Báo cáo Nghiên cứu khoa học Diagnosis and control of diarrhoea in suckling pigs

1 Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development Collaboration for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) Program Diagnosis and control of diarrhoea in suckling pigs APPENDIX 4: Farm Reports for northern herds September 2006 Dr Tony Fahy Ms Karen Moore 2 Table of Contents Dong My (Thai Binh Province) - Farm 1 (140 sows) .....................................................................5 General Comments on farm visit 3rd October 2006....................................................................5 Farrowing...............................................................................................................................5 Weaner/Grower/Finisher shed ...............................................................................................5 Vaccination schedule .............................................................................................................5 Comments ..............................................................................................................................5 Farrowing house audit 19/7/05 ...................................................................................................5 Ambient Conditions ~ 9am....................................................................................................6 Sow ........................................................................................................................................6 Piglet ......................................................................................................................................6 Farrowing Shed......................................................................................................................6 Comments ..............................................................................................................................6 Anh De - Farm 2 (150 sows)...........................................................................................................7 General Comments on farm visit 3rd October 2006....................................................................7 Farrowing shed.......................................................................................................................7 Ambient Conditions ...............................................................................................................7 Weaners/Growers/Finishers...................................................................................................7 Vaccines.................................................................................................................................7 Comments ..............................................................................................................................7 Farrowing house audit 19/7/05 ...................................................................................................7 Ambient Conditions ~ 11.30am.............................................................................................7 Sow ........................................................................................................................................8 Piglet ......................................................................................................................................8 Farrowing Shed – old.............................................................................................................8 Farrowing Shed - new............................................................................................................8 General ...................................................................................................................................8 Diagnostic Report ..................................................................................................................8 Comments ..............................................................................................................................8 Anh Thiet (Hung Yen Province) - Farm 3 (100 sows) farrowing house audit 20/7/05 ..................9 Ambient Conditions ...............................................................................................................9 Sow ........................................................................................................................................9 Piglet ......................................................................................................................................9 Farrowing Shed......................................................................................................................9 Diagnostic Report ..................................................................................................................9 Comments ..............................................................................................................................9 Anh Hiep (Hung Yen Province) - Farm 4 (120 sows) ..................................................................10 General Comments on farm visit 4th October 2006..................................................................10 Farrowing House..................................................................................................................10 Dry sow shed........................................................................................................................10 Weaner/grower shed ............................................................................................................10 Growers................................................................................................................................10 General comment .................................................................................................................10 Farrowing house audit 20/7/05 (Cargill Feed Demo farm) ......................................................11 Ambient Conditions ~ 9am..................................................................................................11 Sow ......................................................................................................................................11 Piglet ....................................................................................................................................11 Farrowing Shed....................................................................................................................11 Diagnostic Report ................................................................................................................11 Comments ............................................................................................................................11 Trang Due (Hai Phong Province) - Farm 5 (206 sows moving to 250 sows) ...............................12 3 General Comments on farm visit 1st October 2006 ..................................................................12 Ambient Conditions .............................................................................................................12 Farrowing.............................................................................................................................12 Comments ............................................................................................................................12 Farm audit 18/7/05....................................................................................................................12 Ambient Conditions ~ 9am..................................................................................................12 Sow ......................................................................................................................................13 Piglet ....................................................................................................................................13 Farrowing Shed – old...........................................................................................................13 Farrowing Shed - new..........................................................................................................13 Diagnostic Report ................................................................................................................13 Comments ............................................................................................................................13 Anh Tinh (Hai Phong Province) - Farm 6 control (150 sows)......................................................14 General Comments on farm visit 1st October 2006 ..................................................................14 Ambient Conditions .............................................................................................................14 Farrowing.............................................................................................................................14 Weaners/Growers/Finishers.................................................................................................14 Comments ............................................................................................................................14 Farm audit 18/7/05....................................................................................................................15 Ambient Conditions .............................................................................................................15 Sow ......................................................................................................................................15 Piglet ....................................................................................................................................15 Farrowing Shed....................................................................................................................15 Diagnostic Report ................................................................................................................15 Comments ............................................................................................................................15 Minh Duong (Ha Tay Province) - Farm 7 (100 sows) ..................................................................16 General Comments on farm visit 4th October 2006..................................................................16 Farrowing House..................................................................................................................16 Dry sow shed........................................................................................................................16 Weaner/grower shed ............................................................................................................16 General comment .................................................................................................................16 Farm audit 21/7/05....................................................................................................................16 Ambient Conditions .............................................................................................................16 Sow ......................................................................................................................................17 Piglet ....................................................................................................................................17 Farrowing Shed....................................................................................................................17 Comments ............................................................................................................................17 Chi Huong (Ha Tay Province) - Farm 8 (currently 120 sows moving towards 200 sows)...........18 General Comments on farm visit 4th October 2006..................................................................18 Farrowing House..................................................................................................................18 Dry sow shed........................................................................................................................18 Weaner/grower shed ............................................................................................................18 Grower/Finisher shed...........................................................................................................18 Finisher sheds.......................................................................................................................19 Post visit meeting.................................................................................................................19 General comment .................................................................................................................19 Farm audit 21/7/05....................................................................................................................19 Ambient Conditions .............................................................................................................19 Sow ......................................................................................................................................19 Piglet ....................................................................................................................................19 Farrowing Shed – old...........................................................................................................19 Farrowing Shed - new..........................................................................................................20 4 Comments ............................................................................................................................20 Nhon Hoa (Binh Dinh Province) - Farm 9 (200 sows) .................................................................21 General Comments on farm visit 29th September 2006............................................................21 Ambient Conditions .............................................................................................................21 Farrowing.............................................................................................................................21 Comments ............................................................................................................................21 Farm audit 24/7/05....................................................................................................................21 Ambient Conditions .............................................................................................................21 Sow ......................................................................................................................................21 Piglet ....................................................................................................................................22 Weaners................................................................................................................................22 Farrowing Shed 1.................................................................................................................22 Farrowing Shed 2.................................................................................................................22 Comments ............................................................................................................................22 Dinh-Dung (Binh Dinh Province) - Farm 10 (3 X 50 sow units) .................................................23 General Comments on farm visit 29th September 2006............................................................23 Ambient Conditions .............................................................................................................23 Comments ............................................................................................................................23 Farrowing house audit 24/7/05 .................................................................................................23 Ambient Conditions ............................................................................................................. 23 Sow ......................................................................................................................................23 Piglet ....................................................................................................................................23 Farrowing Shed....................................................................................................................23 Comments ............................................................................................................................23 Appendix 1 - Sow feeding.............................................................................................................24 Appendix 2 - Condition Scoring of Sows .....................................................................................25 Appendix 3 - Water Requirements for Pigs ..................................................................................26 Appendix 4 – Temperature Requirements ....................................................................................27 Appendix 5 - Mange eradication...................................................................................................28 Appendix 6 - Reproductive efficiency ..........................................................................................28 5 Dong My (Thai Binh Province) - Farm 1 (140 sows) TEST FARM General Comments on farm visit 3rd October 2006 These are to be read in the context of the full July report for 2005, which is below. Farrowing • Temperature - 29 °C • Heat Index - 32°C • Relative Humidity - 64% • Wet bulb - 23.7°C There were twenty-three farrowing crates occupied. Three of these sows were still to farrow. There were 13 crates of weaners in the shed. Not only were the drippers, installed in July last year, not in use half of them had been dismantled. In general there were no dedicated creep areas. A few farrowing crates had wooden boxes as creep areas but there were no heat lamps or covering on the floor to prevent draughts. Overall there were no changes from the last visit. There are 100 sows in the dry sow shed. This gives a total of 123 breeders for this farm. Weaner/Grower/Finisher shed There were 324 pigs in total. There was a large amount of Sarcoptic mange visible and a coughing index greater than 10. • Temperature - 30 °C • Heat Index - 34°C • Relative Humidity - 67% • Wet bulb - 25°C Vaccination schedule Breeders • Parvo - 2 weeks before mating • Hog Cholera – 1 month prior to farrowing • Erysip & Pasteurella – 18 days after farrowing • E.coli – 25 days after farrowing • FMD - Breeders twice per year. Progeny • M.hyopneumoniae one shot vaccine at 21 days. • Hog cholera 35 & 65 days of age • FMD - No progeny are vaccinated. Comments Farrowing house audit 19/7/05 6 Ambient Conditions ~ 9am • Temperature - 33.3°C • Heat Index - 42.3°C • Wet Bulb - 27.1°C • Relative Humidity - 62.4% • Wind Speed - 0.7 m/sec Sow • Farrow 20 per month • Vaccinate with Litterguard • Preweaning mortality 10-12% • Water rate approximately 1 L/min • Feeders empty (feed 5kg/day and 6kg for skinny sows) • Respiration rate of 140 for one sow Piglet • Weaning age 21 days • Use 175 watt lamps • Piglets were comfortable Farrowing Shed • Shed east-west orientation • Temperature - 34.1°C • Heat Index - 44.0°C • Wet Bulb - 27.1°C • Relative Humidity - 59.7% • Wind Speed - 0.4 m/sec • Exhaust fans broken • Misting system and blinds • Roof cooling with sprinklers • Roof vents not all working • 38 crates available with 20 occupied, 