Abstracts - Management

An effective gilt acclimation program should ideally reduce M. hyopneumoniae shedding at first farrowing. The aim of this study was to identify current acclimation strategies for M. hyopneumoniae in Europe.

The aim of the present study was to investigate how piglets’ use of a creep area is affected by using radiant heat compared to an incandescent light bulb.

Weaning stress accompanied by outburst of aggression is a critical point in pig production as it compromises piglets’ welfare and leads to poor growth rate and health problems. Therefore, a weaning methods to smoothen the lactation–weaning transition are of great importance.

According to the results, the optimal density was 1.2 m2/pig considering welfare and building utilization.

Sow laminitis may frequently occur, causing production of low quality hoof horn.

The batch and the interaction between treatment and batch had highly significant influences on tail losses at the end of rearing.

The reduction in infectious agents in the air by the EPI technology could potentially decrease the microbial exposure for pigs.

PEDV transmission through contaminated PPE occurs rapidly under modeled conditions. Biosecurity procedures are recommended.

The study objective was to characterize body temperature and activity changes in replacement gilts at the onset of estrus in order to provide initial data to develop a remote estrus detection system for commercial swine operations.

The influence of feed structure and pelleting on the development of gastric ulcers in pigs is well established. Some studies have shown a beneficial effect of access to straw on gastric health. However, the role of other factors, e.g. disease and stress, is not well understood.

This work could inform contingency planning that would lead to cost savings in the event of a future FMD outbreak and could also be applied to other infectious diseases.

African swine fever (ASF) is a major pig health problem, and the causative virus is moving closer to Western European regions where pig density is high. Stopping or slowing down the spread of ASF requires mitigation strategies that are both effective and practical.

This study provides the first indication that record keeping through an advisory service may help to lower the risk of tail biting, which is associated with improved farm performance.

Ear tagging causes a dramatic increase in cortisol levels compared with handling alone in piglets, which suggests that this procedure causes substantial distress.

These studies are the evidences that indirect transmission of PEDV through contaminated personnel, which occurs rapidly, and how fomite material and temperature impact viral stability over time.

We demonstrate the asymptomatic circulation of IAV-S in the Vietnamese pig population.

The aim of the study was to determine both environmental and infectious factors, influencing occurrence of bacterial enteropathogens in suckling piglets.

The data present bronchial scraping as an equally effective or even better alternative to bronchoalveolar lavage fluid for detecting main porcine respiratory disease complex agents.

The results confirm that a full removal capacity for doxycycline cannot be reached through the long-term storage of farm fertilizers.

This study provides descriptive information on the practice of piglet castration across 24 European countries.

Very few studies about the impact of microbial cleaning and administration during production on the environment in animal houses is available. Our results showed that competitive exclusion by probiotic type bacteria is not a valuable alternative for classical C&D.

Body weight and feeding system are determining factors for the welfare status, while group size was not proved to affect the welfare level under the studied conditions of pig fattening.

Prolonging the vacancy period in nursery units to 10 days after disinfection with no extra biosecurity measures has no impact on the environmental load of total aerobic flora, E. coli, faecal coliforms, MRSA and Enterococcus spp..

The commercial combination of Duroc breed, control diet, and 115-kg slaughter weight showed a balance in terms of performance, carcass, and quality traits.