Pigs

This study was conducted to evaluate effectiveness of an integrated management intervention in the control of endo- and ectoparasites of pigs kept by smallholder farmers in Mbeya Rural and Mbozi districts of southern highlands of Tanzania. A repeated cross-sectional group randomization design was employed, with 10 villages in the intervention group and six villages in the control group. The intervention consisted of improving pig confinement, feeds and feeding practices, and strategic anthelmintic treatment of pigs with oxfendazole, to primarily control Taenia solium (porcine) cysticercosis and nematodes; and with ivermectin to control ectoparasites and nematodes. Blood and faecal samples, ectoparasite specimens and skin scrapings were collected at baseline and two follow-up rounds, at an interval of seven months. A total of 482, 460 and 421 pigs were sampled in 221, 196 and 139 households at baseline, first and second follow-up visits respectively. Sero-prevalence of PC, prevalence and burden of gastrointestinal (GI) nematodes and prevalence of ectoparasites were determined using Ag-ELISA, McMaster faecal egg counting technique and body searches/skin scrapings, respectively. Mann Whitney test was used to measure intervention effect by comparing changes from baseline values of prevalence and faecal egg counts between the two groups. No significant difference (p > 0.05) was observed between the two groups, in changes from baseline of sero-prevalence of PC. The intervention significantly reduced prevalence of Trichuris suis (p = 0.044) and mean faecal egg counts of Ascaris suum (p = 0.02) from baseline to first follow-up. The intervention showed a substantial effect on the prevalence of ectoparasites as it significantly reduced overall prevalence of ectoparasites (p = 0.026), lice (p = 0.045), ticks (p = 0.049) and mites (p = 0.013) from baseline to first follow-up, and prevalence of ectoparasites, lice and mites from baseline to second follow-up (p = 0.052, p = 0.03, p = 0.017 respectively). This study has demonstrated a moderate effect of the intervention on controlling GI nematodes and ectoparasites, but no effect on sero-prevalence of PC. The reported ineffectiveness of the intervention against PC is probably an underestimation because serology is not able to provide quantitative data. It may also be a result of reduced compliance as this was a field study. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to better understand transmission dynamics of PC and explore One Health approaches including treatment of the human population against taeniosis to better secure public health.

Although anatomically, physiologically and even socially, we 'share' so much with pigs, we raise them in increasingly appalling conditions for the purpose of killing them and experimenting on them so that, whether by ingestion or by surgery, we can take them into our fleshy substance. Although the ultimate 'cannibalistic' horrors of European explorers - the imperfect sight of a cut of meat being roasted on the fire or the 'grisly remains' hanging in a string basket from the roof of a dark 'native' hut - are now believed more often to have been pig rather than long, the Western obsession with its apparently 'cannibal' others still facilitated the torture, killing and enslavement of these apparently 'savage' flesh eaters.

Distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), a co-product of the ethanol industry, is often used as feed material in livestock and poultry nutrition. Results of many experiments have indicated, however, that a high dietary level of DDGS can negatively affect the digestibility of nutrients and the performance of monogastric animals due to their high content of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP). Nevertheless, using high levels of DDGS as a protein source in livestock diets can be still economically justifiable in view of the rising prices of soybean meal and other protein sources. The aim of some recent experiments with poultry and pigs was to improve the nutritional efficacy of high-NSP diets through the addition of feed enzymes. As presented and discussed in this review article, the efficacy of feed enzymes added to poultry and pig diets containing DDGS is not consistent and depends on many factors. However, NSP-hydrolysing enzymes generally seemed to be more efficient than phytases in terms of the digestibility of nutrients and the growth performance of poultry and pigs fed high-DDGS diets. For this reason, supplementation with NSP-hydrolysing enzymes could be an efficient way to enable the use of increased levels of DDGS in poultry and pig diets.

This paper explores the physical, social, and gastronomic place of swine in the life of people in medieval Poland.  The diet of medieval poles is explored along with textural evidence showing the special importance of pork within the diet of the Polish peasantry and pigs relationship to the elite.

During road transportation, livestock are subjected to a number of concurrent potential stressors that can increase mortality and morbidity and compromise welfare status and production efficiency. A major concern is the thermal micro-environment within the vehicle with both heat stress and cold stress constituting major problems. It is possible to mitigate the effects of external climatic conditions by improving vehicle design and operation using engineering solutions that match 'on-board' environmental conditions with the biological requirements of the animals. This review describes an investigative approach that targets four elements. These are the thermal conditions on commercial transport vehicles under a range of climatic conditions, the 'thermal comfort zones' or target conditions for different livestock species, the heat and moisture loads upon vehicles that must be dissipated and the thermodynamic characteristics of animal transport vehicles that affect the design of mechanical or active ventilation systems able to function at maximum efficiency under everyday commercial conditions. Results of research around these four elements can provide the sound scientific basis for improved vehicle design and operation and for legislation and codes of practice aimed at optimising animal welfare and productivity in relation to transportation of livestock on journeys of both long and short duration.

