In this section:
Print 
Pig & Poultry Projects
Program Objectives
- Pig Reproduction: To develop improved management strategies to enhance the reproductive efficiency of the breeding herd.
- Pig Health and Housing: To reduce the negative impacts of shed environments on health, welfare and production efficiency by developing improved housing and management systems.
- Precision Livestock Farming Systems: To develop more targeted management practices to be implemented on livestock farms.
- Pigs - Operational: To provide technical support and supervision of research and development programs, whether they be contract, collaborative or in-house programs.
Program Outcomes
- Research into factors affecting hygiene and air quality in pig sheds has resulted in the development of new husbandry and pig management systems that improve welfare, health and production leading to changed industry practices nationally. By improving hygiene and air quality in weaner and grower facilities the severity and impact of both respiratory and enteric disease on production could be significantly reduced.
- Poultry research established that abrasive paint was more effective at reducing claw length in hens and retained more of its abrasive properties than abrasive strips.
- Researchers at SARDI's Pig and Poultry Production Institute (PPPI) demonstrated that digestible energy (DE) content of cereals for pigs can be measured by NIR calibrations. DE content of grains is regarded by the stock feed industry as a highly important parameter of the nutritive value of the stockfeed. Grains currently being assessed for DE content include wheat, barley, triticale and sorghum.
- The PPPI nutrition research team successfully developed a simple method for breath testing chickens as a non-invasive tool for studying gut physiology in broiler chickens. The research team plans to develop the breath tests for diagnosis of intestinal disorders in commercial flocks and for the improvement of poultry by breeding from superior animals able to use feed efficiently for rapid growth.
- SARDI, together with the CRC for Aquaculture, Wenger Manufacturing Inc (USA), Allied Industries and the Adelaide University, is developing the Australasian Experimental Stockfeed Extrusion Centre, to be based at the Roseworthy Campus. The centre will comprise state of the art equipment for extrusion, drying, cooling and coating of aquatic and terrestial livestock feeds. Valued at more than $1.4m, this is the only facility of its kind in the Southern hemisphere and represents a major asset to South Australia.
- The Australian Livestock Feed Ingredient (ALFI) database links chemical composition of feed ingredients to their nutritive value for individual animal species, currently pigs, poultry and fish. ALFI delivers a comprehensive profile of samples, including their physical properties, geographic source, species and details such as plant cultivars, growing conditions, analytical methods and processing methods.
