3 research outputs found
Better growth for the smallest pigs? : a trial with automatic feeders for the weaned pigs
Grisar föds med olika förutsÀttningar och en gris som föds med lÀgre födelsevikt kan ha svÄrt att komma upp i samma tillvÀxttakt som sina kullsyskon. Detta leder till att det i
varje omgÄng finns ett antal grisar med lÀgre avvÀnjningsvikt Àn de andra grisarna. De grisar med lÀgre avvÀnjningsvikt har dock i de flesta fall samma tid pÄ sig att nÄ samma slaktvikt som de större grisarna vilket krÀver en noggrann och genomtÀnkt utfodringsstrategi till dessa minsta grisar.
Vid avvÀnjningen sker mÄnga förÀndringar i smÄgrisens liv, bland annat Àndras enzymprofilen i deras mage och tarm vilket gör att fodret inte kan brytas ner eller absorberas och en stor mÀngd foder kan ansamlas i mage och tarm. HÀr kan oönskade bakterier vÀxa till, vilka kan orsaka avvÀnjningsdiarré. Mindre grisar Àr oftast kÀnsligare Àn tyngre och har svÄrare att anpassa sig, dÀrför kan det vara bra att plocka ut de minsta och svagaste grisarna för att sÀtta i en egen box med extra tillsyn. Flera utfodringstillfÀllen med mindre fodergivor samt blötutfodring gynnar foderintaget och tillvÀxten. En restriktiv fodergiva uppdelad pÄ flera tillfÀllen resulterar i fÀrre sjukdomsfall.
Ett hjÀlpmedel för att skapa bÀttre förutsÀttningar för de minsta grisarna Àr en speciell utfodringsautomat som sÀtts i deras box i samband med att de flyttas till tillvÀxtstallet.
Vi har genom ett mindre försök undersökt huruvida en sÄdan hÀr utfodringsautomat haft nÄgon inverkan pÄ de minsta grisarnas tillvÀxt, jÀmfört med att bara anvÀnda sig av
torrfoder. Försöket utfördes pÄ tre gÄrdar och det gjordes tre upprepningar pÄ varje gÄrd. De minsta och svagaste grisarna valdes ut och vÀgdes enskilt vid avvÀnjningen och delades dÀrefter in i en försöks- och en kontrollbox, som viktmÀssigt var sÄ lika varandra som möjligt. I försöksboxen anvÀndes en utfodringsautomat och i kontrollboxen togs grisarna om hand pÄ det sÀtt man gjorde innan utfodringsautomaten införskaffades.
Resultatet blev att grisarna i försöksboxarna hade vÀxt 540 gram mer i genomsnitt per gris Àn grisarna i kontrollboxarna. Dock skiljde sig resultaten Ät mellan omgÄngarna. I en del omgÄngar hade kontrollboxarna en större viktökning Àn försöksboxarna. GÄrdarna hade olika utfodringsrutiner vilket kan förklara de olika resultaten. Vid en sammanslagning av de tvÄ gÄrdar med mest lika förutsÀttningar sÄ fick vi en signifikant ökad tillvÀxt i försöksboxen. Det verkar alltsÄ sannolikt att de grisar som fÄtt fodret uppblött i automaten vÀxt mer Àn de som fÄtt samma foder men som torrt. VÄra slutsatser Àr att det Àr fördelaktigt att anvÀnda sig av en utfodringsautomat till de minsta och svagaste grisarna vid avvÀnjning men det krÀvs fler och bÀttre kontrollerade försök för att sÀkerstÀlla resultatet.Piglets are born with different conditions depending on the weight at birth. If a piglet is born with a lower weight than the other piglets in the same litter it is difficult to achieve the same growth rate as the others. This leads to that there will be pigs that has a lower weight at the weaning than the other pigs but these pigs usually has the same amount of time to gain the same weight before slaughter as their littermates. If it should be successful it requires a lot of consideration and a well-planned strategy for the feeding to the smallest pigs.
At weaning there are a lot of changes in a pigletsâ life, they are losing their mother and they will have to find their own food and nutrition. The environment is also changing, they may move to another pen that is not designed as the one they were born in. There will also be some changes in their stomach and intestines, such as the enzyme profile.
When the enzyme profile is changing, the piglets cannot absorb or decompose the feed, and a large amount of food will accumulate at the intestines. Here, unwanted bacteria
such as E. coli will be able to grow which can cause weaning diarrhoea for example. The smallest piglets are often more sensitive and it is more difficult for them to adjust to these new conditions than it is for the bigger littermates. That is why it is a good idea to put the smallest piglets in a separate pen for extra supervision, to be able to control the amount of feed and to keep track of the diseases outbreak. It is better to have several
feeding occasions with smaller rations than less feeding occasions with bigger rations.
Also wet feeding instead of dry feeding increases feed intake and growth of the piglets. A restrictive ration divided on several occasions, results in fewer cases of disease. There is a tool to help the smaller piglets to gain weight and to control the feeding intake. It is a special feeding machine that is installed in the pen at the same time as the weaning, and this machine can be set so that it dispenses the feed several times with lower rations. There is also a sensor in the tray of the machine, which detects the amount of feed in the tray, in order to reduce feed waste. We have made a small experiment to find out whether such a machine has any effect on the smallest piglets weight and growth. The experiment was made on three different farms and there were three replicates on each farm. The smallest and weakest piglets were sorted out and weighted individually at weaning. Then they were separated in to two different pens, one pen had the feeding machine installed and the other pen was without the machine. The weight of the piglets was as similar as possible in both of the pens. The pen without the feeding machine was the pen that we compared the results with and the piglets were fed with dry feed and taken care of in the same way as the farm did before they bought the machine.
The result showed that the piglets in the pen with the feeding machine had gained more weight than the piglets without the machine; they had gained 540 grams more on
average per piglet. But the results was very different between the replicates, in some of the replicates the pen without the feeding machine had gained more weight. The farms had different feeding strategies and that can be one of the explanations for the differences of the replicates. The experiment shows that the pigs that were fed with wet
feed in the feeding machine had grown more than those who received the same feed as dry. Our conclusions of this experiment is that it is advantageous to use this kind of feeding machine for the smallest piglets, to give them a better start after weaning and to help them gain more weight than they would have done without this machine