feedwastagepaper

Swine Health Management - Feed

Feed cannot be wasted on pig farms

Where is the feed wasted	Feeder set-up	General Management
Feeding routines	Feeder management	Soiling of the feed
Feeding unnecessary animals	How much is this costing you?

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In a time of record feed prices, it is essential that feed wastage be minimized. It is estimated that 10% of feed delivered is wasted on the average farm. On a 250 sow unit this can be more than 150 tonnes of feed per year (whole farm – farrow to finish - feed consumption at 6.3 tonnes per sow per year). Feed is wasted along the entire feed line from field to rectum! This article details some of the areas where this wastage occurs at the farm level and focuses on simple management practices to reduce this waste. Reducing feed wastage by half would amount to a reduction in cost of 8-9 c/kg deadweight - $6.30 per pig sold (70kg dead weight – head off). This could be the difference between profit and loss on many farms. (Calculation: 7.5 tonnes x $377 average feed price divided by (250x20x70kg) dead weight)

Where is feed wasted?

Feed distribution system and storage

Feed bin management

Avoid unnecessary waste while cleaning feed bins. Leaving spilt feed under the bin only encourages rodents and vermin to the farm – which then consume their own share of feed. Routinely and regularly check the outside, inside of feed bins and their distribution systems.

Feed bin filling

When the feed bin is being filled, avoid all wasted and split feed. Once the feed had been delivered, ensure that the feed bins are properly re-sealed.

Feed outage

Manage and understand feed movement within a feed bin and ensure that feed outages do not occur. If a pig is without feed for 24 hours, a gastric ulcer may occur. This results in poor feed digestion and leakage of blood – which has to be replaced – a chronic feed wastage. Pigs going without feed for more than 6 hours is extremely common on pig farms – to the point it is a normal occurrence at least once in every batch of pigs produced.


Feed spillage under a feed bin	Feed being split during delivery	These pigs ran out of feed – 8 pigs died suddenly associated with gangrene of the stomach because of the outage.

Feed storage

Creep feed should not be exposed to temperature extremes and because it may get hot and go stale. A typical example is when that the creep feed is “stored” within the hot nursery, making the feeding easier for the stockperson. However, it can result in but food becoming spoiled?

Feed barrows

If feed is moved around the farm in barrows, ensure that the barrow is kept out of the rain and is covered at all times. Do not overfill feed barrows as this often leads to spillage of feed while moving the barrow around the farm.

Wastage associated with medications in the feed

Place medicated feed into the correct bin.

Ensure that all feed bins are numbered and the driver places the correct feed in the correct feed bin. This will avoid having to empty a feed bin or having to live with unintended and expensive medication withdrawal times.

Palatability

All feed which enters the farm should be tasted by the stockperson in charge of the area and the manager to ensure that feed palatability standards are being met. This should include wet feed ingredients.

Do not allow medication to make the feed unpalatable. If there is any concern regarding palatability consider the use of talins to mask the taste. Discuss this with your veterinarian if you have any concerns.


Do not store creep feed at high temperatures	Do not allow feed barrows to waste feed	Number all feed bins and regularly check

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Feeder Setup

Adequate feed space

To allow all the pigs to grow evenly it is essential to provide sufficient feeder space for all the pigs in the pen. This is particularly important in the first three days post-weaning.

Table 1 Feed space availability in a trough feeder:

Weight of pig	Trough/hopper length (mm)/pig
(kg)	Restrict fed	Ad Lib Fed
5	100	75
10	130	33
15	150	38
35	200	50
60	240	60
90	280	70
120	300	75
Sow	400	N/a

Note that the newly weaned pig requires 3x longer feed space than is required a week later. This is because newly weaned pigs feed as a group and do not understand the concept of ad lib feeders.


Weaned pigs having to fight over feed when there is insufficient feed space		The use of a narrow trough can enhance post-weaning feed intake

Feed distribution

Ensure that the feed is distributed evenly along a feeder to minimize aggression and fighting at the feed space. This will also minimize uneven growth within a group of pigs.

Feeder in wrong position in the pen

When siting the feeder consider the ability of the pig to reach it. Feeders placed in cold corners will often become fouled with urine and faeces as the pigs use the area as a toilet. Feeders placed too close to a divider or other obstacle – drinker for example may have feed spaces, which are inaccessible. Note pigs should not have to jump up to gain access to the feeder. This is typically seen when young pigs have to cope with raised feeders.

Feeders placed so that they cannot be easily examined

All feeder should be placed so that the stockperson can easily examine the feeder for leakage, overflowing of feed or soiling.

Feed and drinker position

Pigs like to drink shortly after feeding. If the drinkers are more than 2 metres from the feeder, pigs will walk between the feeder and drinker and carry food in their mouths.

Feed feeder pointed away from passage

Feeder facing away from the passageway

This feed will be dropped (and wasted) on the floor and bedding. Ensure that the pigs do not have to cross the sleeping area to get from the feeder to the drinker.

Covering feeders

Feeders which are uncovered will contribute up to 30% of the dust in the air. In addition, the feeder is exposed to rodents and possibly birds, which can both eat the feed and soil the remaining feed. All feeders should be covered. If the stockperson needs to examine the feed level, ensure that the feeder has a see through area where this can be assessed..


Poor feed distribution. Ensure that the downpipe is properly placed	Feeder in the wrong place in the pen and being used as a toilet area	Distance between the feeder and drinkers is too great resulting in feed being split

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Management

Use the right feed at the right time

It is essential that pigs progressively move to the cheaper diets as soon as possible while maximizing their growth potential. Keeping pigs on the expensive early diets for longer than warranted, increases costs. On several farms, the pigs are kept on expensive weaner diets too long to compensate for the poor feed intake and growth in the first week post-weaning. Carry out regular feed budget audits to ensure that the farm is feeding appropriate levels of feed intake.

