Consequences of intermittent suckling for performance in the pig

Abstract

In Europe, piglets are usually weaned before 4 weeks of age, thus changing abruptly from highly digestible milk to a less digestible starter diet, resulting in reduced feed intake and growth after weaning and sometimes post weaning diarrhea. Intake of a sufficient amount of creep feed during lactation can reduce these post weaning problems, but creep feed consumption is usually low and highly variable. This thesis describes the effect of intermittent suckling (IS; a management technique in which piglets are separated from the sow for 12 h/ day from d 14 to weaning (d 25), on performance of pigs before and after weaning. IS increased average creep feed intake during lactation. Distribution of creep feed intake shifted from a skewed one, with a majority of litters consuming less than 250 g.piglet-1 in control litters, to a normal distribution with an average creep feed intake of 500 to 750 g.piglet-1 in IS litters. The higher creep feed intake caused by IS resulted in better performance after weaning: IS litters had higher feed intake and higher weight gain in the first two weeks after weaning. Thereafter no differences were found until slaughter. IS litters with little or no creep feed intake during lactation tended to have higher weight gains and feed intake after weaning than control litters with comparable creep feed intake during lactation. IS did not increase the percentage of eaters within a litter during lactation and weaning weights did not differ between eaters and non-eaters. From one until four weeks after weaning piglets that were eaters during lactation had higher weights than non-eaters. IS did not affect feeder visiting behaviour of piglets from litters with an anyhow high level of feed intake during lactation, but IS piglets from litters with a low level of feed intake were stimulated to visit the feeder during lactation, which probably made them already familiar with the feeder and the feed. Part of the variation in feed intake between litters might be explained by differences in suckling behaviour and activity. To investigate if IS and/or creep feed intake affects the absorptive capacity of the small intestines, an in vivo small intestine segment perfusion test was performed in 24 newly weaned piglets (6 eaters and 6 non- eaters from each treatment). Net absorption in non-infected segments of the small intestine was significantly higher in eaters than in non-eaters. No difference was found between IS and control piglets. IS also affected the sows: weight loss during lactation was decreased and ovulations were advanced. The results of these studies demonstrate that IS improves both creep feed intake during lactation and feed intake and weight gain after weaning. Piglets consuming creep feed during lactation had higher weights and net absorption in the small intestine after weaning, independent of the suckling regimen. IS was especially efficient in piglets from low feed intake litters; these piglets were stimulated to investigate the feeder during lactation, which facilitated consumption of feed after weaning.