Pig Handling
Prepared by
Dr. David Meisinger
US Pork Center of Excellence
With slides provided by
Dr. Matthew Ritter
Elanco Animal Health
The Market Hog: A Big Investment
• Time
• Effort
• Money
The Investment is Lost
• When pigs go down or
die when being
transported to market
As an Industry
• We have a problem
with a small
percentage of pigs
going down when
transporting from farm
to market
Transport Losses: Definitions
• Dead on arrival (DOA):
– A pig that died during transport
• Dead in Yard (DIY) or Dead in Pen (DIP)
– A pig that died after unloading (usually in the lairage pen)
• Non-ambulatory pig:
– A pig unable to move or keep up with contemporaries
– Downers, subjects, slows, suspects, cripples, stressors, fatigued,
injured
• Transport losses:
– The sum of dead and non-ambulatory pigs at the plant
Classifying Non-ambulatory Pigs
• Fatigued pigs
– Pigs without obvious injury, trauma, or
disease, that refuse to walk at any stage of
the marketing process from loading at the
farm to stunning at the plant (Ritter et al.,
2005)
Ritter, M., M. Ellis, M. Benjamin, E. Berg, P. DuBois, J. Marchant-Forde, A. Green, P. Matzat, P. Mormede, T. Moyer, K. Pfalzgraf, M.
Siemens, J. Sterle, T. Whiting, B. Wolter, and A. Johnson. 2005. The fatigued pig syndrome. Journal of Animal Science. 83(Suppl. 1):258.
(Abstr.)
Classifying Non-ambulatory Pigs
• Injured pigs
– Pigs that have a compromised ability to move
due to structural unsoundness or due to an
injury sustained during loading, transport, or
unloading (Ellis & Ritter, 2005)
Ellis, M., and M. Ritter. 2005. Transport losses: causes and solutions. Pages 176-178 in Proceedings of the Allen D. Leman Swine
Conference, St. Paul, MN.
Overview of Transport Losses
• Losses can occur at any stage of the marketing
process
– Loading
– Transport
– Unloading
– Lairage
– Final drive
• Losses are most commonly observed during
unloading at the packing plant (Swan et al., 2007)
Swan, J. E., M. H. Gillis, K. D. Miller, J. D. Muegge, D. H. Mowrey, T. A. Armstrong, W. C. Weldon, and M. J. Ritter. 2007.
Effects of ractopamine on transport losses in market weight pigs. Journal of Animal Science. 85(Suppl. 1):127-128. (Abstr.)
Incidence of Dead Pigs (1991-08)
FSIS. 2009. Market swine condemned ante-mortem for deads in USDA inspected plants for the calendar years of 1991 to 2008.
Plant Non-ambulatory Pigs
• National statistics are not available for non-ambulatory
pigs
• A summary of 22 commercial field trials (2000-2007)
– 4,607,567 market weight pigs
– 27,240 trailer loads of pigs
Plant Losses
Deads, %
Non-ambulatory, %
Total losses, %
Mean
0.25
0.37
0.62
Minimum Maximum
0.00
0.77
0.11
2.34
0.14
2.39
~1 pig per load dies or becomes non-ambulatory at the plant
Ritter, M. J. 2008. A review of transport losses in market weight pigs. Presented at the 2008 Midwest Animal Science
Meetings, Des Moines, IA.
Plant Fatigued and Injured Pigs
• A summary of 17 commercial field trials (20002007)
– 2,913,417 market weight pigs
– 17,505 trailer loads of pigs
Plant Losses
Fatigued, %
Injured, %
Mean
0.24
0.06
Minimum Maximum
0.05
1.98
0.04
0.45
~4:1 ratio of fatigued to injured pigs at the plant
Ritter, M. J. 2008. A review of transport losses in market weight pigs. Presented at the 2008 Midwest Animal Science Meetings,
Des Moines, IA.
