Feeding nursing sows four times daily instead of twice increased feed consumption, reduced sow weight loss and led to slightly more piglets weaned in a year-long trial in Germany.
Altogether 168 sows were involved in the project at the Futterkamp Institute. Those fed four times over the 21-day suckling period lost an average two kilograms less weight during that time and produced just over 0.7 weaners more per year.
Although these results are not regarded as statistically significant by the researchers, it is felt that the tendency towards higher numbers of weaned pigs could be an encouragement for farmers to consider ad lib or electronic systems rather than hand feeding twice per day.
Younger sows fed four times daily consumed an average 5.4 kilograms per day compared with 5.1 kilograms for the twice-daily groups, but they had more milk for their litters with piglet weight gain better by one or two grams per day.
The Futterkamp Institute also used this trial to look into the effect of lowering crude protein content in lactating sow rations with the main aim of reducing nitrate in the resultant manure. The sows were either fed 15 per cent crude protein content in rations during suckling or the more conventional 17.5 per cent plus one per cent lysine proportion. The results showed that protein reduction did not really affect performance, while the manure from each sow on the low protein ration contained an average 1.44 kilograms less nitrogen per year.