The pig (Sus scrofa) was one of the earliest animals in the ancient Middle East to undergo domestication. Scholars have long been interested in the pig's unique history, especially in the northern Fertile Crescent (NFC), the region in which the first steps towards pig domestication took place in the ninth–eighth millennia cal. BC. Yet, few zooarchaeologists have studied the morphological changes in pigs and other animals over the long term, especially in the periods after the initial appearance of domesticates. We combine geometric morphometrics (GMM) and more traditional biometrics to demonstrate how suid morphology evolved over a long timespan: 11,000–2000 cal. BC. Our GMM and biometrical data from Jarmo and Domuztepe, Neolithic sites occupied after the first domestic pigs emerged in the region, show that wild boar continued to play important roles in human-suid relations. More generally, our data show a gradual reduction in size and the attainment of a Bmorphological plateau^ in the fourth millennium cal. BC. We suggest that these changes reflect (1) the evolution of pig husbandry practices over time in response to deforestation, intensive agriculture, and urbanism and (2) a reduction in the frequency of hybridizations between wild boar and domestic pigs.

The research was conducted to investigate the nutritional efficacy of fermented mixtures of cocoyam mixed with tridax procumbens leaf meal on the growth weight, haemoglobin content, serum biochemistry and the carcass evaluation of pigs. The experiment was conducted at the Swine unit of the Teaching and Research Farm, University of Uyo, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. Cocoyam mixed with tridax procumbens leaf meal were mixed in the ration of 3:1 and allowed to ferment in an air tight environment for six days and after that was sundried. The product was referred to as FCTPLM premix. A total of 40 grower pigs of large white were used for the study. At the end of the trial, two pigs were slaughtered to compare the internal organs such as heart, abdominal fat, spleen etc; to assess the carcass value. The results from the study shows significant (p<0.05) differences on the performance characteristics of weaner pigs, while animals on 16% diet gave the best compared to other diets in final weight gain, feed conversion ratio and protein efficiency ratio (25.67kg, 2.06 and 2.52) respectively. There were significant differences (P>0.05) on the carcass evaluation of the pigs. There were no significant different (P>0.05) found among haemoglobin content, pack cell volume and red blood cells. It was concluded that FCTPM premix could completely replace maize without adversely affecting the overall growth performance of the pigs. Implications and recommendations were made from the findings of the study.

The causes and timing of piglet mortality were studied in different farrowing systems. In the first experiment 198 litters were recorded in three systems, two of which allowed the sows to move freely, and the third restricted them in conventional crates. More piglets were weaned from the conventional crates than from the open systems and they grew more quickly. More than half the liveborn mortality occurred during the first four days after parturition. In the open systems, 17 per cent and 14 per cent of the piglets born alive were crushed, compared with only 8 per cent in the crates. In the second experiment, 29 sows and litters were studied in detail in a communal pen system during the first seven days of lactation. Three-quarters of the liveborn mortality was due to crushing. The total number of piglets dying per litter, including stillbirths, was significantly associated with the total litter size and the sow's parity. The percentage livebom mortality was significantly associated with the parity and body length of the sows and with the within-litter variation in the birth weight of the piglets. Individual birth weight was closely associated with percentage survival. Only 28 per cent of piglets weighing less than 1-1 kg at birth survived to seven days.

Animal welfare during and as a result of transport can be assessed by using a range of behavioural, physiological, pathological and carcass-quality indicators that are described in this paper. Measures of the extent of any disease, injury or mortality resulting from, or exacerbated by, transport are important because health is an important part of welfare. Many of the indicators are measures of stress as they involve long-term adverse effects on the individual. Factors affecting the welfare of animals before, during and after transport which are discussed are: definition of the responsibilities and competence, attitudes to animals and need for training of staff; planning of journeys and methods of payment of staff; laws and retailers' codes; genetics, especially selection for high productivity; rearing conditions and experience; the mixing of animals from different social groups; handling and loading procedures; driving methods; space allowance; increased susceptibility to disease and efforts to minimise the spread of disease.