Transport Loss Economic Impact
• Producer
–
–
–
–
Complete loss of value on dead pigs
Potential disposal fees for dead pigs
Severe discount on non-ambulatory pigs at the plant
Carcass bruising and trim loss
• Packer
– Increased labor costs for handling non-ambulatory pigs
– USDA and plant welfare audits evaluate how non-ambulatory pigs are
handled
– Potential pork quality defects (DFD, PSE)
– Meat from non-ambulatory pigs cannot be used in government food
programs
– Negative public perception
Ellis, M., F. McKeith, D. Hamilton, T. Bertol, and M. Ritter. 2003. “Analysis of the current situation: what do downers cost the industry and what can we do
about it?” Pages 1-3 in Proceedings of the 4th American Meat Science Association Pork Quality Symposium, Columbia, MO.
Ritter, M., M. Ellis, M. Benjamin, E. Berg, P. DuBois, J. Marchant-Forde, A. Green, P. Matzat, P. Mormede, T. Moyer, K. Pfalzgraf, M. Siemens, J. Sterle, T.
Whiting, B. Wolter, and A. Johnson. 2005. The fatigued pig syndrome. Journal of Animal Science. 83(Suppl. 1):258. (Abstr.)
Potential Pork Quality Defects
• Variation in pork quality?
– The vast majority of fatigued pigs had pork with dark color, high ultimate pH,
and low drip loss, but a small percentage had PSE pork (Carr et al., 2005)
• Carcass bruising
(Photos courtesy of Lonergan et al., 2006)
Carr, S. N., J. P. Gooding, P. J. Rincker, D. N. Hamilton, M. Ellis, J. Killefer, and F. K. McKeith. 2005. A survey of pork quality of downer pigs. Journal of
Muscle Foods. 16:298-305.
Lonergan, S., E. Huff-Lonergan, and A. Johnson. 2006. Pork Quality. Proceedings of the Animal Care and Handling Conference, AMI
Negative Public Perception
Transport Loss Economic Impact
1
Transport
Losses
Pigs slaughtered, #(000)
116,559
Average live price, cwt2
$45.00
Average live weight, lbs1
Average pig value, $
272
$122.40
Pigs
(%)
Pigs
(#)
Average Losses
($/pig)
Total Losses
($)
Dead 3
0.22%
256,430
$122.40
$31,387,032.00
Non-ambulatory 4
0.37%
431,268
$61.20
$26,393,601.60
$57,780,633.60
1USDA,
NASS. 2007. Hog slaughter national statistics request for 2006 for all states. http://www.nass.usda.gov/QuickStats/PullData_US.jsp Accessed
Nov. 1, 2007.
NASS. 2007. Agricultural prices – 2006 summary. http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1003
Accessed Nov. 2, 2007.
2USDA,
3FSIS.
2007. Market swine condemned ante-mortem for deads in USDA inspected plants for the calendar years of 1991 to 2006. FOIA Case # 07-148.
4Ritter,
M. J. 2008. A review of transport losses in market weight pigs. Presented at the 2008 Midwest Animal Science Meetings, Des Moines, IA.
Just when you
thought there was no
more to learn!
The Dreaded
Physiology Lesson
Fatigued Pig Symptoms
Normal Pig
Stress
Open-Mouth Breathing
Skin Discoloration
Refuse to move
Stress
Abnormal Vocalization
Muscle Tremors
Collapse = Fatigued
Stress
Death
Ritter, M., M. Ellis, M. Benjamin, E. Berg, P. DuBois, J. Marchant-Forde, A. Green, P. Matzat, P. Mormede, T. Moyer, K. Pfalzgraf, M.
Siemens, J. Sterle, T. Whiting, B. Wolter, and A. Johnson. 2005. The fatigued pig syndrome. Journal of Animal Science. 83(Suppl. 1):258.
(Abstr.)
