Raise more, heavier and more uniform finisher pigs by using Piglait Milks

Taking a step ahead at weaning and persisting till the end!

The positive effects of supplementation of piglet milk replacers (PMR) reach further than the weaning period. At Piglait, we decided to set up a big-scale and long-term trial to prove our concept with clear figures on growth, health and economics. The trial is conducted at a closed pig farm in the Netherlands. Half of the piglets received our Robust Litter milks Piglait Blue and Piglait Green through the Piglait Cup System next to a traditional dry prestarter and weaner feed. The other half of the piglets only received dry feed and no supplemental milk. In this article, we present you with the final results from the farrowing house, the results from the nursery and the performance till slaughter.

Trial set-up

The trial is set up at a farrow-to-finish farm with 400 sows in the South of the Netherlands. The piglets (TN70 x Tempo) are weaned at 3 weeks of age. Half of the piglets only received dry feed, while the other half had 24/7 access to Piglait Blue and Piglait Green through the Piglait Cup System next to dry feed (Table 1). A more detailed description of the trial set-up in the farrowing house can be found in the previous article.

From the nursery phase on, pigs were treated the same, regardless of treatment group. In the nursery, pigs were kept in groups of 20-25 per pen and were sorted by treatment, sex and weight category. Piglets were kept in the nursery for 6 to 7 weeks. At the end of the nursery phase, pigs were sorted per treatment, sex and weight (visually) in groups of 12 pigs and weighed. This group of 12 piglets was weighed and moved to the finishing stable. When pigs were ready to send to the slaughterhouse, they were visually selected on body weight and were weighed in groups per 10 pigs before loading. Every relocation was registered on the ear tag, so that feed intake could be registered and linked to the ear tag as well. Unfortunately, pigs could not be weighed in a few loadings, causing some data to be lost, next to the data lost due to pigs that lost their ear tags.

More and more uniform piglets at weaning with Piglait

The total dry matter intake of the Piglait piglets in the farrowing crates was clearly increased compared to the control piglets. On average, the Piglait piglets consumed 260 g of Piglait Blue and Piglait Green through the cups and at least as much dry feed as the control piglets. This resulted in 280 g higher weaning weights in the Piglait group (Table 2). Also, 0.33 piglet more was weaned per sow in the Piglait group compared to the control group (Table 2).

Heavier and more uniform piglets at weaning and at the end of the nursery…

The 280 g extra weaning weight that the Piglait piglets achieved at 21 days, increased to 850 g by the end of the nursery at 67 days, effectively tripling the weight difference! Not only were the Piglait piglets heavier, the group was more uniform as well. At weaning (Figure 1), the number of piglets below 5 kg was 7% lower in the Piglait group compared to the control group, which is a reduction of 30% piglets below 5 kg! At 67 days, the Piglait effect was still clearly visible, as there were 34% more piglets weighing 27 kg or more in the Piglait group compared to the control group (Figure 2).

… and at slaughter!

Starting off heavier after the nursery, the Piglait piglets kept their advantage until the end. Feed intake was slightly higher, but feed conversion and daily gain were not different. As well as the control pigs, the Piglait pigs finished at 126.2 kg, but it took them almost 4 days less to reach that weight (Table 3, Figure 3)! With an average daily gain of 1018 grams per day in the end, this corresponds to around 3 kg extra weight at similar age. That is a quadrupling of the Piglait effect at the end of nursery!

Conclusion

The effects of Piglait milk replacer supplementation did not only persist till slaughter, they even multiplied! Next to these nice figures, the easier management of piglets before and around weaning guaranteed a more carefree and smooth flow of pigs through the farm. Curious for more results? In the next articles we will focus on sow results and the economics of feeding Piglait milks. Stay tuned!