The Fundamentals of Swine Respiratory Diseases, You Should Know!

The Fundamentals of Swine Respiratory Diseases, You Should Know!

Respiratory diseases in pigs is undoubtedly the most important health concern for swine producers today. It is the leading cause of mortality in the nursery and grower-finisher stages of pigs, surveyed by National Animal Health Monitoring System. Recent studies have reported prevalence of pneumonia in half of the population at slaughter.

What are the primary problems considered in swine industry worldwide?

Respiratory infections in swine is often the result of a combination of primary and opportunistic pathogens. Adverse environmental and managemental conditions play an important role in the respiratory disease complex. Porcine Respiratory Complex is the interaction of viral, bacterial, and adverse managemental conditions, describes pneumonia of multiple etiology causing clinical disease and failure to gain weight later in the finishing process (15 to 20 weeks of age).

In Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), depending on PRRD virus strain, dose, and immune status, some farms may be sub-clinically infected with the virus while others experience severe reproductive and respiratory disease.

Etiology

Primary pathogens include Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae and Bordetella bronchiseptica, as well as the viral agents, such as Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus and Swine Influenza virus. Common secondary invaders include Pasteurella multocida, Streptococcus suis, Haemophilus parasuis, Actinobacillus suis and Salmonella choleraesuis.

Environmental factors that contribute to Swine Respiratory Disease include:

  • Overcrowding
  • Frequent mixing of pigs
  • High humidity
  • Dust
  • High ammonia levels
  • Temperature fluctuation

Working to minimize these factors can help improve pig health.

Relievo, the holistic herbal respiratory relief

It is a combination of phytochemicals having antimicrobial and respiratory stimulant properties. It strengthens defense mechanism and functioning of respiratory system. It alleviates signs and stress in respiratory diseases with its decongestant, antitussive and expectorant actions.

The antient herbal preparation allows respiratory lining to produce healthy mucus to expel the inflammatory and fibrous discharges. Its anti-inflammatory and bronchodilatory properties give rapid relief which reduces mortalities and maintains optimum performance in swine.

To know more about the product, click on Relievo and write us on sales@vinayakcorporation.com for more details.

All you need to know about lean meat production in Swine Industry

In the recent past, the swine industry has gained important and continuous progress from selection for constantly increasing lean muscle gain and decreasing fat deposition, in order to meet the increasing demand of the market and cognizant consumers for quality, tasty and safe meat products.

  • Increased Profitability
  • Improved Carcass Traits
  • Increasing Demand and Market Value

What are the symbolic characteristics of “Lean Meat”?
Lean meat relatively has less fat and cholesterol content, especially in the prime cuts like ham and loin, etc. Larger longissimus muscle areas, longer carcasses, and hypertrophy of the muscle fibers due to less fat deposition. Importantly better organoleptic attributes so do the better market price.
The simplest means to estimate the lean tissue mass in the pigs’ body is the use of B-mode real-time ultrasound equipment. This is the preferred method. However, it requires an accurate relationship between ultrasound measurements (loin-eye area and back-fat thickness).

Factors Intervening the Lean Meat Production
A proper interpretation of lean growth curves is important as different factors like genotype, sex, amino acid or energy intake, and environmental stresses may affect lean growth at different stages of growth. During the grower-finisher phase, the difference in lean growth potential between gilts and barrows is approximately 5% but ranges from 2% to 15% i.e. more lean growth rate in barrows. Between 110 and 176 lb. body weight, the daily lean growth rate is relatively constant in gilts and burrows.

At approximately 176 lb. body weight, the daily lean growth rate starts to decline towards zero when the pig’s mature lean body weight has been reached. Nutrient and energy intake: Sub-optimal intakes of essential nutrients and energy will limit pigs from expressing their lean growth potential. For this reason, practical pig diets are generally over-fortified with relatively inexpensive nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.