A Closer Look At Muscles
• Muscles need energy to work
– This energy is supplied in 3 different ways
• On-board energy reserves
• Anaerobic Metabolism
• Aerobic Metabolism
ATP
ATP
ATP
ATP
ATP
ATP
ATP
Muscles Carry Only A
Small Amount of
Readily Available
On-Board Energy For
Work
This energy can be rapidly
put to use when the muscle
needs to contract
When the work
continues, the muscles
get their fuel through a
system called
“Anaerobic Metabolism”
• Anaerobic means ‘without oxygen’
• Anaerobic metabolism is good
because it allows the body to keep
working while the heart and lungs
work to catch up
ATP
Lactic
Acid
ATP Lactic
Acid
CHO
ATP
Lactic CHO
Acid
CHO
With Anaerobic
Metabolism, the
carbohydrates (glycogen)
stored in the muscle get
broken down for fuel
• This process creates both fuel and a
by-product called “lactic acid”
• There are many more chemical
reactions going on here but this is
what concerns us
Neutralizing Lactic Acid
• Buffers are what the body uses to neutralize
lactic acid
• Buffers are pH cushions that “soak” up
excess acid to keep pH levels stable
Neutralizing Lactic Acid
• Unfortunately, buffers are limited
• They can only soak up so much
The body can neutralize some
of the lactic acid, but not fast
enough.
Lactic
Acid
Lactic
Acid
Lactic
Acid
Lactic
Acid
Lactic
Acid
The lactic acid very
rapidly builds up and
the body’s pH is
lowered. The body
becomes
Acidotic!
Excess
Base Capacity
Lactic
Acid
Lactic
Acid
Lactic
Acid
Lactic
Acid
Lactic
Acid
Lactic
Acid
Finally, When the Heart and Lungs Catch Up
• The body goes into
Aerobic Metabolism
– Aerobic means with
oxygen
– It’s a better way of
supplying muscles with
“the long haul” energy
– The by-product of
aerobic respiration is
water and carbon
dioxide (harmless)
More About Anaerobic Metabolism
• The good
– Allows the muscles to keep working even
without oxygen
• Heart and lungs need some time to get going
• The bad
– Not a very efficient way to do business!
• Slow, complex chemical reactions
• Not very fuel efficient
– Sort of like rapid acceleration in a car. It has the power to
go 0 to 60 in 6 seconds but it really burns up the fuel!
More About Anaerobic Metabolism
• BUT THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH
ANAEROBIC METABOLISM IS THE
LACTIC ACID
– Lactic acid is the by-product of Anaerobic
Metabolism
More About Anaerobic Metabolism
• Too much lactic acid
can throw the body’s
pH off balance
(acidosis)
– This lowered pH is what
causes long distance
athletes to break down
– Causes muscles to
ache when overexerted
The Hog Handling
Connection
The Connection
• If pushed too hard, the
hog’s heart and lungs
can’t supply oxygen to
the muscles fast
enough to support
aerobic metabolism
More Muscle Mass Compounds This
Situation
• With more muscle working, more lactic acid
will be formed
• Increases the chance for fatigued pigs
Metabolic Changes: Fatigued Pigs
• Fatigued pigs are in a metabolic state of
acidosis
Measurement
Normal
Resting Values
Normal Pig
During Unloading
Fatigued Pig
During Unloading
Blood lactic acid, mmol/L
3.23
11.1
32.2
Blood pH
7.39
7.35
7.11
Anderson, D. B., D. J. Ivers, M. E. Benjamin, H. W. Gonyou, D. J. Jones, K. D. Miller, R. K. McGuffey, T. A. Armstrong, D. H. Mowrey, L. F.
Richardson, R. Seneriz, J. R. Wagner, L. E. Watkins, and A. G. Zimmermann. 2002. Physiological responses of market hogs to different handling
practices. Pages 399-400 in Proceedings of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, Kansas City, MO.
Bertol, T. M., M. Ellis, M. J. Ritter and F. K. McKeith. 2005. Effect of feed withdrawal and handling intensity on longissimus muscle glycolytic potential
and blood measurements in slaughter weight pigs. Journal of Animal Science. 83:1536-1542.
