Once small always small? To what extent morphometric characteristics and post-weaning starter regime affect pig lifetime growth performance.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of piglet morphometric characteristics and starter regime on postnatal growth. Some piglets born light are able to grow faster than others, and identifying which piglets are more at risk to remain light and at which stages of growth is essential. A nutrient enriched starter regime may allow lightweight pigs to improve their post-weaning growth. A total 1487 newly born piglets from 137 litters originating from 8 consecutive farrowing batches were followed from birth (BiW) to weaning (WW, d28) and finishing (d99). At birth morphometric measurements were taken, including body mass index (BMI), ponderal index (PI) and BiW:cranial circumferences (BiW:CC). At weaning pigs were randomly allocated to one of two experimental regimes: either a nutrient enriched regime with a 20% higher essential amino acids (EAA): energy ratio (HIGH) or a standard regime (CTRL). Piglets were retrospectively allocated to 4 different weight classes (C) using percentiles at birth, weaning and finishing, with C1 representing the lightest and C4 the heaviest class. A series of novel statistical models were used to determine which factors were able to predict performance. RESULTS: For BiW C1 piglets, BMI (P = 0.003) and BiW relative to birth litter (P = 0.026) were positively associated with pre-weaning performance, whereas BiW:CC (P = 0.011) and WW (P = 0.001) were positively associated with post-weaning growth. Post-weaning the best predictors of piglets weaned light (WW C1) were PI (P = 0.037), BiW:CC (P < 0.001) and WW (P < 0.001). Starter regime did not influence (P > 0.05) post-weaning performance. CONCLUSION: Our results show that not all light pigs are the same and that their performance is under the influence of body shape rather than BiW. Therefore, pig producers should discriminate between light pigs based on birth characteristics to improve the effectiveness of intervention strategies at the different stages of growth. Irrespective of weight class piglets did not benefit from the EAA enriched regime applied.

What is good for small piglets might not be good for big piglets: The consequences of cross-fostering and creep feed provision on performance to slaughter.

Major improvements in sow prolificacy have resulted in larger litters but, at the same time, increased the proportion of piglets born light weight. Different management strategies aim to enhance the performance of, and limit light-weight piglet contribution to, BW variation within a batch; however, consequences on heavy-weight littermates are often neglected. This study investigated the effects of different litter compositions, created through cross-fostering, and the provision of creep feed on preweaning behavior and short- and long-term performance of piglets born either light weight (≤1.25 kg) or heavy weight (1.50-2.00 kg). Piglets were cross-fostered at birth to create litters with only similar-sized piglets (light weight or heavy weight; UNIFORM litters) and litters with equal numbers of light-weight and heavy-weight piglets (MIXED litters); half of the litters were offered creep feed and the remaining were not. Piglet behavior during a suckling bout and at the creep feeder was assessed; a green dye was used to discern between consumers and nonconsumers of creep feed. The interaction between litter composition and birth weight (BiW) class influenced piglet BW at weaning ( < 0.001): piglets born light weight were lighter at weaning in MIXED litters than those in UNIFORM litters (6.93 vs. 7.37 kg); however, piglets born heavy weight performed considerably better in MIXED litters (8.93 vs. 7.96 kg). Total litter gain to weaning was not affected ( = 0.565) by litter composition. Teat position affected heavy-weight piglet performance by d 10 ( < 0.001), with heavy-weight piglets in UNIFORM litters being disadvantaged when suckling the middle and posterior teats. Creep feed provision did not affect BW at weaning ( > 0.05) for either BiW class. However, litter composition significantly affected daily creep feed consumption ( = 0.046) and fecal color ( = 0.022), with heavy-weight piglets in UNIFORM litters consuming the highest amount of creep feed and having the greenest feces. In addition, a lower number of heavy-weight piglets in UNIFORM litters were classified as nonconsumers ( = 0.002). The weight advantage heavy-weight and light-weight piglets had at weaning when reared in MIXED and UNIFORM litters, respectively, was sustained throughout the productive period. In conclusion, reducing BW variation within litter (UNIFORM litters) was beneficial for piglets born light weight but not for piglets born heavy weight; the latter were disadvantaged up to slaughter. Although heavy-weight piglets in UNIFORM litters consumed the greatest amount of creep feed, this was not able to overcome their growth disadvantage compared with heavy-weight piglets in MIXED litters.

Factors affecting the success rate of treatment of recumbent dairy cows suffering from hypocalcaemia.

We aimed to investigate the ratio of accompanying diseases in cows suffering from clinical hypocalcaemia and their influence on cure rate. In five veterinary practices in different regions of Germany, all recumbent cows around parturition were included in the study for a period of 1 year. After recording the case history a clinical examination was done and a serum sample was taken to measure the concentrations of calcium and phosphorus magnesium, beta-hydroxybutyrate, total bilirubin, cholesterol, urea, and the activities of ASAT, CK, and GLDH. Only cows with hypocalcaemia entered the statistical analysis. Hypocalcaemia was the major cause of recumbency in cows of the second lactation or elder. Muscle damage was the second frequent diagnose in recumbent cows and the major concomitant disease in hypocalcaemic cows. The overall cure rate was between 89.4% and 94.8%. Calcium and phosphorus concentrations did not have an influence on cure rate. Non-cured cows had higher serum activities of CK (p<0.043) and ASAT (p<0.006). Nevertheless, the activities of CK and ASAT were no good predictors of treatment failure because of their low specificity and the high cure rate of the cows in the five practices.