It’s one of the most wonderful times of the year, and no it’s not Christmas, it’s harvest time! Corn stalks flying and bean stubble being made is a farmer’s dream and at the forefront of everyone’s mind. However, we can’t forget about our 4-legged friends in our barns. Simplifying pig nutrition management is crucial during this hectic season. The importance of keeping the right ration and right amount of feed in front of our pigs cannot be overlooked. Pig feed outages and feed wastage can both result in poorer performance, increased mortality, and negatively impact the bottom line.
As you are called away from your pig barns more often, don’t forget these important things to keep in mind:
Review Feeders for Feed Wastage/Restrictions
- Check that feeder adjustments are set correctly. Feeders left wide open will lead to feed wastage that will negatively impact feed conversions up to one tenth. Although feed ingredient prices have come down, one tenth of feed conversion is still worth $2.85/pig. Feeders set too tight result in feed restrictions in which translates to poorer growth performance. (See the recommended ideal pan coverage in the image below.)
Reduce Feed Outages
- Most feeders are not built with enough feed capacity for late finishing pigs to make it an entire day with only one filling. Two or more feed outages in late finishing can affect negatively market weights. More than two outages can reduce market weight up to 10 lbs. In addition, feed outages at any point in the life of the pig can result in increased mortality from twisted gut and hemorrhagic bowels. Be sure to continue checking barns two times a day, even if the second check is just to make sure every feeder is full in the barn.
Check Feed Bin Fill Levels
- Always check bin fill levels and that the correct bin slides are open prior to leaving the site. This will help confirm the amount of feed present at the site and verify no feed hangups have occurred.
Feed Budgeting
- Be proactive on ordering feed and don’t try to stretch out feed deliveries, especially going into weekends. It is cheaper to order less feed to fill up a bin prior to the weekend than it is to run out of feed or to pay for an emergency same day order of feed. There are several pig feed budgeting tools available. Below is an example of a feed intake chart to help predict feed usage.
Test Feed Quality
- New crop corn is typically higher quality than the corn we just cleaned out of bins. However, it is important to test for mycotoxins to gauge corn quality from this year’s crop. No two crops are the same and it’s good to know if we may have mycotoxins before the pig tells us. Reach out to your swine nutritionist or get in touch with our team to get a new crop corn sample submitted.
