December 30, 2008
Lower feed costs with blend feeds for pigs
Preliminary results from a trial in Australia shows that blend feeding can lower feed costs without affecting growth performance in pigs.
Researchers compared pigs which fed on two-diet blend to standard stepped diets and on single diet strategy.
Trial pigs were fed from 9 weeks of age to 19 weeks of age and the blend treatment was a combination of two diets altered frequently to closely match the pigs' required lysine to energy ratio at each stage of growth.
Preliminary results to 19 weeks of age suggest that both blend feeding and feeding a single diet reduced feed costs by an average of AU$3.30 (US$2.28) per pig compared to the conventional diet, with no impact on growth performance.
According to trial researchers, pigs are fed traditionally fed three to four diets in the growing and finishing phase.
Researchers said the pig's requirements for nutrients changes constantly and feeding them on a frequently fed diet would supply excess nutrients, leading to extra costs with no return.
The trial was conducted at the Western Australian Department of Agriculture and Food (DAFWA) Medina Research Centre using a Feedlogic FEEDPro system, funded by the Pork Cooperative Research Centre (CRC).