Dietary inclusion of high Amylose cornstarch increased Lactobacillus and Terrisporobacter and decreased Streptococcus in the cecal digesta of weanling pigs.

The study investigated the effect of dietary inclusion of high amylose cornstarch (HA-starch) on cecal microbiota composition and volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations in weanling pigs fed high levels of cold-pressed canola cake (CPCC). Weaned pigs (240 mixed sex; 7.1 ± 1.

Effect of the essential amino acid-nitrogen to total nitrogen ratio on lysine requirement for nitrogen retention in growing pigs.

Low protein diets supplemented with essential amino acids (EAA) fed to pigs reduce the excess supply of EAA and nitrogen (N). However, low protein diets may become limiting in non-essential amino acids (NEAA) and N, thus affecting the utilization of EAA for N retention. It has been suggested that the EAA-N:total N (E:T) ratio can give an indication of dietary N sufficiency.

Impact of L-Arginine and L-Glutamine supplementation on growth performance and immune status in weanling pigs challenged with Escherichia coli F4.

Arginine (ARG) and Glutamine (GLN) have been reported to play significant roles in protein metabolism, immunity, and intestinal health in weanling pigs. The present study investigated the independent and interactive effect of supplementing ARG and GLN on pigs immune status and growth performance following an Escherichia coli F4 challenge. A total of 240 mixed-sex pigs (24 ± 2 d old; 7.

New perspectives to the enterotoxigenic E. coli F4 porcine infection model: Susceptibility genotypes in relation to performance, diarrhoea and bacterial shedding.

Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), causing post-weaning diarrhoea, is a major problem in weaned piglets. Individual animal responses to ETEC infection show high variability in animal experiments.

Evaluation of the sustainability of contrasted pig farming systems: integrated evaluation.

The aim of this paper is to present an approach for an integrated evaluation of the sustainability of pig farming systems, taking into account the three classical pillars: economy, environment and society. Eight sustainability themes were considered: Animal Welfare (AW), Animal Health (AH), Breeding Programmes (BP), Environment (EN), Meat Safety (MS), Market Conformity (MC), Economy (EC) and Working Conditions (WC). A total of 37 primary indicators were identified and used for the evaluation of 15 much contrasted pig farming systems in five EU countries.

Preslaughter handling effects on pork quality and glycolytic potential in two muscles differing in fiber type composition.

The objective of the present experiment was to investigate the effects of transportation, lairage, and preslaughter stressor treatment on glycolytic potential and pork quality of the glycolytic longissimus and the oxidative supraspinatus (SSP) or serratus ventralis (SV) muscles. In a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design, 384 pigs were assigned randomly either to short (50 min) and smooth or long (3 h) and rough transport, long (3 h) or short (< 45 min) lairage, and minimal or high preslaughter stress. Muscle samples were taken from the LM at 135 min and from the SSP at 160 min postmortem for determination of the glycolytic potential and rate of glycolysis.

Negative effects of stress immediately before slaughter on pork quality are aggravated by suboptimal transport and lairage conditions.

The objectives of the present experiment were 1) to study the effects of transport conditions and lairage duration on stress level, muscle glycolytic potential, and pork quality; and 2) to investigate whether the negative effects of high stress immediately preslaughter are affected by preceding handling factors (transport and lairage). In a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design, halothane-free pigs (n = 384) were assigned to either short (50 min) and smooth or long (3 h) and rough transport; long (3 h) or short (<45 min) lairage; and minimal or high preslaughter stress. Pigs were processed in eight groups (48 pigs per group) on various days at a commercial plant.

Preslaughter stress and muscle energy largely determine pork quality at two commercial processing plants.

The objective of the present experiment was to study physiological changes elicited in response to stress in the immediate preslaughter period and to link them to pork quality characteristics. Crossbred, halothane-free pigs (n = 192) were processed in eight groups (24 pigs per group) on various days at one of two commercial processing plants operating different stunning systems (electrical and CO2 stunning in Plants A and B, respectively). In each group, half the pigs were exposed to either minimal or high preslaughter stress.

Rapid chilling cannot prevent inferior pork quality caused by high preslaughter stress.

The present experiment investigated whether increasing chilling rate could improve meat quality in pigs exposed to either minimal or high stress immediately preslaughter. Pigs (n = 192) were offspring of halothane-free lines. On various days, four groups of 48 pigs were processed at a commercial plant.

Villus height and gut development in weaned piglets receiving diets containing either glucose, lactose or starch.

The present study was designed to evaluate the differential effects of dietary glucose, lactose and starch on small-intestinal morphology, organ weights. pH of chyme and haptoglobin levels in blood plasma of weaned piglets. It was hypothesised that lactose consumption would ameliorate the weaning-induced decrease in gut integrity.

Effect of processing plant on pork quality.

The impact of processing plant on pork quality was studied by assessing pork quality in three commercial plants (A, B, C). Plants differed in the layout of the races, stunning systems (A and B: electrical, C: CO(2) stunning) and chilling systems (A: rapid chilling, B and C: conventional). Factors not related to the processing plants (e.