swine innovation centre sterksel innovations and insights leading to robust pigs anne-marie van...
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Swine Innovation Centre Sterksel
Innovations and insights leading to robust pigs
Anne-Marie van Bussel – van Lierop (BSc)
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Presentation
Swine Innovation Centre Sterksel
Feeding piglets: what’s the challenge?
Learning a young pig how to eat
Can welfare help?
What to do today?
Swine Innovation Centre
• Research and development centre (Wageningen UR)• Validation and innovation!
• Knowledge and business centre● 7000-10000 visitors/year
• Research facilities ● 370 sows, 2400 finishers● Lot’s of different systems, innovations
• 18 FTE
• Research budget € 1,5 milj. • 1/3 Government
• 1/3 Farmers Union
• 1/3 Private companies
What’s the challenge
Growth of finishing pigs has been stable for some years
Great variation in growth (on 1109 farms, Agrovision)
2012
628-767 768-789 790-806 807-829 830-95818%
19%
20%
21%
Average growth (grams/day)
% f
arm
s
Influence of birth weight on growth
(Knol, 2012)
Birthweight Low High
Birthweight (kg) 1,18 1,66
Growth rearing period (g/d) 432 459
Weaning weight (kg) 7,1 8,1
Growth finishing pigs (g/d) 824 856
Age at slaughter 179 172
Feed conversion finishers 2,37 2,31
Energy (EW) conversion 2,60 2,54
€ per piglet (approx) 22.7 24.5
€ per finisher (approx) 25.6 26.4
Influence of weaning weight on growth after weaning
Weaning weight Light Heavy
Weight:
Birth (g) 1.240 1.453
Weaning (kg) 7,0 8,7
Day 35 after weaning (kg) 21,3 24,9
Growth after weaning (g/d):
Week 1 169 175
Week 2 250 281
Week 3-5 512 590
Week 1-5 407 464
Consequences of weaning
Separation of sow (and littermaters)●Loss of maternal protection and social stress
New area ●Unknown housing system
●Mixing agression stable after 48 hours
Change of fee●Fluid solid
●fat starch
●Water and feed separated (often)
Eater versus non-eater before weaning
Setup of the trial:
Trial with test: “to eat or not to eat “
Dry feed, starting at 1 week of age
Use of coloured feed
Select piglets as ‘eaters’ or ‘non-eaters’
Weaning at 4 weeks
Results proving the importancy of
pre weaning feed intake
Eater Non-eaterNumber of piglets 194 124Weight: Birth (g) 1.346 1.343 Weaning (kg) 4 weeks
7,9 7,9
Day 35 after weaning (kg)
23,8 22,0
Growth after weaning (g/d):
Week 1 198 133 Week 2 287 232 Week 3-5 571 519 Week 1-5 456 404
Eater versus non eater:
Difference in growth is big (404 versus 456)
Number of piglets not eating before weaning.....
40%!!!!! weaning at 4 weeks ! Intake feed 5 kg per litter
Meaning: 40% of the piglets is not ready to leave the sow!
Meaning: two piglets, both weighing 7.5 kg at weaning can be very different
Learning youngimproves feed intake
Can we develop a feeding system?
In corporation with:
What was the idea?
To develop a feeding system that learns piglets to keep eating:
●Within 4 hours all piglets should have eaten dry feed!
Using the idea that a young pig learns to eat from the sow
●Movie of Wageningen University
Use of the ‘Pavlov’ effect
●Continue after weaning
How do we do this?
Feeding all piglets at the same time, and at the same time as the sow
●Feeding three times per day
●Buzzer sound
Feeding on long trough
●Important!
Repeat this principle after weaning
●Feeding 8 times per day
Look at the movie
Status ?
‘Success rate’:
Ca. 60-70%% van de tomen leert het systeem voor spenen
●Zie voorbeeldfilmpje
●Variatie tussen rondes en tomen
Reactie voor spenen = reactie direct na spenen
Momenteel: effect eerste 7 dagen na spenen
Respons before / after weaning
Group 0 1 2 3
Respons before weaning
0-10% 11-30% 31-50% 51-100%
Number of litters 3 2 6 3
Feedintake day 1 100 92 188 249
Growth week 1 141 125 200 186
No / little respons Actual respons
Approx. 70% of the litters learns to work with the system before weaning:
Big variation between litters!
End conclusions ‘learning young’
Learning young-system gives higher feed intake first week after weaning
Learning young-systems gives higher growth first week after weaning
Big variation between litters!
The better the response before weaning, the better the feed intake after weaning
Focus before weaning!
Example of learning young, eating together....
Nesting material: welfare or economics?
Movie
Nestbuilidingbehaviour
0
1
2
3
4
5
Crate
Duration of birth proces
Only rope + jute, straw
• Trend: sow in crate with rope only: longer birth proces• Shorter birth proces, better colostrum intake?
45
50
55
60
65
Crate
Change in posture
Only rope + jute, straw
Nestbuilding behaviour
00.20.40.60.8
11.2
Crate
Crushing during birth
Only rope + jute, straw
• Results are depending on farm figures• Sows in crates: overall less crushed piglets• Still born piglets: good results on farms
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
Crate
Crushing <48u
Only rope +jute, straw
What to do today?
- Hygiene
- Little mixing
- Colostrum for all piglets (locking up the first 6)
- Dry and warm compartments after weaning
- Fresh and available water and feed
- Feed near the head of the sow
- Taking the feeder from farrowing unit to rearing unit
- Little stress
- Lights on after weaning for 3 days
- Udder availability: movie
Thank you for your attention!
Anne-Marie van Bussel
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