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FEED FORMULATION ▶▶▶


The effect of different water-to-feed ratios in growing-finishing pigs


Interest in giving pigs wet feed has increased in some regions of the world in recent decades, especially in Europe, but there are still many unanswered questions about how to do this most efficiently.


BY TREENA HEIN, CORRESPONDENT O


ne issue is how much the water-to-feed ratio mat- ters in terms of the digestibility of energy and nu- trients. A study of these ratios in growing-finish- ing pigs was recently published by Professor


Josep Gasa and colleagues at the University Autonomous of Barcelona (UAB) in Spain, including Dr Ramon Muns, who graduated at UAB and now leads the Monogastric Research Group at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) in Northern Ireland (UK).


In a new type of wet/dry feeding system water and the compound feed are kept separate up to the point of delivery to the feeding trough.


6 ▶ ALL ABOUT FEED | Volume 28, No. 8, 2020


Before looking at the results of this particular study, let’s re- view liquid feed and why it has become a popular for feeding pigs in many countries in Europe. In Gasa’s view, one reason for this is the availability of liquid food industry co-products (from dairy processors for example), which makes liquid feed- ing cheaper than other alternatives. However, he adds that “co-products vary highly in composition and diet formula- tions need to be reviewed frequently. Also, in hotter months in warmer regions, for example Mediterranean countries, it is crucial to pay attention to the cleanliness and disinfection of liquid feeding systems.” Liquid feeding involves blending dry feed (a mixture of raw materials “as fed”) with water or a li- quid co-product in a central tank before the mixture is pumped to the feeding pens through pipes. It contains about 700 to 800 g of water per kg, and the capacity of the pump and pipes that the feed travels through from the central tank to the feeding pens determines how much dry matter can be added to the mixture, i.e., it must be viscous (thin) enough to be properly pumped.


PHOTO: RAMON MUNS


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