Eye on Europe: New turbo-feed gives hog feed conversion of 1:2

Sunday, April 5, 2009

By increasing enzyme activity in the stomach, this cooked and vacuum-coated pellet feed improves digestibility and increases absorption of N and P

by NORMAN DUNN

A Dutch co-operative is developing a hog feed using pellet cooking technology to produce a product claimed to improve all-round feeding hog performance with average daily liveweight gain of 844 grams and a 30 per cent improvement in feed conversion ratio in trials. At the same time, it is showing reduced emissions of phosphate and nitrogen in the manure.

Behind the development is Cehave Landbouwbelang, a co-operative which produces 2.5 million tonnes of livestock feed per year. Its CCL research division has already launched piglet and rearing rations based on the cooking technology and is now introducing a pelleted feed called "Air Line 2.0" for finishing units.

The cooking treatment is a short-term, high-temperature process which has been shown to improve digestibility. Enzyme activity in the stomach is increased by feed treated in this way, according to CCL, with more efficient digestion in the lower intestine resulting. A vacuum process enables a precise amount of fat to be efficiently absorbed into the pores of the feed.   

All this is said to add to palatability, and first trials indicate very good intake with daily liveweight gain upped by an average 50 grams compared with feeding hogs on conventionally pelleted rations. Available energy is increased by the process and this boosts feed conversion efficiency.

The Dutch compounder has tested the rations on around 18,000 hogs so far and claims an average one-kilogram weight gain for every two kilograms of feed – from 25 kilograms liveweight through to slaughter (average for top hog feeding farms in the Netherlands is around 1:2.8). 

Just as important in intensive production areas is the increased absorption of N and P in the gut thanks to the cooking process. CCL figures indicate that this reduces the amount of nitrates and phosphate in the resultant manure by 30 per cent and 60 per cent respectively. In turn, this means that, under Dutch pollution control regulations, farmers are allowed to spread almost double the amount of hog manure per hectare compared with hogs on conventional diets thus substantially reducing manure costs.

Cost of the cooked, expanded and vacuum-coated pellet feed is about $140 a tonne higher than conventional rations. But the co-op stresses that resultant higher hog performance means feed cost per kilogram of weight gain is about the same as with conventional rations. 

Rubber mattresses for dry sows and feeding hogs?
A Bavarian agricultural research institute has recorded a reduction in joint swellings of 37 per cent with loose-housed pregnant sows where rubber mats are put down in the lying area.

The State Education and Research Institute in Grub tested the mattresses in laying areas of six pens in both heated and unheated barns over nine cycles of sows within the institute herd. The tests showed that the sows preferred the mats to bare concrete or slats and that the soft alternative also resulted in a 17 per cent reduction in scrape injuries on legs compared with sows in bare concrete floored pens.

The Grub institute reports a general increase in dominance fighting between pregnant sows introduced to loose housing (compared with stall and tether systems). But here, too, the pens with rubber mats in the lying area seemed to reduce aggression, with injuries down by around four per cent compared with loose-housed sows in bare concrete of slatted floor pens.

Mattresses used in the tests were rubber based and perforated to assist drainage and supplied by a Bavarian company, Kraiburg, which up until now has specialized in matting for cow cubicles.

Other trials have indicated, however, that hog farmers have to take a lot more precautions to stop the rubber mats being quickly chewed up by inquisitive and playful sows. Solid anchoring to the floor with metal frames to protect the edges is recommended. Another problem: The rubber mats in tests so far have tended to become very dirty and need even more cleaning input than bare concrete flooring.

In Switzerland, researchers at the national Agroscope research institute have also been looking at plastic and rubber matting for laying areas in feeding hog barns. Tests comparing scrape wounds, leg joint health, lying behaviour and weight gain performance with over 600 feeding hogs indicate a significant decrease in all types of injuries where mattresses are used, even compared with straw-bedded lying areas. The hogs also lay longer and seemed more relaxed on the various types of mattress and performed better.

In one trial, for example, very high daily liveweight gains were recorded from 30 to 100 kilograms slaughterweight with an average 1,029 grams for hogs on multi-layered mattresses (two centimetres of foam surfaced by 2.2 millimetres of thick smooth thermoplastic) followed by 989 grams for the hogs on straw-bedded concrete and an average 929 grams for the animals on bare concrete laying areas. All pens were in insulated and ventilated barns. 