16 had litters Comments • Sell 40kg (20,000 VD/kg) pigs at 110 days and 90kg (16,500 VD/kg) pigs at 170 days. • Wide opening on sheds but partially blocked by trees. Good potential for ventilation and cooling but not being fully achieved. • Concrete blocks in the farrowing crates blocking piglets from gaining access to the bottom row of teats 7 Anh De - Farm 2 (150 sows) CONTROL FARM General Comments on farm visit 3rd October 2006 These are to be read in the context of the full July report for 2005, which is below. Farrowing shed Ambient Conditions • Temperature - 29.9 °C • Heat Index - 35°C • Relative Humidity - 69% • Wet bulb - 25°C There were twelve sows with litters in crates. One pen of weaners. There were some heated creep areas. The windows of one side of the building were closed thus preventing any ventilation. The ceiling was low, being approximately 7 feet. There were 81 dry sows. The blinds were down thus there was little air flow. Most of these sows were condition score 2. They claim to feed the sows 2 kg per sow twice per day – ie 4 kg per sow per day. Weaners/Growers/Finishers There was a lot of coughing in the growers. One feeder per 20 to 40 pigs. Blinds were completely closed on one side, thus no ventilation. There were 290 growers/finishers and 180 weaners. Three or four pens of weaners looked wet and cold. This was the only part of the shed where the blinds were open. Vaccines M.hyopneumoniae vaccine - 7 & 21 days FMD - 1 shot at 45 days of age Hog Cholera - Sow – 21 days post farrowing, Piglets – 35 days of age. ( we believe it is the Vietnamese produced live modified vaccine) Comments Farrowing house audit 19/7/05 Ambient Conditions ~ 11.30am • Temperature - 34.6°C • Heat Index - 48.0°C • Wet Bulb - 27.6°C • Relative Humidity - 50.5% • Wind Speed - 1.0 m/sec 8 Sow • No vaccination schedule • Feeder empty (fed 5kg/day) • Respiration rate of sows 44, 180 and 150/min Piglet • Weaning age 21 days • No designated creep, use 100W globes Farrowing Shed – old Pre drip cool Post drip cool • Temperature - 35.9°C - 35.1°C • Heat Index - 49.5°C - 45.8°C • Wet Bulb - 29.1°C - 27.9°C • Relative Humidity - 60.2% - 58.0% • Wind Speed - - 0.4 – 1.1 m/sec • Roof cooling • Only 3 of 8 fans working • 30 crates (16 old and 14 new) available with 8 old crates occupied • Farrowing dates for 1 sow were 9/5/04, 26/9/04, 18/2/05 and 7/7/05 Farrowing Shed - new • Temperature - 34.4°C • Heat Index - 44.9°C • Wet Bulb - 27.9°C • Relative Humidity - 60.1% General • Buildings run east/west • Weaners no feed Diagnostic Report Comments • Side wall blocked by shade cloth • Diarrhoea in grower pigs possibly due to Hog Cholera or salmonella. • Open flush drains filled with water (emptied twice daily) were a potential source for spread of enteric diseases. 9 Anh Thiet (Hung Yen Province) - Farm 3 (100 sows) farrowing house audit 20/7/05 (Note this control farm was removed from the study due to an outbreak of classical swine fever) Ambient Conditions • Temperature - 34.2°C • Heat Index - 48.1°C • Wet Bulb - 28.8°C • Relative Humidity - 63.8% Sow • Respiration rate of some sows was 120, 60 and 100 Piglet • Weaning age 21 days Farrowing Shed • Temperature - 33.5°C • Heat Index - 46.4°C • Wet Bulb - 28.8°C • Relative Humidity - 68.0% • Wind Speed - 0.0 m/sec • Blinds half way down • Sow cooling system but most of it was not working • Roof cooling • 31 crates available with 14 occupied Diagnostic Report • Comments • Sell approximately 200 pigs/month at 20 weeks of age and at about 80kg • This number of pigs sold cannot be achieved with 100 sows with a maximum of 152 being possible • Shade cloth blocking ventilation • Poor water flow rate to drinkers for growers 10 Anh Hiep (Hung Yen Province) - Farm 4 (120 sows) near new bridge (TEST FARM) General Comments on farm visit 4th October 2006 These are to be read in the context of the full July report for 2005, which is below. Farrowing House • Temperature - 31°C • Heat Index - 37.6°C • Wet Bulb - 26.3°C • Relative Humidity - 68% The side walls blinds were open. The end wall has had all the rubbished removed and is open. The far end of the shed is blocked. There were two standing 18” fans operating. The crates had dedicated creep areas but no lids. They had 13 crates with farrowed sows and seven crates with sows due to farrow. There were 4 crates with weaned pigs. They have a problem with diarrhoea at seven days of age. Samples were collected. As they treat with baycox we suspect Rotavirus or TGE are most likely cause. If this is the case we recommend feedback of scour material to dry sows at the rate of 1 part manure water to 19 parts ordinary water into the dry sow feeder troughs. Dry sow shed In total there were 73 dry sows and 4 boars. All sows were in condition score 3. Give Bivermectin 0.25% (100mL bottle) before farrowing. Weaner/grower shed • Temperature - 31.6°C • Heat Index - 39.4°C • Wet Bulb - 27.0°C • Relative Humidity - 70% There were 8 pens of weaners scouring at ten days post weaning. The weaner scour looked quite bad. For some reason the weaners were wet. Suggest they need a ‘kennel’ in each weaner pen to allow the pigs to stay dry and seek their thermal comfort zone. Growers Open gutter drains at the back of the pens . These should be covered to prevent pigs drinking the faecal contaminated water. General comment For the weaners we recommend they add Apramycin in the water or the feed for 2 weeks post weaning until we establish the cause of the scour. They can also inject clinically affected pigs with Enrofloxacin. Currently they are doing it orally. This also applies to any pigs weaned in the farrowing house. Any pigs weaned into crates in the farrowing house should be given heater lamps and fed Apramycin either in feed or water. Range of antibiotics found on this farm. Injectables 11 • Gentamycin • Enrofloxacin • Tiamulin • Kanamycin • Streptomycin • Penicillin G • Ivermectin 0.25% Oral • Amoxicillin 100g/kg + Colistin 250MU/kg. Use rate is 50grams in 100ml water or 0.1% in feed Farrowing house audit 20/7/05 (Cargill Feed Demo farm) Ambient Conditions ~ 9am • Temperature - 31.2°C • Heat Index - 38.8°C • Wet Bulb - 26.9°C • Relative Humidity - 69.1% • Wind Speed - 0.7 m/sec Sow • Preweaning mortality 3% • 20% litters scour • Good water flow rate • Feed 6-7kg/sow/day Piglet • Weaning age 21 days Farrowing Shed • Shed east-west orientation • Temperature - 31.9°C • Heat Index - 39.5°C • Wet Bulb - 26.9°C • Relative Humidity - 67.5% • Wind Speed - 0.0 m/sec • 24 crates available with 21 occupied Diagnostic Report Comments • Cooling system in place for sows but poorly adjusted • Shade