Increasing weaning age improves pig performance in a multisite production system1

Abstract

Two trials were conducted to determine the effects of weaning age on pig performance in a multisite production system. The second trial also evaluated the effects of modifying the nursery feeding program according to weaning age. In Trial 1 (2,272 pigs), treatments included weaning litters at 12, 15, 18, or 21 d of age. In Trial 2 (3,456 pigs), litters were weaned at 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, or 22 d of age and categorized into three treatments (15.5, 18.5, or 21.5 d of age). In Trial 2, pigs in each age group were fed one of two nursery feeding programs. Nursery feeding programs varied in both diet formulation and in the quantity of diets fed containing increased levels of whey and spray-dried animal plasma. Each trial was conducted as a randomized complete block design with four blocks of nursery and finishing sites. All weaning-age treatments were weaned from a 7,300-sow farm on the same day into the same nursery. Each block remained intact as pigs moved from nursery to finishing site. Increasing weaning age (12, 15, 18, or 21 d in Trials 1; and 15.5, 18.5, or 21.5 d in Trial 2) increased (linear, P < 0.001) ADG (299, 368, 409, 474 +/- 7 g/d; 435, 482, 525 +/- 13 g/d) and tended to decrease (linear, P < 0.09) mortality (5.25, 2.82, 2.11, 0.54 +/- 0.76%; 2.17, 1.56, 1.30 +/- 0.36%) in the initial 42 d after weaning. Finishing ADG (722, 728, 736, 768 +/- 11 g/d; 783, 790, 805 +/- 11 g/d) also improved (linear, P < 0.01) with increasing weaning age. Overall, increasing weaning age increased (linear, P < 0.001) wean-to-finish ADG (580, 616, 637, 687 +/- 8 g/d; 676, 697, 722 +/- 6 g/d), weight sold per pig weaned (94.1, 100.5, 104.4, 113.1 +/- 1.3 kg; 107.6, 111.6, 116.2 +/- 1.1 kg), and decreased (linear, P < 0.03) mortality rate (9.4, 7.9, 6.8, 3.6 +/- 0.95%; 3.9, 3.4, 2.5 +/- 0.5%). Altering the nursery feeding program did not affect wean-to-finish growth performance. In this multisite production system, increasing weaning age from 12 to 21.5 d of age increased weight sold per pig weaned by 1.80 +/- 0.12 kg for each day increase in weaning age. These studies suggest increasing weaning age up to 21.5 d can be an effective management strategy to improve wean-to-finish growth performance in multisite pig production.

Effect of piglet birth weight on survival and quality of commercial market swine

“…Main et al (2004) reported similar findings for increased weaning age. Davis et al (2006) also reported increased nursery mortality of pigs weaned at younger ages and attributed this effect to an unfavorable impact on immunity.…”

Short-term behavioural effects of weaning age in outdoor-reared piglets

“…feeding behaviour or intake after weaning (Gonyou et al, 1998;Worobec et al, 1999;Main et al, 2004). Low energy intake at weaning is the most important factor affecting small intestine villous height of piglets after weaning (Marion et al, 2002), and has known negative effects on the piglets' metabolism, growth and health (Le Dividich and Sè ve, 2000;Dong and Pluske, 2007), thus being a major welfare issue.…”

Development of the movement of the epiglottis in infant and juvenile pigs

“…The experiments were carried out on eight infant domestic pigs (mini-Hanford strain), each ten to thirty days old, and six juvenile minipigs (three Göttingen strain and three mini-Hanford strain), each two to three months old. Infant pigs wean between 14 and 28 days old (Dritz et al, 1996;Main et al, 2004;Davis et al, 2006).…”