RESEARCH ▶▶▶
Family feeding: More piglets will eat prior to weaning
Collaborative research in the Netherlands has shown that more piglets can start eating prior to weaning, can grow faster prior to weaning and display better behaviour when they are supplied according to the “Family feeding” system.
BY VINCENT TER BEEK, EDITOR, PIG PROGRESS T
hose were some of the main conclusions of a three-year-long research project called “Family Feeding Matters”, in which Wageningen University & Research (WUR) served as executive partner. The
project was initiated by the Netherlands Ministry of Agricul- ture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV); livestock equipment company Vereijken; and Trouw Nutrition.
Developing a new feeding concept The aim of the project was to develop an innovative feed- ing concept for sows and piglets that would be more like their natural behaviour. The innovative part of the research would apply to the new feeding and drinking system as well as a new feed type. The theory behind the new concept is that sows would teach piglets how to eat and drink, thus optimising feed intake of piglets around weaning, leading to reduced negative effects of weaning on health and welfare. The Family feeding system as well as the Family feed were im- plemented and optimised at the Pig Innovation Centre (VIC) Sterksel, in the south of the Netherlands. On the basis of the three-year research, the scientists also concluded that the Family feeding system approach had no impact – or even a negative one – on technical performance and diarrhoea straight after weaning. The Family feed itself was observed to have a negative effect on tail biting behav- iour as well as diarrhoea, and had no impact on technical performance.
10 ▶ PIG PROGRESS | Volume 37, No. 10, 2021
The Family feeding system The Family feeding system was created to reflect elements of natural feeding as it provides a social eating and drinking place where piglets interact with the sow to familiarise them- selves with solid feed at an early stage. The system also inte- grates “play” elements into feeding by including enrichment materials around the feeding place. In the system, sows were fed semi-unrestricted on a floor 0.70 m wide and 0.92 m deep, allowing the piglets to eat to- gether with the sows. In addition, the piglets were given feed in a round playing trough. Adjacent to the feeding floor there was a drinking bowl on the floor providing ad lib water for both sows and piglets. The sow box had been widened, al- lowing the sow to have more space at the front. Sows and piglets had more enrichment materials at their disposal. After weaning, the piglets were fed with a dry feeding trough with two compartments. The first 4.5 days after weaning the piglets were also fed in the round playing trough. In it, the sow feed and piglet feed were supplied 50:50%. Drinking wa- ter was ad lib at their disposal through a drinking bowl in the farrowing house. For the phase prior to weaning, the most important conclu- sions with regard to the feeding system were: • The Family feeding system did not influence the sows’ weight loss or backfat thickness, but it did lead to a higher usage of sow feed; • The Family feeding system improved the number of piglets learning to eat prior to weaning (10% non-eating piglets vs 22% non-eating piglets in the control system). Piglets grew
Trial set-up involving four feed treatments To reach all those conclusions, the Family feeding system as well as the Family feed were put to the test using lactating sows and piglets up to nine weeks of age. They were com- pared to results of sows and piglets held in conventional pens and fed conventional lactation and piglet feed. The validation research, which comprised four treatments, was carried out with 104 lactating sows and their piglets and 1,040 weaned cross-bred piglets.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44