cloth blocking 50% of the ventilation • No ridge vent • Trees and tin blocking the lagoon end of the farrowing house, with shade cloth and equipment blocking the other end • Restricted feed to weaners and growers, should be ad libitum • Bad mange in growers • Open drains, potential for spread of enteric diseases • Dry sows had sprinklers but the sidewalls were blocked with shade cloth. • Dry sows had a water trough which would allow for oral vaccination (feed back) of sows 12 Trang Due (Hai Phong Province) - Farm 5 (206 sows moving to 250 sows) this is a govt run farm CONTROL FARM General Comments on farm visit 1st October 2006 These are to be read in the context of the full July report for 2005, which is below. Ambient Conditions • Temperature - 27.3 °C • Heat Index - 29.7°C • Relative Humidity - 67% • Wet bulb - 23°C Farrowing There were 39 occupied crates giving them an average weekly farrowing of 10 sows. This is what would be expected for a herd of 200 sows. The farrowing house still has the problem of the shade cloth (as opposed to blue plastic blinds) dropping down over the side openings blocking airflow and cross ventilation. Comments • Mange still remains uncontrolled. One sow had particularly bad keratosis of the ears and there was a high percentage of growers showing Sarcoptic hypersensitivity. • Sucker pigs had a high level of scour with most litters having diarrhoea somewhere between 7 and 19 days. They do not use Baycox • Most crates do not have a good creep area. • We counted 130 dry sows. This with the sows in the farrowing house gives a total of around 170 sows. The farm reputedly has 200. • Supposedly having problems with Salmonella and hog cholera. One pig was euthanased for autopsy. Main findings were bronchopneumonia, splenic infarct, enlarged oedematous large intestine that contained fluid contents. Suspect oedema was due to low blood protein, complicated by hog cholera. The preliminary diagnosis by NIVR was Salmonellosis. Samples collected for laboratory testing. • The second site across the road, which originally had exotic breeds, now has Moncais. • Weaners/growers – a total of 84 pigs were observed. Where are the rest of the pigs? There should be at least 1200. • Overall this farm has excellent facilities but they are being grossly under utilised. Farm audit 18/7/05 Ambient Conditions ~ 9am • Temperature - 33.1°C • Heat Index - 40.0°C • Wet Bulb - 26.1°C • Relative Humidity - 59.6% • Wind Speed - 1.5 m/sec 13 Sow • Farrow 40-45 sows/month • Preweaning mortality ~ 5% • Water flow rate was good • Feed 4.6kg/sow/day • Respiration rate of 140 for one sow Piglet • Weaning age 21 days Farrowing Shed – old • Shed north-south orientation • Temperature - 34.5°C • Heat Index - 43.5°C • Wet Bulb - 27.1°C • Relative Humidity - 57.0% • Wind Speed - 0.4 m/sec • 28 crates available with 14 crates occupied • Ridge vent covered • Two fans • Blinds partly down • Water pressure was good • Sow respiration rates 100 (sow 37°C) and 180 (sow 38°C), floor (31°C), slats (35.6°C) Farrowing Shed - new • 24 crates available with 9 crates occupied • Temperature - 34.4°C • Heat Index - 43.2°C • Wet Bulb - 27.0°C • Relative Humidity - 56.1% • Wind Speed - 0.0 m/sec • Sow respiration rates 100-120 (sow 38°C), floor (30°C), slats (32°C) Diagnostic Report Comments • Post mortem on 2 pigs Pig 1 had pneumonia score of 55%, enlarged reddened spleen and ulcers near ileo-caecal valve. The second pig had 25% of the lung affected by pneumonia and ulcers near ileo-caecal valve and spiral colon. • Sows in crates equal to 100 sow piggery not 206 sows • Sow feeders empty, need to ad lib feed to lactating sows, weaners and growers • Lift the shade cloth blocking ventilation in the farrowing house • Water cooling of gestating and lactating sows 14 Anh Tinh (Hai Phong Province) – TEST FARM (150 sows) (son in sydney) General Comments on farm visit 1st October 2006 These are to be read in the context of the full July report for 2005, which is below. Ambient Conditions • Temperature - 30 °C • Heat Index - 33.4°C • Relative Humidity - 60% • Wet bulb - 23.7°C Farrowing Of the 50 farrowing crates available there were 31 crates full, which included 5 that were due to farrow. Drippers were in use. Ventilation was good but the side openings were 25% obstructed by the blue blinds which were not fully opened up. The creep areas were covered and had matting on the floor. No E.coli vaccine used but gives Baycox at days four. There was no scouring seen in the suckers, which looked good. Weaners/Growers/Finishers This farm had a 30% post weaning mortality, which has now gone. Ambient temp.- 31 °C Heat index - 35 °C Humidity - 60% The air quality in the weaner room was compromised because one side of the shed was completely blocked by a blue blind preventing cross ventilation. Similar poor ventilation applied to both growers and finishers. The temperature in this area was 31°C with a heat index of 35°C. Whilst the weaners can cope with a heat index of 35°C this would have a negative impact on growers and finishers feed intake. The optimum temperature for this age group of pigs is 18-20°C. The biggest problem regarding the blinds is the detrimental effect on the air quality. Comments • Currently giving one shot Mycoplasma vaccine at 28 days. They would be better off using a two shot vaccine at 4 and 21 days of age. • Currently giving sows a hog cholera vaccine (Pfizer) booster at two weeks prior to farrowing. They then vaccinate the offspring at three and five weeks of age. The recommendation would be to vaccinate the sow at weaning to prevent maternal antibody interference in the offspring. Given the nature of the weaner accommodation (ie in wire cages above the floor) they could delay vaccinating weaners until 7 and 9 weeks of age. 15 • This farm seems to be doing quite well except for the coughing in the growers and finishers which could be alleviated by improving the cross ventilation and changing to a two shot Mycoplasma vaccine. They should also consider pulse medicating I week in every 4. Farm audit 18/7/05 Ambient Conditions • Temperature - 33.0°C • Heat Index - 43.9°C • Relative Humidity - 69.3% Sow • Preweaning mortality 1% • Sows fed twice a day 6-7 kg/sow • Sow with 15 piglets and 14 active teats, another with 14 piglets and 14 active teats • Most sows had litters with 10-12 piglets • Respiration rate for one sow was 33 and another ~90, most were OK Piglet • Weaning age 21 days • 17 day scour problem Farrowing Shed • Temperature - 32.1°C • Heat Index - 38.7°C • Relative Humidity - 64.3% • Wind Speed - 0.4 m/sec • Drip cooling system good • 50 crates available