As a consultant, I’ve seen firsthand how proper sow management can make or break a client’s farm’s profitability. One area that’s often overlooked but critically important is maximizing sow lactation feed intake. I call metrics like these “leverage points”. They are metrics where good performance has an outsized impact on overall farm success. Basically, if you do these things well, everything else gets easier and if you do them poorly, everything else gets harder.
So, let’s dive into why lactation feed intake matters so much and how we can improve it.
The Myth of the “Fat and Happy” Sow
For years, many producers believed that fattening up sows before farrowing was a good strategy. The thinking was that extra fat would provide energy reserves for milk production. This strategy is still very common throughout Asia. However, recent research is turning this idea on its head.
A 2017 study by Lemay and Guay provided evidence for something progressive producers had already figured out: sows with more back fat ate less during lactation. For every extra millimeter of back fat, sows ate from .35 kg to 1.47 kg less feed during lactation. This is bad news for milk production, litter growth and sow body condition loss. Overweight sows come with a host of additional issues as well including more farrowing complications, greater lameness issues and shorter longevity in the herd.
Key Takeaway: Aim for a healthy body condition in your sows, not excessive fat. In most cases, ideal back fat would be about 12-14 mm (.47 to .55 inches) at farrowing. Overweight sows >16 mm (.63 inches), should be avoided. Clearly, underweight sows <11 mm (.43 inches) are a problem as well and should be avoided for productivity and animal welfare reasons.
The Critical First Week of Lactation
The same study from Lemay and Guay revealed another crucial finding: how much a sow eats in the first week after farrowing sets the stage for her entire lactation period. Sows that ate more in the first 6 days continued to eat more throughout lactation. The study shows that for every additional 1 kg consumed in day 1-6, total lactation intake increased by 2.93 to 3.42 kg.
This early period is a golden opportunity. By encouraging high feed intake right from the start, we can boost overall milk production and piglet growth. In many systems, I see producers limiting feed intake in the early days of gestation, sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally. The mistaken belief is that limiting sow feed intake early will improve intake later in gestation. This study and others demonstrate that’s not only not true, the opposite is true.
Key Takeaway: Focus on maximizing feed intake in the first week after farrowing. It’s a game-changer for the entire lactation period. For most farms, we recommend getting sows on full feed the day after farrowing going immediately to ad lib or near ad lib feeding right away.
One Size Doesn’t Fit All: The Case for Individualized Feeding
Research has shown that sows can vary dramatically in how much they eat during lactation. This variation is a crucial reason why we need to rethink rigid, prescribed feeding programs and focus on developing strategies that account for this natural variation in feed intake.
Several studies have highlighted the extent of this variation:
– Koketsu et al. (1996) found that daily feed intake during lactation could vary by as much as 3 to 4 kg between sows.
– Strathe et al. (2017) observed that the coefficient of variation for daily feed intake during lactation ranged from 20% to 40%.
– Schinckel et al. (2010) reported that the standard deviation of daily feed intake increased from 1.5 kg/d in early lactation to 2.5 kg/d in late lactation.
This high level of variation means that with a fixed feeding program:
· Some sows are being fed much less than they could consume, potentially limiting their milk production and increasing body condition loss.
· Other sows might be overfed, leading to wasted feed.
Key Takeaway: As I mentioned in the previous section, maximizing early lactation feed intake is critical. Fixed programs that feed sows a prescribed amount of feed per day for the first few days are problematic because they effectively limit early feed intake, but they’re also problematic because they don’t account for differences in natural feed intake.
The high variation in sow feed intake during lactation makes individualized feeding crucial. It ensures each sow gets what she needs, when she needs it, maximizing milk production and piglet growth while preserving sow body condition and minimizing feed waste.
Putting It All Together
So, what does all this mean for your farm? Here’s a strategy based on the latest research:
1. Manage Body Condition: Aim for healthy, not overweight, sows at farrowing. An objective way to measure body condition should be implemented. For more information on this, watch this video where I discuss measuring sow body condition.
2. Maximize Early Intake: Encourage high feed intake in the first week of lactation.
3. Individualize Feeding: Use technology, hand feeding or other strategies to tailor feeding to each sow’s needs, accounting for the high variation in feed intake. This requires being able to document feed intake at each feeding. To learn more, read this post about individualized sow feeding.
4. Monitor and Adjust: Regularly monitor sow body condition pre/post farrow and pig/litter growth rate. Adjust strategies as necessary working with production advisors, the herd nutritionist and veterinarians as necessary. To learn more about how to work effectively with your nutritionist to develop effective strategies, read this post, it’s about gestation feeding, but the basic concepts apply here as well.
By following these guidelines, you can improve sow performance and health, boost litter growth, improve sow longevity and ultimately…increase your farm’s profitability.
Remember, healthy, high performing sows means healthy, high performing pigs, and healthy, high performing pigs means a healthy bottom line!
About the Author: Todd Thurman is an International Swine Management Consultant and Founder of Swine Insights International, LLC. Swine Insights is a US-Based provider of consulting and training services to the global pork industry. To learn more about the company, send an email to info@swineinsights.com or visit the website at www.swineinsights.com. To learn more about Mr. Thurman’s speaking and writing, visit www.toddthurman.me
