their system were similar to dry feeding, but feed intake and growth rate were higher. “I would say that about 40% of the fattening houses in North- ern Ireland use liquid feeding, and wet/dry is only used at a few farms,” Dr Muns reports. “I am not sure about the rest of Europe and beyond. Next in our research, we are going to see how much the amount of water added to the dry feed affects feed conversion, feed intake and growth rate, especially in the nursery phase. Another question is whether it’s best to use liquid or wet/dry feeding the whole way from weaning to finishing, or if it’s best to change from dry to wet at some point from a performance and economic perspective.”
Advice to pork producers In terms of advice to producers who need to make a deci-
sion about the type of feeding system to purchase, Dr Muns says that if a farmer has co-products available, a liquid feed- ing system is the best way to go, particularly if it’s a finish- ing operation. With finishing pigs, there is more leeway, he notes, in terms of not having to be so precise with quality monitoring and adjustment of liquid feed plus co-product compared to, for example, sows in lactation. If there are no co-products available to a farmer, however, Dr Muns does recommend a wet/dry system. “You will then have no degradation of ingredients,” he says, “and you will have less maintenance and cleaning of the system com- pared to a liquid system (less risk of biofilm forming). Also, if a farmer has the type of system we have been using at AFBI, it allows you to choose or swap between dry and wet/ dry feeding.”
▶ PIG PROGRESS | Volume 37, No. 1, 2021
In a new type of wet/dry feeding system, water and the com- pound feed are kept separate up to the point of delivery to the feeding trough.
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