Strategy for feeding your outdoor sows

摘要

As with indoor herds the focus on outdoor units has moved away from the number of piglets produced per sow per year to the quantity of lean meat produced per sow per year. It is now also more important to secure a market outlet for the pigs producedand then target the number of specific finishers required per week (Pig World May 2002). Having established this as the basic criterion the principles for feeding the outdoor herd are the same as those addressed to the indoor unit. However, when considering the nutrient requirements of the outdoor sow, as opposed to intensively reared animals, allowances must be made for: Wide extremes in environmental temperature, e.g. -2 degrees C in winter, with the added problem of 'chill factor', to +30 degrees C in summer (See Figure 1). Competition between sows when group feeding. Exercise and activity. Minimising feed wastage.