Comparison of growth, performance and feed cost of pigs raised on deep litter in a semi-bio system and in a conventional confinement system
2009
Tantrakoon, W. | Sanannam, A. | Homhaul, W. | Wuthijanee, K. | Tartrakoon, T.
When pigs are raised on deep litter in Thailand, problems with infections and dirty pigs are often observed due to the hot and humid climate. Feeding of fermented feed can improve gut health and balance the microorganism in the litter. For the experiment fermented vegetable waste was chosen as feed due to its low cost. The objective of the study was to compare growth performance and feed cost of pigs fed fermented vegetable and rose on deep litter in a semi-bio system with the results obtained for pigs raised in a conventional confinement system. Eighty castrated Duroc x (large White x Landrace) males and females of 20 kg BW were randomly divided into groups of 10 pigs and kept in 1) conventional pens with concrete floor or 2) on a 90 cm deep litter consisting of a mixture of rice husk and wood sawdust. In both systems, there were 1.8 sq m per pig. In the conventional confinement system, concentrate feed was provided ad libitum until the pigs reached 100 kg BW. The pigs housed on deep litter were fed ad libitum with a mixed diet comprising concentrate feed and fermented vegetables at the ratios 2:1, 1:1 and 1:2 during the growth periods from 20 to 50, 50 to 80, and 80 to 100 kg BW. There were four replications per treatment. T-test was used to compare the two treatments. The performance of the pigs in the semi-bio system compared with the results obtained in the conventional confinement system showed no significant differences for average daily weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio and running days. However, feed cost per kilogram of weight gain was significantly lower (P0.05) in the pigs housed on the deep litter in the semi-bio system than in the pigs housed in the conventional confinement system (21.21 vs 34.79 Baht/kg of weight gain). It was concluded that a semi-bio system with deep litter had no negative effect on the growth performances of the pigs and economic return of the pigs raised in that system was better than in a conventional confinement system.
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