The project aims to develop tools that allow pig farmers and their suppliers and advisers to use faecal characteristics for monitoring and improving nutrient utilization and health and well-being of pigs as important elements of sustainable pig husbandry. Faeces characteristics reflect the composition and activity of the intestinal microbiome, nutrient digestibility and thereby nutrient excretion. Changes in faecal composition in time, or differences in faecal composition between populations and individual pigs can reflect changes/differences in nutrient utilization, as caused by farm management and farm health status, and can also reflect related variation in animal welfare. So far, faecal characteristics are hardly used as source of information on farm to monitor animal performance and health as basis for on farm nutritional, health and management interventions. The project focusses on the exploration and establishment of relationships between faecal composition of pigs and animal performance, health and welfare. Based on these relationships quick analytical methods will be developed for on farm application to detect changes in nutrient efficiency, clinical and subclinical health and welfare. Such tools allow farmers, together with their advisers, to design interventions (nutritional, management) to counteract these changes and increase the general level of health, welfare and nutrient efficiency.

The project idea links to priority D “Gewaardeerd, gezond en veilig voedsel, D3 Veilige en duurzame primaire productie: Duurzame veehouderij. Dier centraal: gezondheid, veiligheid en welzijn van dieren behoren tot de wereldtop (priority 34)” en “Ontwikkeling van tools voor de veehouder voor een maatschappelijk acceptabele bedrijfsvoering / dierwaardige veehouderij zoals: a. Tools voor het meten van welzijn en b. Digitaliseren van de productieketen/smart technology” (priority 35).

In the last decade, numerous studies have been conducted to study fundamental aspects of digestive physiology and health in pigs, using innovative (-omics based) methods. Despite increased understanding, it is not easy to exploit insights, e.g. in the microbiome or the metabolome, in practical pig production. This project aims to reduce this gap between science and practice. Development of tools and application of novel methodologies to detect changes in faecal characteristics on pig farms and provision of new indicators of animal health, welfare and performance are key deliverables of the project. Faeces of pigs are easy to obtain in individual animals at relative large scale and can be collected non-invasively and in a routine manner, without compromising welfare, in contrast to e.g. collection of blood samples. The tools and methodologies will allow the farmer, the feed industry and their suppliers to respond rapidly to detected changes in faecal composition as indicators for change in health, welfare and nutrient efficiency with management or nutritional interventions to support health and maintain productivity. Early signaling of changes in animal health allows to apply early management and nutritional interventions, which further reduce the use of antibiotics as ultimate therapeutic agent for animal health in the pig sector.

The project idea links to priority D “Gewaardeerd, gezond en veilig voedsel, D3 Veilige en duurzame primaire productie: Duurzame veehouderij. Dier centraal: gezondheid, veiligheid en welzijn van dieren behoren tot de wereldtop (priority 34)” en “Ontwikkeling van tools voor de veehouder voor een maatschappelijk acceptabele bedrijfsvoering / dierwaardige veehouderij zoals: a. Tools voor het meten van welzijn en b. Digitaliseren van de productieketen/smart technology” (priority 35).

In the last decade, numerous studies have been conducted to study fundamental aspects of digestive physiology and health in pigs, using innovative (-omics based) methods. Despite increased understanding, it is not easy to exploit insights, e.g. in the microbiome or the metabolome, in practical pig production. This project aims to reduce this gap between science and practice. Development of tools and application of novel methodologies to detect changes in faecal characteristics on pig farms and provision of new indicators of animal health, welfare and performance are key deliverables of the project. Faeces of pigs are easy to obtain in individual animals at relative large scale and can be collected non-invasively and in a routine manner, without compromising welfare, in contrast to e.g. collection of blood samples. The tools and methodologies will allow the farmer, the feed industry and their suppliers to respond rapidly to detected changes in faecal composition as indicators for change in health, welfare and nutrient efficiency with management or nutritional interventions to support health and maintain productivity. Early signaling of changes in animal health allows to apply early management and nutritional interventions, which further reduce the use of antibiotics as ultimate therapeutic agent for animal health in the pig sector.