with 27 crates occupied Diagnostic Report Comments • Lime floor, sheds very clean • Blue shade cloth blocking ventilation 16 Minh Duong (Ha Tay Province) - Farm 7 (100 sows)-CONTROL FARM General Comments on farm visit 4th October 2006 These are to be read in the context of the full July report for 2005, which is below. Farrowing House • Temperature - 32°C • Heat Index - 37.5°C • Wet Bulb - 25.5°C • Relative Humidity - 60% The shed had good ventilation Ten sows had farrowed and five were still to farrow. There were dedicated creep areas with lamps. These require some bentonite when there is a scour present. Piglets are scouring around 12 days of age. Piglets are treated with amoxyl and colistin. Scour does not respond therefore need to consider viral cause. Samples collected by nivr Dry sow shed Good ventilation. A number of sows are claimed to have a discharge. Three animals were swabbed. Suggested to top dress the feed of affected animals with 2 grams of tetracycline per day for three weeks. A number of sows have abrasions of the sole of the feet. This could be due to the floors of the gestation stalls. Suggested they top dress the feed of affected animals with 2 grams of tylosin for two weeks. Weaner/grower shed Good ventilation. Lamps present in the weaner section. Diarrhoea in weaners ten days post weaning. We took samples and suggested Apramycin in either feed or water for the first two weeks post weaning and individually treat scouring animals with amoxycillin + colistin (what ever they had in the shed). Also coughing and conjunctivitis present in weaners. Suggested adding 400ppm of chlortetracycline to all weaner rations. M.hyopneumoniae given to the sows two weeks pre- farrow. Piglets are vaccinated at 7 and 21 days of age. Suggested they stop vaccinating the sows and give the fist M.hyopneumoniae with Baycox at 4 days. Hog cholera vaccine to piglets at 35 & 60 days of age and sow at weaning. This might need revision in light of the possible hog cholera present in the weaner pigs. General comment This is a well-designed farm and the owners are keen to make improvements. Use Dectomax 1% in 50 ml bottles @190,000VND Farm audit 21/7/05 Ambient Conditions • Temperature - 31.8°C • Heat Index - 38.0°C • Wet Bulb - 25.8°C 17 • Relative Humidity - 71.5% Sow • Sows with mange • 10 day scour in 6 litters • Respiration rate of 100 for one sow • Vaccinate sows for parvo, erysipelas, CSF, E. coli and Mycoplasma Piglet • Weaning age 28 days • Vaccinate piglets at 7 and 21 days for Mycoplasma Farrowing Shed • Shed east-west orientation • Temperature - 32.4°C • Heat Index - 42.0°C • Wet Bulb - 27.8°C • Relative Humidity - 72.9% • Wind Speed - 0 - 0.3 m/sec • No cooling system • 26 crates available with 15 occupied Comments • Empty feeders • Sow with vulval discharge • Creep area for piglets but sides were open, need to be enclosed. Lamps and mesh flooring • Good ventilation with sheds having open sides 18 Thanh Bich (Ha Tay Province) – TEST FARM (currently 120 sows moving towards 200 sows) Wife of Govt offical General Comments on farm visit 4th October 2006 These are to be read in the context of the full July report for 2005, which is below. Farrowing House • Temperature - 31.5°C • Heat Index - 36.3°C • Wet Bulb - 25.4°C • Relative Humidity -61% There were 23 occupied farrowing crates. Seven of these were yet to farrow and six pens contained weaned pigs. The near end has a seven-foot ceiling and the far end has an eight-foot ceiling. This is the end with the extractor fans. The environment was noticeably better in the far end. Unfortunately they have built a greenhouse/hothouse next to the shed which has compromised ventilation. They have another hothouse under construction, which will compromise ventilation in adjoining sheds. The weaned pigs in the farrowing house need heater lamps. They had 4 litters scouring at 10-11 days of age. They will use Baycox for six months to see if this solves the problem. Dry sow shed • Temperature - 29.2°C • Heat Index - 31.8°C • Wet Bulb - 23.5°C • Relative Humidity -63% Good ventilation with all walls open. There were 93 sows and gilts. They were mostly condition score 3. Mange was presents. Weaner/grower shed Good ventilation. Scours and coughing present in weaners. A number of grower pigs had grade 3 hypersensitivity caused by sarcoptic mange. There was a serious scour in this room as well. Grower/Finisher shed Appear to be ad lib fed. The water supply empties into open gutters and the pigs are drinking this contaminated water from the gutters instead of from the nipple drinkers. Ideally these gutters should be covered, but at least the water should not flow freely from the ½ inch pipe into the gutters. 19 Finisher sheds One feeder between two pens each with eleven pigs All side walls are open. One shed has side walls covered with bags which are fixed. This is in contrast to one of the other sheds that had blinds that could be raised or lowered. Post visit meeting. They claim that farrowing rate was 100% Weaners may need tetracycline in feed for the entire 4 week period due to bad coughing and to protect them until they can respond to the M.hyopneumoniae vaccination. General comment • They have stopped vaccinating with M.hyopneumoniae as they didn’t think it worked. They are now giving Amoxycillin for the first week in each new shed, ie weaner/grower/finisher. • We suggested that they should resume vaccination of piglets and to pulse medicate weaners/growers/finishers one week in four with either Lincomix 220 ppm or 200ppm chlortetracycline plus Tiamulin at 50ppm. • They currently give foot and mouth vaccine to growers at 8 and ten weeks of age. Sows are given two vaccinations in total. Farm audit 21/7/05 Ambient Conditions • Temperature - 29.6°C • Heat Index - 36.0°C • Wet Bulb - 25.8°C • Relative Humidity - 74.5% Sow • Vaccinate for E. coli (at 12 and 14 weeks), parvo, Aujeszkys, CSF (at 10weeks) and FMD • Water pressure was good but big variation between pens • Feed 4-5kg/sow/day • Sow respiration rates 50, 60 and 60 • Mange Piglet • Weaning age 21 days • 20% of litters scour post 7 days, varies with season • Vaccinated with CSF (at birth and 21-24 days), Mycoplasma at 7 and 21 days and salmonella at 30 days Farrowing Shed – old • North-north west orientation • Temperature - 30.4°C • Heat Index - 38.0°C • Wet Bulb - 26.3°C • Relative Humidity - 74.0% • Wind Speed - 0.0 m/sec • 17 crates available, all were occupied • Flat ceiling 20 • Small side fans off, turned on while there • Roof cooling system • Evaporative curtain • Blinds fully down Farrowing Shed - new • 18 crates available with 0 