Effects of feed or water restriction, antibiotic injection and receiving diet management on commingled feeder pig performance.

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of 1) long-acting oxytetracycline injection at market arrival, 2) feed or water access at the auction market and 3) receiving diet management on commingled feeder pig performance. A total of 288 commingled feeder pigs transported over 1,000 km after market management treatments were used in two trials. Pigs given access to feed and water (FW) at the market weighed more (P less than .001) following marketing and transport than pigs given water only (W). Pigs given neither feed nor water (N) were intermediate in arrival weight (19.7, 18.7 and 18.9 kg). There was no effect (P greater than .1) of feed and water offering at the market on final weight (96.6, 95.9 and 96.6 kg), overall average daily gain (.70, .69 and .70 kg/d), overall gain/feed (.31, .31, .32) or percentage death loss (1.0, 2.1 and 4.2%). Injection of long-acting oxytetracycline upon arrival at auction market had no effect (P greater than .1) on pig weight following marketing and transport (19.0 vs 19.2 kg), final weight (96.1 vs 97.0 kg), percentage death loss (3.4 vs 1.4%) or percentage of pigs treated (3.4 vs 4.9%). Compared to providing ad libitum access to feed, restricting feed intake by floor feeding for the first 7 d post-arrival reduced (P less than .01) rate of gain for the first 9 d (-.04 vs. .08 kg/d), but overall there was no effect (P greater than .1) on daily gain (.70 vs .69 kg/d) or gain/feed (.31 vs .31).