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Objective: Evaluate the effectiveness of a staged market pig loading procedure for reducing contaminant transfer from livestock trailers to the barn. Materials and methods: A conventional loading procedure was compared to a staged procedure, with 10 replicates each. In the staged procedure, one loadout crew member was stationed between two lines of separation and could not cross onto the livestock trailer or into the center alleyway of the barn. The remaining loadout crew members within the barn could not cross into the loadout alleyway or chute. In the conventional procedure, a loadout crew member moved pigs from the center alleyway, through the loadout alleyway, and up the chute, but did not cross onto the livestock trailer. Fluorescent powder was mixed with obstetrical lubricant and wood shavings and spread evenly on the livestock trailer floor, just inside the roll-up door that opens to the chute. After each loadout, fluorescent powder contamination was evaluated at 8 locations: one in the chute, two in the loadout alleyway, and five in the center alleyway of the barn. Results: Four of five center alleyway locations had significantly lower contamination (P < .05) for the staged protocol compared to the conventional protocol. The level of contamination at the fifth center alleyway location was not statistically different (P = .057). The contamination level at all other locations was not statistically significant between the two groups (P > .05). Implications: The staged loading procedure effectively reduced the transfer of fluorescent powder from the livestock trailer to the barn.

In indoor systems it is routine practice to carry out a number of husbandry tasks with young piglets. These include clipping ‘eye’ teeth to prevent damage to the udder of the sow and the faces of litter mates, and injecting iron to prevent anaemia. Considerable debate exists about the necessity for carrying out such tasks in outdoor systems where the animals are less used to being in close proximity to humans and where any disruption of maternal behaviour can have much more serious consequences.550 piglets (PIC line 12 x PIC synthetic Meatline boars) in 49 litters were used in a factorial experiment to determine the effects of (a) leaving piglet teeth intact or clipping them at birth and (b) injecting 2ml of iron dextran at 2-4 days after farrowing or leaving piglets untreated.Each alternate litter farrowing had their teeth clipped, and half of the piglets within each litter received an iron injection. Sows and piglets were scored for damage on days 7 and 14 post-farrowing and at weaning using a linear scale from zero (no wounding) to three (severe laceration with prominent wounds). Once a week, the location and suckling behaviour of all the animals involved in the experiment was observed for three hours. Blood samples were taken from each piglet of the first fifteen litters to be weaned and analysed for haemoglobin content.