Source: Boerderij – Anne-Marie van der Linde
Floor feeding is not optimal
Piglets must be eating enough feed before weaning. Livar decided, at the new breeding farm, to let the piglets feed alongside their sows.
To ensure the piglets were feeding as well as possible before weaning, farm manager Rik Verheijen looked for alternatives to traditional feeding systems. At the breeding farm near Lilbosch Abbey The sows are fed via the floor. This way, the piglets learn to eat alongside their mothers from an early age.
But floor feeding is not ideal, as Verheijen has found: “Pigs aren’t tidy eaters. With floor feeding, they scatter the feed too much around the pen and into the straw. That’s fine with fresh feed, but after a few hours they stop picking the pellets out from among the straw. The feed is simply too expensive for that.” That’s why he’s looking for a different solution for the new breeding farm.
Feeding trough for sows and piglets
As the new farrowing pen was designed as a farrowing and rearing unit, a feeding trough was needed that both the sow and the piglets could use after weaning. It didn’t take long before the so-called KZB Family Feeder from Verba in the picture. The trough of this feeder is extra low so that young, curious piglets can quickly get to grips with solid feed. “After about five days, the first piglets start poking their noses into the trough, and by the time they’re two to three weeks old, they’re really tucking in alongside the sow,” says Verheijen, now that the second batch of farrowing sows are in the barn.
The scent of the sow
The trough beneath the KZB Family Feeder is spacious enough to allow a few piglets to feed alongside the sow at the same time. Initially, the piglets mainly eat the pellets that the sow drops from her mouth. The sow’s scent makes the feed tempting to nibble on. The positioning of the trough against the partition of the piglet pen also helps ensure that young piglets quickly start watching their feeding mother.
To ensure that the sows and piglets have the freshest possible feed throughout the day, they are fed three times a day. In the morning, Verheijen and his staff check the sows’ feed intake and adjust the portions if necessary. In the afternoon and evening, feed is dispensed automatically. Fourteen days after farrowing, the sows reach their peak feed intake and remain on this maximum feed intake for four weeks.
KZB Family Feeder – also suitable for after weaning
The feeding trough is designed in such a way that the piglets continue to use it even after weaning. Above the feeding trough is a dispenser, with two feed lines for sow feed above it: one for Prelacto feed and one for lactation feed. Verheijen opted for a feeder to ensure the sows were fed as accurately as possible. In addition, there are two further pipes for piglet feed, which feed not only into the Family Feeder but also into a separate feeding trough for the piglets. This feeding trough is situated behind the partition in the piglet pen, so that the sow cannot reach it. After weaning, the feed supply from the KZB Family Feeder is switched from sow feed to piglet feed. Unlike the sow feed, the piglet feed goes directly into the feeding trough. The piglets are given unlimited feed.
The automatic feeder for piglets is a piglet feeder which Verheijen has modified himself so that the feeder is also suitable for feeding older piglets. To start with, the piglets are given milk meal and piglet pellets in their feeders. According to Verheijen, they are still trying to work out the right feeding regime: “Moist feed and straw aren’t a good combination. We’re really testing what’s best for the piglets and works with our housing system.” After weaning, the dispenser is closed off and the piglet feed goes directly into the family feeder. The piglets are already used to finding food in that trough and are well accustomed to the piglet feed. This provides two additional feeding places for the piglets. In the first few weeks, the piglet feeder has enough feeding space for two piglets, but after weaning, only one piglet at a time can access the trough. Together, the three feeding points are sufficient for the litter of growing piglets.
No Weaning Dip
Because Livar 3-star Beter Leven In this system, the piglets are not weaned until 42 days. The main advantage of weaning at six weeks is that there is no weaning dip. “The piglets naturally start drinking less milk and eating solid feed. By the time we wean them, they’re really ready for a full solid diet. An added benefit is that they then remain in their pens for another six weeks, so there’s no stress associated with moving them around at weaning,” explains the farm manager. Two to three weeks after weaning, the piglet pen is closed off and they have to rely entirely on the family feeder. “We also switch their feed at that point,” says Verheijen. “That’s when the piglet pen is closed off. By the time they’re about eight weeks old, they’ve quickly got the hang of the change and aren’t too bothered by having a bit less to eat for a day. They continue to grow well: by the time they leave here at 12 weeks, they weigh around 35 kilos.”
