The Rural Voice, 2000-10, Page 12WELLESLEY LOADING
CHUTES
SHEEP FEEDERS
ROUND BALE
FEEDERS
LOADING
CHUTES
• Heavy
Construction
• 3 Pt. hitch
(both sides)
• Ramp settings
26" - 42"
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-44 00 li
SHEEP FEEDERS
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• Ruggedly built yet convenient feeder
• Manufactured with 1" x 1" tubing and
14 gauge sheet metal
• 32" wide trough with 3/8" rod V-type manger
Rods are 21/2" apart for less hay waste
• Grains and other fine particle feeds can be
fed. Sizes available: 4', 6' and 8' long.
Other sizes available upon request.
ROUND BALE FEEDERS
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•7'x8'
• Feeds approx. 18 cattle
• Holds 5' x bales
(anddsmaller)
• 1 1/4" tubing CANADNNNNCE
• Heavy duty construction
TILMAN SHERK
R.R. #3 Wellesley, Ontario
519-656-3338
519-656-3429 evenings
8 THE RURAL VOICE
Scrap Book
Manitoba sows perform well on flax
One of Manitoba's largest
independently owned feed mills has
started adding flax to its pelletized
sow feed rations after word spread of
the results of a research program.
Swine researcher Sam Baidoo is
still putting together his final data and
statistics on the extensive project but
East -Man Feeds has already changed
its rations. East -Man became involved
with Baidoo's research when one of
its customers, Topeaka Farms Ltd. of
St. Malo, Manitoba, signed up to an
on-farm study of flax rations.
"We had heard things about flax
before, so it kind of caught our
interest," said Leon Desilets, manager
of the company's feed division.
Baidoo, assistant professor and
swine nutritionist at the University of
Minnesota, started the project when he
worked at the University of Manitoba.
He wanted to see if flax would affect
the reproduction performance of sows,
so he added it to gestation and lact-
ation diets at the university's swine
operation, and the 3,000 sow farrow -
to -weanling operation at St. Malo.
The flax, added at a rate of five per
cent, or 45 kilograms per sow per
year, replaced some of the soybean
meal and tallow in the rations. Sows
fed flax lost less weight and
maintained more backfat during
lactation than sows fed regular rations,
Baidoo told the Agri -Food 2000
conference in Winnipeg.
Sows that stay in good condition
take less time to come into heat again
after weaning, he noted.
In fact, days to estrus dropped to
4.8 for sows fed five per cent flax,
compared to 7.5-8 days for the control
group. The sows that ate flax had
higher progesterone levels, which
Baidoo said improved survival of
embryos in the uterus.
Sows on the commercial farm that
were fed the five per cent flax ration
delivered 1 1.5 pigs per litter compared
to 10.4 pigs per litter in the control
group. The piglets from the sows also
weighed 1.27 kg on average compared
to piglets from the control group of
sows which averaged 1.18 kg at birth.
The milk from the sows fed flax
have a higher level of unsaturated
fatty acids.
"There's no question that adding
flax to the feed, we really changed the
composition of the milk," said Baidoo.
At day eight, the piglets from flax -
fed sows weighed an average of 2.55
kg. compared to 2.4 kg for piglets in
the control group. The piglets were
also heavier at weaning, averaging 4.6
kg compared to 4.3 kg in the control
group.
Desilets said his customers noticed
better milk flow from the flax -fed
sows and heavier piglets. One
customer was unaware flax had been
incorporated into the ration until he
started noticing better weanling
weights and remarked on the change
to Desilets.
Desilets says it's not easy to grind
flax because of the oil content. The
company grinds only as needed to
avoid spoilage.
Meanwhile Baidoo wants to
monitor the long-term effect of flax
over the life of the sow and research
whether flax in piglet rations will help
reduce mortality rates.°
—Source: Western Producer
Research halted on pig transplants
The British scientists who cloned Dolly the sheep will stop research into
genetically modifying pigs for human organ transplants amid fears they could
spread new killer diseases.
A British newspaper reported Geron Bio -Med Ltd., which finances the
research at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh, has halted funding for the
experiments, citing concerns over the possible health risk of animal -to -human
transplants. Ian Wilmut, who led the team that created Dolly, the first mammal
cloned from an adult cell, said the research hadn't stopped yet but soon would.
The scientists have worked on the GM project for two years to try to make
human recipients less likely to reject pig organs after a transplant operation.
— Source: Reuters News Agency