A Proper Diet – Beneficial for Pigs and Profitable for the Farm

There is a common belief that pigs are omnivorous animals that can consume any type of feed, given their high ability to convert feed energy into their own reserves. However, to achieve high productivity, it is essential to consider the biological characteristics of pigs (prolificacy, early maturity, gestation period, high meat yield) when developing feeding rations for piglets, sows, or fattening pigs.

It is important to properly develop a feeding strategy that maximizes the genetic potential of pigs and meets their nutritional needs at all stages of their lives. This approach will strengthen the animals’ immunity, prevent various diseases, preserve all offspring, and achieve high end results.

A complete feeding ration for sows during gestation, farrowing, and lactation periods will help avoid many problems (osteomalacia, ketosis, abortion, MMA syndrome, inadequate body condition, mycotoxicosis) and result in a large number of healthy piglets, good lactation, and rapid recovery for the next farrowing. Both overfeeding and underfeeding negatively affect sows (both dry and pregnant). Obesity reduces sow productivity, offspring viability, and leads to unproductive feed expenditure, while underfeeding lowers immunity, worsens health, and overall condition of the animals. It is worth carefully developing a diet for sows at all stages of their lives to achieve the desired results.

Feeding piglets is of utmost importance for their development, as their weight increases 6-7 times in the first month of life and 2.5-3 times in the second month. Since they have high growth energy in the early stages of life, they must be adequately provided with everything necessary to actively build muscle mass. The main reasons requiring proper and complete feeding for piglets are to avoid diseases that most affect the young. One problematic disease is colibacillosis; with an unbalanced diet and stress, this bacteria multiplies rapidly, releasing toxins that are absorbed into the bloodstream, causing clinical signs of poisoning and even death.

For fattening pigs, it is best to use a high-calorie diet that contains little fiber but is high in protein and meets their needs. To achieve these feeding results, pig farms use PMVA and Pig Premixes from Vitagro Nutrition. This diet should be maintained from weaning to slaughter. A balanced diet with macro- and microelements, proteins, amino acids, and vitamins will allow pig farmers to achieve the expected profit, and consumers will be delighted with tasty lard and meat.

Thus, a well-developed pig feeding strategy is the key to high growth rates and desired profits.