Life Cycle Nutrition Flashcards
What is the approximate length of a swine life cycle?
338 days
What are the different stages of a swine lifecycle?
- Nursing/lactation
- Nursery
- Grower
- Finishing
- Gilt development
- Gestation
Which stages is the longest? Shortest?
Gestation is 114 days.
Nursing/lactation is 21 days
What is the nursing/lactation phase?
Period when neonatal pigs are 100% reliant on the sow/mother for nutrition/milk.
A sow will produce her body weight in milk in ____ days
20
What is milk composed of?
80% water, 20% solids (fat, protein, lactose, ash)
What is a thermoneutral zone?
A thermoneutral zone is the temperature range in which a pig can maintain normal body temperature with out any excessive energy expenditures to keep warm or keep cool
Thermoneutral zone of sows? Newborn pigs?
Sows: 50-70
Newborn pigs: 90-100
They will use heat lamps, heat mats or heat boxes.
What happens to feed intake when upper critical limit of thermoneutral zone? Below?
Above: feed intake decreases
Below: feed intake increases
If a piglet doesn’t get enough access to a teat frequently, what can be done?
Remove them from the sow on day 2-3 of lactation and give milk replacer.
How can you make transition to nursery phase easier?
creep feed towards the end of lactation (highly digestible)
What is nursery phase?
piglets are weaned, adjust their diets to a grain diet
What is commonly found in nursery phase diets?
- milk derived carbohydrate (lactose)
- protein (whey)
- plasma protein
- spray-dried blood cells
- antibiotics
- fish meal
- soybean oil
What does spray-dried plasma contain that is important?
22% immunoglobulin which stimulate the immune system
Why can’t soybean meal be added to nursery diets?
It may stimulate an allergenic response
What is the grower and finisher phase?
It is the time from exiting the nursery until market.
When is a pig market ready?
5-6 months in age, 260-280 lbs
What might be added to grower but not finisher diet?
- DDGS (lots of unsaturated fat)
- antibiotics (minimum withdrawal time)
What might be added to finisher but not grower diet?
Beta-agonists added 2-4 before market to increase lean gain and decrease fat gain
What is gilt development phase?
pigs that are going to enter the reproductive herd, focus on reproductive performance
_________, or providing ____ extra lbs of feed, 2 weeks prior to breeding may increase ______
flushing, 2 extra lbs, increases ovulation
What is the gestation phase?
period where the sow is pregnant, ~114 days
What might be high in a gestation diet?
fiber to make it more filling
What pigs will be limit-fed?
Boars, developing gilt, gestating sow
