Keep it clean

摘要

Producers should pay more attention to the quality of water offered to stock if they want to enhance growth rates and feed conversion, according to Dr Paul Blanchard of animal feed company Frank Wright. 'Water is the most important nutrient to the pig producer, comprising around 70 percent of the weight of an adult pig and being central to every metabolic process,e said Dr Blanchard. 'However few farmers pay water the attention it deserves and this could be affecting the performance of their stock.ePoor water supply can result in reduced feed intakes and poor growth rates. For water supply, the rule of thumb is to assume intakes will be 2.5 times the dry feed intake. Therefore an 80kg pig consuming 2.8kg of feed will require 7 litres of water perday. All steps should be taken to ensure adequate access to drinking water but the benefits of an effective system can be easily offset if the water is poor quality.