Managing feed and water for grower-finishers Managing feed and water for grower-finishers

Enhancing feed and water management

Supporting an effective water and feed management program for grower-finisher pigs is crucial for achieving optimal market weight. A finisher’s body composition is 50% water, while feed remains the largest contributor to production costs, further underscoring the need for proven practices to help pig farmers best manage water and feed for their herd.

Securing quality ingredients

Today's global and highly complex food supply chain involves many potential quality and food safety risks. Swine feed producers play a crucial role in securing trust throughout the chain, from feed ingredients to the supermarket aisle. A successful nutritional strategy starts with the quality of the feed ingredients. Trouw Nutrition offers a digital platform, NutriOpt, which supports sustainable precision farming for optimal animal performance and economic results. Our Selko Feed Safety programme addresses challenges centered on mould, moisture and enterobacteria management, and yeast and mycotoxin control.

Effectively managing feed intake

Profitability of swine producers is affected by a variety of factors, such as ingredients availability, feed intake and market prices of raw material and meat. Thoughtful attention, including consideration of the aforementioned factors, to nutrition and feeding programmes can reap economic benefits, as feed represents the highest cost in the grower-finisher phase of production. It can be challenging to manage and regularly evaluate their feed management strategies and programmes to support optimal productivity.

Ensuring water quality

Although water makes up half of a grower-finisher’s body, it is the most neglected nutrient. Animals drink almost twice as much as they eat, making clean, fresh water essential for their growth. Additionally, water plays an important role in temperature control, nutrient transport, waste and digestive processes. If compromised, water quality can negatively affect performance, health and well-being. To ensure water quality for the herd, it must be monitored from source to drinker. A comprehensive biosecurity and farm management programme that starts with good water at the source and ensures hygienic conditions throughout the water system is recommended.

Feed preservation in grower-finisher pigs

Raw material quality can be affected by physical and chemical factors, as well as microbiological risks, such as bacteria, moulds, yeasts and mycotoxins – all of which impact the level of feed safety and may also casue health problems in your swine and lead to reduced performance. Mycotoxin contamination can be a risk factor for developing intestinal disorders in grower-finisher pigs, either because it leads to feed refusal or because the mycotoxins can have a direct or indirect damaging effect on the animal. In addition, microbes such as Salmonella can have public health consequences. Controlling these risks demands an integrated approach, involving each part of the feed supply chain.

Our offering in feed and water management

Selko - A complete package of feed additive solutions
Optimal animal performance and business success with NutriOpt
Profish Ω - Fishmeal protein and fish oil replacer