MPI investigating Timaru pig farm for use of crates | Farrowing Cage

“We’re now ready to take the third set of water samples and hopefully the results will show more consistent water quality all the way through to the end of this latest batch.”

“We have some very high performing units around here who say they will never use open troughs again. It is the old traditionalists that worry about change who are the hardest to get the message across to.

True acceptance came soon thereafter when the offspring of these pairings were observed to fatten faster than the European hog alone and produce considerably more offspring. Soon enough, the modern pig, a European–Chinese cross, thundered onto the scene, ravenous for food and sex.

To place the newly mapped glacial landform record in a temporal context, we have derived a robust multiproxy chronology of ice sheet deglaciation. We obtained 26 beryllium-10 (10Be) terrestrial cosmogenic-nuclide (TCN) ages and three optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages from onshore glacial deposits unequivocally associated with ice-stream retreat (Figs. 1 and 4, figs. S5 and S6, and tables S2 to S12 in data file S1). Where possible, we obtained three or more TCN analyses from boulders on each glacial landform. The entire suite of 43 geochronological ages (including 14 previously published) was integrated using a Bayesian sequence model to produce modeled boundary ages that document a continuous absolute chronology of ice-stream retreat from maximal extent to terrestrial transition (~30 to 15 ka BP) (fig. S7 and tables S2 to S12 in data file S1). The modeled chronology displays excellent coherence along the whole 270-km-long ice-stream corridor with a high agreement index (26). In addition to these terrestrial ages, we obtained 18 radiocarbon dates from shells (mollusks and foraminifera) in marine cores taken within the path of the former MnIS. The dated shells were taken from sediment facies immediately overlying subglacial tills or from the base of cores where no subglacial material was recovered. The radiocarbon-dated shells independently cross-check the timing of ice-stream recession offshore NW Scotland by providing minimum dates for the timing of glaciomarine sedimentation shortly after the retreat of grounded ice (Fig. 1 and tables S2 to S12 in data file S1).

Improperly managed, gilt weight at breeding impacts both cost and income. When compared to lighter weight females, gilts mated at heavier weights consume more feed during the gilt development period (Klindt et al., 1999) and have greater feed maintenance requirements throughout their lifetime (Newton and Mahan, 1993). Yet gilt weight at breeding also influences income. Mating gilts at heavier weights decreases piglet survival (Newton and Mahan, 1993). These results are supported by Bryan (2014) who reported increased sow weight, more so than parity, was a key driver of reduced piglet survival.  

A new report, released today, shows the use of farrowing crates are unnecessary, illegal and harmful to New Zealand pigs. SAFE is presenting Parliament with copies of the report, as part of an ongoing campaign to ban farrowing crates, used in pig factory farming.

Dismantle and clean pipeworkIt’s worth dismantling the system and thoroughly cleaning out water tanks, pipework and nipples, at least on an annual basis, if not between batches – and putting a lid on the tanks.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is investigating a pig farm near Timaru over whether it is using sow crates illegally.

"These sows are producing piglets to be eaten later in life, but they have a few years of producing before that and they should be kept as comfortable as possible."

Other countries have begun to take heed of alcohol’s cancer risks. For the first time, in 2010, the World Health Organization issued a global strategy for reducing the harms of alcohol. It recognized cancer as one of those harms and called on countries to implement measures to lower consumption. Many have done so. South Korea has tightened its recommended alcohol limits, and new Dutch guidelines urge people not to drink at all, but if they do, to consume no more than one drink a day. In December, Ireland’s upper house of parliament approved a cancer warning label for alcohol that is now being debated in the lower house. Even the Russians raised their alcohol taxes. (Canada recently launched an experiment to test cancer warning labels on alcohol in the Yukon but stopped the project a month later amid intense pressure from alcohol companies.)

7. Because piglet cages are designed to maximise a farm’s productivity and drive down expenses, but they take a devastating toll on each animal’s well-being.

A more troubling set of behaviors has emerged from experiments designed to determine whether fish feel pain. One of the most intense states of consciousness, pain is something beyond the mere detection of damage. Even the simplest of bacteria have sensors on their external membranes; when the sensors detect trace amounts of dangerous chemicals, the bacteria respond with a programmed flight reflex. But bacteria have no central nervous system where these signals are integrated into a three-dimensional experience of the chemical environment.