The nursing sow produces more milk per pound of body weight than a modern dairy cow. In fact, 95% of what the sow consumes is directed to milk production each day. Through good feed intake, a sow will produce heavier weaned piglets and return to breeding estrus sooner.
Here are a few important strategies to help encourage sow feed intake during lactation:
1. Get the sow up and moving
Making sure that the sow stands up daily during a feeding event is critical. By getting the sow up daily, she will likely urinate, defecate, eat and drink. Additionally, this time also gives the caretaker an opportunity to view the sow fully to look for any issues such as mastitis or lameness. Research at Iowa State University indicates that early treatment of medical conditions improves sow longevity in the herd.
2. Think “high feed intake”
The general rule of thumb for intake each day should be 1 pound of feed for each piglet the sow is nursing and 4 pounds of feed for the sow. For example, if the sow is nursing 13 piglets, she should be eating 13 pounds of feed for piglet growth (1 pound per piglet) and then 4 pounds for herself for a total of 17 pounds of feed a day. The goal will be for her to eat at least this level of feed throughout lactation.
3. Find the correct feeding program
Feeding programs for lactation vary. For example: full feed starting pre-farrow, full feed the day of farrowing, or slowly increasing the amount of feed each day after farrowing for a set number of days. What is the correct feeding program? It depends on your sow herd. Some sows can manage high intakes very early while others consume a high amount one day and then have very reduced intakes for a few days. If you have a herd where sows have very low intakes for a few days after allowing them full access to feed, add one more day of controlled feeding at an increasing rate prior to the full access feeding to minimize this issue.
4. Add water
Adding water to feed can increase feed intake in lactation by 0.5 to 1 pounds of feed a day.
5. Full feed within the first week and avoid feed restriction
Follicles for the next breeding event are growing during the current lactation. Any feed restrictions later in lactation can increase wean to estrus and reduce ovulation rates. Strong follicular development is influenced by solid lactation feeding programs.
By focusing on these strategies, sow feed intake can be optimized to produce strong weaning weights and good reproductive performance.
