Housing pigs in large pens using a floor base of deep litter has been developed as an alternative to conventional, indoor, intensive methods. Deep-litter, group housing systems are cheaper to establish and are perceived as being more “welfare and environmentally friendly” for pigs compared to conventional intensive systems. However, recent industry records have shown that pigs housed in deep-litter systems have growth performance problems. In general, pigs are 10 percent less efficient in converting feed to live weight gain, are 1 to 2 mm fatter and exhibit more carcass damage (carcass bruising and non-infectious arthritis stifle joint damage) compared to conventionally housed pigs. It is possible that the growth performance problems in deep-litter systems are largely behavioural and possibly stress related, and pose a barrier to adoption of these systems by industry. This PhD program examined the social and feeding behaviour of entire male growing pigs in deep-litter systems in relation to growth performance and stress physiology.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-203). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis--Sevilla. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [425]-444) and index.

No description available.

IPCC, WHO and FAO have recently published reports connecting the animal industry with Global warming, cancer and 70% of modern diseases. In fact, IPCC (2014) indicated that the greatest potential for reducing emissions is placed on the consumer’s level. For this context, grounded in concepts of the Foucauldian Discourse Analysis and the Compositional Analysis (Rose, 2001) this study analyzed a series of advertisements issued in the period after the reports (2013-2015). The analysis was guided by three central questions: (1) Which linguistic and visual approaches, as well as their organization and strategies applied in the discourse, is the Animal Industry using in the construction of their advertisements and how they react to this moment of crises? (2) Considering Barthes ́ approach of food as symbols containing a communicational construction, what are the meanings built around animal products understood from the perspective of discourse? (3) How is the Animal Industry positioning themselves towards audiences and culture and what functions are they giving to themselves in society? Following a political theoretical framework, the proposition that the animal commodification is an ideology affirmed in western societies will be discussed. Advertisements from seven enterprises of the Animal Industry in EU will be used, selected for having leading positions in their sectors (meat and dairy). Among the results, it was verified that the relation toward human interaction is the major enunciator in the advertisements. The following lines of enunciation were identified: example and empathy; imperative discourses; tradition. The enunciations of meat have emotional basis; while the constructions around dairy focuses on the western representation of archaic nature (Haraway, 1989). The denotative qualities of the foods where very little considered. The political and ethical questions around the animal products were absent. This study focuses on the necessity of a political and critical approach of the marketing strategies of the Animal Industry. KEY WORDS: Animal Industry, Global Warming, Discourse Analysis, Foucault

A polyperiod model was developed for investigating production investment decisions associated with firm growth. A fifteen year planning horizon divided into three production periods was used. Initial resources were those of a large-size livestock farm (410 acres of open land) located in Southwest Virginia. The model maximizes the present value of net returns. A twelve percent discount rate was used to obtain a basic solution. The effect of varying the discount rates or maximizing net worth at the end of the planning period were analyzed. Growth was measured in terms of net returns and net worth at the end of the planning period. Family consumption affected capital accumulation by the withdrawal of fixed amounts of capital per period from returns generated during the period. The effect in the amount of initial debt was studied. Growth was associated with changes in enterprise organization, added investments and finance policies. A high discount rate and a high initial debt were the variables that most affected growth. When land purchases were restricted growth was reduced considerably. The dry-lot steer enterprise was more profitable and had a greater potential for expansion than the beef cow enterprise. A major proportion of investments were financed with capital generated within the firm. The greatest amount of investments were done during the last production period. This stresses the importance of time in the capital accumulation process for the growth of the firm. / M.S.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1955 S59 / Master of Science

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

A method of solubilizing and extracting proteins from by-products was tested. The raw materials used were finely homogenized and digested at 60(DEGREES)C and pH 10.5 for 30 to 120 minutes in the presence of 0.5% alkaline nonspecific bacterial proteases from Bacillus subtillis. The protein in solution was separated from nonsoluble and organic solvent soluble components by filtration or centrifugation. When desired, the proteinaceous solution was dried (preferably by spray drying). Raw materials that were test digested included keratin from turkey feathers, bovine skin collagen, shark waste, shrimp heads, whole squid, inedible chicken carcass, bovine blood plasma, slaughterhouse waste, cotton gin waste, Enteromorpha sp. (a marine alga), Batis sp. and Distycilus sp. (two halophytes), soybean meal, casein, and fibrinogen. With this method, plant proteins were 57.4% to 59.9% extractable and animal proteins were 75.8% to 93.0% extractable. The native protein hydrolyzed by the procedure was reduced to an average molecular weight of 10,000-15,000 daltons. Other changes characteristic of the digestion process were increased protein concentration and decreased ash concentration. Complementation of by-product proteins in Tetrahymena medium resulted in increased growth compared to Tetrahymena cultures using soy or casein as the sole protein source up to 1.25 times. Decreasing protein molecular weight resulted in decreased growth in Tetrahymena (up to 4 times). Shrimp fed hydrolyzed animal proteins grew only 37.6% to 54.8% as much as squid-fed shrimp controls. White leghorn chicks fed 40% protein as hydrolyzed by-product proteins grew as much as chicks fed a commercial-type milo-soy diet supplemented with methionine. Amino acids from smaller peptides were more rapidly absorbed and more completely incorporated into muscle mass by chicks than were larger peptides.

