5 recommendations for healthy piglet growth post-weaning
New genetic programs in swine have led to the development of hyper prolific sows, resulting in more piglets per litter. While this boosts growth potential, it also entails lowers birth weights and vitality, increased mortality rates during lactation and greater variability of weaning weights.
Nutritional challenges
For piglets to realize their full growth potential under these circumstances, they need to overcome several hurdles, a lot of which have to do with nutritional challenges.
- Colostrum availability: Increased litter sizes automatically translate into less colostrum and milk available to each piglet. From 8 days of lactation onwards, this can result in a loss of up to 60% of the piglets’ growth potential.
- Reduced Nutrient Intake: Smaller piglets have high nutritional needs but limited intake capacity for water and feed due to an underdeveloped gastrointestinal tract.
- Digestive Issues: Reduced feed intake post-weaning aggravates digestive problems, especially with the decrease in antibiotic use and the withdrawal of zinc oxide from feeds. In addition, weaker piglets are more susceptible to diseases, which often leads to less productive yields.
EARLYFEED STRATEGIES
Based on scientific insights corroborated by field studies, Earlyfeed experts have examined adequate early feeding strategies to optimize feed intake, reduce weaning stress, and enhance piglet performance during the transition phase. These expert-recommended strategies follow a few basic principles:
- Feed intake after weaning: Making sure piglets consume feed within 4 hours post-weaning is crucial to prevent atrophy of the intestinal villi, reduce digestive problems and improve productive performance. The earlier it is initiated, the fewer maladapted piglets there will be at weaning.
- Timely introduction of solid feed: Starting piglets on solid feed early is a vital step in promoting the maturation of the piglets’ gastrointestinal tracts. It improves nutrient intake, and consequently aids weaning quality and performance. The earlier solid feed is offered, the earlier the piglets will start to eat it, and the higher their consumption will be in the last week of lactation.
- Use of creep feed: Offering creep feed from the first week enhances feed consumption, resulting in better adaptation and lower stress at weaning. In litters where creep feed is offered from the 1st week of life, 10% more piglets consume solid feed compared to litters that receive feed from the 2nd or 3rd week of life.
fIELD study results
Study 1: Better growth and survival with Babito creep feed
Earlyfeed experts conducted a test with Babito (creep feed). The control and test groups consumed the same feed from day 21 onwards and were weaned at 28 days. From day 3 until day 21 only the test group was fed Babito. In this group the experts observed:
- 27% less mortality in maternity
- 9% better growth from the 2nd to 4th week of life (+9%), maintained until week 8
- 1.4 kg higher weight at the end of the test period.
Study 2: Positive impact of dietary consistency
Recent studies suggest that maintaining the same diet around weaning has a positive impact on post-weaning growth. Composition differences between creep feed and post-weaning diet may negatively impact the post-weaning intake, even if the intake in maternity is higher.
In an experiment conducted by Heo et al. (2018), three different feeds were offered under the sow: creep feed, prestarter and sow feed. At weaning, all piglets received the prestarter diet. Piglets fed the prestarter diet before and after weaning had a higher feed intake and grew more after weaning than those fed creep feed or sow feed pre-weaning.
Focus on diet formulation
As antibiotic use decreases in post-weaning feeds, diet formulation plays an even more important role in maintaining digestive safety, avoiding post-weaning diarrhea, and supporting piglet growth.
- The most effective nutritional strategies use highly digestible and palatable raw materials, while reduce the buffering capacity and crude protein content of the feed, as well as the ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids. They include coarse particles, and incorporate functional amino acids, inert fiber, and medium chain fatty acids. They increase the ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids and use additives to support intestinal functionality and health.
- Post-weaning diets with complex ingredients promote higher growth rates and better feed conversion, aiding in achieving slaughter weights earlier.
- Low-protein diets with highly digestible sources and low anti-nutritional factors are recommended to prevent diarrhea caused by fermentation of undigested protein.
- Supplementation with synthetic amino acids allows adequate growth, even at low protein levels. Likewise, using organic acids and diets with low buffer capacity will favor protein digestion and promote a low pH at stomach level. The same applies for formulation strategies aimed at increasing the retention time of feed in the stomach.
- Inclusion of inert fiber sources accelerates intestinal transit and prevents the proliferation and colonization of pathogens. Fiber inclusion also has a positive impact on the intestinal morphology, and helps to lower the incidence of diarrhea.
5 recommendations
Drawing on the insights above, our Earlyfeed experts have composed a comprehensive set of 5 recommended feeding management principles. Used as a guideline, the principles facilitate optimal adaptation of piglets to weaning, ensuring improved overall health, better growth, and overall performance.
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