The greatest cost of pig production is feed, which is up to 70% of the total expenses. Prices for feed ingredients are continuing to rise so alternative feed sources or co-products are being investigated to help lower these costs. Pigs...

As litter size increases, birth weight and litter weight are decreasing and the piglets may not be receiving proper nutrition. Piglets are naturally dependent nutritionally on their mother until 135 days, which equals the whole post-weaning period. Micronutrients were screened...

Pulse crops like lentils, field peas and faba beans may be a cheaper option for swine feed. These ingredients are highly available in Canada and though often used for human consumption, when they are downgraded they could be a cheap...

Micronutrients are needed in small quantities and are essential elements. Three that are transferred from the sow to the piglet after birth are copper, vitamin A and vitamin D. Naturally these are obtained by soil, plants and UV light but...

Increasing sow milk yield is an important area of research since it helps with piglet growth. Sows are often aggressive due to restricted feeding so increasing satiety was investigated to see if performance was improved. Processing of straw improved the...

Feed costs are one of the main expenses in swine production, so a lot of research has been done to help reduce this constant strain on producers. Feeding low, constant net energy diets is a cheaper alternative to feeding higher...

The sow is not producing enough milk to feed the increasing litter sizes produced, so piglet growth is being limited. Improving the sow’s milk yield can help maximize piglet growth. This may be accomplished through improving mammary development. The main...

Fine tuning nutrients in diets is an important part of keeping diet costs as low as possible while having optimal performance with low phosphorus and nitrogen excretion. Precision feeding allows for not only fine tuning of the diets themselves but...

Distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) is a co-product of ethanol production from cereal grains and can reduce feed costs while providing amino acids and energy to pigs. Feed costs are a large portion of the production costs for swine...

Boar taint is a problem for the pork industry due to its impact on meat quality. Pork has an unpleasant odour and a gamey taste when from an uncastrated male due to sex pheromones produced, which is why early castration...

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) supports the piglets’ intestines development and is produced through the sows milk naturally. Weaning pigs earlier decreases the amount of milk and EGF a piglet would normally consume which slows their development and growth. Making EGF...

Previously, low levels of antibiotics were supplied in feed so that post-weaning diarrhea was reduced. Feed additives may be able to help replace antibiotics and decrease the incidence of post-weaning diarrhea. Three types of prebiotics and an organic acid salt...