Articles - Nutrition

The success of the genetic improvement programs of the pigs in favour of a better growth and feeding efficiency and against the backfat thickness of the carcass has entailed a clear worsening of the organoleptic properties of the meat.

If the animals fast for some 12 hours before their loading onto the lorry we will reduce the compound feed consumption and we will improve the conditions of the transport to the abattoir. Nevertheless, adding up the transport and the waiting time at the abattoir we should not exceed 24 hours of fasting in total.

Albeit having similar determinants, the conversion index of the best (25%) and of the least efficient producers (25%) can differ in 0.42 points.

Bitterness leaves an unpleasant feeling linked to a decrease in feed consumption. On the other hand, modulating feed intake with bitter compounds might be an interesting tool to limit excessive voracity of pigs and sows at certain stages.

This case describes an acute outbreak of gastric ulcers in pigs of 30-40 kg live weight that affected 38 farms throughout a year and that presented mortalities from a 5% up to a 40% depending on the severity of the cases.

Perinatal flavour learning has been shown in a wide variety of species including humans, and often results in a preference in the offspring for a flavour that the mother ate often during late gestation and lactation.

The great impact of the boar on the swine production (up to more than 6,000 piglets produced by boar and year) determines the great interest in the study of any factor that can have an incidence on its production results.

In pigs there is no other phase in which such a high percentage of losses occur such as in motherhood, in particular in the first days of life. At this stage the determining factor for survival is the rapid consumption of colostrum.

This could be very shortly summarized by ‘’Start high and increase fast’’.

Today sows have a milk production of 8-12 liters/day or more. The challenge of feeding the lactating sow is not new and improvement to the genetic potential of lean and prolific dam lines make this issue of critical importance for any breeding herd.

Seaweeds are rich in undigestible polysaccharides and are a potential source of soluble dietary fibers. The most abundant polysaccharides in brown seaweeds are laminarin, fucoidan and alginic acid.

Some tips to reduce feed costs on pig farms.

Vitamin D is normally produced following skin exposure to ultraviolet-B. Since most piglets (and humans too!) are raised in climate controlled housing and born year-round, direct access to sunshine is often limited, even in the summer. Fortunately, vitamin D can be added to diets to meet the animals' need for vitamin D.

Modern sows are able to produce over 70 weaned piglets during their productive live.

We should focus on actions that are in our hands to try to improve the profitability of our farms.

UTIs are among the most frequent bacterial infections in the herd but they are rarely diagnosed or taken into consideration by veterinarians.

Citric and Tartaric acids trigger an innate sour taste that is attractive to pigs while their pungency is smooth and remains unnoticed.

Production of pig meat worldwide exceeds that of any other meat. Traditionally, linear programming is used to generate minimum cost diets that to meet the pig nutrient requirements. Of greater importance to the pig producer than least cost diets is the maximisation of gross margin (per pig place or per pig place per year).

In addition to amino acid intake, proper energy intake is essential for maximizing milk production in sows. Both the amount of and type of energy can influence milk production.

Many sow farms have been increasing total born and weaning large litters with heavier pigs. With litter size continuing to improve and lactation length increasing to around 21 days, the demand for milk production must continue to increase to meet the increasing demand of heavier pigs.

In practice there aren’t any direct methods to measure lean reserves in the field. On an experimental level, generally, ultrasound machines are used to measure the loin thickness (LT) as an indicator of lean reserves (just as the dorsal fat measure, DFM, is taken as an indicator of fat reserves)

The taste system senses the nutritional value of foods through the taste buds defined as clusters of taste sensory cells present in the tongue

In recent years the field of sweet taste has experienced a sudden twist due to the presence of taste receptors not only in clusters in the oral cavity (taste buds) but also in non-taste tissues particularly in the mucosa of the GIT.