifax
- Put secondary control zones in place
What are the disinfection methods in place in secondary control zones
o Feed must sit in container at 20C for 20d or 10C for 100 days
At fridge temp (4C) or lower = nothing killed
Most effective is 65C (but not usually feasible)
>80C = damage to equipment and protein
o virus killed by time/temp/irradiation (UV, small batches of feed/water)/chemical inactivation (not common – food safety/palatability)
o factors: ingredient type/virus type
What are prominant features of weaner pigs that can impact diet
- Healthy piglets put in groups and moved to nursery – 16-28 days old
- Stress of weaning/mixing of piglets + waning passive immunity
- Maternal milk: way more fat
- Early diets: less fat, not as good
o Feeding warm milk = lots of biofilm formation/hygiene issues - Digestive enzyme changes – lactase declines, amylase/maltase/protease increase
How to feed weaner pig
- Ad lib is good
- Expensive diets
- Phase feeding: 3-4 diet changes in response to changing GI enzymes
o Creep: extruded
o Starter 1/2/3: increasing pellet size
What are the main ingredients in weaner diets
- Ingredients
o Lactose/Whey powder/Whey permeate = mimic milk lactose
o Plasma protein or eggs – must be spray dried or dried
Plasma protein is very digestible
o Same protein and carb sources as other diets
o Amino acids: increasing lysine will increase average daily gain (up to a point)
Once threshold reach – level out amount
How much of the main ingredients do weaner pigs get fed over time
o Lactose: way more in starter 1 and 2 vs diet 3
o Protein and energy: gradient of more in starter 1 vs 3 feeds
o Start with milk and finish with grains
How to feed a backyard piglet
o Backyard piglet: bowl feed with human infant formula – use high Fe (very expensive) > oatmeal + cows milk oatmeal to transition
o All piglets are prone to anemia
What are the goals for feeding groowing pigs
Goal: lean tissue growth (muscle)
Feed features: 75% of production cost
* Depends on producer goals (how fast/how big)
How fast do pigs grow and how does that look
- Can grow 1 kg/day
- Lean growth increases then plateaus then fat growth increases to market weight
- No growth promotants or antibiotics used
- Charts used to identify feed intake in relationship to growth
How to feed growing pigs
- Split sex feeding: more uniform finishing growth
o But more costly and more work - Temp: decrease feed intake as temperature increases
- Feeder:
o Wet vs dry (wet = feed with water) – easier to eat dry food with water
o Single and multi-space – no difference in feed efficiency
1 feeder = 4 pigs – number of pigs per feeder matter - Dry feeders handle less pigs vs wet
Dimensions and trough depth matters
o 40-60% of trough covered is ideal – if it is completely full they will throw feed around and waste it - Usually high barley: good fibre/carb source
- Soybean and canola meal - protein
How does foraging change outdoor pig feeding
Foraging
* Must rotate pigs on pasture: will root out all vegetation
* Changes spiral colon – way bigger because more forage
What are the main ingredients of outdoor pig food
- Wheat/barely/corn/oats – whole grains less effective/not digested
o Rolled oats better for digestion – many small operators don’t have rollers
Can soak overnight to soften/increase digestibility - Soybean/pea/fava bean
- Mineral and vitamin supplement – dried distillers grain
- Grass/hay (less nutrient density)
How to feed outdoor pigs (4 ways)
- Should get 14 or 16 or 18% complete and balanced hog feed (percent is protein)
- Single grain diet: must add supplement to ensure it is complete and balanced
- Mixed diet: illegal to feed meat to pigs, must add supplement
- Swill feeding: bad and illegal
What usually causes protein deficiency in pigs
Protein Deficiency
* From sub-optimal feed intake
* Complete vs. incomplete is important
o Usually lysine or methionine
How does protein deficiency look in growing and finishing pigs
Grower and Finishers
* Reduced growth/average daily gain
* Poor feed conversion
* Fatter carcasses in growing and finishing pigs
How does protein deficiency look in sow pigs
Sows
* Low milk production
* Excess weight loss in lactation
* Failure to exhibit post weaning estrus (should normally return to estrus within a week)
What are the clinical signs of fat deficiency
- Hair loss
- Scaly dermatitis
- Unthrifty appearance
- Repo problems
What causes fat deficiency
reduced intake
Fat Deficiency: very uncommon
* Commercial diets contain enough fats (non-commercial diets are more at risk)
What are the clinical signs of carb deficiency
- Reduced growth
- Poor hair coat/dry nose
- Poor BCS
- Lack of energy
- Secondary illness
List 4 types of mineral deficiencies and what are the main consequences.
- Ca or P = ricketts
- Na = poor growth
- Iodine (in sow diet) = hairless piglets
- Zn = parakeratosis
How common are mineral deficiencies
Mineral Deficiency: rare in commercial, common in backyard
How does Fe def anemia occur? Is it common?