crates occupied (190 x 213 x 560 wide) • Temperature - 31.5°C • Heat Index - 39.6°C • Wet Bulb - 26.7°C • Relative Humidity - 71.1% • Wind Speed - 1 – 1.2 m/sec • Two large extraction fans Comments • Evaporative curtain not being fully utilised • Capacity for tunnel ventilation, blinds and extraction fans • Dry sows crates 570 x 2100 • Spray cooling system • Two pigs had post mortem examinations. They were found to have Mulberry Heart disease 21 Nhon Hoa (Binh Dinh Province) – TEST FARM (200 sows) General Comments on farm visit 29th September 2006 These are to be read in the context of the full July report for 2005, which is below. Ambient Conditions • Temperature - 25°C • Heat Index - 26.5°C • Relative Humidity - 81% Farrowing Of the 47 farrowing crates available 35 were full with 16/35 still to farrow. Farm claims 8 farrowings per week but they must be out of synchronisation if they have 16 to farrow. Twelve of the farrowing crates had weaned pigs in them. Farrow room 1 had one full side partially blocked by a new grower area on its northern side. This grower area had a tin roof, which would be less than ideal for the growers and was blocking the air flow to the farrowing room. Comments • They claim that foot & mouth disease is causing a major problem with the sale of stock. They are unable to sell breeding stock, which is causing overcrowding. They are forced to sell pigs as porkers. Where they were getting $2.40/kg for the sale of breeders they only get $1.50 for the sale of pork. • Mange continues to be a problem and no effort has been made to implement an eradication program. The timing of their treatment is incorrect. Ivermectin should be given one week before farrowing. • Overall their preweaning mortality (around 10%) and reproductive performance are quite good but any further improvements they make will be icing on the cake. • They still have restricted feeding of each class of stock. • Our recommendation would be that they fully implement the Herd Analysis and Management System (HAAMS) so the farm efficiency can be truly evaluated. Along with this there needs to be a quarterly visit by an extension person to provide advice on areas for improvement based on the HAAMs data analysis. Farm audit 24/7/05 Ambient Conditions • Temperature - 28.9°C • Heat Index - 31.4°C • Wet Bulb - 22.6°C • Relative Humidity - 58.0% • Wind Speed - 2.0-3.0 m/sec Sow • Vaccinate sows with CSF (at weaning), E. coli (6 and 2 weeks before farrowing), salmonella (at mating), Pasteurella, FMD, Mycoplasma • Ivermectin at 40-45 days before farrowing • Water pressure was good 22 • Feed 2-2.5 kg twice daily plus 0.3kg/piglet (total 4-5kg) • Respiration rate of 140 for one sow • Farrowing rate greater than 80% Piglet • Weaning age 21 days • Vaccinate for Mycoplasma (day 3), E. coli (day 7), salmonella (day 10) and CSF (day 21) • Baycox given at 3-4 days of age Weaners • Temperature - 31.0°C • Heat Index - 34.8°C • Wet Bulb - 24.0°C • Relative Humidity - 55.8% • Wind Speed - 0.0-0.5 m/sec • Poor water supply • Numerous abscesses/site reactions Farrowing Shed 1 • Sheds north/east – south/west orientation • Temperature - 28.9°C • Heat Index - 31.3°C • Wet Bulb - 22.7°C • Relative Humidity - 58.4% • Wind Speed - 1.0-1.5 m/sec • Open sides with no blinds • Roof cooling but not working • Total of 32 sows in crates (shed 1 and 2) Farrowing Shed 2 • Temperature - 31.7°C • Heat Index - 36.3°C • Wet Bulb - 24.0°C • Relative Humidity - 56.6% • Wind Speed - 0.3 m/sec • Roof cooling not working • 32 crates available with 17 occupied • Some tiled roof areas replaced with roofing iron Comments • Need to have a ridge vent • Some tiles had been replaced with tin. The temperature under the tin was 65 degrees and 38 degrees under the tiles. Replace or insulate the tin. • Natural mating and replacements from breeding companies • ~5% of gilt litters affected by Trembles (however, saw 4 litters affected) – all mated to different boars 23 Dinh-Dung (Binh Dinh Province) – CONTROL FARM (3 X 50 sow units) General Comments on farm visit 29th September 2006 These are to be read in the context of the full July report for 2005, which is below. Ambient Conditions • Temperature - 29.4°C • Heat Index - 33°C • Relative Humidity - 67% Comments • This farm continues to have the same problem with ventilation that it has always had and no improvements will be made until our recommendations are acted upon. • Once again there appears a lack of extension input into this farm. This is a major cause for concern for the industry generally. Farrowing house audit 24/7/05 Ambient Conditions • Temperature - 31.2°C • Heat Index - 35.4°C • Wet Bulb - 24.0°C • Relative Humidity - 53.4% • Wind Speed - 4.0-4.5 m/sec Sow • Feed 6-7kg/sow/day (over two-three feeds) • Respiration rates of 50, 70 and120 were recorded • Vaccinate sows for CSF (17 post farrowing), Salmonella (20 days before farrowing), FMD/Parvo/Aujeszkys (twice a year) Piglet • Weaning age 21 days • Vaccinate piglets for CSF (17 days) Pasteurella (25 days) and Salmonella (20 days) Farrowing Shed • Temperature - 31.7°C • Heat Index - 36.1°C • Wet Bulb - 24.1°C • Relative Humidity - 54.2% • Wind Speed - 0.0-0.5 m/sec • 9 crates available with 8 occupied • fans turned off Comments • Water to dry sow drinkers was turned off because of a leaking pipe • Fans not being used 24 Appendix 1 - Sow feeding • On all farms the lactating sows were inadequately fed; as a rule of thumb no more than 10% of sow feed troughs should be empty on random inspection of a shed. • The feed intake of the sows would also be negatively impacted by poor water flow and the high shed temperatures. The respiratory rate of a non-heat stressed sow should be about 30- 35 /minute. Typically we found all sows to have a respiration rate of 60-120/min indicating severe heat stress. The following is a list of recommendations we use in Australia: • Pigs must have access to feed at least daily and the diet must be nutritionally adequate to maintain health and meet the requirements for maintenance, growth, pregnancy and lactation. • When the body condition score of a pig falls below 2.5 (on the scale of 1-5, appendix 1), remedial action must be taken. • All pigs (excluding piglets) must be maintained at a body condition score of 2 or more. • Feed must be provided in such a way as to prevent undue competition or injury. • Pregnant sows should be given enough bulky or high fibre feed to satisfy hunger. The feed intake for dry sows needs to be nutritionally balanced, appropriate to the sow’s physiological needs (which vary during pregnancy) and to provide satiety without the sow becoming