Furthermore, close attention should be paid to dietary levels of energy, lysine, and the other essential amino acids and to daily feed intakes when managing grower-finisher pigs. META LEAN (Protein Optimizer for High Lean Growth), A Safe Cure for the Intruding Factors.

  • Remarkable Lean Meat Gain
  • Improved Feed Efficiency
  • Globally Accepted
  • 100% Natural Components
  • Intensive Research Originated Product
  • Less Inclusion Levels in the Feed

From a practical standpoint, our exclusive product “META LEAN” integrates the diversity of available genotypes (from the fattest to the leanest), along with production and environmental conditions, to set the optimum conditions for lean growth in swine.

“META LEAN” is the remedy for the observed trend to some degradation of meat quality with intense selection for muscular growth, particularly with regard to technological and organoleptic characteristics, necessitates taking into account these constraints in feeding; whether one considers fat deposition or lean tissue gain (extent of intramuscular fat).

The use of improved pig genetics for higher growth rate and lean meat percentage has led to the deterioration of pig meat quality. “META LEAN” has shown a profound impact on improving meat quality and carcass traits. Several research trials on “META LEAN” have shown positive effects on feed efficiency, protein (muscle) deposition, and reducing fat oxidation, resulting in improved performance and meat quality (color, firmness, marbling, etc). This photogenic feed additive is an effective natural solution with high acceptance by consumers for their safeness and compliance with environmental sustainability.
Feeding Recommendations
1-2 kg per ton of feed or as per veterinarians advise

Tail Biting: A Disastrous Behavioral Vice in Swine

Tail Biting: A Disastrous Behavioral Vice in Swine

Factors yielding to financial losses:

Tail biting is considered one of the major financial and animal welfare issues within the commercial swine industries due to reduced weight gain, veterinary treatments, leanness, culling, feed intake, reproduction traits and carcass condemnation

What are the several reasons triggering the nuisance?
The studies ultimately yielded variable results due to the many factors of tail biting and the fact general solutions are not appropriate for all farms. Factors that can trigger tail biting commonly include feeding issues like competition for feed, water and high fat diets. Also, management practices are potential stressors like stocking density, temperature and ventilation regulation. 

Tail biting in pigs is an abnormal behavior whereby a pig uses its teeth to bite, chew or orally manipulate another pig’s tail. The severity ranges from light manipulation of the tail to physically harming the tail, causing infection, amputation or even harming areas surrounding the tail. 

In several countries, tail docking was a popular practice until animal welfare authorities condemned the mainstream trend and banned.  Since the vice has multiple origins, it is almost impossible to control. 

CalmaTrope – A healing touch for the uncontrollable aggressive behavior 

CalmaTrope is a specially designed supplement for vices like Tail, Ear, Flank, Vulva Biting caused by aggressive behavior. It is a combination of synergic herb extracts along with tryptophan, magnesium, vitamin E and C. Its diverse approach to deal with the condition makes it unique amongst all.

Stress induced adverse behavior is controlled by tryptophan which is a potent serotonin precursor (controls moods) and the combo of other active constituents have muscle relaxing and antioxidant properties. It helps in controlling anxiety, reduces plasma corticosteroids and neuro-muscular stimulation; allowing animals to feel calm and compose

CalmaTrope has large market in the biting prone areas. It is featured for its benefits like lower incidence of skin, shoulder and loin lesions; low carcass damage; drastic reduction in temperament. Safe and natural ingredients of CalmaTrope comply with feed and farming regulations. 

Feed recommendations

For Individual Supplementation: 0.1g per kg body weight per day (0.1/Kg Body weight/day)

For Feed Incorporation: 3-4 kg per MT of feed 

Antibiotics as Growth promoters –is a bane or a boon?

 

To answer this question it is important to develop an understanding about, what is the function of an antibiotic and how it does exactly promote growth in the animals. Also, how natural alternatives can effectively prove to be a better substitute.

