Feeding Systems for Swine

The feeding system for pigs involves the type and form of feed and how it is delivered to the pigs. In the China, the main type of feed for pigs is dry feed, in which grain is ground and mixed with other dry ingredients to form a complete feed. Feed delivery via liquid feed application systems is not common in the China, but is more popular in other parts of the world, especially Europe. Other producers use a mix of the two types, where a liquid feed such as whey is provided and a completely dry feed. All of these feeding systems for swine have their benefits and challenges, which are discussed in this article. Complete feed is usually conveyed from the storage tanks to individual pens or sows via feed spirals. However, new technologies, such as computerized feeding systems, have been developed to continuously change the composition of rations provided to pigs to better suit their growth curves and changing nutritional requirements. For the vast majority of producers using dry complete feed, there are a variety of feeder design options. Producers can use conventional dry feeders, wet and dry feeders, round feeders or tube feeders for all stages of production. Each feeder type must be managed differently and has advantages and disadvantages.


feed form for pigs

Traditional dry, milled and blended rations: While pig feeding systems are very diverse around the world, in the U.S. they have historically not been compared to traditional dry fed, milled and blended applications by most producers Variety. The reason for this widespread use is the plentiful supply of cheap grain across the United States. There are four basic ways to provide on-feed nutrition to pigs: 1) Purchase complete feed; 2) Grain combined with concentrate or supplement; 3) Grain mixed with amino acid source and base mix; or 4) Grain, amino acid source , salt, calcium and phosphorus sources, and vitamin and trace mineral premixes, and are outlined in PIG Factsheet 07-04-03 (Approaches to providing nutrition to pigs).

Many small producers begin by grinding farm-grown grains and mixing them with purchased supplements that contain protein sources, vitamins, and minerals for a complete diet. This diet is then used in self-feeders for nursery pigs, growing and finishing pigs, or hand-fed sows. Most swine operations today employ more flexible and complex feeding systems that utilize many individual ingredients, as well as vitamin and trace mineral premixes, mixed together to create a complete feed that is conveyed through mechanical auger systems and Pigs are delivered to the pigs by an automatic feeder in the pig house. Many pig producers today still make complete feed on farms of this premixed estate, however, now more centralized feed mills produce complete feed for producers and Transport them directly to the piggery for rearing. Providing producers with complete feed enables them to offload feed processing responsibilities to specialist feed mills to maintain quality control while freeing up labor to meet other needs on the farm. This practice of delivering complete rations by the feed mill creates another unique problem of sizing feed storage at the barn site to maximize feed delivery efficiency for large feed mill delivery trucks.

The advantage of feeding a dry ration compared to a liquid feeding system is that it provides consistent, complete feed to the pigs and requires less managerial oversight and labor on the farm for feed preparation and delivery. Since most of the ingredients used in pig rations are purchased dry, they can be mixed and fed in liquid application systems without increasing the moisture content. There should also be less risk of mold growth and spoilage in dry feeding systems.

Liquid feeding system - complete rations: Feeding complete rations in liquid form is not a common method of feeding pigs in the United States. However, in other parts of the world, liquid feeding is a frequently used system that provides complete rations for pigs of all stages. Generally, feeds provided in liquid form contain approximately 20 – 30% dry matter [1] and often contain very cheap by-products. Care must be taken to provide the correct environment for liquid ingredients and liquid feed. Liquid feeding systems require unique management to prevent deterioration of feed ingredients and/or full liquid feed. In addition, liquid feeding systems may increase manure volume compared to conventional dry feeding systems. There are three main types of liquid feeding systems: 1) mixing high moisture ingredients to create a complete diet; 2) mixing a dry complete diet with water; 3) feeding liquid ingredients in addition to dry complete feed.


Conclusion

The pig feeding system in the China is less diverse than in many other countries. Mainly fed dry feed, different feeder designs are available for nursery, growing and finishing pigs. Producers must evaluate feeder designs to suit their operations and determine the correct feeder based on management effort and economics, which involves initial cost and growth performance impact. In addition, producers must evaluate new technologies using computerized feeding systems when determining the optimal feeding program.