Weaning at 28 Days. Is Creep Feeding Beneficial?
Creep feeding in the farrowing room is often practiced to ensure the transition to solid feed at weaning goes smoothly. This is important as weight loss and increased disease risk are often noted post-weaning due to the stressful transition. It is possible that the creep...
Zinc Oxide and Antimicrobial Resistance in Pigs
An essential nutrient in a pigs diet is zinc, with minimum levels need around 100 ppm. In early starter rations, zinc oxide is often used therapeutically to control post-weaning E. coli diarrhea in levels of 2000 to 3000 ppm. Zinc oxide used therapeutically may create...
The Importance of Nitrogen for Growth
Protein is the second most expensive nutrient after energy in swine rations. While essential amino acids have been looked at extensively regarding requirements needed, total dietary nitrogen and non-essential amino acids have not. Pigs can use non-protein nitrogen to correct essential amino acid deficiency, though...
Getting More Piglets Interested in Creep Feed
Many piglets do not eat before weaning, even though it helps ease the weaning dip if they do. Weaning is a stressful period for piglets; they are removed from the sow and put into an unfamiliar environment, mixed with unknown piglets and have an abrupt...
Feeding Fusarium Contaminated Grain
Fusarium has been reported throughout western Canada. The principle toxin DON (deoxynivalenol or vomatoxin) contaminates the grain and impacts the feeding of pigs that ingest it. Average daily gain and feed intake are suppressed when fed DON levels over 1 to 2 ppm. Vomiting occurs...
Nutritional Management of Grow-Finish Pigs: Energy and Feed Efficiency
Feed efficiency depends on many feed composition factors such as amino acid concentration, energy, and nutrient balance. Environmental factors also have a large influence. Feeder space allowance impacts growth and feed intake, with more feeder space increasing final body weight and daily gain. More attention...
Minimizing and Managing Ingredients Variability
Variation in nutrient composition of ingredients in livestock feeds needs to be understood to continue with efficient pork production. Ingredients are inconsistent, but feed manufacturers are still expected to produce consistent diets. Buyers and sellers affect the cost and risk associated with variation. If the...
A Revolution in Feed Management
Precision feeding technique technology is being developed for feeding pigs daily on an individual basis, maximizing their growth. Phase feeding programs feed based on targeted averages; with faster pigs often being underfeed and slow-growing pigs being overfed. When feeding individual pigs their daily needs, nitrogen...
The Overall Response of Piglets to Phase One Diets During the First Two Weeks in the Nursery is Not Affected by Creep Feeding or Weaning Weight
As litter size continues to increase, the number of small pigs also rises. It is crucial to ensure survival of these piglets or there are no benefits to larger litters. Immediately after post-weaning, many problems such as poor growth rate, low feed consumption and an...
Focus on Feed Efficiency in Pork Production
Up to 70% of the variable cost of production can be attributed to feed. Having better feed efficiency can largely impact the feed cost per pig. Social, environmental, immunological and management scenarios should be considered when examining feed efficiency. The “Focus on Feed Efficiency” webinar...