Comparative Study on Performance of Young Pigs Fed with Diet Containing Skimmed Milk and Milk Replacer during Pre and Post Weaning Periods

Abstract

Background: Pig rearing is the main income source for many unemployed people in India, particularly for the people in the north-east part of the country. It was found that the morbidity as well as mortality of young pigs immediately after weaning is high due to weaning stresses, mainly due to diet changes causing them to suffer from severe diarrhoea. For these reasons, providing creep feed along with dairy products during the period of pre-weaning and post-weaning is recommended. The majority of the farmers used skimmed milk powder which is commonly available in the market places, but since it is expensive, it may diminish the return for small-scale farmers. Methods: Present study was conducted to compare the growth performance of Large White Yorkshire young pigs (LWY) fed with diet containing skimmed milk and milk replacer during the pre and post weaning periods i.e., from 0 to 56 days of age. Parameters recorded were body weight in kilogram (kg), average daily gain (ADG) in gram (g), average daily feed intake (ADFI) in gram (g), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and cost of feed/kg gain (₹/kg). Result: Statistical analysis of all the parameters revealed non-significant (P≥0.05) differences between the three groups during pre-weaning, post-weaning and overall periods. It may be concluded that skimmed milk powder (SMP) can be replaced by milk replacer powder (MRP) in the diet of weaned pigs without any clinical complications.