Optimising the progeny of first-litter sows in the Australian herd

31 Pages

Author(s): Udani Wijesiriwardana, Prof John Pluske, Prof Frank Dunshea, Jeremy Cottrell, Dr Jessica Craig, Dr Cherie Collins, Robert Hewitt

Gilt progeny are born lighter and often do not perform as well as progeny born to multiparous sows. This project included multiple trials that aimed to explore the reasons for this difference in performance, and potential dietary interventions that may help producers enhance progeny performance. One trial explored the effect that larger creep pellet size has on feed intake both before and after weaning.

Value to producers:

• Decreased removal rate, and improved performance of pigs post-weaning.

Key findings:

• Creep pellets with 9mm diameter resulted in increased feed intake.
• Growth rate was increased, however weaning weight of piglets born to gilts did not increase.
• Larger pellets offered benefits to piglets in the post-weaning period, through lowered removal rate and improved performance.