Producing market pigs free of antibiotics
Is antibiotic production really better?
Natural pig
Different labels, different definitions
Non-medicated from 10 to 26 wks of age
- Two barns per site
- No antibiotic feed medication
- No injectable antibiotics
- No water soluble antibiotics
100% of the output cannot be committed to antibiotic free claim
- Sick pigs treated and removed from natural production
- Water medication to about 15% of the batch
- Individually treat 5%
The laboratory …
- Design and management of Finisher barns are homogenous
- Health status representative of large midwestern producer
Finishing system under study
Growth performances and difference in revenue if sold at $0.45/lb
| Standard | Natural | |
|---|---|---|
| ADG | 1.97 | 1.93 |
| FE | 2.56 | 2.63 |
| Mort | 4.7 | 5.91 |
| Subs. pigs | 4.8 | 5.31 |
| Med cost | 2.69 | 0 |
$/pig 3.48
Can cost to produce antimicrobial free pigs be reduced?
Nuts and bolts
- Vaccination program
- Nursery medication program
- relative risk of barrows to die over gilts
Timeline of Treatment vs. Performance Hanor OK
Darker = Better Performance
Do feed antimicrobials in nursery affect finishing performances? Design:
- Used 4 barns from 3 production sites
- 2 barns received antimicrobial targeting respiratory diseases
- 2 barns received antimicrobial targeting intestinal diseases
Finishing performance based on nursery feed medication
| Resp. | Intest. | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weight at 21 wks | 223.3 | 215.9 | < 0.001 |
| FE Mortality (%) | 8.1 | 9.5 | 0.47 |
| Substandard (%) | 4.6 | 17.0 | 0.02 |
Should we place certain pigs on antimicrobial free production? Design:
- 468 closeouts
- modeled in ANOVA for the effect of sex, quarter and year
Average finishing mortality rate based on sex
| Barrows | Females | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mortality (%) | 8.0 | 6.7 | < 0.001 |
Still a lot of work to do to reduce the difference in cost of production between standard pig and antimicrobial free pigs
Dr. Isabelle Moreau
Isabelle graduated from the Vet school in St-Hyacinthe in 1995. She then work for PIC and later for The HANOR Company, one of the largest five largest US swine integration, as the director of Health Management. She completed a Master in Science in 2002 at the University of Illinois where she studied the effect of Mycoplasma vaccine in commercial farms also infected with
PRRS. Dr. Moreau currently works as Technical Service Manager for the diagnostic laboratory Biovet.