Effectiveness of the liquid method of feeding suckling piglets
Abstract
The article examined the dependence of sow productivity, the growth rate of suckling piglets, their weight at transfer to rearing, the consumption of precursor feeds, and their costs on dry and liquid feeding systems for piglets in the suckling period. The dependence on feed costs for piglet feeding, veterinary drugs for prevention, and the costs and profitability of piglet rearing in these feeding systems were analyzed. It was found that the use of the liquid milk replacer Opticare Milk helped to improve the survival rate of piglets up to weaning by 7.5 %, increase their number in the sow's nest at this time by 7.0 %, increase the average daily growth of suckling piglets by 20.4 %, increase the absolute weight gain by 19.8 %, increase the weight of the piglet litter at weaning by 22.0 % and increase the individual weight of the piglets at weaning by 14.7 % compared to piglet litters fed dry granulated starter provide Superior Neonatal. Multiple fertility, high fertility, and litter weight of piglets at birth did not depend on how piglets were fed during the suckling period. With liquid feeding of suckling piglets, the proportion of piglets with diarrhea decreased by 12.20 % and the costs for the prevention of gastrointestinal diseases increased by 58.5 %, the costs for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases by 55.4 %, and the veterinary costs for rearing a piglet during the suckling period by 53.8 % compared to analogs with dry feeding. To 1 kg of gain, these costs increased by 33.1 % due to prevention and 28.4 % due to treatment, resulting in a 28.5 % overrun of the total costs for treatment and prevention. In general, the costs for feeding and medical and preventive measures increased by 157.8 % per animal and 122.2 % per 1 kg of gain compared to dry feeding. At the same time, under the liquid feeding system for suckling piglets, the cost of keeping a sow per weaned piglet fell by 6.00 %. The proportion of these costs per piglet decreased by 21.6 %, and the cost of keeping a sow per 1 kg increased. Still, the cost of a piglet at weaning increases by 13.2 %, the cost of 1 kg live weight of piglets at weaning increases by 5.6 %, the share of feed and veterinary components in the cost of rearing a piglet increases by 9.1 %, and by 3.4 %. At the same time, the market value increases by 14.7 %, the income from rearing a piglet rises by 17.9 %, and the profitability of rearing a piglet increases by 1.95 %.
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