Antibiotics are antimicrobial drugs that are used to inhibit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms that often cause a variety of diseases in animals; hence they are used as therapeutic drugs.

However, there has been the use of antibiotics in the poultry industry, in order to improve meat production through increased feed conversion, growth rate promotion, and disease prevention. The postulated mechanisms for growth promotion using antibiotics are as follows-

  1. Antibiotic Growth Promoters (AGP) inhibit endemic subclinical infection
  2. Reduce growth depressing metabolites like ammonia or bile degrading products produced by microbes
  3. Reduce microbial use of nutrients
  4. Enhance uptake and use of nutrients because the intestinal wall of AGP fed animal is thinner

However, prolonged use of antibiotics results in resistant microbial strains that pose a greater threat not only to the animals but also humans at large when these strains enter the food chain. Hence the use of antibiotics should be highly restricted.

An effective solution to the addressed issue would be the use of natural derivatives that can exhibit similar growth-promoting effects in the animal without posing a threat to the food chain.

Herbofloxin is a Natural Growth Promoter, composed of several natural origin derivatives which work in conjunction to produce effects similar to AGP.    

These plant-derived compounds mainly exert their beneficial effects as follows:

  1. Disrupt cell membrane of microbes
  2. Interfere with virulence properties of the microbes by increasing the hydrophobicity, which influences surface characteristics of microbial cells and makes them susceptible to the immune system
  3. Stimulates growth and proliferation of beneficial bacteria (e.g., lactobacilli and bifidobacteria) in the gut
  4. Act as immunostimulants
  5. Protects intestine from microbial attack
  6. Enhances the production and/or activity of the digestive enzymes
  7. Stimulate the proliferation and growth of absorptive cells (villus and crypt) in the gastrointestinal tract and increases nutrient absorption

Thus the cumulative result of these actions shows growth-promoting effects on the gut of the animal that mimics the effect of AGP. Hence Natural Growth Promoters like Herbofloxin prove to be effective AGP replacers.

Essentiality of good management practices in livestock production

The livestock industry is an important component of the agricultural sector of any country producing meat, eggs, beef, pork, eggs, and other quality products of animal origin. This industry plays a vital role in market development and the use of technology. Food safety is universally recognized as a public health priority. It requires a holistic approach, from production to consumption. Various aspects of animal production are at risk from biological, chemical and physical agents. These agents can enter food-producing animals and animal products through a wide variety of exposure points in the production, with high potential risks for the consumers. Therefore it is essential that Good Management Practices are followed in meat production to address these hazards. Following are the recommended Good Practices that should be followed on the farm;

Sanitation and hygiene
All movable equipment like feeders, waterers, and hovers should be removed from the house, cleaned, and disinfected. The interior as well as the exterior of the house should be cleaned under pressure. The house should be disinfected with any commercial disinfectant solution at the recommended concentration.

Brooder Management
Brooder house: It should be draft-free, rain-proof, and protected against predators. Brooding pens should have windows for adequate ventilation. The availability of dust particles in the environment irritates the respiratory tract of the chicks. Also, dust is one of the vehicles for disease transmission. The presence of more moisture in the environment causes ammonia fumes which irritate the respiratory tract and eyes.

Brooding Temperature: Heating is very much essential to provide the right temperature in the brooder house.  Too high or too low temperature slows down growth and causes mortality. During the first week, the temperature should be 95°F (35°C) which may be reduced by 5°F per week during each successive week till 70°F (21·10C). The brooder should be switched on for at least 24 hours before the chicks arrive. As a rule of thumb, the temperature inside the brooder house should be approximately 20°F (-6·7°C) below the brooder temperature.

