Feeding behavior of growing–finishing pigs reared under precision feeding strategies1

Abstract

The feeding behavior of growing-finishing pigs reared under precision feeding strategies was studied in 35 barrows and 35 females (average initial BW of 30.4 ± 2.2 kg) over 84 d. Five different feeding programs were evaluated, namely a conventional 3-phase program in which pigs were fed with a constant blend of diet A (high nutrient density) and diet B (low nutrient density) and 4 daily phase-feeding programs in which pigs were fed daily with a blend meeting 110, 100, 90, or 80% of the individual Lys requirements. Electronic feeder systems automatically recorded the visits to the feeder, the time of the meals, and the amount of feed consumed per meal. The trial lasted 84 d and the database contained 59,701 feeder visits. The recorded database was used to calculate the number of meals per day, feeding time per meal (min), intervals between meals (min), feed intake per meal (g), and feed consumption rate (feed intake divided by feeding time per meal, expressed in g/min) of each animal. The feeding pattern was predominantly diurnal (73% of the feeder visits). Number of meals, duration of meals, time between meals, feed consumed per meal, and feed consumption rate were not affected by the feeding programs. The females ingested 19% less feed per meal and had a 6% lower feed consumption rate in comparison with the barrows ( < 0.05). Pig feeding behavior was not correlated with diet composition. However, feed efficiency was negatively correlated with amount of feed consumed per meal ( = -0.38, < 0.05) and feed consumption rate ( = -0.44, < 0.05). Feed consumption rate was also negatively correlated with protein efficiency ( = -0.44, < 0.05). Multivariate analysis indicated that feed consumption rate and number of meals per day are the variables related most closely to pig production performance results. Current results indicate that using precision feeding as an approach to reduce Lys intake does not interfere with the feeding behavior of growing-finishing pigs.

Influence of mild feed restriction and mild reduction in dietary amino acid content on feeding behaviour of group-housed growing pigs

“…In the present experiment, feeding activity was predominantly diurnal. The proportions of feed consumed during the 0.01-8.00, 8.01-16.00, and 16.01-24.00 periods were 0.19, 0.42 and 0.39 of total daily intake, respectively, reflecting the influence of the circadian rhythm (Andretta et al, 2016). On average, each pig spent 57.8 min/d feeding, so that the mean individual daily occupation of the feeder was in the order of 0.48 (57.8 min/60 min × 12 pigs/24 h).…”

Piglet birthweight and sex affect growth performance and fatty acid composition in fatty pigs

“…Lower BIW is associated with higher morbidity, different developmental patterns, and changes in body composition and homeostasis, due to prenatal programming through epigenetic changes (Gondret et al 2005b(Gondret et al , 2006Gonzalez-Bulnes et al 2016;Ji et al 2017). Within-litter BIW variation (BIWV) may be associated with a high variability in carcass and meat quality in the same feedlot, which affects profitability and the production of dry-cured products (Andretta et al 2016). Moreover, sex effects contribute to reducing feedlot homogeneity (Egea et al 2016).…”

Analyses of body weight patterns in growing pigs: a new view on body weight in pigs for frequent monitoring

“…Instead, the diurnal influence was attributed to the cows eating more during the daytime than during the nighttime. Similarly, multiple recent studies using automatically collected data have identified diurnal feeding patterns in pigs (Fernández et al, 2011;Hoy et al, 2012;Andretta et al, 2016). Although it is intuitive to think BW of pigs might also follow a diurnal pattern, no previous research appears to have verified that assumption.…”