By ForFarmers’ Young Animal Feed Advisor, Emma Slater
With rising raw material costs and pig prices under pressure the focus turns to cost savings- and with feed responsible for up to 60% of the overall cost of production it’s often one of the first areas to be scrutinised. Furthermore, as a result of the cost per tonne, creep feed is one area which can be challenged.
But does reducing creep feed quantities or opting for lower spec nutrition really result in savings later down the line? Or is it, in reality, a false economy?
If a producer feeds 6kg of starter feed to pigs at weaning, allocated as 1kg, 2kg and 3kg of 1st, 2nd and 3rd stage starter respectively a price increase of, for example, £50 in a 1st stage diet, £30 in a second stage diet and £20 in a 3rd stage diet, equates to just 17pence per pig.
The impact of compromising this critical phase of feeding cannot only be felt in the early growth stages, but over the subsequent lifetime performance of the pig. In the above example, simply reducing the allocation from 6kg to 5kg per pig, may only result in a 2pence per pig saving, but what might it cost you on performance?
A 10g reduction in daily live weight gain in the first 14 days post weaning, can result in 1.3 days longer to slaughter. This might not sound a lot, but assuming pigs are consuming on average 2.5kg/day plus at this stage, this equates to additional finisher feed costs of approximately £1 per pig: far outweighing the early 2pence saving in the early stages.
Put another way, cutting down 1kg of starter for 1000 pigs saves £20, but by slowing down growth as a result, you could end up spending £1000 on finisher feed getting them to slaughter weight. And remember, despite the relative higher costs of starter feed, this early feeding stage equates to just 1% of the overall feed consumption of a grower-finisher.
Feeding to match the nutrient requirement of the stage of production is key to success and decisions should always been driven by the nutritional needs of the piglets. The nutritional and physiological needs of a 20kg pig is considerably different to that of a newly weaned 7.5kg pig, hence the reason why phase feeding is common practice on many farms. VIDA piglet starter diets are designed to support gut development as well as meeting their nutritional requirements for lean tissue growth.