Effect of season on weaned piglet mortality during transport greater than 8 h under Canadian conditions

Abstract

North American swine producers commonly transport piglets away from sow farms at weaning. However, limited information on factors associated with piglet mortality during these transports is available. The objectives of this study were to identify transport characteristics that were associated with the occurrence of in-transit mortality (≥1 piglet found dead on arrival) and/or associated with increased rates of in-transit mortality using records of weaned piglet transport voluntarily provided by Canadian swine companies. Following cleaning and validation, records of 810 long duration (>8 h to <28 h) weaned piglet (min.: 4.2, max.: 7.7 kg) transports conducted between 2016 and 2017 by four companies were available to investigate risk factors for the occurrence of in-transit mortality. Transports originated in Ontario, Saskatchewan, or Alberta and 30% of transports had one or more mortality events recorded. Season of transport was significant in the final logistic regression model; the odds of a transport having mortality occur was greater during the winter (December, January, February) compared to the spring (March, April, May) (OR=1.8; 95% CI: 1.13-2.96; P = 0.013), summer (June, July, August) (OR= 2.1; 95% CI: 1.28-3.34; P = 0.003) and fall (September, October, November) (OR=2.2; 95% CI: 1.36-3.62; P = 0.001), with no differences observed between the other seasons. Additionally, records from 755 long duration weaned piglet (min.: 4.2, max.: 7.9 kg) transports conducted between 2014 and 2017 by a single company was used to identify risk factors for increased rates of in-transit mortality. Transports originated in Saskatchewan or Alberta and 44.9% of transports had one or more mortality events recorded with in-transit mortality rates ranging from 0.00% to 6.16%. Season of transport was again significant in the final negative binomial regression model. The rate of piglet death in-transit was increased in all seasons compared to the summer with winter transport having the highest predicted rate of in-transit mortality. Transports conducted during the winter had a rate of in-transit mortality nearly five times greater compared to transports conducted during the summer (IRR= 4.94; 95% CI: 3.11-7.87; P = 0.000) and approximately three times greater compared to transports conducted during the fall (IRR=2.7; 95% CI: 1.73-4.30; P = 0.000) and spring (IRR=3.1; 95% CI: 1.96-4.99; P = 0.000). These results suggest that winter transport in Western Canada is an area of opportunity to reduce in-transit mortality during long duration weaned piglet transport. Research investigating transport practices that may mitigate the effects of extreme cold (e.g., space allowance, bedding provision) would be useful for informing specific recommendations for this age group.

Keywords: In-transit mortality; Swine; Transport; Weaned piglet; Welfare.