Figure 1

Example of percentage of total feed usage on a farrow to finish farm

Pigs fed weaning to 110 kg liveweight

Use correct feed

It is essential to adopt a suitable diet. In times of high prices it is tempting to simplify and cheapen the feed, but growth and health could be affected. Note if the pig’s growth slows down this cannot be allowed to affect pig flow and all-in/all-out systems. Poorly formulated diets are more likely to result in diarrhoea, resulting in raw feed ingredients ending up on the floor.

Feed preparation

Feed which is incorrectly prepared – ground or rolled, can result in increased waste. Whole grains cannot be digested by the pig and are passed out whole and undigested – and are therefore wasted.

Feed available when pigs enter a house

It is essential that pigs are fed the correct diet immediately when they enter the house. Requiring the pigs to eat up the last of the last group of pig’s feed is not acceptable. Such feed may contain the incorrect ingredients or medications, or if it has been left for more than a couple of days has become soiled with moulds, rodent faeces or urine.

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1

Feed examination whole grain

Feed empty house

Pigs cannot digest whole maize grains (arrow 1) – they pass through the pig thus wasting the original feed. Note also the cotton seed (arrow 2)– these may carry the toxin gosssypol

Final finishing feed left to be eaten by the next group of 30 kg pigs. Note the feeders are not covered.

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Feeding routines

Creep feeding in the farrowing house

If the farm practises 3 week weaning, creep feeding needs to be carefully justified. It must be demonstrated that the effort and waste involved in creep feeding enhances weaning weights and post-weaning feed intakes. With 4 week weaning, creep feeding can be beneficial. However, it must be practised so that expensive creep feed is not wasted and soiled. Creep feed should be fed at least 3x daily – little and often.

Adult pig feeding

The feeding routines practised in the farrowing, breeding and gestation areas can result in enormous feed wastage. In the farrowing area attempting to get the sows to eat too fast can result in loss of appetite in the lactating sow. The pig then fails to clean out the feed trough, resulting in mould development and in the worst cases, fly infestation of the feed. Note the feed problems can result in water availability problems affecting milk supply to the piglets.

In the breeding area, when sows are in oestrus they often will not eat and this results in feed remaining in the feed troughs and being wasted.

In gestation areas feeding routines can be extremely careless resulting in large amounts of feed being wasted on the floor. Combined with poor cleaning routines this feed becomes soiled. Overfeeding of the gestating sow is extremely common on pig farms. This extra feed is wasted, does not benefit the growing piglets and reduces subsequent feed intake during lactation.


Well constructed farrowing house creep feeder	Farrowing house feeder overfull	The sow came in heat but her empty crate was still provided with feed

Feeder empty as the pigs leave the farm

Do not dispose of feed remaining in the feeder by pressure washing the feed down the slats. Management of the feeder in the finishing pen is an essential component of finishing.

Hospital pen feeders

The feeders in the hospital pen are often overfull and over running for only one or two pigs. This can result in tremendous wastage. Adjust feed in the hospital pen feeders according to the needs to the pigs.

Weekend feeding

It is extremely lazy to overfill feeders – especially in the newly weaned pens, with feed just to avoid having to feed at the weekend. We all want an easy a life, but this laziness can result in wasted and soiled feed.


Feed wasted between groups	Hospital pen feeder wasting feed and not providing good food to the compromised pigs	Feeders filled up for the weekend, but this can increase feed wastage

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Feeder management

Holes in the feeder

It is imperative that all feeders are examined regularly – at least between batches. Where a feeder is found to have a hole, fix or replace the feeder. Holes that occur over slats cost thousands of dollars, where chronic feed leakage occurs without trace. Note holes can occur in down-pipes and feed systems – sometimes out of sight.


Any feeder with a hole should be thrown away or immediately repaired		Feed under slats

Feed quantity available

The adjustment of feeders should be done every day. This is one of the most important jobs for grow/finish stockpeople. It is not acceptable that feeders are allowed to over run just to ensure pigs have “sufficient” feed. Feed efficiency can be maximized when the pigs have to work for their feed. Placing less feed in the feeder by lowering the downpipe into the feeder will reduce feed wastage and dust production – although the feed auger may need to run more often. All stockpeople should understand in detail how the feeder works and how to adjust the feed availability. A feeder, which is overrunning will also tend to allow the feed to become powder. This can result in feed intake refusal, increased dust contamination of the room, limited feed space and increased respiratory problems in the pigs.


Too little feed	Feeder working correctly	Feeder over running
All feeders on the farm should have information sheets clearly describing how the feeder should be running.


Three different feeder design all providing too much feed, resulting in feed wastage


Feed very powdery being fed	Analysis of the feed in the feed bin – very little powder	Analysis of the feed in the feeder – a lot of powder very few pellets
It is essential to ensure that the pigs actually get to eat the feed in the format designed

Ignoring overrunning feeders

If stockpeople are in too much rush, they may miss a feeder which is overrunning. A personal example: the downpipe fell out of the feeder and the auger tried to fill the slurry pit over the weekend. The result: 30 tonnes of wasted feed as well as the time taken to dig out the slurry pit by a young stockperson – who would never make that mistake again! Obviously large quantities of feed can be wasted within hours. Feeders and feed systems should be equipped with suitable alarms to prevent this occurrence.

Water in the feeder

Any feeder with an additional waterer should receive careful management. Ensure that the water does not leak and fill the feeder, restricting feed access. Likewise, ensure that feed does not build up and limit water availability. Drinkers in feeders should be considered as feed intake enhancers not as a specific water supply.


This feeder sprung a leak resulting in 3 tonnes of feed being spilt