Killing underweighted low viable newborn piglets: Which health parameters are appropriate to make a decision?

Thriving or Striving: Comparing Intra-Uterine Growth Restricted, Low Birth Weight and Normal Birth Weight Piglets within the First 24 Hours

This observational study explored the early-life challenges of intra-uterine growth restricted (IUGR), low birth body weight (LBW), and normal birth body weight (NBW) piglets. The aim was to understand the impact of birth weight and intra-uterine growth restriction phenotype on neonatal survival and behavior. Based on weight and phenotype, piglets were classified as IUGR (n = 32), LBW (n = 34), and NBW (n = 29) immediately after birth. The piglets were litter- and sex-matched. Vitality scores were assigned based on motor activity and breathing and complemented with an assessment of umbilical cord condition, rectal temperature, crown-rump length (CRL), time to reach the udder, time to suckle, colostrum intake, and weight gain over 24 h. Beyond the lower birth weight, reduced CRL, and higher mortality rate, IUGR piglets faced several other challenges compared with LBW and NBW piglets. Growth-impaired piglets often struggled to engage in early feeding behaviors and displayed consistently lower rectal temperatures at 1, 3 and 24 h after birth. IUGR piglets showed inadequate colostrum intake and weight loss, which were also observed for LBW counterparts. In contrast, no significant differences were observed in vitality scores and umbilical cord conditions across the groups. In conclusion, our findings underscore the impact of intra-uterine growth restriction on neonatal piglets, emphasizing the need for specialized care strategies to improve survival and health outcomes in IUGR.

Influences on the Decision to Euthanize a Compromised Pig

The decision to euthanize a compromised pig can be challenging for pig farmers and veterinarians. To understand more about the challenges in Germany, a cross-sectional online survey was conducted. Based on a hybrid design, the responses of 39 veterinarians and 62 pig farmers were analyzed to generate a list of common clinical signs associated with the euthanasia of sows, fatteners, and piglets. Moreover, a set of influences on the farm, due to economic and personal considerations, were found to shape the decision-making process. The two most salient reasons outlined for the delay of timely euthanasia were uncertainty and misinterpretation of the chance for healing. The lack of valid clinical signs or a sound justification was most frequently mentioned as a challenge to the general decision-making process. In summation, this study highlights the need to generate a valid taxonomy for clinical signs that includes their development in a compromised pig over time. Future studies should elaborate on the justification of euthanasia decisions to facilitate the resolution of ethical dilemmas among the involved pig farmers and veterinarians. Lastly, the results suggest that clinical reasoning and consultation skills should be included when decision-making behavior is to be trained.

Landscape review about the decision to euthanize a compromised pig

Timely euthanasia of a compromised pig in farming practice has been identified as a critical topic in veterinary medicine. The questions 'why and when are pigs euthanized' and 'what influences the decision making process' need to be answered to improve the situation. In the past five years, work addressing these issues has been published in the literature, however, a synthesis of the findings is missing. With the help of a quantitative and qualitative analysis, this paper has generated a landscape review to outline major topics, the role of clinical signs and further influences on the decision to euthanize a pig. Due to the quantitative content analysis, 58 topics have been identified with the role of welfare as a justification and training for caretakers in making euthanasia decisions as the most frequently mentioned. The qualitative analysis of why and when a pig is euthanized generated a set of clinical signs for organ tracts, and a set of categories influencing the decision making process. The results outline the need to increase research on details specific to understanding how clinical signs evolve over time before euthanasia. In summary, the analysis provides an overview of work in the field and ideas on how to close knowledge gaps in the future. Moreover, the article contributes to harmonize efforts in the field and underlines the need for more research about the care of compromised and injured pigs.

