Pigs are not accustomed to climbing sloped ramps. However, sloped ramps are impossible to avoid in regular management and handling practices due to design of the physical facilities at finishing sites, packing plants, and the vehicles used to transport animals.…
Evaluating the welfare of piglets after weaning and transport during heat stress
Weaning is a complex stressor associated with social, environmental and metabolic stress in pigs, that can be compounded by the negative effects of transport and thermal stress. To combat these negative effects, dietary antibiotics may be provided to newly weaned…
Innovative scientific techniques to evaluate alternatives to the use of carbon dioxide euthanasia procedures
The identification and validation of a humane method to euthanize piglets is critical to address the public’s concern that current methods are not acceptable. Blunt force trauma procedure is humane when carried out correctly, but most people find it aesthetically…
Understanding the relationship between immune response, intestinal microbial ecology and growth performance in nursery pigs fed diets with, or without in-feed antibiotics or a combination of beta-glucan and vitamin C
Weaning and the subsequent nursery phase represent a time of gastrointestinal and immune instability for the pig. This research project was developed to understand the effect(s) of two commonly used in-feed antibiotics (carbadox and tylosin), and a dietary combination of…
Particulates, Ammonium Nitrate, and Ammonium Sulfate: Effects on Air Quality in Rural Iowa
Air quality has many components, one of which is PM2.5 and ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate are reported to be two of the major components. Swine confinement facilities generate significant quantities of ammonia which can combine with nitric acid and…
Developing a Decision Support Tool to Optimize Swine Production Facility Layout to Minimize Downwind Air Quality Impacts
These model experiments of air flow characteristics suggest that when swine confinement buildings are oriented so that the approaching wind is parallel to the buildings the wind is reduced less than when the buildings are oriented across the wind direction.…
Optimizing the Placement of Practices that Improve Water Quality Within a Watershed
Pathogenic and Indicator Bacteria in Agricultural Watersheds
Escherichia coli and Enterococcus are indicator bacteria that were measured in Iowa streams that drain land with different levels of swine production. We completed a study monitoring=g these bacteria over three and one-half years. Bacteria were readily transported from manured…
The impact of routine piglet processing on well-being
The major finding of this research project is that any processing technique that can be carried out quickly and with minimal tissue damage is likely to be least stressful for the piglet. Alternative techniques such as teeth grinding, hot-iron tail-docking…
Evaluation of the ammonia emissions from swine production units in Iowa
Ammonia concentrations in the air adjacent to and downwind of swine production units are of concern to producers. Most of the existing measurements have been conducted with single point monitors or at locations adjacent to or within the building and…