Sharing skilled hog labour halves cost
Good, reliable hog hands are as difficult to find in northern Europe as anywhere else. The result is often that the farmer ends up doing all the work, while somehow managing to slot in field operations at seeding and harvest.

Labour costs for an extra hand are another barrier. The InterPIG 2006 survey put Germany's average labour cost of pork production at the equivalent of C$0.27 per kilogram – substantially lower than the United Kingdom's average of C$0.30, but still very expensive when compared with lower-cost European countries such as Ireland, where labour costs in hog production come to just C$0.24.

The answer to this problem on a growing number of German farms is sharing a skilled hand between two units. Examples include neighbouring weaner production units in northwest Germany with 500 and 350 sows respectively.

The farmers in each case do the outside work and much of the day-to-day routine in the hog barns. Because the smaller unit has a system of serving sows on Tuesdays and weaning on Thursdays, the shared help spends these two days there and the other three days of the agreed 40-hour five-day week on the 500-sow unit.

Both farmers report complete satisfaction with the arrangement, which includes shower facilities and separate working clothes on each farm so there's minimum danger of the hired help carrying disease from one unit to the other.

Another weaner producer has defeated the danger of imported swine disease by sharing a stockman with the neighbouring milk producer. During silage and corn harvest, for example, this hand remains on the dairy farm to relief milk, while the farmer there takes the harvest in and makes up for this by spending more time on the hog unit for the rest of the year.

In both cases, hourly payment is according to time spent on the respective farms and the farmers split the worker's health insurance and pension costs down the middle. Main result: skilled labour costs are almost halved and, at the same time, there's welcome relief for the participating farmers at busy times.

English swine producers plan regional disease eradication
Chronic, often sub-clinical swine diseases such as PRRS, PMWS, dysentery and mange are costing the average British English hog producer around the equivalent of C$16 for every slaughter hog produced. With this continual loss in mind, the country's British Pig Executive (BPEX), a marketing and management aid organization financed by producer levies, has launched plans for a region-by-region eradication program.

Culling, disinfecting and resting of buildings and then restocking with clean breeding stock is the road to be followed. BPEX has spotlighted one of the country's most intensive hog production regions, Yorkshire and Humberside, as the probable testbed and starting point. This region has a breeding sow population of around 100,000 and the scheme is first to involve local government regional development agencies which already have budgets for funding animal health and welfare programs. First step involves publicity and organisation to get all producers committed to the voluntary plan.

The regional development agency for Yorkshire and Humberside, it is proposed, will fund 70 per cent of the costs here, an estimated C$420,000, with the rest coming from the farmers involved. Those participating will also have to pay all their own costs for restocking and other disease eradication measures. Next stage will be establishment of a local headquarters and staff to co-ordinate eradication measures and monitor the disease situation throughout the region's swine herds. This step will cost around C$2 million to get going in Yorkshire and Humberside region.

Once again, local government is to be asked to stump up 70 per cent of the bill with the rest left to the farmers. BPEX then plans to expand the program region-by-region over the whole of the country.

Total commitment by hog producers will be crucial, points out Howard Revell of the National Pig Association, which represents swine producers. But he is optimistic that farmers will rally round, adding that the recent general success of a similar voluntary scheme aimed at eradication of swine dysentery in another British region was encouraging in this respect.

Lightweight scanner permits 21-day diagnosis of pregnant sows

Cordless and lightweight at just 450 grams, the new ultrasonic "Virtual Scan" from French company ECM promises reliable diagnosis of sow pregnancy at 21 days. This means that there's time for re-insemination of an empty sow without missing an extra estrus cycle. The hand-held (11 by 18.5 by 4.5 centimetres) scanner with five hours accumulator power features a five MHz in-built probe and colour screen on which scans are claimed to be particularly easy to understand.

The manufacturer, which produces a series of veterinary and medical scanners, and even provides short training courses for new operators, claims that its ultrasonic Virtual Scan is the smallest of its type in the world and comes with moisture-resistant plastic casing which can be simply cleaned with a damp cloth. BP