The effect of cup waterer to pig ratio was evaluated to determine changes on nursery pig drinking behavior and performance in 7-week-old gilts. Pigs were housed 25 per pen and allotted 0.22 m2/pig in a nursery facility located in central Missouri. Pen was the experimental unit with 3 pens per treatment group. Ratios of 1:25 (Treatment 1), 1:12 (Treatment 2), and 1:8 (Treatment 3) were studied. Pigs were individually identified and their drinking behavior was videotaped on November 15–16, 2006, for subsequent behavioral quantification and statistical analysis.
A pig was defined as drinking when the head was over the drinker for at least 5 consecutive seconds. Treatment 3 pigs drank significantly more frequently (13.88 ˙ 0.84 in 6 hr) than those provided with 1 or 2 cup waterers per pen
(10.32 ˙ 0.95 and 10.60 ˙ 0.84 respectively; p D .0209). There was a trend (p D .06) for pigs provided 2 or 3 cup waterers per pen to have increased average daily gain compared with those provided a single drinker. This study
demonstrated that when pigs were offered more places to drink they visited the water bowl drinker more frequently during a 6-hr period, which tended to increase average daily gain in nursery-age pigs. Although further research is
needed to confirm these findings, a nursery providing a ratio closer to published guidelines may lead to increased performance.