Liquid Feeding Systems for Early-weaned Piglets
The US swine industry (including NC producers) have adopted production practices on a large scale which involve early-weaning of piglets. The younger and lighter piglets in this scheme exhibit reduced survival rates and slowed growth. Among the many stressors impacting these pigs is the abrupt switch from liquid feed (mother's milk) to dry feed.
We have worked to develop and test feeding systems which supply feed to the newly-weaned pigs in liquid form (i.e., manufactured liquid diets). These systems are designed for ease of operation and cleaning so they may be easily adopted on a large commercial scale.
We have documented superior growth performance of piglets reared in this system. Indeed, pigs reared with this new technology grow even faster than sow-fed siblings. We have recently documented that the improved growth is maintained to market weight and anticipate that significant economic returns may be achieved when this system is employed, provided diet ingredient costs are managed properly.