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dc.contributor.authorRodrigues da Costa, Maria
dc.contributor.authorGasa, Josep
dc.contributor.authorCalderón Díaz, Julia Adriana
dc.contributor.authorPostma, Merel
dc.contributor.authorDewulf, Jeroen
dc.contributor.authorMcCutcheon, Gerard
dc.contributor.authorManzanilla, Edgar Garcia
dc.date.accessioned2023-02-28T12:38:58Z
dc.date.available2023-02-28T12:38:58Z
dc.date.copyright2018-12-21
dc.date.issued2019-03-01
dc.identifier.citationRodrigues da Costa, M., Gasa, J., Calderón Díaz, J. A., Postma, M., Dewulf, J., McCutcheon, G., & Manzanilla, E. G. (2019). Using the Biocheck.UGent™ scoring tool in Irish farrow-to-finish pig farms: assessing biosecurity and its relation to productive performance. Porcine Health Management, 5(1), 4. doi:10.1186/s40813-018-0113-6en_US
dc.identifier.issn2055-5660
dc.identifier.urihttps://research.thea.ie/handle/20.500.12065/4400
dc.description.abstractBackground Biosecurity is one of the main factors affecting disease occurrence and antimicrobial use, and it is associated with performance in pig production. However, the importance of specific measures could vary depending on the (national) context. The aim of this study was to describe the biosecurity status in a cohort of Irish pig farms, to investigate which of those biosecurity aspects are more relevant by using the Biocheck.UGent™ scoring system, and to study the impact of such aspects on farm performance. Results External biosecurity score was high compared to most countries due to the characteristics of the Irish pig sector (i.e. purchasing only semen and breeding gilts on farm). The internal biosecurity score was lower and had greater variability among farms than other EU countries. Using multivariable linear regression, the biosecurity practices explained 8, 23, and 16% of variability in piglet mortality, finisher mortality, and average daily gain, respectively. Three clusters of farms were defined based on their biosecurity scores (0 to 100) using principal components and hierarchical clustering analysis. Scores for clusters 1, 2 and 3 were (mean ± SD) 38 ± 7.6, 61 ± 7.0 and 66 ± 9.8 for internal and 73 ± 5.1, 74 ± 5.3 and 86 ± 4.5 for external biosecurity. Cluster 3 had lower piglet mortality (P = 0.022) and higher average daily gain (P = 0.037) when compared to cluster 2. Conclusions Irish farms follow European tendencies with internal biosecurity posing as the biggest liability. Our results suggest that practices related to the environment and region, feed, water and equipment supply, and the management of the different stages, need to be addressed in lower performing farms to improve productive performance. Further studies on the economic impact of these biosecurity practices including complementary data on herd health, gilt rearing, piglet management, vaccination and feeding strategies are needed.en_US
dc.formatapplication/pdfen_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherBioMed Central Ltd.en_US
dc.relation.ispartofPorcine Health Managementen_US
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Ireland*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ie/*
dc.subjectbiosecurityen_US
dc.subjectefficiencyen_US
dc.subjectIrelanden_US
dc.subjectproductive performanceen_US
dc.subjectswine productionen_US
dc.titleUsing the biocheck.ugent™ scoring tool in Irish farrow-to-finish pig farms: assessing biosecurity and its relation to productive performanceen_US
dc.typeinfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleen_US
dc.contributor.sponsorThis study was part of the PathSurvPig project which was funded by the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine under the Research Stimulus Fund (PathSurvPig 14/S/832) as part of the National Development Planen_US
dc.description.peerreviewyesen_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1186/s40813-018-0113-6en_US
dc.identifier.urlhttps://porcinehealthmanagement.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40813-018-0113-6#citeasen_US
dc.identifier.volume5en_US
dc.rights.accessinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessen_US
dc.rights.accessrightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessen_US
dc.subject.departmentenviroCORE - IT Carlowen_US
dc.type.versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionen_US
cr.approval.ethical


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