More pig slurry with wet feed
More pig slurry with wet feed
REDUCING the dry matter content of wet feed to 200g of feed/litre does not suppress dry matter intake, diet digestibility and pig performance, but slurry output is increased.
This is the conclusion from two MLC and DEFRA-funded studies. University of Plymouth researcher Jane Beal found no effect of decreasing the dry matter content to 200g of feed/litre on feed intake or weight gains of grower/finisher pigs.
"However, decreasing the dry matter content further to 100g/litre reduced feed intake, resulting in weight gains falling from 730g/day to 460g/day. But this dry matter content is rarely seen on commercial units, wet feed typically contains 250-300g feed/litre."
The advantage of wetter feed is that it can be pumped more easily on commercial units. Dr Beal believes this is also useful when producers dont know the exact dry matter content of some feeds, such as liquid whey.
In addition, younger pigs with an average weight of 35kg seemed to cope better with wetter food than older animals at more than 55kg. "Diet dry matter content seems more critical for older pigs, which is surprising as we expected older pigs to adapt better to wetter feed," said Dr Beal.