(1) Factors influencing the survival of chickens in the first week of life in Taiwan were identified by modelling data from 63% of the annual national broiler production database (4769 broiler flocks). (2) Broiler chicks raised in rooms with open-curtain ventilation had the lowest mean first week cumulative mortality (CM), 1.30%, relative to those raised in rooms with negative pressure ventilation (1.42%) and water-cooled ventilation (1.37%). Increasing flock size reduced the CM. Broiler chicks shipped distances within 50 km had the lowest CM (1.22%), while broiler chicks raised in mountain areas showed the highest CM (1.65%). (3) Multiple regression analysis results indicate that ventilation type, flock size, shipping distance and delivery route influence CM in broiler chickens. Broiler chicks kept in rooms with negative pressure ventilation have an 11.22% greater CM compared to those in rooms with open-curtain ventilation. For each 1000-chicken increase in flock size, CM is reduced by 0.12%. For each kilometre increase in shipping distance, CM increases by 0.05%. Broiler chicks delivered via mountain routes show a 9.48% increase in CM compared to delivery via flat terrain. (4) Negative pressure ventilation and delivery via mountain routes are the most critical factors affecting the survival of chicks up to one week old.
Fiber is known for decreasing nutrient utilization in pigs. The addition of fiber alters diet viscosity, but our understanding of the effect of diet viscosity on nutrient digestibility is limited. This knowledge is necessary for improving dietary fiber utilization and when evaluating alternative feed ingredients. Thirty-six T-cannulated barrows (n = 6/treatment; initial BW = 26.5 ± 3.9 kg) were fed either corn-soybean meal (CSBM) basal diets or CSBM with 30% distillers dried grains with solubles as fiber source (CSBM+DDGS). The viscosity of diets were modified by using non-viscous cellulose (CEL), medium-viscosity carboxymethylcellulose (MCMC), or high-viscosity carboxymethylcellulose (HCMC) to assess viscosity effects on nutrient digestibility and intestinal physiology. After 29 d on diets, ileal digesta were collected to determine viscosity and apparent ileal digestibility (AID). Also, intestinal tissue and contents were harvested to determine morphometry, goblet cell quantitation, and digestive enzymatic activity. Data were analyzed using a linear mixed model with treatments as fixed effects and initial BW as a random effect. Results are shown in Table 1. No interactions were observed between viscosity and diets. Inclusion of MCMC and HCMC increased viscosity of supernatant and whole digesta compared with CEL. Increasing diet viscosity decreased AID of DM and CP in pigs fed MCMC and HCMC compared with pigs fed CEL, respectively. The AID of DM and CP were greater in CSBM than CSBM+DDGS. Inclusion of CMC increased crypt depth in the jejunum and goblet cell area in the ileum compared with pigs fed CEL regardless of basal diet fed. Digesta trypsin activity was not different among treatments, but inclusion of CMC increased amylase activity by 43% in jejunal digesta compared with CEL. The addition of DDGS reduced AID; however, viscosity affected intestinal morphology and function, suggesting that viscosity is the main characteristics of fiber affecting nutrient utilization of pigs.
Traditional evaluation of swine feeding programs have generally focused only on economically important performance and carcass measures but achieving sustainable pork production also requires formulating diets to reduce negative environmental impacts. Therefore, a systems approach is needed to evaluate swine feeding programs from multiple perspectives. The objectives of this study were to compare productivity, nutritional efficiency, and environmental outcomes of four different growing-finishing feeding programs consisting of diets containing corn and soybean meal (CSBM), low protein CSBM supplemented with crystalline amino acids (LP), CSBM with 30% distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), and DDGS supplemented with crystalline Ile, Val, and Trp (DDGS+IVT). In experiment 1, growth performance and carcass characteristics of pigs (n=288; initial BW=36.9±4.2 kg) were measured in a 12-wk feeding trial. There were no differences in ADG, ADFI, carcass yield, and carcass fat-free lean percentage observed among feeding programs but gain:feed was greater (P <0.05) in pigs fed CSBM and DDGS+IVT than pigs fed LP. In experiment 2, nitrogen and phosphorus balance of pigs (n=32; initial BW=59.9±5.1 kg) were determined in a metabolism study. Pigs fed CSBM had greater N retained (P <0.05) than those fed other diets, but pigs fed LP had greater (P <0.05) protein efficiency ratio but lower (P <0.05) P intake than pigs fed CSBM and DDGS. In experiment 3, data collected from the previous 2 experiments were used to calculate environmental impacts of the four feeding programs through life-cycle assessments using Opteinics™ (BASF, Lampertheim, Germany). Feeding CSBM had the least impact per 1,000 kg carcass weight on climate change and fossil resource use, while LP had the least impact on acidification, water use, and total environmental footprint. These results indicate that each feeding program has comparative advantages depending on the metrics, which requires using a holistic systems approach for decision-making to improve the sustainability of pork production.
The objective of this study was to quantify and compare the environmental impact, using life-cycle assessment (LCA) analysis, of 4 different, 4-phase growing-finishing feeding programs consisting of diets containing corn and soybean meal (CSBM), low protein CSBM supplemented with crystalline amino acids (LP), CSBM with 30% distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), and DDGS supplemented with crystalline Ile, Val, and Trp (DDGS+IVT). The LCA analysis was performed using an online software application (Opteinics, BASF, Lampertheim, Germany) with calculations based on environmental impact factors from the Global Feed LCA Institute feed ingredient database. The specific model included impacts of feed production, animal farming, manure management, and meat processing. Environmental impacts were calculated at the farm gate and the functional unit was 1,000 kg of carcass weight. Diet composition, growth performance, and carcass data obtained from a feeding trial were used as inputs in the LCA calculations. Using CSBM as the reference feeding program (Table 1), the LP feeding program resulted in an overall decrease in impacts associated with acidification (10.9%), water use (7.6%), and land use (9.8%), but increased impacts associated with climate change (3.3%) and fossil resource use (3.7%). Both DDGS and DDGS+IVT feeding programs increased impact on climate change (18.4-18.7%), fossil resource use (42.7-47.3%), and water use (47.2-50.0%), but decreased impacts associated with acidification (3.0-3.4%) and land use (27.2-27.3%) compared with the CSBM feeding program. Overall, the LP feeding program resulted in the lowest total environmental footprint (1.0776 person years), followed by the CSBM (1.1081 person years), DDGS+IVT (1.1845 person years), and DDGS (1.1884 person years) feeding programs. These results indicate that feeding CSBM diets without and with crystalline amino acids have less impact on climate change, water use, fossil resource use, and total environmental footprint than DDGS feeding programs per 1,000 kg of pork carcass weight.
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