THE BIGGER PICTURE


Competition spurs on sow feed intake


It is a well-known phenomenon that pigs tend to consume more feed when they are fed together. So why not provide the same experience to lactating sows? That is the idea behind this concept of dual troughs, provided by Jetwash International, a turnkey pig farm company in Ireland. Two lac- tating sows share one trough, leading to competition and higher feed intakes. The concept is being built at a new 1,600 sow farm in Co. Cavan, Ireland – and this is where it was pho- tographed. At other farms, the system has yielded positive results, i.e. a 10-12% more feed intake during lactation, which helps sows with a fitter body condition during and after lacta- tion, thus milk production improves and also heavier piglets are weaned from the pen, explained sales representative Clifford Richardson. On average, additional feed intake of a dual trough during lactation is 18 kg per two sows. Farmers have also pointed to the added bonus of no stale feed built up in the troughs and reducing the troughs requiring to be cleaned out. www.jetwash.ie


14 PIG PROGRESS VOLUME 32, No. 6, 2016


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