- Piglets born with low iron reserve (universal to all pigs in all systems)
- Increasing growth leads to rapid expansion of blood volume = anemia
o Common even when sows diet is super balanced
What is the threshold level of Hb in Fe def anemia
- <90 g/L Hb
What are the clinical signs of a piglet with Fe def anemia
- Failure to grow
- Unthrifty
- Pallor
What are the post mortem lesions of a piglet with Fe def anemia
- Thin walled heart
- Edema of lungs/muscle/connective tissue
- Thin watery blood
How to prevent piglet with Fe def anemia
- Iron dextran (injectable, 200ml/piglet at 3d)
- If you see aa runt/runt litter = give iron!
What other mineral can cause anemia in pigs
- Cu can reduce the rate of Hgb formation – but an uncommon cause of anemia in pigs
What are another name for salt toxicity
Salt/Water Toxicity: aka “water deprivation”
causes osmolarity issue
What are the clinical signs associated with salt toxicity
Clinical signs: mainly neurological
* +/- stilted gait
* Walking into walls
* Nose twitching > convulsions
* +/- diarrhea
What are 3 ddx for salt toxicity
DDX:
* Meningitis
* Edema diseases (caused by E. coli)
* Organophosphates (non-existant in commercial prod, only outdoor)
What is salt/water tox
- Osmolarity gradient forms between BBB = neurologic disease (acute cerebral edema)
o Either with excess water or salt - Can occur pig/poultry/cattle/sheep…
What are post mortem and histopath signs of salt/water tox
- Gastric mucosal congestion
- +/- enteritis (liquid/water filled in intestine and stomach - characteristic)
- Pathognomonic eosinophilic meningoencephalitis – cuffing of meningeal/cerebral vessels (lasts 3-4d)
o Histopath rarely done (unless for legal reasons)
How to deal with salt/water tox
- Re-introduce water slowly (small amounts frequently)
- If salt driven = it was a diet problem
- If water driven = farm problem/no access to water
Where to gastric ulcers form in pigs
- Usually in non-glandular pars esophagea
What are 3 risk factors for gastric ulcers
o Interrupted feed supply (especially if on high grain diet)
o Particle size (ultra-fine = higher risk)
o Disease/stress (makes them go off-feed)
What is the pathogenesis of gastric ulcers
- Normal
- Parakeratosis
- Erosion
- Ulcer
What are the clinical signs associated with gastric ulcers
- Clinical sign: most subclinical
o Vomit
o Feed refusal
o Constipation
o Peracute death (intragastric hemorrhage)
o +/-melea and pallor
o Slow growth/ weight loss (due to esophageal stricture in healed cases)
Can cause megaesophagus/regurgitation
What are 3 things gastric ulcer dx is based on
- Dx: based on clinical signs/PM/slaughter check
What are the control mechanisms of gastric ulcers
o Diet change (particle size/buffers/mash rather than pellets)
o Sucralfate
o Bismuth subsalicylate (peptobismol) – commercial pigs for managing bacterial scours (barrier to bacterial adhesion)
o Famotidine (H2 blocker)
What are the common intestinal accidents that can happen in pigs
- Mesenteric/gastric/splenic torsion
- Rectal prolapse
What are risk factors for intestinal accidents in pigs
o Interrupted feeding
o Changes in diet
o Run/jump/roll
What is the pathogenesis of intestinal accidents in pigs
- Inciting incident
- Torsion
- Abdominal distension
- Venous obstruction
- Shock
- Death
What are the clinical signs of intestinal accidents in pigs
- Clinical signs
o Peracute death
o Bloated abdomen
o Pale carcass
o +/- rectal prolapse
What are the post mortem signs of intestinal problems
o Venous congestion in GI
o Blood tinged peritoneal fluid
o Twisting around mesentery
How to control intestinal problems
- Control
o Consistent diet and delivery of diet
o Slow the running/jumping
What is mulberry heart disease? What are the main gross signs
Mullberry Heart Disease: Vit E and Se
* Hydropericardium/thorax/peritoneum
* ‘paintbrush’ hemorrhage
What are 2 main mycotoxins and what do they cause
- Vomitoxin is well absorbed and poorly metabolized and excreted
o Feed refusal/vomiting
o Very low detrimental dose - Pigs susceptible to zearalenone
o Primary presentation is repro: Abortion
o prolapse
What are the clinical signs of mycotoxin toxicity
o Sow anorexia
o High sow mortality
o Increasing mummies and stillborns
What are the ddx for mycotoxins
o PRRS
o Enviro (heat stress)
o Mycotoxins
o Parvo (only backyard pigs because all commercial pigs vaccinated)
o Stray voltage
What are risk factors for mycotoxins
o Dose of toxin
o Concurrent disease
o Heat stress
o Marginal nutrient profile drug interactions
o Multiple toxin
o Animal crowding
o Age
o Pregnancy/lactation
How to prevent mycotoxins
- Prevention
o Feed testing (but need a representative sample)
o Storage: bin cleaning/feed line cleaning/dry storage
o Mycotoxin binder: agents like clay can selectively bind/immobilize mycotoxins in GI