In the pig and poultry production industries, energy forms the largest and the greatest cost pressure when a diet is formulated. In Australia, cereal grains such as barley, sorghum, and wheat are the main dietary energy sources, comprising more than 60 % of the diet in many cases. Traditionally, during diet formulation, the energy value of a grain has been represented by a single figure for that particular grain type. However, several studies have indicated that the energy availability from different grains fed to pigs and poultry varies significantly even within one grain cultivar. Given these findings, the use of a single value to represent the energy of each grain type during diet formulation, can lead to inefficient utilisation of dietary resources by animals, and thus decreased animal performance and consequently, a decrease in profit for the pig and poultry production industries. Thus, there is an opportunity to develop a rapid and reproducible in vitro assay to accurately assess the available energy values and nutritional quality of each grain type. In order to develop such an assay, further understanding of factors that affect the available energy values of grains need to be explored. Starch, which is hydrolysed into glucose by animals, is the most abundant energy component in cereal grains, and there is evidence suggesting that variations in digestible or metabolisable energy values may be related to the extent of starch digestibility. For example in poultry, variations in the in vitro digestibility of starch between several wheat cultivars have been shown to correlate with their in vivo available metabolisable energy values. However, it is not known to what extent starch digestibility varies between cultivars of other grain types such as barley and sorghum. There is an increasing body of evidence suggesting that differences in the physical and chemical properties of cereal grains may play an important role in influencing starch digestibility and, consequently, animal performance. Thus, the general hypothesis of this study was that starch digestibility varies between barley, sorghum and wheat, and between cultivars within grain types and this is related to specific chemical and physical characteristics of the grains. To examine this, the following issues were investigated using 18 barley, 15 sorghum and 10 wheat cultivars : 1 ) an in vitro glucose release index ( GRI ) assay was developed to assess starch digestibility within and between the cereal grain types and, 2 ) the GRI was correlated to both starch - related ( e.g., starch content, starch granule size, the amylose to amylopectin ratio, starch gelatinisation properties ) and non - starch - related ( e.g., non - starch polysaccharide composition, kernel hardness, the presence of protein matrix and milling quality ) physical / chemical characteristics within and between the cereal grains. Results revealed significant variations in the GRI both between grains and within a given grain type. The GRI values ranged between 27 - 45 %, 25 - 54 % and 32 - 53 % in barley, sorghum and wheat respectively. Correlation analysis revealed that the GRI in barley, sorghum and wheat was influenced by the physical and chemical characteristics of starch - and non - starch - related grain properties, although the type of characteristic influencing GRI was specific to the grain type. In barley, the ratio of amylose to amylopectin, starch gelatinisation and kernel hardness influenced the GRI. In sorghum, the GRI was influenced by the ratio of amylose to amylopectin, the presence of a protein matrix surrounding starch granules and kernel hardness. Finally in wheat, the presence of protein matrix and milling quality influenced the GRI. It was also shown that the extract viscosity of grains within barley and wheat, but not sorghum, varied significantly. In conclusion, the results from this study indicate that ; 1 ) the GRI assay may be used to identify some factors that affect in vivo starch digestibility within and between barley, sorghum and wheat, 2 ) starch digestibility ( as assessed by the GRI ) may be influenced by some physical and chemical characteristics of cereal grains, and that these characteristics are specific to the type of grain The physical and chemical characteristics that may influence starch digestion will be discussed in relation to their potential physiological effects on energy digestion, and utilisation in animals. The information generated will provide a basis for future studies that will ultimately assist in the design of in vitro assays to predict energy availability from barley, sorghum and wheat grains fed to pigs and poultry, and contribute to the more efficient use of grains in monogastric production systems. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Department of Animal Science, 2002.