Understanding how disease affects commercial production is imperative for pig producers to quantify its full impact on pig performance, carcass quality, and net returns. The objective of this experiment was to assess the productivity and economic importance of naturally occurring health challenges (HC) under commercial conditions. Three 1,000 pig grow-finish facilities received 936 pigs each. The experimental period started approximately 34 d post placement at an average start BW of 13.1 ± 0.2 kg. Barns were characterized based on the relative HC, determined by diagnostic assessments as the main characterization tool, along with other health indicators. Barns were characterized as low challenge health (LCh), moderate challenge health (MCh), and high challenge health (HCh). All barns tested positive for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus infection prior to the start of the experiment. Additionally, the MCh and HCh barns experienced influenza type A virus of swine. Similar to commercial production conditions, the disease challenge was not imposed but rather occurred naturally. Reduced ADG, ADFI, and G:F were observed with an increased HC (P < 0.001). Similarly, mortality was increased when the HC increased (P < 0.001). Decreased ADG increased days to achieve harvest BW, by 10 and 15 d in the MCh and HCh treatments compared with LCh, respectively (P < 0.001). No differences were observed for percent lean, loin depth, or fat depth (P > 0.10). The economic impact of the HC was assessed by applying these growth performance data to two economic models encompassing the two main marketing methods used by U.S. pig producers: fixed-weight and fixed-time. Financial losses attributed to the variation in disease severity that occurred in the present study ranged from $8.49 and $26.10 U.S. dollars (USD)/pig marketed using a fixed-market weight model, or between $11.02 and $29.82 USD/pig using a fixed-time model, depending on feed costs and market hog prices. In conclusion, increasing severity of HC under commercial conditions reduced ADG by 8% and 14% and resulted in mortality as high as 19.9%. Losses of $8.49 to $29.82/pig marketed underscore the potential magnitude of the economic impact of mixed etiology concurrent diseases in pork production.
The objective of this study was to determine the effect of dietary manganese on the reproductive performance of sows. Sows (n = 39; 231 ± 8 kg) were randomly assigned to one of three dietary levels of supplemented Mn (CON: 0 ppm Mn; PRO20: 20 ppm Mn; PRO40: 40 ppm Mn). The experimental treatments were initiated at breeding and continued through two parities. The sows were blocked by parity within each farrowing group. The data were analyzed as a randomized complete block design using the MIXED procedure of SAS with diet as a fixed effect and block as a random effect. The lactation feed intake increased in the PRO20 sows compared to the CON and PRO40 sows (p < 0.05). The PRO20 and PRO40 sows farrowed piglets with improved average daily gain from birth to weaning (CON 214 g/day; PRO20 237 g/day; 220 g/day; p < 0.05) compared to the CON sows. The milk fat content was lower in the PRO20 (5.5%) and PRO40 sows (6.1%; p < 0.05) compared to the CON sows (7.8%), possibly due to increased milk demand. Supplementary dietary Mn throughout two gestation and lactation cycles led to improved birth weights and pre-weaning growth of piglets.
and Implications There are a variety of health challenges that affect pork producers; these challenges can have a significant impact on profit for the producer. The objective of this experiment was to quantify the impact of an apparent health challenge on growth performance and carcass characteristics during the grow finish stage of production. Within each of 3 barns, ~900 pigs (Init. BW = 13.1 ± 0.2 kg) were split by weight and blocked by sex. Each barn was categorized based on the apparent health status as low challenge (LC), moderate challenge (MC), or high challenge (HC). Fecal samples were collected at ~45 and ~100 kg in the HC and LC barns. There was a decrease in ADG and ADFI with increased health challenge (P < 0.05). Feed efficiency was greatest in LC, but the same in the MC and HC (P < 0.05). The MC and HC barns had greater HCW than the LC barn (P < 0.05). This was similar for percent yield (P < 0.05). However, there was no difference for percent lean or fat depth among the three health statuses (P > 0.05). The HC barn had greater ATT digestibility of DM and GE than the LC barn (P < 0.05). Health challenge impaired growth rate and feed intake and had a less than expected impact on feed efficiency. Digestibility of DM and GE did not explain poorer performance in the more health challenged barns.
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