49 Pork News & Views Pork News & Views Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Better Pork | June 2024 going. There are several nutritional and management strategies that producers can use to help high risk piglets and increase the likelihood of them becoming a full value pig down the road. OMAFRA’s Helping high-risk piglets in the farrowing room Factsheet 20-001 (https:// www.ontario.ca/page/helpinghigh-risk-piglets-farrowing-room) details these management and nutritional strategies, including the use of milk replacers and gruel feeding. Additionally, producers can implement nutritional strategies, such as creep feeding, for suckling pigs with the aim of helping them successfully transition from liquid to solid feed at the time of weaning. To learn about creep feeding, see OMAFRA’s Creep feeding to improve piglet performance, Factsheet 18-003 (https://www.ontario.ca/ page/creep-feeding-improve-piglet-performance). Weaned (Nursery) Piglets Piglets undergo a significant amount of stress around the time of weaning. This includes social, environmental, immunological and nutritional stressors. Collectively, this contributes to a common phenomenon called the ‘post-weaning growth lag’ which is characterized by pigs going off feed for 24-48 hours post-weaning, reduced (or negative) body weight gain, increased susceptibility to disease and impacts to gut development. It is extremely important to get pigs onto feed as fast as possible at the time of weaning to ensure optimal welfare and performance. When talking about piglets at weaning, it is important to remember that we often talk about the ‘average’ pig. With an average weaning weight of ~6 kg, the actual spread of weights for 92% of the pigs in a group is from ~4 to 8 kg. The smaller, average and larger piglets all have different growth curves, and it can take approximately 20 days post-weaning for the smaller pigs to reach the 6 kg weight the "average pig was weaned at, and 26 days for them to reach 8 kg. Managing feeders and feed is critical to help get weaned piglets off to a good start. Nursery pigs should be fed ad libitum (free choice) feed at all times. Nursery pigs can be fed using dry, wet-dry and liquid systems. The number of pigs per feeder space depends on the type of feed system and, if a dry feed is used, the type offered (mash vs. pellets). For dry systems, research has shown that a feeder should be occupied by pigs 80% of the time (Li et al., 2017). In other words, a feeder should be used by pigs for 19 of 24 hours per day. Based on the speeds that pigs eat, this means that, in the nursery, the recommended number of pigs per feeder is between 6 (mash) and 10 (pellets). Utilizing a wet-dry system allows for additional pigs per feeder space as pigs can consume feed faster. With a liquid feeding system, all pigs must have access to the feed trough at the same time, as the feed is delivered in small batches several times a day. When providing dry feed, feeder gaps should be adjusted to achieve 65-70% feeder pan coverage to optimize feed conversion and reduce the amount of time each pig spends at the feeder. The Kansas State swine extension team offers feeder adjustment cards to help nursery producers ensure they are achieving the correct feeder pan coverage (https://www.asi.k-state. edu/extension/swine/feeder-adjustment-cards.html). Feeding mats are recommended for the first week post-weaning. Mats take advantage of the normal social feeding behaviour of young pigs, allowing them to eat as a group, and consume small amounts more frequently (as they did when nursing). If you provided a creep feed in the farrowing room, using the same feed for the first few days post-weaning will be beneficial, as pigs will recognize the smell and taste of the feed. While the overall amount of feed consumed per pig will vary from pig to pig, farm to farm and between genetic lines, young pigs in the nursery will typically consume between 1-2 kg of feed per day. Pigs under 8 kg will consume approximately 0.5 kg/d of concentrate feed. Pigs between 8 to 15 kg will consume approximately 1 kg/d and pigs between 15 and 25 kg will consume approximately 2 kg/d. Grow-Finish Pigs Like nursery pigs, grow-finish pigs can be fed using dry, wet-dry and liquid systems. Using the same calculations (80%-time occupancy at feeder and pig eating speed), the recommended number of pigs per feeder in the grow-finish barn is between 11 (mash) and 17 (pellets). Utilizing a wet-dry system allows for additional pigs per feeder space as pigs can consume feed faster. With a liquid feeding system, all pigs must have access to the feed trough at the same time, as the feed is delivered in small batches several times a day. When providing dry feed, feeder gaps should be adjusted to achieve 40-50% feeder pan coverage to optimize feed conversion and reduce feed wastage. As pigs grow, feeder pan coverage can be decreased slightly to help reduce wastage. If feed accumulates in the corners, you may need to reduce the gap setting. Cleaning corners daily will allow you to better determine if the gap setting requires changing. The depth of the feed pans and width of the feeder are also important when it comes to ensuring
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