The influence of piglet weight placed for rearing on their productive quality and efficiency of rearing

Abstract

The article studied the effect of the initial weight of piglets when placed on rearing on their growth intensity, average daily feed consumption and feed conversion, cost indicators of the rearing process, and the cost structure of rearing piglets. It was established that an increase in the initial weight of piglets when placed on rearing by 1.1 kg caused a decrease in the rearing duration by 3.17 %, and when it increased above 8 kg by 15.81 %. At the same time, an increase in average daily gains by 1.76 % and 10.13 % and an increase in the weight of piglets when transferred to fattening was noted by 2.03 % and 2.63 %, respectively. At the same time, it caused a decrease in absolute growth by 1.46 and 7.28 %. With an increase in the weight of piglets when they were placed on rearing, their average daily feed consumption increased by 8.43 and 18.07 %, but feed conversion worsened by 5.43 % and 7.61 %. Feed consumption per piglet during the rearing period did not depend on the initial live weight during rearing. With an increase in the initial live weight of piglets in rearing above 7.0 and 8.0 kg, their value also increased by 6.22 and 19.88 %. Whereas, when transferred to fattening, the cost of one pig in all groups was almost equalized, although it exceeded the cost of animals with less than 7 kg of initial live weight by 2.28 and 2.36 %, respectively. At the same time, the cost of growing one head, on the contrary, decreased by 2.77 and 20.12 %, with an increase in the initial weight when setting up for growth. The cost of rearing piglets that weighed more than 8 kg at birth was 17.84 % lower than the counterparts whose initial weight at rearing was 7–8 kg and by 20.12 % compared to animals whose live weight at the beginning of rearing was less than 7 kg The cost of feed spent on growing one piglet and obtaining 1 kg of growth did not have a clear trend of dependence on the initial live weight of piglets on growing. The share of feed in the cost of rearing one piglet increased with an increase in the live weight of piglets by 2.33 and 9.41 %, while the costs of veterinary care did not depend on the weight of piglets at the beginning of rearing. The weight of piglets at the time of rearing had a probable influence of 14.2 % on the average daily growth but did not significantly affect the preservation of piglets and the cost of their rearing.

Keywords

• rearing; piglets; gains; conservation; feed conversion; cost.