Animal Well-being
Systematic Literature Review and Needs Assessment of Housing Systems for Lactating sows and Their Litters
January 29, 2015By Thomas Parsons
The farrowing crate is one of several common animal husbandry practices facing increased public scrutiny across the globe. Like a gestation stall, similar welfare concerns are expressed about...
Animal Well-being
A Comprehensive Literature Review on the Development, Treatment and Prevention of Shoulder Lesions in Sows
October 30, 2014By Jennifer Brown
Shoulder ulcers (shoulder lesions) in sows are most commonly observed in the first weeks of lactation, following farrowing. The prevalence of this problem varies greatly from herd to herd due to a...
Animal Well-being
Weaned pig transport: animal welfare impact of duration of trip, and provision of feed and water
October 28, 2014By John McGlone
Weaned pigs are transported on many USA farms. Some are transported short distances and others many hours. During transport...
Animal Well-being
The use of bedding in ramp to reduce slipping and falling while loading and unloading weaned and finishing pigs
September 18, 2014By John McGlone
Transport is a potentially stressful event that almost all piglets/pigs go through at least once in their life considering multi-site production systems and location of packing plants. Handling...
Animal Well-being
Comparing Heat Lamp vs. Heat Mat for Farrowing Crate Heating
September 1, 2014By Hongwei Xin
From 2007 to 2012, the average number of piglets born and piglets born alive for the US swine operation increased by 1.1 and 1.2 piglets...
Animal Well-being
Establishing Bedding and Boarding Requirements for Finisher Pigs Through Scientific Validation – Macro Study
August 11, 2014By John McGlone
1. Establishing bedding requirements during transport and monitoring skin temperature over seasons after transport for finishing...
Animal Well-being
Nitrous Oxide for piglet euthanasia: validation by electroencephalography (EEG),
July 10, 2014By Jean-Loup Rault
The identification and validation of humane methods to euthanize piglets is critical to address public concern that current methods are not optimal. The blunt force trauma procedure is humane when...
Animal Well-being
Identifying best operating procedures for CO2 gas euthanasia of suckling and nursery age pigs – effects of stocking density
April 29, 2014By Larry Sadler|Suzanne Millman
Gas euthanasia methods are commonly chosen when large groups of animals need to be humanely and efficiently put to death, such as during disease outbreaks. Nevertheless, previous research by our...
Animal Well-being
Protecting low ranking sows in group-housing systems
March 1, 2014By Yuzhi Li
Background: In group-housing systems, low-ranking sows are usually defeated and injured by high ranking sows. This results in low-ranking sows becoming fearful of further conflicts when...
Animal Well-being
Effects of Mixed and Uniform Parity Groupings on Feeding Behaviour, Welfare and Productivity of Sows in ESF Housing
January 29, 2014By Jennifer Brown
Electronic sow feeder (ESF) systems are a practical method for managing sows in group housing, as they provide an automated system for controlling individual feed intake. However, increased...