overweight. • Body score of breeding sows at farrowing should be 3.5 – 4. • Body score of breeding sows at weaning should be 3 or above. • Condition scoring is recommended as a way of assessing the adequacy of nutrition, along with monitoring of health and productivity. A guide to condition scoring of pigs is given in Appendix 2. • Drinkable water and/or other wholesome liquid must be easily available to pigs in sufficient quantities to meet the physiological needs of the pigs at all times • Water provided should be fresh, palatable, and at a temperature that does not inhibit drinking. • Drinker allocation per pen group and drinker design and flow rates should be such that water requirements of different classes of pig are easily met. • Pigs should have constant access to water or other suitable wholesome liquid. The daily consumption of water (or other wholesome liquid) by a pig will vary according to environmental temperature, diet ingredients and live-weight. The table in Appendix 3 shows the typical daily water requirements for various classes of pig. Feed requirements for lactating sows Day of lactation Daily feed requirement (kg) 1 2.5 2 3 3 3.5 4 4 5 4.5 6 5 7 5.5 8 6 9 7 10 8 11-15 9 16-20 10 21-28 10.5 25 * These are based on the Stotfield feed scales and are the minimum recommended intakes to maximise subsequent farrowing rate and litter size. Parameters that will impact on feed intake are excessive ambient temperature, inadequate water supply and poor ventilation. Any sow with a respiration rate above 30/min is considered to be heat stressed. The lowest rate noted on our visit was in excess of 60 with some sows registering over 120 breaths/minute Appendix 2 - Condition Scoring of Sows Numerical Score Pelvic Bones, Tail Head Loin Vertebrae Ribs 1 Pelvic bones very prominent. Deep cavity around the tail head. Loin very narrow. Sharp edges on transverse spinal process. Flank very hollow. Prominent and sharp throughout the length of the backbone Individual ribs very prominent 2 Pelvic bones obvious but some slight cover. Cavity around tail head. Loin narrow. Only very slight cover to edge of transverse spinal process. Flank rather hollow. Prominent Rib cage less apparent. Difficult to see individual ribs. 3 Pelvic bones covered. Edge of transverse spinal processes covered and rounded. Visible over the shoulder. Some cover further back. Covered but can be felt. 4 Pelvic bones only felt with firm pressure. No cavity around tail. Edge of transverse spinal processes felt only with firm pressure. Felt only with firm pressure Rib cage not visible. Very difficult to feel any ribs. 5 Pelvic bones impossible to feel. Root of tail set deep in surrounding fat. Impossible to feel bones. Flank full and rounded. Impossible to feel vertebrae. Not possible to feel ribs. 26 Appendix 3 - Water Requirements for Pigs For planning purposes the following consumption estimates are provided for normal ambient temperatures AVERAGE WATER CONSUMPTION (litres per day)* Boar or dry sow 12–15 Sow and litter 25–45 Grower pig: 25 kg 45 kg 65 kg 3–5 5–7 7–9 90 kg 9 – 12 Flow rates will vary depending on the number of drinking points and care should be taken to ensure adequate pump capacity and supply to maintain flow. Recommended water flow rates and maximum water pressures Class Flow Rate (litres/minute) Maximum pressure (kPa) Weaners 0.5 85-105 Growers/Finishers 1.0 140-175 Dry sow 1.0 No limit* Lactating 2.0 No limit* * Care should be made not to have excessive pressure as water wastage can occur. 27 Appendix 4 – Temperature Requirements Pigs, except the very young, are able to tolerate a wide range of temperatures without detriment to their well being, provided temperature changes do not occur abruptly. During very hot weather (35°C or more) adult pigs are very susceptible to heat stress, and steps should be taken to alleviate distress and avoid deaths. Pigs may die if transported in very hot weather. The heat index in most sheds we visited was 37-38°C The ranges of temperature that afford optimum comfort for different classes of pigs are: Piglets — newborn 30–35°C Piglets — 3 weeks of age 24–30°C (reducing to 26°C at 5 weeks of age) Farrowing house 16-22°C Weaners 28–30°C first week (start at 30C, reduce by 2C per week to 22C) Growers Aim for 20-24 °C, aim to keep daily fluctuations below 6 °C Finishers Aim for 20-24 °C, aim to keep daily fluctuations below 6 °C Sows and boars 18 – 24 °C, aim to keep daily fluctuations below 6 °C Thermal comfort zone (assuming concrete floors, no drafts and 15% skin wetness) Stock Weight (kg) Lower critical temp Evaporative critical temp Weaners 5 27 30 6 25 29 7 22 28 8 21 26 9 20 25 Growers 20 16 30 50 12 28 90 9 27 Dry sows & boars 150 15 27 Lactating sows 150 10 23 • At the lower critical temperature pigs will feel cold, huddle and change position to conserve heat. They will also need more feed to generate heat. • At the upper limit (evaporative critical temperature) the pigs will begin to pant in an effort to cool down. 28 Appendix 5 - Mange eradication Mange was evident on all farms we visited. Based on figures from many pig-producing countries around the world, mange causes a 10% decrease in average daily gain and a decrease in food conversion efficiency of 0.1. Based on these figures alone the cost of mange is $350 Aus/sow/year (4,200,000 Dong). The cost of eradication is $5Aus/ breeder (60,000 Dong). This is a one off cost. The program should be designed for each farm to minimise labour and cost of medication. This assumes that treated animals do not come into contact with infected weaners and growers until all infected animals have been sold off. This can be easily achieved by having a buffer pen between animals of treated breeders and infected animals. We can provide specific details based on a diagram of the farm layout Appendix 6 - Reproductive efficiency The target reproduction should be 2.2 litters/mated/sow/year. We noted on some farms that 50% of farrowing crates were unoccupied, which should not have been the case if they were meeting the above target. The cost of this reproductive inefficiency is approximately $500 A/sow/annum (6,000,000 Dong). This is assuming an average feed cost of $100A /tonne and no other costs of production. If the correct figures were entered for this the cost would be considerably higher. The combination of high ambient temperatures, low water flow rates and low feed intake will have a big negative impact on farrowing rate and litter size. We would suggest that data needs to be collected on reproductive performance so that the full impact can be calculated for each farm.