Supplementary milk system increases pig litter

A supplementary milk system has brought huge benefits for a Shropshire pig farmer, as Sarah Trickett found out

Providing supplementary milk to all piglets from a few days old may seem like an unnecessary expense. However, with litter sizes of 14 piglets or more becoming the norm, it’s no surprise more variation is occurring in litters as pressure increases on sow and piglets.

But, for farm manager Anthony Williams, Skimble Crown Unit, Much Wenlock, installing a supplementary milk system in his farrowing pens has not only seen improvements in piglet performance, but sow condition has also got better.

The Milk Line system is fitted in 100 of his 144 farrowing crates and was installed 18 months ago after acquiring the system from a neighbouring farm.

“Although we acquired the system free, for someone wanting to set up the system the actual cost a crate is about £50, which does sound a lot,” he admits.

However, the cost is something Mr Williams can justify, with improved performance resulting in a payback period of less than a year..

“With piglets now weaning up to 1kg extra after installing Milk Line, the extra weight at weaning is worth one week less at finishing,” he says.

But, Mr Williams describes the extra weight as more of a “bonus” with the biggest benefit going to sows.

“I like to put the sows in to farrowing at condition score 3.5 and for them to come out at 2.5. But before using Milk Line the sows were coming out at condition score 2 and, when serving sows in this condition, we were getting returns. But by serving sows in better condition we are getting about 1.5 pigs a litter more on average,” he says.

In addition, feed costs have also been saved, says Mr Williams. “Before, when sows weren’t at condition score 2.5 at service, we wouldn’t serve them for three weeks until they were at the right condition, meaning we were paying extra costs to feed for this period, which wasn’t cost effective. We are now averaging 4.2 days wean-to-service interval.”

And at a cost of just 38p a pig after the initial set-up cost, it has certainly been a worthy investment. “This is a system I would recommend and you definitely get the results when used correctly, but good management is needed.”

The management involves filling a 25-litre milk tank daily and, once used, the system then runs with water. Piped milk is available from day four through to weaning.

The system is flushed out once a month to clean the main line but, because the system is running with water following milk, it rarely clogs up.

“Some people may have experienced milk supplementation systems clogging up in the past, but the idea is to use good-quality milk to prevent that.

“It’s not a time-consuming process to keep the system running. To mix up the milk and make sure the drinkers are working probably adds an extra 30 minutes at most on to the daily routine. In the past we used to make up milk for individual litters when there were some poor doers and that probably would take longer than the time it takes now,” he says.

Mr Williams has also used the system to provide medication to piglets, instead of treating them individually . “Instead of running milk through the system you can add medication to the water like an antibiotic when there is a scour problem in one room an0d, within 30 minutes, the pigs will have access to the treatment.”

However, location of the milk drinker and creep feeder is vital, says Mr Williams. “By placing the creep feed dish by the milk drinker, the piglets actually eat more creep feed because piglets go for the milk and then try the creep straight afterwards. It would be no good positioning the creep feeder away from the drinker,” he advises.

But Mr Williams stresses the aim of the system is not to replace mum, but aid her. “It is vital piglets still receive colostrum and milk from the sow.

“It gives those smaller pigs struggling to fight at the teat an additional milk source, which means piglets are now more uniform in size at weaning and are generally fitter and healthier. And the biggest benefit probably comes in the last 10 days when the sow is working the hardest and the piglets are growing at their optimum.”