29th August 2024
DanMilk Trial: Enhancing piglet well-being, viability, and weight for greater farm success
Piglets born from hyper prolific sows can present a number of challenges which may impact production performance. While the advantages include increased litter size and more weaned piglets per sow per year, the disadvantages can be a significant drain on both resources and profitability.
Potential challenges from hyper prolific sows
- Reduced piglet birth and weaning weights
- Decreased piglet viability and survivability
- Variability of piglet weights within litter at weaning
- The increased need for foster/nursery sows
- Greater potential for biosecurity challenges
- An increase in non-productive days
Pedersen et al., (2010) confirms that 70% of pre-weaning losses occur within the first three days of life, with hunger and crushing accounting for more than 50% of those lost. In hyper prolific litters, there is also substantially less milk per piglet which is a significant factor when piglet weaning weights have an enormous impact on lifetime growth performance (Mod.e.SEGES Note 2115, 2020 - Influence of litter size on total milk production and amount of milk per suckling piglet (Ngo et al., 2012)).
Nutritional strategies to enhance piglet health and performance
To support the sow and ensure piglets get the best start, using a milk supplement that will help to close the gap between the sow’s milk yield and the piglet’s genetic potential for growth is highly recommended.
In response to this need, we have developed DanMilkTM Supreme, a milk supplement enriched with amino acids, vitamins, minerals and probiotic, consisting only of milk-based proteins. DanMilk has a fantastic smell, excellent solubility, and is easy to handle. It is designed for use with our fully automated Pump'n'GrowTM milk cup system, which supplements the sow’s milk by supplying fresh milk in small portions throughout the farrowing house and is optimised to reduce waste.
This innovative solution prompted us to collaborate with a Spanish integrator to evaluate DanMilk’s effectiveness using the Pump’n’Grow system. The large-scale trial in the north-east of Spain, which involved individually weighing nearly 8,000 piglets, demonstrated that using DanMilk supplementation for all sows up to parity 6 offered significant performance benefits and return on investment.
The integrator unit, which has 2,500 Danbred sows and manages 128 farrowings per week, saw 0.4 more piglets weaned per sow, +230g improved weaning weights and 3.4%-points improved survivability on the trial. This improvement translates to an additional 4.87 kg of weaning weight per litter. In addition, those piglets with access to DanMilk were +600g heavier at the end of the trial (15kg).
The trial hosted 2 treatments, with piglets consuming sow’s milk in both treatments from birth until weaning at day 22:
- Control: Sow milk only until the introduction of pre-starter feed from day 7 to day 22.
- DanMilk Supreme 1.0: Sow milk with DanMilk Supreme 1.0 introduced from day 3 to day 22, plus pre-starter feed from day 7 to day 22.
Groundbreaking results
Explaining why these results are so crucial to today’s pig industry, Kristian Juul Volshoj, Technical Manager at AB Neo, said: “We have not seen a study of this magnitude before, and it provides exceptional insight into the benefits of milk supplementation. Nearly 8,000 piglets were individually weighed, not only allowing us to evaluate improved performance, but we were also able to measure litter variation factors and subsequent differences as the piglets moved through the nursery phase.
“In general what we’ve witnessed is, by allowing all piglets access to the nutrition they need to begin the early gut microbiota development, it has been hugely valuable to both their viability and lifetime performance success.”
Less litter variability
As litter size increases, we are seeing more small piglets, and the lower birth weights often result in lower weaning weights and slower growth to slaughter. In addition, lower birth weights can result in poorer reproductive performance (Kauffold et al., 2012). It is therefore crucial to manage large litters and smaller piglets.
The Spanish trial data showed the weaned piglets in the DanMilk group were more homogenous with a co-efficient of variation of 1.3 versus the control group.
These performance benefits not only enhance pig production but also highlight significant opportunities in piglet management. Kristian advises: “Variability is always an issue as litter size increases and the management of small pigs is coming increasingly under the spotlight. Having a tool to finely tune farm management practices and using it to fully support small piglets, especially in their early gut development, is crucial.”
Why choose DanMilk + Pump'n'Grow?
DanMilk enhanced with Pump'n'Grow is the perfect solution to complement sow's milk, providing additional nutrients and energy to piglets during lactation. This dual approach increases weaning weights, improves viability rates, and reduces dependency on cross-fostering or nursing sows. It minimises stress on piglets and enhances biosecurity by reducing pig movement. Together, DanMilk and Pump'n'Grow optimise growth, health, and operational efficiency, leading to superior performance and greater profitability.
For more information, please contact:
Kristian Juul Volshoj
Technical Manager at AB Neo
+45 91898839
Media contact:
Yulia Levandovska
Global Head of Marketing at AB Neo
+48 506 399 650
Reach out to us today to learn more about how DanMilk + Pump'n'Grow can optimise your operation.
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