Gaining popularity in Western Europe, but apparantly already used for many years in the U.S. is the use of automated systems for milk supplementation to suckling piglets in the farrowing room.
I would like to know from people who are using this kind of system what their experiences are. How much milk do the piglets consume, at what cost, etcetera.
Are you not using this kind of system? Then i would like to know what you think about milk supplementation.
Thank you in advance!
What else I would like to learn?
Simple, and just like a asked before. Practical experiences, not only technical results, but also the economics of the system. What does it really cost to use this system? How much milk does the piglets consume to reach the extra kilogram of weaning weight?
How does the Ralco system works? I cannot find any information of the system on the website of Weda or Ralco Nutrition. Where can I find more information?
Thank you.
Milk supplementation for piglets, you mean use of milk replacer in piglets as water soluble product as partial or complete substitute for sows milk. If yes, this is a practice in our country as supplementation, for sows with many litter, fostering of piglets or for improvement of piglet performances. The use of sow milk replacer reduces piglet mortality, improve piglet uniformity, stimulate solid feed intake and improves overall piglet performance.
I have some experience with research on milk supplementation provided to suckling pigs. You can find useful data on this topic in the Journal of Animal Science - Azain et al., 1996 and in an abstract from the Midwest ASAS meetings in 2006 - Bergstrom et al., abstract #159. Data and experience indicate that the new systems for delivery work, but require excellent management (e.g. - sanitation/hygiene of equipment, targeted and proper utilization for pigs/litters that will actually obtain an economic benefit). Some farms using this technology a few years ago discontinued it during the last couple of years because of expense. I suspect that the expense, and some difficulty in the proper implementation and the verification or measure of the benefits on relatively large sow farms, has reduced the use over recent times.