![]() Twenty-three adult pigs comprising of both sexes served as subjects for the study. The experiments were performed in order to determine the effect of 8-h road transportation of pigs on erythrocytes osmotic fragility during the hot-dry season, and the ameliorative role of ascorbic acid. Further research under field conditions is warranted to assess possible differences between the two vaccination strategies. This could be attributed to the fact that milder macroscopic lung lesions were produced in the inoculated pigs, when compared to previous trials conducted by the same group. hyopneumoniae vaccination, since significant differences between the treatment groups were only obtained for the histopathological lung lesions. However, no firm conclusions could be made on whether weaning negatively influences the efficacy of M. hyopneumoniae organisms in the BAL fluid compared to the PCG. All pigs of the negative control group remained negative throughout the study.īoth vaccinated groups had lower numbers of macroscopic and histopathological lung lesions, and lower numbers of M. The average lymphohistiocytic infiltration scores in groups V1, V2 and PCG were 2.95, 3.16 and 3.61, respectively (P 0.05), the qPCR values were: V1 = 10 2.94, V2 = 10 2.76 and PCG = 10 3.23 (P > 0.05). The average macroscopic lung lesion scores in groups V1, V2 and PCG were 0.54, 0.88 and 1.04, respectively (P > 0.05). The main parameters investigated included macroscopic and histopathological lung lesions at necropsy, immunofluorescence (IF) staining and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) on broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL) fluid for quantifying M. All pigs were euthanized 5 weeks after challenge. Five pigs were used as a negative control group. Four weeks after vaccination, groups V1 and V2 (n = 20 pigs each) and a non-vaccinated, positive control group (PCG) (n = 20) were endotracheally inoculated with a virulent M. hyopneumoniae vaccination (Ingelvac MycoFLEX®) three days before weaning (V1) or at weaning (V2) against experimental challenge infection. The present study assessed the efficacy of a single M. hyopneumoniae can be influenced by the weaning process when vaccination is applied at the day of weaning. However, it is not known whether the efficacy of vaccinating against M. The findings may form basis for future development of educational programs for drivers as well as for the formulation of hypotheses for future studies in this area, characterized by complicated underlying legislation and challenges to animal welfare.Ĭommercial bacterins are widely used at weaning to control Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae infections in pigs. The present study is among the few to focus on livestock drivers transporting sows, including questions about management choices and the animals’ fitness for transport. mandatory driver rests) as a challenge to sow welfare, to a degree where they had violated regulation on mandatory driver rests for the sake of welfare of the sows. In addition, approximately half of the respondents mentioned stationary periods (e.g. All respondents considered hot days a problem for welfare of sows and the majority reported to adjust air intake of trucks daily or several times/week. When asked about their management of sows during transportation, the majority (71%) reported using special condition transport (use of extra bedding and partitions to separate individual sows from rest of the load) less than once/month. In contrast, almost 50% had never experienced having a sow rejected by the veterinarian at the slaughterhouse due to lack of fitness for transport. All respondents reported to have experienced having to reject loading a cull sow who had been selected for slaughter by a herd manager, and approximately 40% did this several times a year. Among livestock drivers included in the present study, doubt about fitness for transport was not uncommon, and specific reasons underlying their doubt were listed. A total of 22 livestock drivers (73%) answered all questions, constituting of a heterogeneous group of men of varying age, level of experience, time since they achieved the legally required certificate of competence, and daily involvement in sow transportation. By use of oral interviews, we aimed to describe experiences and opinions of Danish livestock drivers transporting sows, regarding fitness for transport and management choices relevant for animal welfare.Īll livestock drivers (N=30) associated with a large slaughterhouse in Denmark accepting sows were approached in person, after having unloaded sows, and asked questions by an interviewer. One important professional group in this process are livestock drivers transporting the animals to slaughter. Including Denmark, modern pig production typically involves annual culling rates close to 50%.
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