sows dam water in the trough with their snout to increase availability in a sloped trough system; and In addition to consideration of providing for the pigs needs, decisions on water delivery devices increasingly include manure storage and land application issues [34]. Researchers have demonstrated no difference in pig performance between grow-finish pigs when water was provided in a wet/dry feeder versus when water access was via a gate-mounted nipple drinker [11]. Yet, total manure production was reduced 30% for the wet/dry feeder in a summer trial. In a winter trial, a 14% decrease in manure volume occurred with a swinging drinker versus a gate-mounted nipple drinker, and a 25% decrease in water usage when comparing a stainless-steel bowl drinker to a swinging drinker. Fraser, D, Patience JF, Phillips PA, and McLeese JM. Water for piglets and lactating sows: quantity, quality and quandaries. In: Haresign W, and Cole With on-farm data logging, producers are recording water usage every 5-15 minutes. Figure 1 shows the record of water usage every 5 minutes (blue lines) in three finishing facilities in Nebraska using three types of water delivery devices for a one-week period in May, 2004. Notice the distinct differences in disappearance patterns. In the top graph, water disappearance gradually increases during the day, peaking around 1800 hrs. At Farms 2 and 3, the patterns are closer to those reported by researchers [4, 6]. However, at all three farms, the peak in water usage occurred in late afternoon/early evening. These on-farm results agree with others who reported that the maximum drinking activity for grow-finish pigs occurred from 1700 to 2100 hr [7, 8]. Therefore, water delivery systems must be sized with the expectation that peak demand will occur in mid- to late-afternoon for grow-finish pigs.

efficiently in liquid than in dry diets. Controlled fermentation of liquid feeds can exclude undesirable bacteria which present a risk to pig health and to the safety of pig meat for human consumption. Another range of materials which can be used in liquid feed systems are unripe cereals such as Corn Cob mix, crimped cereals and legumes and “humid maize” which is in common use in some The letter H can be useful to create some two-letter words but there are some longer, high scoring words too. Here are some examples. Ensure that any food splashing is cleaned up regularly and tank surfaces are washed to prevent growth of moulds and the attraction of rodents, wild birds or insects. Liquid feed mixing areas should have drainage points to allow them to be regularly pressure washed.

Feeding, petting, or taking a truffle from a pig now has a 0.1% chance of rewarding a pig ornament. drinks such as wine, beer and dairy products. Liquid feed will start to ferment immediately after dry and wet ingredients are mixed. This is caused by naturally occurring bacteria and yeasts present in feed ingredients and the environment. Which change in the pattern of daily usage is the best predictor of pig health and performance is still unclear. Based on producer observations, when water usage drops for three continuous days, or drops more than 30% in one day, this may indicate that a potential health challenge may be occurring. These changes in usage pattern should serve as an indication to the caregiver to look more closely at the pigs that caused that pattern change for signs of illness or discomfort. A spreadsheet to create barn sheets for the purpose of charting water patterns is available at: http://porkcentral.unl.edu.

Reese DE, Thaler RC, Brumm MC, Lewis AJ, Miller PS, and Libal GW. Nebraska and South Dakota Swine Nutrition Guide. Nebraska Cooperative Liquid feed can provide the pig with its essential daily energy and nutrients at a lower cost because it enables the use of industrial co-products from the human food industry that can be cheaper than conventional feed ingredients. In addition digestibility is often improved by using liquid feed. Gardner JAA, Dunkin AC and Lloyd LC. Pig production in Australia. London: Butterworths; 1990; p. 318-319. If we are going to continue to improve the productivity and efficiency of pig production we will have to understand much better how to meet the pigs needs and yet, in many cases, existing knowledge, such as that shown above, is not being applied. Next time I’ll look at how we can improve pen design by taking pig behaviour into account. Consider the likely range of products you may use as the viscosity of materials will impact on choice of pumps, (eg positive displacement or centrifugal).Use experienced pig nutritionists to formulate rations for liquid feed containing co-products and advise them of any changes in ingredients that may affect the formulation of

Since the April 24, 2021 update, pigs may still perform the animation to remove mud despite being unable to become muddy.

Memes

Take advice from experienced pig nutritionists before purchasing new ingredients, particularly liquid co-products as there may be nutritional and storage issues to consider (deliveries can often be in the region of 28 tonnes).