Foot lesions and forelimb skin abrasions in suckling piglets: development and risk factors

BACKGROUND

Foot lesions in suckling piglets have been associated with poor flooring in several studies and were recently proposed to be indicative of swine inflammatory and necrosis syndrome. However, identical findings are also the typical outcome of various non-infectious causes; thus, further risk analysis is needed. The objective of this study was to describe the development of heel bruising, coronary band lesions and forelimb skin abrasion in suckling pigs up to 5 days of age. Furthermore, the effects of various intrinsic and extrinsic factors were examined. On each of four commercial piglet-producing farms, piglets from two or three batches of eight sows were studied. The piglets were included within 18 h after birth. Each piglet was individually scored four times. The score for the heels differentiated six (0-5) and for the coronary band and forelimb skin abrasion three stages (0-2). The body weight was measured two times. The effect of the floor was estimated by allocating the sows randomly to farrowing pens equipped with either soft rubber mats covered with litter or fully slatted plastic floors.

RESULTS

The final analysis comprised data from 1045 piglets. Foot lesions were not found at birth but started to develop on day 1. On day 5, heel bruising was found in 94%, main claw coronary band lesions in 49% and forelimb skin abrasion in 73% of the piglets. In a multifactorial logistic regression analysis, it was shown that a slatted plastic floor significantly increased the odds of heel bruising and coronary band lesions, while a rubber floor with litter increased the odds of forelimb skin abrasions.

CONCLUSION

Foot and forelimb lesions in new-born piglets are mainly induced by the floor. The effect of slatted plastic floors on heel bruising showed an overwhelming OR of 52.89 (CI 26.29-106.43). Notably, coronary band lesions in young suckling piglets occur on slatted as well as non-slatted floors, indicating that the piglets incur these injuries not only from the wedging of their feet into the gaps between slats but also from contact with the floor while suckling. Based on these findings, preventive measures should be redirected to the improvement of the floor in the farrowing pen, particularly in the area under the sow's udder.

Dietary glycine supplementation enhances postweaning growth and meat quality of pigs with intrauterine growth restriction

Pigs with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) have suboptimum growth performance and impaired synthesis of glycine (the most abundant amino acid in the body). Conventional corn- and soybean meal-based diets for postweaning pigs contain relatively low amounts of glycine and may not provide sufficient glycine to meet requirements for IUGR pigs. This hypothesis was tested using 52 IUGR pigs and 52 litter mates with normal birth weights (NBW). At weaning (21 d of age), IUGR or NBW pigs were assigned randomly to one of two nutritional groups: supplementation of a corn-soybean meal-based diet with either 1% glycine plus 0.19% cornstarch or 1.19% L-alanine (isonitrogenous control). Feed consumption and body weight (BW) of pigs were recorded daily and every 2 or 4 wks, respectively. All pigs had free access to their respective diets and clean drinking water. Within 1 wk after the feeding trial ended at 188 d of age, blood and other tissue samples were obtained from pigs to determine concentrations of amino acids and meat quality. Neither IUGR nor glycine supplementation affected (P > 0.05) feed intakes of pigs per kg BW. The final BW, gain:feed ratio, carcass dressing percentages, and four-lean-cuts percentages of IUGR pigs were 13.4 kg, 4.4%, 2%, and 15% lower (P < 0.05) for IUGR pigs than NBW pigs, respectively. Compared with pigs in the alanine group, dietary glycine supplementation increased (P < 0.05) final BW, gain:feed ratio, and meat a* value (a redness score) by 3.8 kg, 11%, and 10%, respectively, while reducing (P < 0.05) backfat thickness by 18%. IUGR pigs had lower (P < 0.05) concentrations of glycine in plasma (-45%), liver (-25%), jejunum (-19%), longissimus dorsi muscle (-23%), gastrocnemius muscle (-26%), kidney (-15%), and pancreas (-6%), as compared to NBW pigs. In addition, dietary glycine supplementation increased (P < 0.05) concentrations of glycine in plasma and all analyzed tissues. Thus, supplementing 1% of glycine to corn-soybean meal-based diets improves the growth performance, feed efficiency, and meat quality of IUGR pigs.