The Rural Voice, 1998-05, Page 12"Our experience
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8 THE RURAL VOICE
Scrap Book
New manure technologies tested
The search for a way to deal with
manure from large livestock
operations continues on various
fronts. In western Canada, two
different projects are using two
different approaches to the problem.
Lome Swann of Abbotsford,
B.C. is using a manure separation
system imported to Canada by Dr.
John Chen from his native Taiwan
where 10,000 similar units are
already at work. Swann operates a
450 -sow, farrow -to -finish operation
that produces 22,000 litres of liquid
manure daily.
Using the separation machine,
which takes up a space 4.8 by 2.5
metres, the manure is drawn up a
conveyor belt and the solids are
separated from the liquids with
paddles over a series of screens. The
solids are dropped into a pile and
begin composting immediately. The
liquids are pumped into a lagoon.
Tests at Swaan's farm show 74
per cent of the solids are removed
from the manure, as well as 46 per
cern of the nitrogen. Reducing the
amount of solid in the liquid
pumped to the lagoon has saved
Swaan having to dredge his earthen
lagoons. The machine has also
reduced the smell and neighbours a
half -kilometre away have said they
don't notice when he is spreading
the material on the 20,000 trees he
grows in a nursery operation.
Meanwhile Alberta Agriculture
is studying the possible application
of a "snowfluent" system to dispose
of wastes from hog farms. The
system, developed by Delta
Engineering, converts waste water
into snow using snowmaking
machines similar to those used on
ski hills. The waste water is
transported at high pressure through
atomizing nozzles mounted on
towers. Compressed air sprays fine
droplets into the atmosphere. As the
droplets freeze, the water is shaped
into hexagonal -shaped crystals
about the size of a grain of salt.
Contaminants are separated from
the water and are trapped in the
centre of the frozen droplets. When
the particles arc shot into the air, a
portion of the water is vapourized
and the rest accumulates in a
snowpack which won't drift because
it is too dense.
However, the process reduces
nitrogen and phosphorous by more
than half. Most of the nitrogen is
released into the air. Most of the
bacteria is killed by the freezing
process.0
— Source: Western Producer
Cattle know how to Iick post -birthing pain
Two University of Guelph researchers say cows know how to lick the pain
associated with giving birth — literally.
Carlos Pinheiro Machado, an animal and poultry science masters degree
student, and Prof. Frank Hurnik believe the amniotic fluid ingested by licking
newborn calves minimizes post -birthing pain. The researchers say tests they
performed at the Elora Research Station suggest there's a "placental opioid
enhancement factor" in the fluid, i.e. it has an analgesic effect similar to ASA.
"When it comes to pain management in cows, Mother Nature knows best,"
says Professor Hurnik, who has studied animal behavior in other farm animals
and helped design an oval farrowing crate for pigs (Rural Voice issue of October
1993). "Licking appears to help them feel better."
Researchers conducted their year-long study with 36 dairy cows. The animals
were divided into two groups — those with the opportunity to lick their calves
(and ingest amniotic fluid) after giving birth and those that were distanced from
their calves immediately following birth. Both groups were exposed to heat -
lamp -like devices in their stalls. Researchers observed how long the animals
remained comfortable with the heat the lamps gave off. They found cows that
licked their calves tolerated it longer, suggesting an elevated pain threshold.
"We believe that the analgesic effect of the amniotic fluid was responsible for
this increase in pain threshold," says Hurnik. "We don't know the chemistry at
work — we need to work with a chemist to analyse the fluid's composition."0
—Source: British Columbia Agri Digest