Animal Nutrition and Feeding: Meeting the requirements of livestock nutrition is extremely important to maintain acceptable performance of neonatal, growing, finishing, and breeding animals. An optimal nutritional program should ensure adequate intakes of amino acids (essential and nonessential), carbohydrates, fatty acids, minerals, and vitamins by animals through a supplementation program that corrects deficiencies in basal diets.22 amino acids are needed to form body protein, some of which can be synthesized by the bird (non-essential), whereas others cannot be made at all or in sufficient quantities to meet metabolic needs (essential). Essential amino acids must be supplied by the diet, and a sufficient amount of non-essential amino acids must also be supplied to prevent the conversion of essential amino acids into non-essential amino acids. These essential amino acids must therefore be fed in order to supply the building blocks needed in the synthesis of body proteins thereby supporting growth.

Some other Farm management practices include; Litter management, Water Sanitization, Animal health management, Veterinary medicines and biological, Environment and infrastructure, Animal and product handling, etc.

We at Vinayak Ingredients Pvt. Ltd. Aim at making livestock production free from all the major hazards for safe and healthy production and consumption of the meat. We believe in “HERBOCORE” process and our aim is to manufacture safe, eco-sustainable, and cost-effective solutions for the benefits of the industry”. Our wide variety of products includes;

  • “KiFAY”-an Amino Acid Optimizer. It improves the availability of insulin receptors which are potential binding sites for IGF-1 and thus potentiating the action of IGF-1 resulting in improved ileal digestibility of various amino acids in the feed and also improves their uptake from the blood. Thus, improved amino acid accretion from blood results in better protein turn over. It also increases the efficacy and production of IGF-1 by stimulating insulin production resulting in increased bio-availability of IGF-1 in the liver.
  • “HERBOFLOXIN”-Natural antibiotic growth promoter. It improves the number of good bacteria in the gut and simultaneously reduces the pathogenic bacteria.
  • “MUCOFORT”-An Advance Mucin enhancer and respiratory tonic.
  • “ESSENTIOLITT”-It is an anti-vector solution. Controls and eradicates all stages of the insects and also ensures an unfavorable environment for them to prevent re-infestation.
  • “VINTOXO”- an excellent Toxin Binder which absorbs various mycotoxins on the surface with a CEC of 35 to 45 mEq per 100gms; it is able to absorb polar as well as non-polar mycotoxins and clears it out of the system.

Role of antioxidants in feed

Antioxidants play a major role in animal health, production and performance. This is due to the detrimental effects of radicals and toxic products of their metabolism on various metabolic processes. It is a well known fact that oxidative stress is involved in many degenerative disorders. The oxidative free radicals are therefore considered as pathobiochemicals mechanism for initiating or progression of various diseases. The prooxidant-antioxidant balance can be regulated by optimal nutrient uptake or providing herbal antibiotics. Thus, the essential step in maintaining the balance between the oxidative damage and antioxidative defense in the animal body would be to boost the antioxidant capacity by optimizing the dietary intake of antioxidants.

Vitamin C is a water-soluble antioxidant. It is an important anti-stress agent. However, it can be easily oxidized. Sources of vitamin C are citrus fruits and vegetables. Vitamin C is required in collagen biosynthesis and protein metabolism.

Vitamin E is the found in the biological membranes and lipid droplets. Vitamin E is absorbed in the small intestine with various efficacies depending on the diet composition, level of supplementation, age, sex and other individual characteristics of animals. It is the main chain-breaking antioxidant in biological systems.

Carotenoid is a natural pigment, responsible for yellow, orange and sometimes red pigmentations in plants, insects, birds and marine animals. They possess antioxidant activity. They have some health promoting properties, including immune system modulation. They are found in some plant-derived feed ingredients.

Manganese has an essential part of a range of enzymes taking part in antioxidant protection, bone growth and egg shell formation carbohydrate and lipid metabolism including processing of cholesterol.

Zinc is the second most abundant trace element trace element in mammals and they take part in antioxidant defense as an integral part of SOD, hormone secretion, keratin generation and epithelial tissue integrity immune function.

Iron has a vital role in antioxidant defense as an essential component of catalase, energy and protein metabolism, hence respiratory carrier, electron transport, oxidation-reduction reaction.