A review of the nutrition and growth of suckling baby pigs by providing creep-feeding supplements to reduce piglet mortality and minimize post-weaning syndrome

This compiled project on the nutrition and growth of the suckling piglet provides up-to-date information for the promotion, effects and consequences of using creep-feeding methods and feedstuff ingredients. Although creep-feeding provides a small additional body weight gain 2 lb in lactation and a 4 lb weight gain in the nursery, these weight improvements make an economic difference in posterior growing stages, in the productive efficiency at market time, and providing a faster cash flow as well as global revenue for the swine enterprise.

There is no substitute for best stockmanship techniques applied in any pork production facility. Genetics or nutrition will not resolve problems by themselves to ensure profitability. The use of creep-feeding is an existing management tool to improve productive parameters that does not have a recipe to follow. Thus, it can be frustrating and labor consuming if one has to provide fresh creep feeding 16 times a day, to simulate the needs of newborn piglets. The early supplementation of sow’s milk is not a substitute of colostrum or suckling milk intake, however, it will have a better response in warm weather conditions.

The feed ingredients can be a costly experience if they are not justified or used appropriately in the rearing process to enable pigs to reach market weight. A milk substitute can cost $490.00 per ton, whereas a standard weaning diet may cost $200.00 per ton. There is a linear increase in feed intake depending on pig’s age that is correlated to a pig’s body weight with consumption of dry feed from 0.05 lb/pig/day in early lactation up to 0.60 lb/pig/day before weaning at 28 days of age. Feed consumption digestible energy DE intake kcal/day is improved 30% if creep-feed is offered in liquid form. If liquid cow’s milk is served to suckling pigs, supplemental intakes at one day after delivery begins with 0.4 gallons/litter/day to 2.4 gallons/litter/day at 21-28 days old in litters with 10 piglets.

The objectives of a creep-feeding systems are to provide better management practices for all the pigs in the litter but, in particular, to piglets with a 20% lighter birth-weight (<3.0 lb) that have poor growth rates and high mortality rates. It is recommended to narrow the weight variation at weaning time 10.0 to 25.0 lb body weight after 21 days of lactation and to carry this weight advantage all the way to the market >245 lb by reducing feeding time for 5 ix to 25 days, thus improving feed efficiency. The neonatal piglets that receive creep-feeding may improve feed efficiency in the grow-finish stage, achieve early market weight and be leaner at slaughter time. If these goals are achieved, environmental concerns for mineral (P, N, S), odors, and gas pollutants should be included as additional contributions in the creep feeding system and result in the receipt of a slaughter-house prize for leaner carcasses.

There are intrinsic benefits involved in creep-feeding developed techniques for suckling piglets as the result of increased dry matter digestible energy (DE) feed consumption in the transition from suckling ingesta-liquid feeding-slurry-dry feed to weaning time. The early 2-day-old piglet in a liquid-slurry training process for feed consumption maintains intestinal health (villous width and crypt depths), preparing it for a weaning diet while reducing growth check (no feed consumption and lose body weight) after weaning, improving growth rate during the first week after weaning, and providing a three phase feeding preparing the pig to early accept simple diets made of cereal and soybean meal.

There are multiple feedstuffs and homemade products that can be included in creepfeeding systems in the same way as preparing food for a human infant 4 months of age. This is why feeding a suckling piglet is more of an art than a science—to balance nutrient requirements. The products from the animal slaughter industry (beef, calf, broiler, layer, pork), dairy factories, egg hatcheries and liquid processing, fisheries, oilseed extraction, starch, flour, fermentation, snacks and other industries could be used as components of the creep-feeding diet or as a single supplement. The main contribution of these supplements is to provide more nutrients for growth and survivility (energy, protein, vitamins, minerals) or to complements sow’s milk deficiencies in amino acids (arginine, valine, tryptophan, lysine, methionine, theronine). However, the selected ingredients should be palatable, digestible, stimulate feed consumption, and be provided in a nearly sterile material to reduce scours, minimize digestive disorders, avoid stomach ulcers, control pathologic diseases, or to stimulate colonization of beneficial digestive bacteria (bacterioides, streptococci, lactobacillus), reduce population growth in the intestinal epithelium with bacteria (anaerovibrio, selenomonas, Escherichia coli), clean of toxins and mycotoxins, without allergens or antigens and antinutritional factors free. These feed characteristics are more x important than meeting the nutrient requirements of any recommended nutrition table for suckling piglets for maximum growth.

A piglet’s genetic growth potential during 21 days of lactation can be 1.3 lb per day but this desired goal is often impaired by many external factors. Creep-feeding helps to overcome or reduce the negative effect of these growth inhibitors. The sow’s metabolic capacity enables production of 50.6 lb of milk per day, but environmental stressors, severe hormonal changes after delivery, reproductive organ reestablishment, lack of appetite or pour nutrition, could reduce her milk yield potential to 10 lb of milk per day or result in agalactia (MMA). Any one genetic breed does not accomplish all the productive characteristics for litter size, survivality, milk production, longevity, birth weight, etc. Variation will be present in all the herds and normal distribution of the birth weight of the piglets requires special attention for the underweight group.

The objective of this creative component research was to provide a usable document to serve pork producers, swine managers and nutritionist in decision-making for rearing suckling piglets, thus providing the animals with a better transition system to weaning results in improved profitability. This research reviewed current literature (books and journal publications) that incorporate the best scientific principles applied in the supplementation of suckling piglets to enhance weaning weight. Thus, this research was concerned with disseminating practical methods that can be applied to all kinds and sizes of hog production systems. The knowledge and tools provided in this document may help the people involved in the pork production industry to select rearing methods and ingredients to prepare diets for suckling piglets.