Gastric ulcers in finishing pigs: the evaluation of selected non-dietary risk factors and impact on production performance

Background The complex aetiology of gastric lesions in pigs remains largely unknown and effective preventive measures and pharmaceutical treatment of the disease have not been developed yet. Regardless of the fact that the overwhelming majority of previous research works dealing with gastric ulceration in pigs focused on the role of the nutritional determinants, including chemical composition of feeds, cereal type, finely ground pelleted diets, and feed additives, conclusions presented therein remain highly ambiguous. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the disease on production performance, and investigate the influence of selected non-dietary risk factors on the prevalence of gastric alterations in finishing pigs reared under conditions of 11 modern farms located in Poland. Results A total number of 26,043 finishing pigs was examined. 15,228 (58.47%) had gastric ulcers. Intact stomachs were detected in 6176 animals (23.71%). Parakeratosis and erosion were observed in 2551 (9.80%) and 2088 (8.02%), respectively. Among eight continuous variables two were found to be significantly associated with prevalence of the gastric ulcer: the growing number of animals in the herd, which was negatively correlated ( P = 0.002; ρ = -0.37), and the growing average entry weight of animals transported to the finisher farm ( P = 0.047; ρ = 0.24), which increased the risk of gastric ulcers prevalence. Among 12 nominal variables, problems with the quality of farm management ( P = 0.041), and usage of straw as a bedding material ( P = 0.002) were identified as determinants significantly associated with occurrence of the analysed health problem. Conclusions Among 20 non-nutritional variables analysed in our study only few factors were found to be associated with the prevalence of the disease. The impact of broadly understood management issues on gastric health in finishing pigs deserves further research.