First some pictures of my pet pig Sporky, who lived with us from 1989-1993. (When our daughter was born, we gave Sporky to a vet’s assistant who lived on an acre of land.) Sporky will help us understand animal behavior.
Then an analysis of a few relevant Chinese characters.
Then some more pig photos.

(This was originally a slide show.)

Pigs have played a central role in the subsistence and culture of China for millennia. The close relationship between pigs and people began when humans gradually domesticated wild pigs over 8,000 years ago. While pigs initially foraged around settlements, population growth led people to pen their pigs, which made them household trash processors and fertilizer producers. Household pigs were in daily contact with people, who bred them to fatten quickly and produce larger litters. Early modern Europeans found Chinese pigs far superior to their own and bred the two to create the breeds now employed in industrial pork production around the world, including China. In recent decades, industrial farms that scientifically control every aspect of pigs’ lives have spread rapidly. Until recently, most Chinese people ate pork only on special occasions; their ability in recent decades to eat it regularly exemplifies China's increasing prosperity. Meanwhile, vast areas of North and South American farmland are now devoted to growing soybeans to feed hundreds of millions of pigs in China, and the methane, manure, and antibiotic resistance they produce creates environmental and health problems on a global scale.

BACKGROUND: Farm animals in intensive farming systems are frequently exposed to oxidative stress, which demands adequate
antioxidant protection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant potential of different concentrations of Sweet
chestnut wood extract (SCW; 0.75, 1.5 and 3 g kg−1) in case of n-3 PUFA-induced oxidative stress in young pigs.
RESULTS: The highest concentration (3 g kg−1) of SCW decreased malondialdehyde excretion in urine by 31.7%, but had no
effect on plasma malondialdehyde. A linear trend towards decrease of urine isoprostanes iPF2α-VI was observed with the
addition of SCW. All three concentrations of SCW efficiently protected blood lymphocytes from DNA damage and lowered
plasma alanine aminotransferase levels. The antioxidative and antigenotoxic effect of 3 g SCW kg−1 feed was comparable to
the effect of 90.4mg kg−1 of added vitamin E.
CONCLUSION: The results from this study show that, besides being known as antihelmintic, antimicrobial and antiviral agent,
Sweet chestnut wood extract could also be considered as a promising natural antioxidant in animal nutrition.

This study investigated the effects of graded levels of bovine rumen contents (digesta) supplemented with unripe plantain peels on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility of growing pigs. Digesta and unripe plantain peel meal were mixed in the ration of 3:1 and allowed to ferment in an air tight environment for six days and after that was sundried. The pigs were divided into 5 groups based on average initial weights (20-25kg) and each group of grower pigs were respectively allocated to each of the five treatment diets using a completely randomized design (CRD). Each treatment group contained 2 replicates of 4 pigs (2male and 2 female). These pigs were fed twice daily and water supplied adlibitium. The treatment diets consisted of the following of DUPPM at 0% (controlled), 20%, 40%, 60% & and 80% (controlled) replacement of maize in the control diet were formulated. During the feeding trial, weekly feed consumption, weight changes, and nutrient digestibility were recorded for all the levels, while weight gain, feed conversion ratio and protein efficiency ratio were estimated to assess performance of the weaner pigs. The results from the study shows significant (p<0.05) differences on the performance characteristics of grower pigs, while animals on 80%% diet gave the best compared to other diets in final weight gain, feed conversion ratio and protein efficiency ratio (25.67kg, 2.06 and 2.52) respectively. There were significant differences (P>0.05) on the nutrient digestibility of the pigs. It was concluded that DUPPM could completely replace maize without adversely affecting the overall growth performance of the pigs. Implications and recommendations were made from the findings of the study.

Some diseases of pigs are caused by resident microorganisms as a result of the harmful effects of stress factors on the pigs. Weaning, which is considered to be a major physiological and psychological stress factor, is critical for the disease to occur. Using of adaptogens for piglets at weaning is able to increase body's resistance. The purpose of our research was to determine the efficacy of the Melavit made with melanin from black antarctic yeast genus Nadsoniella nigra strain X 1.
We used 25-day-aged piglets as a model of application of melanin to protect from stress before weaning. The analysis of the results of the Melavit using are given in the article. The overall prevalence in herd of bronchopneumonia was 29.8% and indigestion was 23.6%. The prevalence of bronchopneumonia among suckling piglets was only 6.9% and 52,7% among feeder pigs herds. The prevalence of dispepsia accordingly was 4.2% and 43.1%. It is our observation that the using of melavit reduces the incidence of digestive of weaning piglets to 8.2%  (in  5.2 times), and reduces of  prevalence their respiratory pathologies to 4.1% - in 12.8 times (n = 12). The observed data are consistent with the hypothesis that the Melavit increases the local resistance of the mucous membranes
In order to take into account the change of activity of cellular immunity (nonspecific immunity) we studied measurement of blood-cell activity. Although the applications of Melavit had not lead to significant change of lysozyme activity of serum and phagocytic number, the phagocytic activity increased by 26% in the group where Melavit was injected as a spray. Overall the phagocytic activity of neutrophils increased on average by 17.9% in piglets that received Melavit. The level of secretory IgA in nasopharyngeal secretions of pigs was on average 1.85 times higher (p <0.05) than the control.
On 60-day-old piglets obtained a 15% weight gain as compared with the control. This indicates the ability of Melavit to reduce the negative effects of stress at weaning piglets.
The results of this paper are supportive for the notion that Melavit should be used in suckling piglets at 3-5 day before weaning.

