Feces Of Sows Research Articles

香川県で発生した豚のアメーバ症

Several weanling piglets reared in a piggery of Kagawa Prefecture showed bloody and watery diarrhea. Pathological examination on 3 of the piglets revealed fibrinous and hemorrhagic ceco-colitis with intramural infestation of many amoebic trophozoites measuring 13-18μm in diameter. The amoebas were stained positively with PAS, Heidenhein's iron hematoxylin, and immunostaining (PAP method) using specific antibody against Entamoeba histolytica. Ultrastructurally, the trophozoites contained many and large cytoplasmic vacuoles and numerous ribosomes in the absence of mitochondria and Golgi apparatus. Feces of sows and feeder pigs raised in the farm frequently contained many amoebic cysts, which multiplied and were serially passaged on Tanabe-Chiba medium. Some of the cysts had two or four nuclei. Indirect hemoagglutination reaction of sera from 39 sows and 16 feeder pigs of the farm demonstrated positive antibody titers (<160) in 3 sows (7.7%) and 6 feeder pigs (37.5%).

Lactobacillus succession in the piglet digestive tract demonstrated by plasmid profiling

Plasmid profiling was used to distinguish strains of lactobacilli inhabiting the digestive tract of piglets and the feces of sows. Fifteen plasmid profile types were detected among 328 isolates of lactobacilli. Plasmid profiling of lactobacilli permitted the following conclusions to be made: the maternal feces were a major source of lactobacilli colonizing the piglet digestive tract; the lactobacillus population of the gastric region of the piglet digestive tract was composed of lactobacillus strains different from those present in the rectal population; and a lactobacillus succession was observed in the digestive tract of piglets drawn from a single litter, and one plasmid profile type became dominant in the gastric region of these animals.

Sources of maternal odors and the development of odor preferences in baby pigs.

Seven experiments utilizing 77 litters of piglets were conducted to determine the relative preferences or aversion of piglets for maternal olfactory cues. A Y-maze was used to test piglet preferences for two substances at any one time. A preference index was calculated from Y-maze data to identify whether piglets expressed a preference or aversion to the two substances tested in each session. The first two experiments examined piglet preferences for maternal fecal odors, colostrum, milk, urine and skin washings at 12 h and 7 d of age. Piglets preferred the odor of nipple washings and sow feces at 12 h of age. Piglets preferred sow fecal odors at 7 d of age in one study. The third study showed that piglets could discriminate between their mother's fecal odor and fecal odors from other sows. The fourth study examined piglet preferences for maternal fecal odors at birth, 12 h and 1, 3 and 7 d of age. At all ages tested except birth, piglets preferred sow fecal odors over water. The final three studies showed that piglets did not prefer to be near novel odors (orange and banana odors), nor did they prefer to be near the putative rat maternal pheromone, deoxycholic acid. In conclusion, piglets learn their mother's odor within the first 12 h of life. Piglets are most attracted to the odors associated with maternal feces and skin secretions. Piglet odor discriminatory ability is specific for maternal odors (not just odorous substances) and very acute (they can discriminate between mother and non-mother odors). When modifying piglet behavior to improve survival, the piglet's well-developed olfactory ability should be considered.

The ecology of Escherichia coli in healthy newborn piglets

The faecal Escherichia coli flora of two sows and their litters of five pigs was studied during the first two weeks after parturition. The E. coli isolates were differentiated into strains on the basis of their O-serogroups, biotype and resistance pattern. None was haemolytic which suggests that no piglet became infected with pathogenic E. coli during the survey period. Within both litters the majority of E. coli strains identified were only isolated from one animal which indicates that young pigs are capable of maintaining a ‘reasonably’ individual majority E. coli flora despite the close contact the animals naturally experience at this age. A high proportion of strains were isolated from the piglets only. The source of strains was not determined although it would seem unlikely that it was the sow's faeces as there were few strains common to both the sow and her baby pigs.

Investigation of the source of haemolytic Escherichia coli infecting weaned pigs.

Attempts were made to discover the source of strains of haemolytic Escherichia coli infecting weaned pigs on a piggery. The organisms were not detected in the faeces of sows in the farrowing house, or in the in the faeces or intestinal tracts of slaughtered bacon pigs or sows. Sows held in a quarantine unit, and their offspring born in the unit, did not excrete haemolytic E. coli until after they were returned to the piggery. The environment of the piggery was the most likely source of infection for weaned pigs, and routine cleaning and disinfection of the accommodation did not prevent infection. Unweaned pigs were however able to transfer haemolytic E. coli to a newly built, previously unused weaning house, and establish a cycle of infection.

Vitamin B12 absorption in the neonatal piglet. 1. Studies in vivo on the influence of the vitamin B12-binding protein from sows' milk on the absorption of vitamin B12 and related compounds.

