The Weaner Pig - Nutrition and Management
Edited by Dr. M.A. Varley and Dr. J. Wiseman
University of Nottingham, UK
Hardback 352 pages
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Published by CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon. OX10 8DE United Kingdom, Tel. + 44(0) 1491 832111 Fax + 44 (0) 1491829292 E.mail: orders@cabi.org
ISBN 0-851-99532-2
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Published by CABI 2001, these are the papers for the occasional meeting of the British Society of Animal Science held at Nottingham University, September 2000.
There are 17 chapters, contributed by 36 authors. It is the best-collected set of chapters on the weaner pig.The growth of the young weaner pig is described by Whittemore and Green, with detailed discussions on the potential for growth, feed intake and influences of temperature and stocking density. The energy requirements of the pig are discussed in detail by Le Dividich and Séve, who gave a similar excellent presentation at the 1998 IPVS in Birmingham, discussing potential growth performance, energy supply and how to supply energy. This is a good exposition of how piglet growth is limited by food intake.
In Chapter 3, the protein and amino acid requirements of weaner pigs are discussed by Cole and Sprent. The amino acid levels in food, their balance and dietary sources of protein and digestibility of raw material are discussed, together with milk products and alternative protein sources.
Starch digestion in piglets by Wiseman, Pickard and Zarkadas is also an important chapter and includes effects of processing on starch digestibility and performance in piglets. Pluske and co-authors from Murdoch University, Australia, discuss the non-starch polysaccharides in pig diets, particularly in relation to gut health, colibacillosis and porcine intestinal spirochaetosis.
The individual feed intake of group-housed weaned pigs is discussed by Bruininx et al from Wageningen in The Netherlands. The weaner pig and enzymes and biotechnology were beautifully described by our friend, Gary Partridge, from John Walton Pig Days. Another friend of the Pig Veterinary Society, Peter Brooks, together with his colleagues from Seal-Hayne Faculty, University of Plymouth, describe in detail liquid feeding for the young piglet and, in particular, fermentation in liquid feeding, and its effects on gut microbiology.
The digestive physiology and development in the pig are discussed in detail in this volume by one of the speakers at the May meeting, Denise Kelly, from the Rowett Research Institute. Intestinal development is extremely well covered. Similarly, Mick Bailey and his colleagues from Bristol, again speaking at the May meeting, cover Enteric Immunity and Gut Health. Mucosal tolerance and active responses, and the development of the mucosal immune system, are discussed in detail. The weakest chapter in this text describes enteric and respiratory diseases in the young, weaned piglet. It outlines recent knowledge in this area and, again, the author is well known to the PVS (Stan Done). Things take a turn for the better in the next chapter,
written by Baynes, Nu Tec Ltd. UK and Varley, SCA Nutrition Ltd., who describe the practical considerations of gut health, including antibiotic digestive enhancers and other tools. Chris Wathes, from BBSRC, Silsoe (well known to at least four co-workers in the PVS) discusses, in admirable detail, the effects of aerial pollutants on weaner production.
The behaviour of the weaner pig is described by Held and Mendel from Bristol and contrasts the semi-natural weaner and the commercial weaner; also social behaviour and aggression are discussed. The practical management and housing of the young, weaned piglet are described by Mick Evans, who is also well known to the Society. His very practical advice is augmented by the chapter on weaning systems in relation to disease from other old friends from IPVS Congresses, Wallgren and Melin. Finally, weaning in practice is discussed by Messrs. Swinkels, Spoolder and Vermeer from Lelystad, The Netherlands.
This book continues the long line of very welcome books on pigs from CABI and, in many ways, to the practising veterinarian this may be the most valuable one of the recent books that we have reviewed. It is certainly very good value for money.
Prof. Stan H. Done