Intelligent, adaptable and omnivorous, pigs have long been companions to humans. We know from cave paintings that Palaeolithic hunters pursued wild boars. The earliest evidence for the domestication of pigs dates from about 8000 BCE . Even though it is surrounded by many cultural and religious taboos, it’s no surprise that such a tasty and versatile animal features prominently on ancient coinage.

The purpose of this dissertation is to identify why and how the Jews’ avoidance of pork was singled out from among all of the other other Jewish dietary restrictions in the Greco-Roman world. Approached from the perspective of historical anthropology, pork avoidance is explored through the inter-cultural dialogue among Greeks, Romans, and Jews. Looking at the avoidance of pork as a problem, the dissertation endeavors to understand the way this problem was formulated and resolved within different discourses: the historical narrative of the Maccabbean revolt, Greco-Roman explanations of pork consumption and avoidance, as well as ethnological or philosophical discourses. The avoidance of pork became a symbol of separation not because of a traumatic event (as Mary Douglas proposed) but due to a gradual process. It is shown that Greco-Roman explanations of Jewish pork avoidance, both negative and positive, are understood in the light of: 1) The Greco-Roman conception of the pig, and its sacrifice or avoidance in Greco-Roman cults; 2) The philosophical debate between Stoicism (and later on Christianity) and Platonism on the status of the animal, the limits of the moral community, universalism, and philanthropy.

Some relevant background to this research project is provided by outlining selected features of Vietnam’s pig industry. Then the main findings (in the view of the author) from this ACIAR-funded research are presented. These results include (1) natural protection given to Vietnam’s pig producers from imports as a result of the nature of the preferences of Vietnamese consumers: (2) the importance of household labour, especially that provided by females, in the husbandry of pigs held by households; (3) the existence, or otherwise, of scale economies as a function of the number of pigs held by households, (4) the import dependence for pig food of Vietnam’s pig industry and the way in which it varies with the number of pigs kept by households; (5)  specialization in pig production, (6) regional differences in the economics of pig production; (7) economic discrimination in the supply of inputs to household producers of pigs and in their sale of pigs; (8) the size of pig-holdings and the use of professional services, such as veterinary services and extension services; and (9) findings about miscellaneous matters, such as the genetic composition of the pig stock. Scope for future research in relation to these aspects is also highlighted, and the need is raised for considering the economics of increasing quality standards and certifying the quality of pork. The economics of increasing the scale of pig producing units is given particular attention.

Resumen

Con el objetivo de evaluar la ganancia de peso individual (GPI), eficiencia de conversión por lote (ECL) y tasa de mortalidad, se realizó un experimento involucrando 964 lechones en un sistema de cría a campo, en el período de posdestete (56 a 77 días de vida). Los lechones fueron criados en condiciones de campo y al destete fueron mantenidos por 21 días en las mismas condiciones de producción. Las medias para GPI y ECL fueron 0,375 kg/día y 2,75/1, respectivamente. No se registró ningún caso de muerte, por lo que la variable tasa de mortalidad no fue analizada. En invierno se obtuvo una GPI menor que en primavera (p<0,05), no existiendo diferencias entre éstas y el resto de las estaciones. No hubo diferencia en la eficiencia de conversión de los lotes según la estación del año en que se realizó el posdestete, si bien existió una tendencia a una peor ECL en invierno. No se encontraron diferencias en el comportamiento productivo de los tipos genéticos utilizados. Sobre la base de los resultados encontrados, se confirma la viabilidad de realizar el posdestete a campo, para las condiciones de producción existentes en Uruguay.

(Palabras claves: lechón, producción animal, campo, destete, ganancia de peso, mortalidad, Uruguay.)