The vitamin B12 in sows' milk is strongly attached to a specific 'binder' protein, which is present in excess. The influence of this 'binder' on the uptake and retention of cyanocobalamin and two natural analogues (cobinamide and Co-alpha-[2-methyladenyl]cobamide) was investigated with neonatal piglets. Retention of a single oral dose of cyano[58Co]cobalamin given before 7 d of age was consistently higher with suckled than with early-weaned piglets, as determined by measurement of whole-body radioactivity. Efficiency of retention declined with age, more rapidly in early-weaned than in suckled animals; when the dose was given at 14 d approximately 30% was retained by both groups. Distribution of the retained cyano[58Co]cobalamin within the body of the piglets was the same in both groups; about half was present in the liver. Foraging piglets may ingest adventitious vitamin B12 and its analogues, which are present in the sow's faeces and in contaminated litter. The influence of the vitamin B12-binder in sows' milk on the uptake and retention of two non-cobalamin analogues, and the effects of the analogues on the uptake and retention of vitamin B12 from 2 to 14 d after parturition, were investigated with early-weaned piglets. The analogues were detected in the liver but not in the body organs. They were also present in blood plasma, urine and bile, in high concentration relative to that of vitamin B12. The content of analogues in the liver was very small in relation to the amounts ingested, and much less than that of vitamin B12. There was no indication that the vitamin B12-binder in sows' milk influenced uptake and retention of the analogues, or that ingestion of analogues affected the content of vitamin B12 in the body organs and fluids examined.

Recognition of maternal environment in piglets: effects of age and some discrete complex stimuli.

Ethological evidence suggests that 1-week-old piglets can distinguish between their own mother or home environment and alien ones. The bases for this discrimination were investigated in two series of experiments employing a T-maze. In the first series, the apparatus was placed between two pens each housing a sow and its piglets, with each of the two goal-arms having a wire mesh end protruding into one of the pens. When piglets from each of these pens (as well as controls from other litters) were run individually in the apparatus, piglets of all ages from 1 to 14 days showed preferential responses towards their home environment. In the second series of experiments, various discrete but complex natural stimuli were placed at the end of the goal-arms: in each case, the stimuli in the two goal-arms were indentical in nature except in their derivation from the maternal pen or an alien one. One-week-old piglets showed a significant preference for their own mother (vs. another sow visible and audible through wire mesh), for wood shavings mixed with sow faeces from their own pen (on the floor of the goal-arm), and for air blown over maternal faeces and shavings. But they showed no evidence of distinguishing between a littermate and another piglet (penned at the other side of the wire mesh terminating a goal-arm).

Shedding of rotavirus in feces of sows before and after farrowing.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether sows shed rotavirus near the time of farrowing. Twelve sows purchased from a common source and seropositive for rotavirus were housed in isolation in farrowing crates from 5 days before to 3 weeks after farrowing. Fecal samples were collected at 3- to 4-day intervals and examined for the presence of rotavirus by direct electron microscopy. Samples were also treated with pancreatin and inoculated onto monkey kidney cells. Rotaviral antigens were detected by a direct immunofluorescence technique, and selected positive cultures were examined by immunoelectron microscopy. Rotavirus was detected in the feces of 5 of 12 sows as early as 5 days before to 2 weeks after farrowing. Diarrhea related to rotavirus developed in 4 of 12 litters. Two of these four litters were farrowed by sows which shed rotavirus at 7 and 10 and 14 days after farrowing. The results of this study indicate that sows immune to rotavirus can shed virus in their feces at a time when piglets are particularly susceptible to infection and that adult swine are of primary importance in the epidemiology of rotavirus as initiators of infection.

Ingestion of iron in sow's faeces by piglets reared in farrowing crates with slotted floors.

1. Two sows were housed in farrowing crates with slotted floors and fed daily with approximately 200 microCi 198Au from 3 d before farrowing until their piglets were 21 d old. 2. Th sows' faeces became radioactive but their milk remained free of radioactivity. The piglets' mean (+/- SE) whole-body radioactivity was equivalent to 8.5 +/- 0.9 g (range 3.8-15.5 g) of faeces. This is probably a measure of their daily intake of faeces. 3. The possibility of using this natural coprophagia to prevent piglet anaemia has been demonstrated on two commercial piggeries by feeding the sows a diet containing 2000 mg Fe/kg.

The ingestion of sow's faeces by suckling piglets.

1. Six sows were housed in solid-floored farrowing pens and fed daily with approximately 200 microCi 198 Au, three of them from 3 d before farrowing until their piglets were 10 d old and three fr om 10 d after farrowing until their piglets were weaned at 21 d. 2. The sows' faeces and sawdust bedding became radioactive but their milk remained free of radioactivity. The piglets' radioactivity was measured daily in a whole-body counter after they had been washed to remove external contamination. 3. The piglets' mean whole-body radioactivity was equivalent to 20.9 +/- 2.5 g (range 5.7-85 g) of faeces and bedding. If the average passage time of the digesta through the gastrointestinal tract is assumed to be 24 h these values are equal to the average daily intake of faeces and bedding by the piglets. 4. This intake of faeces could possibly prevent the piglets becoming anaemic if the sow's diet were supplemented with iron to increase the Fe concentration of her faeces to approximately 2 mg Fe/g fresh faeces.