Supplements aid pig welfare

This is according to Pork CRC manager – commercialisation and research impact Charles Rikard-Bell, who will be one of the guest speakers at the SA Pig Industry Day held at the Barossa Weintal at Tanunda on Friday.

At the SA Pig Industry Day Dr Rikard-Bell presented a talk titled Making your grain work harder for you before you buy or use it with AusScan.

Dr Rikard-Bell said commercialisation work for enrichment blocks for gestating sows and weaners was set to continue throughout 2016. 

A commercialisation study on an appetite enhancer based on the ingredient preferences of weaned pigs was completed last month. BEC Animal Nutrition will look to market the appetite enhancer for weaner pigs in the first half of this year. 

Pork CRC, in conjunction with BEC Animal Nutrition and University of Qld, has focused on producing commercial quantities of the appetite enhancer, which would mix, transport and store easily.

With these refinements made, the enhancer was then tested on 21-day-old weaned pigs for 28 days in commercial research facilities in Qld. 

“We found that piglets fed a simple, low-cost weaner diet, plus the appetite enhancer, performed equivalent to piglets fed more complex, high-cost diets, with or without the addition of the appetite enhancer,” Dr Rikard-Bell said. 

“We are also making in-roads into developing enrichment blocks and Pork CRC has submitted an international patent application.” 

A large commercial study on group-housed sows was completed in January, with preliminary results showing exciting outcomes. 

“The prevalence of fresh scratch injuries significantly decreased on day three of mixing unfamiliar sows into group pens housed with either one or two enrichment blocks,” Dr Rikard-Bell said.

“Additionally, enrichment block treatments increased threat behaviour and it appears that this less aggressive, non-physical behaviour may be displayed as a way of guarding the supplement block when sows are being fed in pens fitted with head stalls.”