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HE Miller, JY Perez-Palencia, CL Levesque, and RC Thaler, South Dakota State University | August 17, 2021
A 2019 survey of finishing pig houses from 23 different pork producers in South Dakota showed that the water flow of the nipple drinkers varies greatly between pig houses. 68% of the water flow rate exceeded the recommended rate of 2-4 cups/min (NSNG, 2010), and only two pens had more than 50% of the pens reaching the recommended flow rate. Since feed intake is directly affected by water intake, any factor that affects water intake will affect feed intake and thus weight gain. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of water flow in summer months on the performance of finishing pigs, which is the period of greatest water demand.
In the 77-day trial, two groups of 396 mixed-sex pigs were used, with an average starting weight of 76.2 pounds. At the end of the 77-day trial, the average pig weight reached 229 pounds. Each fence has a two-hole WF feeder and a cup drinker. There are 6 pigs/pen, 7.5 ft2/pig. According to the three hole diameters (2.0, 1.0, 0.80 mm) of the commercial taps used in the facility, the fence is assigned to one of three water flow rates (high, medium, and low), and there are 22 fences/treatments. Record the daily water consumption and room temperature, outdoor temperature and relative humidity for each treatment. The water flow is recorded separately from each individual drinking fountain every two weeks. Changes in each diet phase (26 ± 2.6 days), loss of feed and individual pig weights were also recorded. The test was conducted from June to October 2020, with an average outdoor temperature of 68.5F and an indoor temperature of 73.0. The sprinkler starts at 85F (on 3 minutes / off 12 minutes) to provide supplemental cooling for the pigs.
The average water flow rates for high, medium and low flow rates were 7.8±.79, 3.8±.9 and 2.1±.4 cups/min.
The daily water loss for high, medium and low treatments were 1.80, 0.67 and 0.45 gallons/pig, respectively.
There is no difference in final weight, but the range is 227.5 pounds. For low flow processing, high flow processing is 233.5 lbs. Daily weight gain increased from 76.1 pounds to 122.4 pounds. The BW of high treatment was the largest (P<0.05). Daily intake and weight gain: For high treatment, feed from 122.4 to 174.4 pounds of body weight is the largest (P <0.05). Cumulative ADFI was affected by water flow (P<0.05). Pigs in the high, medium, and low flow ranges consumed 5.0, 4.81, and 4.76 pounds of feed/day, respectively. There is no difference in cumulative ADG or G:F.
One limitation of the trial was that it was terminated before the pigs reached the common market weight of 290 pounds. Because of the marketing plan. As pigs get bigger, there is less space/pigs, and they generate more heat/pigs. One can speculate that this will increase the demand for water. In addition, one possible reason for the increase in daily water loss due to high flow rates is that pigs splash water from the cup onto the floor to increase evaporative cooling.
Although the effect on gain and G:F is small, the water flow has a significant effect on ADFI. As part of normal barn maintenance, the taps should be checked regularly to ensure that there is enough water, but not too much.
Source: HE Miller, JY Perez-Palencia, CL Levesque, and RC Thaler, South Dakota State University, they are fully responsible for the information provided and they own the information. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any content contained in this information asset. The author’s views are not necessarily those of Farm Progress/Informa.
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