Abstract

An experiment, involving 964 piglets in outdoors conditions, was conducted during the period of post-weaning, (56 to 77 days of life), in order to evaluate the individual daily gain (IDG), feed conversion in lots (FCL) and the death rate. The piglets were reared in outdoors conditions, and by weaning, they; were kept in the same conditions of production for 21 days. The means values of IDG and FCL were 0.375 kg per day and 2.75/1, respectively. There was not any death so the variable death rate was not analyzed. In Winter there were a lower profit of individual daily gain than in Spring (p<0.05), not existing any difference between these two seasons and the others. No differences were found in the feed conversion in lots, according to the season of the year when the post-weaning took place, although we could see the possibility of having a worse feed conversion in lots in Winter. No differences were found in the growth performance of the genetic types used in this experiment. On the basis of the final results, we can confirm the viability of carrying out the post-weaning in outdoors systems, for the conditions of production that exist in Uruguay.

(Key words: piglets, animal production, fields, weaning, wight gain, mortality, Uruguay.)

This article centers on cultures of anxiety and threat across the Pacific. Threat is an especially useful category for writing about a “rising” China, which is often imagined as both a site of localized environmental ruination that prefigures imminent global collapse and also as a source of contamination that easily crosses national borders. Particularly in the global north, China has become a focal point for eco-anxieties that are shadowed by longer histories of perceived racial and cultural threat. This article confronts the idea of China as threat by adopting a cross-cultural frame for investigating representational cultures of threat across the Pacific. To achieve this, it focuses on a series of recent events mediated through textual and visual forms that unfold as a contemporary ethical drama between species—the human and the pig. These key events are the 2009 swine flu pandemic, a 2013 episode in which thousands of pig carcasses were found floating in Shanghai’s Huangpu River, and the purchase of Smithfield Foods, one of America’s biggest pork producers, by the Chinese conglomerate Shuanghui. This article argues that to understand the movement between the representation of threat and the violent responses that flare up in its wake one must pay attention not only to quantifiable risks, but also to the cultural forms that characterize anxiety in the Anthropocene. Ultimately, what is at stake is not just geopolitical relations or public health, but also the lives and deaths of the animals that are so often slaughtered to protect humans.

The global Save Movement, alongside other animal rights organisations and practices, has since 2010 sought to bring the experiences of nonhuman farmed animals into the public domain from privatized, usually hidden spaces of industrial procedure and slaughter.

One key mechanism used is to conduct vigils held outside slaughterhouses, where activists gather to bear witness to the passing of nonhuman animals in trucks, and to raise awareness of the suffering of animals to passers-by. Central to the practice are the roles played by
emotional engagement and bodily encounter with the nonhuman animals; the movement is founded on a selfstyled ‘love-based’ compassion for other living beings. In 2014, I joined the Save Movement in Toronto for a number of vigils, engaging in an autoethnographic study of the means by which activists employ emotional labour, bearing witness and bodily encounter in foregrounding the realities of life for industrially farmed nonhuman animals. This article argues that the Save Movement represents a new moment (although not wholly without precedent) in the practices of animal rights activism.

Working from the intellectual standpoint of Critical Animal Studies, the structure of the paper employs this autoethnographic and emotionally-affected personal account of taking part as a researcher-activist in the vigils, to offer access to experiences of how emotion, activism and empathy overlap in ‘coming to care’ for nonhuman others in public settings. The article seeks to elucidate the Save Movement’s emphasis on bodily encounter and the making visible of already existing embodied entanglements with farmed nonhuman animals, and suggests this form of engaged witnessing offers opportunity for radically reimagining our species’ existing relationships with those species we currently identity as food.

Economic growth in more developed countries has resulted in farms increasing their scale of production and becoming more specialized in their production. The sizes of farms have tended to increase, agricultural production has become more capital-intensive, and the percentage of the workforce employed in agriculture has shown a falling trend. This process has been brought about by the operation of market systems and has reduced the number of small-scale agricultural producers. Asia still has a huge number of small-scale agricultural producers. As Asian countries experience economic growth and as market systems become more established in Asia, the survival of Asia’s small-scale agricultural producers is likely to be threatened. Since these producers are poor, this is of concern to several international aid agencies. On the other hand, some Asian governments (such as Vietnam’s) want to encourage larger scale agricultural production units. This article presents arguments for and against government strategies to promote large-scale agricultural units in emerging economies and presents an economic theory that models agricultural supply in emerging economics as being dualistic in nature. It provides information about the predominance of small-scale units in agricultural production in Vietnam, particularly in pig production, and assesses policies proposed for by Vietnam’s Government for increasing the size of units producing pigs.