Higher clutter sizes are making supplementary feeding an increasingly more essential facet of the pig control procedure. As HELEN BROTHWELL found out, new analysis at Harper Adams College has shed new mild on maximising some great benefits of supplementary milk and creep feed.
UK analysis is offering essential new perception on the right way to get essentially the most from supplementary milk and creep feed for stepped forward lifetime efficiency of pigs – providing financial answers to the problem of huge litters the place there are extra piglets than there are useful teats.
Sarah Icely
Sarah Icely is operating the undertaking for her PhD research at Harper Adams College, along her function as deputy sector supervisor at the college’s industrial indoor pig unit, with investment supplied by way of AHDB Beef, Number one Diets and JSR Genetics.
The important thing findings are that expanding creep consumption is extra really helpful to pigs’ post-weaning efficiency than expanding supplementary milk consumption, whilst the milk has the most important function in making improvements to piglets’ pre-weaning survival charges.
Each smaller birthweight pig that survives is an additional pig to promote and subsequently is helping to support the commercial efficiency of a trade, however those analysis findings will lend a hand manufacturers get the best go back on their funding in milk replacer and creep feed.
“The trial effects are serving to us steadiness some great benefits of supplementary milk for piglet survival with good enough creep intakes to arrange piglets for weaning and past,” Sarah defined.
The analysis crew used digital identity to evaluate every person piglet’s utilization of supplementary milk and creep feed, enabling them to grasp a lot more in regards to the mixed results of supplementary milk and creep feeding and the right way to get essentially the most from them. The unit had already been the usage of the supplementary milk machine for roughly 15 years to lend a hand rear greater litters.
A metal-clad construction incorporating the recording apparatus was once mounted over the milk cups and the creep feeders in every pen, and the date, time and period of every talk over with was once recorded towards every piglet’s distinctive ID. “It’s arrange so it handiest data when the piglet’s head is in fact over the bowl or feeder. We used a unmarried area creep feeder to ensure we had correct information for people while we’d typically use multi-space feeders,” Sarah defined.
Trial set-up and recording
- Twenty-eight litters of piglets have been decided on throughout two batches, farrowing six weeks aside.
- Litters have been decided on to have two extra piglets than there have been useful teats at the sows, to fashion the impact of huge clutter sizes.
- Supplementary milk was once introduced from start and creep feed was once introduced from day 11 onwards, each advert libitum.
- Piglets have been weighed at start, day 4 after which weekly up till weaning at day 26.
- Publish-weaning, piglets have been weighed at days 7, 15, 29 and 54.
- Piglets have been every assigned into one in every of 4 birthweight teams: 1.04kg and underneath, 1.06 to at least one.52kg, 1.54 to at least one.90kg and 1.92kg and above.
- For every talk over with to the supplementary milk bowl or creep feeder, the piglet’s digital ID and the duration in their talk over with was once recorded robotically
- Effects research regarded on the relationships between overall period of supplementary visits, overall period of creep visits, weaning weight and birthweight team.
Timing is vital
Unmarried-space creep feeder station guarantees person utilization is recorded
To start with, the supplementary milk machine was once became off simply two or 3 days prior to weaning. The crew then started turning it off previous, a complete week previous to weaning, to peer how a lot distinction it made.
The consequences confirmed that after piglets had a complete week with out the supplementary milk, creep intakes higher considerably, from simply over 3kg in step with clutter every week, to five.7kg in step with clutter, with a median of 14.5 pigs weaned in step with sow. There have been no unwanted side effects on mortality or enlargement.
Switching off the supplementary milk for a complete week prior to weaning translated to a saving of round 50p in step with piglet on pre-weaning feed, when compared with when the milk was once introduced till simply a few days prior to weaning – making an allowance for each milk and creep prices.
The analysis discovered that nearly all of piglets will to find and use the supplementary milk bowl all over the primary day. “They’re naturally adventurous and to find it whilst they’re exploring the pen,” stated Sarah. “We’ll simply give further consideration and display the milk bowls to any very small piglets who want it.”
There was once no impact of suckling place at the reasonable choice of visits to the milk cups amongst piglets with a teat. On the other hand, piglets with out get entry to to a teat visited the milk cups extra steadily and for longer classes of time from day 4 to weaning, reinforcing the significance of providing supplementary milk from start.
Curiously, birthweight didn’t have a vital impact on supplementary milk utilization till the ultimate week it was once to be had. “In that ultimate week, it was once in fact the larger piglets the usage of the supplementary milk extra, as a best as much as fulfill their appetites,” Sarah defined.
Creep utilization patterns
In a similar way, piglets with out get entry to to a teat additionally tended to make use of the creep feeders greater than different pigs and, within the ultimate 3 or 4 days prior to weaning, the heavy birthweight pigs have been the usage of the creep greater than the low birthweight pigs.
However there was once now not a long-lasting dating between piglet birthweight and day by day achieve: after day seven, birthweight team ceased to be a major factor.
Crucial advantage of providing supplementary milk and creep feed as choices to sows’ milk all over the pre-weaning duration are that piglets expand larger independence from day one. It’s just right preparation for weaning for the entire clutter, Sarah stated, and manner smaller piglets are steadily much less reliant at the sow than one of the vital larger pigs.
Publish-weaning efficiency
Upper supplementary milk utilization had a good affect on piglet reasonable enlargement fee from start to day 15 post-weaning.
Upper creep utilization had a for much longer lasting certain impact on pig enlargement charges – from weaning till day 54 post-weaning, although prime creep shoppers have been in most cases lighter at weaning.
“Within the first week post-weaning, the FCR of piglets which had eaten extra creep was once so much not up to the ones with decrease creep utilization, suggesting they tailored higher at weaning,” stated Sarah.
Subsequent steps
Harper Adams College’s supplementary milk cup machine
Having investigated the affect and other advantages of supplementary milk and creep, the following level of the PhD objectives to grasp why creep, specifically, is really helpful for the piglet’s longer-term efficiency. “We need to see what’s going down physiologically, to the pig’s metabolism and bodily intestine building,” Sarah defined.
This paintings is within the early phases, with blood sampling underway to analyse the blood metabolites provide and spot if there are any vital variations between pigs. “This may lend a hand us determine the right way to additional give a boost to the pigs via nutritional composition and creep intakes to get the most productive out of the pigs,” she stated.
Sarah has just lately been skilled within the histology labs at Harper Adams, the place she’s going to running with the lab crew to make up slides the usage of sections of the piglets’ intestine lining and learning them underneath a microscope to spot any bodily building variations.
The analysis may also have a look at the affect of feeding other post-weaning diets consistent with pigs’ ranges of creep intake pre-weaning.
In long run, there could also be doable to peer whether or not the duration of time the supplementary milk is obtainable for may also be delicate additional for optimum creep intakes.
Managing supplementary milk methods
In addition to taking out the supplementary milk early sufficient to make sure good enough creep consumption, different key sensible suggestions from the analysis come with:
- Get all piglets ingesting from the milk cups from start, appearing them the place the cup is that if wanted, in particular the small ones.
- Blank milk tanks and make up contemporary milk day by day so it’s palatable and contemporary.
- Supply as a lot milk as piglets will drink for the total 3 weeks.
They plan to switch the supplementary milk machine at the Harper Adams College unit, optimistically within the subsequent twelve months. There are many choices to be had, from the elemental, guide to robotically managed methods that blend up contemporary milk to fulfill call for.
Small pig control at the unit additionally contains sporting out evening tests all over farrowing, break up suckling and bottle-feeding colostrum to any piglets weighing lower than a kilo – adopted up by way of the advert lib get entry to to creep.