The dietary necessities of sows change throughout lactation and thus require tailored and dynamic feeding regimes that contemplate the sows’ behavioral wants and manufacturing traits.
Goal: The current research evaluated the impact of 4 totally different feeding programs on productiveness and features of the welfare of 61 sows and their piglets throughout lactation.
Strategies: A non-ad libitum system (management) was in contrast with two computer-monitored (COMP, COMP + ) advert libitum feeding programs, that allowed sows to entry feed by way of displacement of an digital sensor, in addition to a 3rd purely mechanical advert libitum feeding system (MECH). Day by day feed disappearance, piglet progress, piglet progress per feed disappearance in addition to sows’ weight and conception fee have been recorded. Well being indicators of sows and piglets have been scored in addition to sow habits analyzed for a complete of 96 hours/sow from video recordings taken on days 2–4 and 23 postfarrowing (n = 35 sows).
Outcomes: Sows from all three advert libitum programs confirmed a decrease feed disappearance than the management. Moreover, common each day piglet progress tended to be increased and piglet progress per sow feed disappearance was considerably increased in all three advert libitum programs than within the management. Piglet mortality, sow weight reduction, and subsequent conception charges didn’t differ between remedy teams. Piglets within the two computer-monitored advert libitum programs had fewer head lesions. Sows in all three advert libitum programs spent extra time with their head within the trough than within the non-ad libitum system. Incidence of sow stereotypies (vacuum chewing, biting fixtures) was uncommon (sometimes < 2% of scans) and didn’t differ between therapies.
Conclusion: Our knowledge recommend that sows fed advert libitum eat what they want and might convert feed extra effectively into the piglets’ progress with out extra weight reduction. Moreover, the elevated time sows spent in advert libitum programs with their head within the trough factors towards longer feeding instances, which could be useful when it comes to assembly pigs’ behavioral must forage. Taken collectively, our preliminary research on sow feeding habits and feed effectivity will profit the event of recent lactation feeding programs that promise to enhance animal welfare and productiveness whereas decreasing feed prices.
Gorr SC, Leeb C, Zollitsch W, Winckler C, Parsons TD.
Advert libitum feeding programs for lactating sows: results on productiveness and welfare of sows and piglets. Animal. 2024; 18(3): 101093. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.animal.2024.101093.
