Lecture 13- Pig nutrition Flashcards
What is the worth of the pig industry in Australia?
- $2.8 billion Australian industry
- > $100 million exports
- Employs ~ 20,000 Australians
What are the basics of pig nutrition?
- Cereal grains need to be processed
- Pigs will eat whole grain but it will pass straight through
- 0.7mmrecommendedparticlesize • Cracked, rolled or soaked
- Pig diets are assessed on lysine and DE • Dependent on growth stage etc.
- Diets in commercial piggeries based on life stage
- Weaners, growers, finishers, gilts, dry sows & lactating sows
- Water intake is correlated to feed intake • Piglets drink before they are weaned
What do you need to match the diet to and what is the case with swill feeding?
• If using commercial diets you need to match form to age
• Suitable size pellets for all pigs in the group
• Meal or mash is best
• Swill feeding is illegal
• Swill = meat, meat products or products that may have been in contact with meat (i.e. table
scraps)
• Dry stock feed mills need to meet Aus standards
• Blood & bone meals need to be rendered
Why do you need to match the feed to the life stage of the pig?
- at each life stage the requirements are different
- one of the most important things to do
What is the overall objective of sow nutrition?
• Efficient production of the maximum number of healthy weanling pigs during the sow’s reproductive lifetime.
What is the nutrient output of the sow?
-much higher nutrient drain on the sow during lactation than in any other life stage
What factors influencing sow feeding?
- Sow body condition score
- Sow productivity
- Parity
- Environmental conditions
- Health status
What are the challenges in feeding the sows?
- Meet the needs of the foetus(es)
- Maintain the pregnant sow
- Control excessive weight gains • Reduce unsoundness problems
What is the importance of dietary fibre for gestating sows?
- Adding dietary fibre to gestating sow rations may lower feed costs and increase reproductive performance
- ME content of fibrous feeds is greater for sows
- Sows have a large feed intake capacity relative to dietary requirement • Limit-fed gestating sows derive more energy
- Low feed intake and resulting slow rate of passage
- Higher hind gut fermentation capacity
- Sows fed additional fibre farrow and wean more pigs than sows fed control rations
- Feeding fibre also improved lactation feed intake, but reduced sow weight gain during pregnancy and pig birth weight
- Sows fed additional fibre exhibited less stereotypic behavior • bar-biting, sham-chewing, and excessive drinking
- The amount of NDF and the source of fibre are important
What are the practical considerations of fibre?
- Economics - total feed cost per sow per year
- Sows must eat more feed to meet energy requirements
- Digestion coefficients for high fibre ingredients are higher for sows than growing pigs
- Particle size may influence the energy value of the diet
- Sows require more time to eat their ration
What are the limitations of fibre?
- Economics
- Feed mixing and handling equipment
- Grinding- time consuming and dusty
- Bulky- may bridge in bulk bins and feeders
- Manure handling costs- larger volume of solids produced
- Liquid manure handling more difficult- larger, undigested feed particles
What is the concept of body condition score?
- BCS are subjective
- Visual appraisal used to make adjustments in feeding rate
- Feeding rate adjusted for the first 3⁄4 of gestation
- Target is to have 85+% of sows between BCS 2 and 4
Why is body conditions score important?
• BCS is an indicator of backfat
• Sows weaned with less than 20 mm of backfat may display a lengthened
rebreeding interval
• Sows losing 40% or more of their backfat during lactation did not return to heat within 14 d of weaning
• Sows that are too fat during gestation will have a lower feed intake during lactation
What are some details about sows’ milk?
- Quantity – energy and protein output
- Quality – milk composition
- Milking performance of sow is a key to piglet growth
- Piglets are dependent upon sow milk for almost all nutrients until 2-4 wks of age
What is the amount of milk influenced by?
• The amount of milk a sow produces is influenced by: • Age (parity)
• Breed (genetics)
• Pigs/litter
• Health Status
• # of functional teats • Water availability
-higher temp= less eating= lighter piglet
-higher energy diet= more fat in milk and bigger piglet
