Nutrition exam 3 swine

What are pigs classified as nutritionally?

Monogastric Omnivores

What is the age at which a gilt is weaned?

2.5 months

What is the age range for the growing finishing stage of a gilt?

2.5 months - 5 months

At what age is a gilt typically sent to market?

5.5 months

What stage do gilts enter if they are kept after 5 months?

Pre-breeding stage until second or third estrous cycle

What does a gilt go through after the pre-breeding stage?

Breeding, gestation, and farrowing

What is the purpose of flushing before breeding?

It increases the number of eggs ovulated. Skinny gilts are full fed and normal gilts are fed 6-7lbs/day

How long should flushing by full feeding be done if the animal is thin?

For 1-2 weeks.

What should be done to feeding levels after breeding?

Reduce feeding level to 6-7lb/day.

Nutrient requirements during gestation

low during first 2/3 and spikes during last month.

Targeted pregnancy weight gain for sows vs gilts. Why are they different?

75-85lbs for a sow, 100-110 lbs in a gilt because the gilt is still growing once bred.

Cost of feeding sow too much

costly and wasteful, smaller litters, more farrowing difficulty, more likely to crush piglets

Cost of feeding sow too little

pigs smaller and weaker at birth, not enough body stores to produce enough milk, piglets too thin at weaning, may not return to estrus

Supplemental fat late in gestation purpose

increase birth weights, higher fat level in milk and colostrum, slight increase in milk production

Constipation in sows cause

poor feed intake during gestation

constipation in sows is fixed by

a laxative diet, either wheat bran or beet pulp (more fiber), or magnesium sulfate or KCl.

Pre-Farrowing and Post farrowing diets are

high in antibiotics to reduce instances of MMA(mastitis, metritus, agalactia)

Lactation nutrient requirement

3-4x higher than maintenance

Lactation nutrient requirement met nutritionally by

full feeding gestation diet. High protein to prevent mobilization from body reserves (detrimental)

Colostrum in pigs

Pigs can absorb antibodies for the first 12-24hrs of life. Changes gradually to milk within first 24-48 hours.

Sows milk vs cows milk

Sows milk is higher in fat, protein, and dry matter than cows milk

Gestation feeding weight

6-7lbs/day

Passive vs active immunity in piglets

Passive goes away entirely around 3 weeks of age, Active immunity goes up after 2 weeks of age

Disease vulnerability in piglets

weakest around 3 weeks where passive immunity declined and active is still low

Iron deficiency in milk

Piglets born with 50 mg iron, use 7-8mg/day, milk only has 1 mg/day. Will become anemic in 3-4 days.

Solution to iron deficiency anemia

given IM injection of 100-200mg before pig is 3

What happens when a sow cant supply her piglet with milk?

Given to a foster mom within 24 hrs for uniform weaning weights.

Bottle feeding in pigs

laborious and requires excellent sanitation

Is cows milk adequate to feed piglets?

No. Needs replacer added to increase dry matter to 20%

When do pigs start to nibble on dry feed?

2 weeks

Segregated early weaning(SEW)

Pigs weaned 1.5-2 weeks old before they lose their passive immunity and make their own antibodies. Moved to super clean nursery, minimizes infection, maximizes growth, and minimizes lactation.

Starter phase

weaning-40/50lbs. Weigh 10lbs if weaned at 1 week, 12-16lbs if weaned at 3 weeks.

Lysine single starter

1% lysine for pigs over 6 weeks old (40-50lbs)

Lysine two phase/double starter

fed 1.2% lysine at 3-4 weeks (25lbs), then 1% over 6 weeks old

Lysine 3 phase triple starter

Fed 1.4% lysine 2-3 weeks (15lbs), 1.2 at 3-4 weeks, then 1% over 6 weeks old

Ingredients of starter diets

high levels of dried whey, lactose, dried skim milk, spray dried animal plasma protein (pre-starter and phase 1), dried blood meal at phase 2

Amino acids/soybean concentrate used in starter diets to

keep soybean meal levels from being too excessive due to its antigenicity

spray dried animal plasma protein

almost always included in pre-starter and phase 1 starters

what phase is blood meal used in starter diets

phase 2

Fish meal use in starter diets

phase 1 and 2, to replace a portion of soybean meal

sucrose and flavoring agents in starter diets

used to encourage pigs to eat

Pre-starter and starter diets always fortified with

antimicrobials

Growing-finishing pigs

50lbs to market weight (250 pounds)

Growing finishing pigs are fed ad libitum or rationed?

ad libitum

Growing finishing pig diets

grain and soybean meal with vitamins and minerals

Feeder space for pigs

4-5 pigs per feeder, avoids overcrowding and maximizes performance

Barrows vs gilts nutrition

Barrows eat more, gilts have more feed efficiency(lower feed to gain ratio)

Barrows vs gilts protein

barrows require more protein because of higher lean muscle conversion

Split sex feeding

Gilts and barrows are penned separately and fed different diets (gilts 1-2% higher in protein)

Lean growth kept track by

days in grow/finishing period and carcass data from packer

Feeding Systems for Growing-Finishing Pigs

Mixed on farm from soybean meal, grain, and base mix(vitamins/minerals) bought in bulk.

Boar nutrient requirement

similar to sows, 4-6lbs/day. Kept in trim condition. May need extra feed with heavy use

How much food dows a pig eat?

350/375lbs feed/100lbs pork(3.75:1). 900lbs to produce 265lb market hog.

Lean pigs vs fat hogs

more efficient, marketing hogs earlier improves overall feed conversion (growth rate slows as sows het heavier)

Factors that reduce feed conversion/efficiency

-temps outside thermoneutral zone

-poor housing/overcrowding

-parasites/disease

-feed wastage and low quality diets

Open sows are

culled

SEW formula 1 feed

high in whey protein, lactose, and porcine plasma. Complicated, medicated diet.

Pig finisher pellet

Corn and soybean meal. Unmedicated because of slaughter

Sow and pig grower pellet

corn and soybean meal, higher protein than pig finisher, medicated with tylosin to inprove feed efficiency

No warning statement on sow and pig grower pellet

because tylosin is not kept in tissue

Table chart putting it all together

Feed wastage

should be some residual in the container but not too much