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Mean growth response (%control) corrected
HEAL ▶▶▶TH
The approach to the solution will be different on every farm. It might be lowering pen stocking, providing more roughage or more and better pen enrichment or giving clay minerals to bind mycotoxins. What applies to every company is that water intake must be increased. Especially for the weaned piglets, this is the number #1 priority to be able to dispose of waste.
Ear necrosis in weaned piglets Animal nutrition company Agrifirm is also active in monitor- ing weaned piglets in combination with thermal images. “At the moment we are less involved with SINS in newborn pig- lets and sows, which is something for the long-term focus,” says Tim van Sprang, veterinarian and sales manager at Agri- firm. “We focus on a good start after weaning, with which we want to prevent diarrhoea and promote good intestinal health. In addition, we strongly suspect that thermoregula- tion of the piglet also has a major influence on the develop- ment of ear necrosis in weaned piglets,” says Van Sprang. “In the thermal camera images we take, we see that piglets in units where ear necrosis develops clearly have warmer ears than in units without ear necrosis. We strongly suspect that a piglet first develops a fever, and that ear necrosis develops af- ter that.” Agrifirm also uses the Healthy Climate Monitor, which monitors the climate in the barn 24 hours a day in combination with camera images.
Figure 1 – Response of feed intake and growth to a sanitary challenge.
Digestive bacterial infections
0 -5
-10 -15 -20 -25 -30 -35 -40 -45
-10,2 Poor housing
conditions -4,1
-12,2 -29,6 LPS challenge Mycotoxicoses
Parasitic infections
-3 -5,4 -26,8
-25,2 -4,5
-7,3 -17,3
Respiratory diseases
Fraction due to the change in feed efficiency Fraction due to the change in the maintenance
Source: Pastorelli et al., 2011.
A solution for ear and tail biting is not only necessary for the animals’ well-being; there is also an economic aspect at play. A piglet with ear necrosis is more difficult to sell, especially in tough economic times. A finisher with a bitten tail also does not fit into a welfare concept with long tails as a requirement. In addition, a pig with an open wound is not allowed to be transported, not even to the slaughterhouse. At the same time, an immune and inflammatory response means an extra need for feed (amino acids and energy) for the body, reducing feed intake and efficiency.
Different focus on genetics A healthy pig tail.
“We need a different focus on genetics if we want to keep pigs with long tails. Take poultry farming with slow-growing broiler breeds as an example,” says con- sultant Mirjam Lechner, who co-developed the “Fit for pigs” app. “Especially with Piétrain boars, speed is needed to retain the genetics of the sire lines with little or no predisposition for SINS. Research has shown that currently only a few of the Piétrain sire lines score at the same level as Duroc or Yorkshire in terms of SINS and are therefore suitable for keeping animals with long tails. Due to the speed of breeding, it is important that we continue to maintain these genetics, so that we also have Piétrain as an option as a sire line in future pig farming. Genetic predisposition also plays a role in Yorkshire pigs, but we clearly see fewer SINS symptoms there. “If we stop docking with the current genetics, another welfare problem, tail bit- ing, will take its place. Both are undesirable for the welfare of the pigs. The solu- tion to keeping long tails lies in health and thus in optimising management fac- tors on the farm. Building a new barn is not feasible for most pig farmers, but there are sufficient solutions for water, housing, pen enrichment, feed and cli- mate. Pig farmers themselves have the tools for this. “We are dependent on breeding organisations for genetic adaptations, and that is where the challenge lies. To solve SINS, genetics is not sacred, but without ge- netic correction it will certainly amount to nothing,” concludes Lechner. In Prof Gerald Reiner’s team at the University in Giessen, research has been going on for five years into the genetic predisposition of SINS.
Tail necrosis with a newborn piglet. ▶ PIG PROGRESS | Volume 38, No. 4, 2022 9
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