Animal Science - Swine Nutrition
The effects of disease challenge (PRRS) on pig growth and metabolic pathways
June 10, 2014By Nicholas Gabler
While significant advances have been made through research efforts to enhance the health, productivity, and well-being of swine, the detrimental effects associated with disease outbreaks remains a...
Animal Science - Sow Lifetime Productivity
Evaluation of a Physiological Test for Sow Longevity
June 4, 2014By W. L. Flowers
A gilt’s response to early boar exposure has been shown to be a viable option for estimating her lifetime productivity as a sow. Unfortunately, providing adequate boar exposure at...
Animal Science - Sow Lifetime Productivity
Development of Strategies to Improve Sow Productive Lifetime
June 1, 2014By Jason W. Ross
Numerous factors, including herd-life (length in days), removal parity, total piglets born and the number of piglets weaned, impact sow productive lifetime. Like many complex traits that are...
Animal Science - Sow Lifetime Productivity
Reproductive performance and longevity in replacement gilts allowed different amounts of floor space during the nursery phase of rearing
May 9, 2014By Mark Estienne
The annual replacement rate of commercial sows is 40 to 60% and for U.S. pork producers to remain globally competitive, research and technological advances are needed to increase sow lifetime...
Animal Science - Swine Nutrition
A longitudinal assessment of the impact PRRSV has on grow-finisher pig tissue accretion and digestibility in commercial production
April 23, 2014By Nicholas Gabler
This research examined the impact PRRSV infection had on grow-finisher gilt performance, apparent total tract digestibility and tissue accretion rates. Thirty littermate pairs of Choice Genetic...
Animal Science - Swine Nutrition
The effects of PRRSV infection in commercial pigs on growth performance, energy and nutrient digestibility
April 23, 2014By Nicholas Gabler
The research herein is an extension of the PRRS Host Genetics Consortium (PHGC), which is a national effort to identify genomic markers and host response pathways in response to PRRSV infection. The...
Animal Science - Swine Nutrition
Defining the energy content (DE, ME, and NE) of drought-stressed corn and identifying risk factors that lower energy
April 21, 2014By John Patience
Record-breaking heat and lack of rainfall during the 2012 growing season resulted in drastically reduced corn yield and the prospects of a very poor quality corn crop. Unfortunately, there was...
Animal Science - Reproductive & Growth Physiology
Effect of GnRH-II on reproductive efficiency and productivity of first parity sows
March 17, 2014By Brett White
Although never investigated, gonadotropin-releasing hormone II (GnRH-II) may be associated with the interaction between nutritional status and reproduction in swine. Therefore, we examined the role...
Animal Science - Swine Nutrition
Comparative Digestibility of energy and nutrients in gestating sows and growing pigs
March 7, 2014By Hans H. Stein
The objective of this research was to compare DE and ME values and values for the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of energy and...
Animal Science - Swine Nutrition
Improving production efficiency and carcass weight of finishing pigs housed under heat stress conditions by heat abatement with dietary betaine
February 24, 2014By Eric Van Heugten
Heat stress has serious negative consequences for the swine industry by reducing feed intake and growth performance in pigs. Based on commercial observations, we estimate that heat stress during the...