Bertol., T. M., M. Ellis, D. N. Hamilton, E. W. Johnson, and M. J. Ritter. 2005. Effect of dietary supplementation with L-carnitine and fat on blood acidbase responses to handling in slaughter weight pigs. Journal of Animal Science. 83:75-81.
Hamilton, D. N., M. Ellis, T. M. Bertol, and K. D. Miller. 2004. Effects of handling intensity and live weight on blood acid-base status in finishing pigs.
Journal of Animal Science. 82:2405-2409.
Ritter, M. J. 2007. Effects of animal handling and transportation factors on the welfare, stress responses, and incidences of transport losses in market
weight pigs at the packing plant. PhD Diss. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Metabolic Changes: Fatigued Pigs
• Fatigued pigs may have elevated body
temperatures
Measurement
Body temperature, °F
Normal
Resting Values
Normal Pig
After Handling
Fatigued Pig
After Handling
102.3
104.6
106.2
• Anecdotal field data has suggested that the body
temperatures of fatigued pigs may reach as high as 105110°F in the summer
Bertol, T. M., M. Ellis, M. J. Ritter and F. K. McKeith. 2005. Effect of feed withdrawal and handling intensity on longissimus muscle glycolytic potential
and blood measurements in slaughter weight pigs. Journal of Animal Science. 83:1536-1542.
Bertol., T. M., M. Ellis, D. N. Hamilton, E. W. Johnson, and M. J. Ritter. 2005. Effect of dietary supplementation with L-carnitine and fat on blood acidbase responses to handling in slaughter weight pigs. Journal of Animal Science. 83:75-81.
Hamilton, D. N., M. Ellis, T. M. Bertol, and K. D. Miller. 2004. Effects of handling intensity and live weight on blood acid-base status in finishing pigs.
Journal of Animal Science. 82:2405-2409.
Ritter, M. J. 2007. Effects of animal handling and transportation factors on the welfare, stress responses, and incidences of transport losses in market weight
pigs at the packing plant. Pages PhD Diss. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Elanco Trial #AF7CA0101. Data on file.
Can Fatigued Pigs Recover?
• These data suggest that the vast majority of stressed and
fatigued pigs will recover, if the stressors are removed
and pigs are allowed to rest for 2 to 3 hours
Anderson, D. B., D. J. Ivers, M. E. Benjamin, H. W. Gonyou, D. J. Jones, K. D. Miller, R. K. McGuffey, T. A. Armstrong, D. H. Mowrey, L. F. Richardson,
R. Seneriz, J. R. Wagner, L. E. Watkins, and A. G. Zimmermann. 2002. Physiological responses of market hogs to different handling practices. Pages 399400 in Proceedings of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, Kansas City, MO.
Hamilton, D. N., M. Ellis, T. M. Bertol, and K. D. Miller. 2004. Effects of handling intensity and live weight on blood acid-base status in finishing pigs.
Journal of Animal Science. 82:2405-2409.
Ritter, M. J., M. Ellis, J. Brinkmann, J. M. DeDecker, M. E. Kocher, K. K. Keffaber, B. A. Peterson, J. M. Schlipf, and B. F. Wolter. 2006. Effect of floor
space during transport of market weight pigs on incidence of transport losses (dead and non-ambulatory pigs) at the packing plant and relationships between
transport conditions and losses. Journal of Animal Science. 84:2856-2864.
Causes of Fatigued Pigs
• People factors
– Handling: intensity, device, group size, previous
experiences
• Pig factors
– Genetics, muscling, diet, live weight, gender,
health status
• Facility design factors
– Pre-sorting, aisle width, distance moved, 90° turns,
loading ramps
Ritter, M., M. Ellis, M. Benjamin, E. Berg, P. DuBois, J. Marchant-Forde, A. Green, P. Matzat, P. Mormede, T. Moyer, K. Pfalzgraf, M. Siemens, J. Sterle,
T. Whiting, B. Wolter, and A. Johnson. 2005. The fatigued pig syndrome. Journal of Animal Science. 83(Suppl. 1):258. (Abstr.)