Abstract
Abstract In wean-to-finish systems, nursery diets are commonly blended with leftover finishing feed from the previous group. A total of 1,260 pigs (initially 10.6 kg) were used in a 28-d study to determine the effects of feeding increasing amounts of finishing feed to nursery pig on growth performance and economics. At weaning, pigs were placed into pens (21 pigs/pen) and fed commercial nursery diets in a 5-phase program with phases 1 and 2 fed before the start of the experiment. Phase changes were based on feed budgets of 2.5, 3.7, 3.7, 9.5, and 9.5 kg/pig in phases 1 to 5, respectively. At the beginning of phase 3, pens of pigs were blocked by weight and room and allotted randomly to 1 of 4 treatments (15 replications/treatment). Treatments consisted of a dose-titration of blending increasing amounts (0, 1.25, 2.50, and 3.75 kg/pig) of a late finisher feed (0.74% SID Lys) into phase 3 nursery diet. Data were analyzed using the GLIMMIX procedure of SAS with the fixed effect of dietary treatment and random effects of weight block and room. Contrasts were used to determine the linear and quadratic effects of increasing finisher feed amount. Overall, increasing the amount of late finisher feed blended into the phase 3 nursery diet decreased ADG (linear, P = 0.050) and tended to decrease (linear, P < 0.07) ADFI and final BW, but did not affect G:F (Table 1). Feed cost, gain value, and feed cost/kg gain decreased (linear, P < 0.05) as finishing feed budget increased from 0 to 3.75 kg/pig. However, income-over-feed-cost was not different among treatments. In conclusion, feeding increasing amounts of late finisher feed to 11-kg nursery pigs decreased overall ADG and ADFI, but did not affect income-over-feed-cost.
Highlights
In a wean-to-finish pig production, one of the challenges in feed management is determining what to do with feed remaining in the bin at the end of the finishing phase
A total of 1,260 pigs [PIC TR4 × (Fast LW × PIC L02); initial body weight (BW) 23.3 lb] were housed in two commercial research rooms and used in a 28-d study to determine the effects of blending increasing amounts of finishing feed into phase 3 nursery diets on pig growth performance
Treatments consisted of a dose-titration of blending increasing amounts of late finishing feed (0, 2.75, 5.5, and 8.25 lb per pig, corresponding to 0, 3, 6, and 9 tons per 2,200-head barn, respectively) into a phase 3 nursery diet
Summary
A total of 1,260 pigs [PIC TR4 × (Fast LW × PIC L02); initial body weight (BW) 23.3 lb] were housed in two commercial research rooms and used in a 28-d study to determine the effects of blending increasing amounts of finishing feed into phase 3 nursery diets on pig growth performance. From day 0 to 14, average daily gain (ADG) was unaffected as finishing feed budget increased from 0 to 2.75 lb/pig but decreased thereafter (quadratic, P = 0.090). Average daily feed intake (ADFI) was unaffected, but feed-to-gain ratio (F/G) worsened (linear, P < 0.001) as more finishing feed was blended into phase 3 nursery diet. From day 14 to 28, pigs previously fed increasing levels of late finishing feed had improved (linear, P < 0.05) ADG and F/G, but unaffected ADFI. Overall (day 0 to 28), blending increasing amounts of finishing feed with phase 3 nursery diet decreased ADG (linear, P = 0.050) and tended to decrease (linear, P < 0.07) ADFI and final BW. Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service to phase 3 (28 lb) nursery pigs decreased overall ADG and ADFI, but did not affect income over feed cost
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