Porcine Breeding Management in a Large-scale Piggery with Microbial Fermentation Bed

[Objective] The behavior of eating, drinking, defecating and peeing of 1 500 pigs in a large-scale microbial fermentation bed-equipped piggery was observed. We hoped to find some simple indicators that could reflect the health status of swinery and to provide experience for the swinery performance management in large-scale microbial fermentation bed-equipped piggery. [Method] The body weight （BW）, daily BW gain, feed intake and other indicators of different-day-old pigs were recorded in details. Based on the recorded data, the models between BW, BW gain, average daily feed intake and feed/gain ratio and growth days （d） were established. In addition, the incidences of pox-like macula （dermatitis）, diarrhea （gastrointestinal disease）, cough （respiratory disease）, stiff pig （malnutrition）, conjunctivitis （eye disease） and foot inflection （trauma） among fattening pigs were also investigated. [Result] The BW range, average BW, daily BW gain, breeding days, daily feed intake range, average daily feed intake, staged feed intake, accumulated feed intake, feed/gain ratio and accumulated feed/gain ratio of different-day-old pigs were studied, respectively. Four dynamic models were established for the growth of pigs： （1） the BW （y）-age （x） mod- el： y=0.758 9x-19.883 （3=0.993 7）; （2） the BW gain （y）-age （x） model： y=1.039 5x05051 （F=0.885 4）; （3） the average daily feed intake （y）-age （x） model： y=0.023 5x-0.334 3 （F=0.991 7）; （4） the feed/gain ratio （y）-age （x） model： y=0.022x＋0.427 8 （P=0.988 5）. Based on these models, the corresponding theoretical growth value of pigs at different growth stage could be predicted. The main diseases occurred among the swinery in the large-scale microbial fermentation bed piggery included pox-like macula （dermatitis）, diarrhea （gastrointestinal disease）, cough （respiratory disease）, stiff pig （mal- nutrition）, conjunctivitis （eye disease） and foot inflection （trauma）. The deadly infec- tious diseases had been not found among the pigs. [Conclusion] When the actual BW, BW gain, average daily feed intake and feed/gain ratio were all lower than the theoretical values predicted by the models, the management should be enhanced. The average daily feed intake of 60 to 65-day-old pigs was lower than the theoretic value, indicating that the pigs could not adapt nicely to the fermentation bed at the very early stage. When the pigs grew up to 70 to 75 d old, the average daily feed intake was higher than the theoretical value, indicating that the pigs had adapted to the fermentation bed. In particularly, average daily feed intake of 75-day-old pigs was higher than the theoretical value by 21%. It was suggested the fermentation bed was conducive to the growth of pigs. Considering the occurrence of diseases among pigs, the overall incidence was relatively low. The incidence of each disease was all lower than 10% with little difficulty in treating. If the management of mattress was strength- ened, such as paying attention to feeding and keeping water clean, many diseases could heal by themselves.

Piglets Behavior Characteristics under Breeding Mode of Microbial Fermentation Bed

[Objective] This experiment aimed to compare piglets behavior under microbial fermentation bed breeding mode and traditional rearing mode. [Method] Pig behavior＇s statistical analysis under both microbial fermentation bed pig breeding mode and traditional rearing mode was se lected to study the effect of different breeding environment on pig＇s growth [ Result] The results showed that the duration of piglets lying and sleeping behavior accounted for the highest proportion of tested behavior, up to more than 70% ,followed by feeding and drinking which reached 15.96% （under microbial fermentation bed breeding mode） and 9.33% （under traditional rearing mode） respectively. Compared with traditional intensive rearing mode, piglet exploratory behavior＇s occurrence probability and duration increased significantly, by 28.62% and 12.21% respectively. Fighting behavior＇s occurrence probability and duration decreased significantly, by 49.83% and 91.26% respectively. Nutrient index and health index were introduced to evaluate piglet＇s general heath condition under microbial fermentation bed breeding mode, and results indicated that the health index of piglets under microbial fermentation bed breeding mode had slight difference from that under traditional mode, namely 10.83 and 10.03 respectively. But health index of piglets under microbial fermentation bed breeding mode was 245.12, much higher than 21.96 under traditional mode. [ Conclusion] Piglets would be healthier under microbial fermentation bed breeding mode.

Design of Environmental Monitoring and Control System for Large-scale Pig House with Fermentation Bed

The design and assembly of environmental monitoring and control system for large-scale pig house with fermentation bed helped to solve the problem of environmental automatic control in piggery.The sensors would monitor the temperature,humidity,light,wind direction,wind speed,CO2,NH3and other parameters.On-line real-time data collection was achieved.The expert system was constructed to control the temperature in piggery below 30℃,to control the air and mattress humidities higher than 65%.Under the conditions of different season or different wind speed,even in day and night,the control actuators were different.The actuators included fanning wet curtain,lighting,micro spraying,spraying,propeller fan,electric aluminum alloy shutter and spraying systems on the roof.The actuators were integrated,and they control the piggery environment simultaneously.The system also designed the remote video monitor interface,parameter-monitoring curved interface and operation interface,which provided a good man-machine interface.