Sows on a liquid diet

摘要

How a German producer wet-feeds his pregnant and lactating sows. Towards the end of last year, PIG INTERNATIONAL reported a current estimate that approximately 30 percent of all pigs in Germany and between 3-5 percent of German breeding sows received feed in a liquid form. The uptake of liquid feeding systems nationally was said to be increasing, especially for sows during gestation and in the farrowing house. Feed distribution specialists in the country now calculate that liquid feeding is viableeconomically at all herd sizes down to 350-400 sows. Most often, of course, such a system tends to be installed by a unit which both produces piglets and finishes them to slaughter weight. Among confirmed believers in giving sows liquid feed is the operator of a 750-sow herd, farrow to finish, in northern Germany. After his highly positive experience of following a wetfed regime at this site, he is adding an updated pump-and-pipeline layout to a new unit scheduled for completion by the middle of the yea